Live casino explained
A live casino is the part of an online casino where real dealers run table games from a studio and stream them to your screen in real time, while you place bets through on-screen controls. The cards, wheel or dice are physical. Camera feeds and card-reading systems turn each outcome into data the betting software can settle. On a phone, it looks like video with a betting panel on top.
How a live casino table works
Say you want a hand of blackjack on your phone. You open the live lobby, pick a table, and the stream loads with a betting grid over the video. Studios use several camera angles and optical character recognition, so a physical card becomes a digital result within the round.
The outcome comes from the shoe or the wheel, not from a random number generator.
Where it goes wrong on mobile is the connection rather than the game. A video stream needs far more steady bandwidth than a slot, so dropping from Wi-Fi to a weak mobile signal mid-round can freeze the picture while the betting timer keeps running. How the operator handles a bet placed just before a dropout varies, and the rule usually sits in the game’s own help screen rather than the general terms.
Live casino versus RNG table games
The term is most often confused with ordinary digital table games. A virtual roulette wheel drawn by software is an RNG game, even when it carries a dealer animation.
Bonus terms treat the two very differently. Many operators count live games at zero towards wagering, or at a low rate, so a welcome offer cleared on live blackjack can take far longer than the headline suggests. Practice varies by operator, so read the contribution table before you play.
Common live casino games at a glance
The table sets out the live formats you are most likely to find in a lobby, alongside their software equivalents. Contribution figures are the general range seen in published bonus terms, not any single operator’s rule.
| Game | Live format | RNG equivalent | Bonus contribution | Phone layout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roulette | Physical wheel, real dealer | Software wheel | Often 0-10% | Grid over video |
| Blackjack | Dealt from shoe | Virtual deck | Often 0-10% | Seat-based controls |
| Baccarat | Cards dealt live | Virtual deck | Often 0-10% | Compact bet panel |
| Game shows | Presenter and wheel | Rarely offered | Often excluded | Video-heavy screen |
| Poker variants | Dealer versus player | Video poker | Varies by operator | Small card view |
Live casino rules for Irish players
Ireland’s gambling regulator is the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, set up under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024. Remote betting licences issued by the GRAI commenced on 1 July 2026, but the licensing provisions for online gaming, which covers live casino, are being commenced separately.
Until those provisions take effect, check which authority licenses the site before you deposit, since the live studio and the operator may sit under different regimes.
