Live and kicking: why online casinos must offer live dealer

James King, Chief Marketing Officer at Conquer Casino, discusses the importance of live casino and why it has become so popular

Live casino is one of the fastest growing online casino products on the market and is now an absolute most for brands looking to engage all types of player.

Live dealer perfectly bridges the gap between land-based and online play, offering the buzz and excitement found on the casino floor alongside the convenience of playing online.

It brings to life what can, at times, be a solitary form of entertainment – most players play online casino at home while alone.

Players love that they can sit down at a real table, watch real cards being slid across the felt by a human dealer they can interact with.

Such is the popularity of live casino that operators now have separate lobbies and tabs for these games. We are also seeing live dealer only operators enter the market.

In addition, providers such as Evolution Gaming and Authentic Gaming are developing new games, features and tools that take the live dealer experience to the next level.

Evolution, for example, offers an innovative live money wheel game that is set against a glitzy TV show backdrop with a host and not a dealer.

Authentic Gaming, on the other hand, streams from real tables located on the floors of real casinos allowing online players to sit down next to those actually on the property.

These breakthroughs have really helped to push the momentum that has built behind live casino games in recent months.

This has also been helped by huge improvements in mobile live dealer, with players able to enjoy the same immersive and realistic experience even when playing on the move.

But why has live dealer become such a phenomenon of late?

Much of it is to do with what I mentioned previously about players seeking out authentic casino experiences from the comfort of their own home.

But it also has a lot to do with trust and players preferring to wager against a human dealer – even if they are located in a special studio – instead of a random number generator.

This is certainly the case in new and emerging markets where players can lack trust in online casino brands, especially those that do not have a land-based presence.

In addition to this, consumers are super savvy and expect a varied and valuable experience from their chosen entertainment channels, including online casino.

This partly explains why live dealer is so popular with younger players – they demand an element of interaction from their entertainment choices and live casino can deliver this.

It is also considered a less “hardcore” form of gambling – most players will have previously visited a casino and played the table games on offer.

As we all know, table games are seen as a less aggressive form of gambling than slots and are held in the same regard as bingo and lottery giving them mass market appeal.

But it’s not just casual players that are drawn to live dealer – high rollers also enjoy the added value and interaction that it brings.

This is why it is important for operators to offer VIP tables that are set against more luxurious backdrops and with higher limits.

As live dealer continues to increase in popularity, operators will have to ensure they offer streams across all the games (blackjack, roulette, poker, craps, etc) and from all providers.

They will also have to think about creating special welcome offers and promotions for live dealer, and also how the vertical can be integrated into loyalty schemes.

It wasn’t that long ago that live dealer was seen as a nice addition to an operator’s game lobby, but today it is an absolute must.

Live dealer is not only great at acquisition – appealing to new players and helping to build trust – but it is a powerful retention tool for all player types – VIPs in particular.

Here at Conquer Casino, we believe live dealer is only going to become more popular and have an even more dominant position in casino game portfolios.

The vertical really is live and kicking.