Live casino games are table games and game shows run by a human dealer with physical equipment, such as a roulette wheel or cards, and streamed from a studio. Specialist providers produce them and supply them to operators, who add accounts and the betting interface. The outcome comes from the physical game, sometimes with random multipliers added, and the house edge follows from each game's rules.
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What a live casino game is
A live casino game is a casino game played in real time with a human dealer or presenter and real equipment: a wheel, a shoe of cards, dice or a large prize wheel. Video from the table is streamed to players, who place bets through an on-screen interface.
The format covers traditional games such as roulette, blackjack and baccarat, and game-show formats built around a presenter.
It differs from standard online table games, where software alone generates the result. The live casino category in our database lists individual titles.
Who produces live casino games
Live games can be produced by specialist providers rather than by the websites that offer them.
Evolution, for example, describes developing and producing online casino content on a business-to-business basis. Gaming operators add player authentication, account management and the user interface before offering the games to end users1.
The same report describes several features of that model1:
- Shared and dedicated tables. Operators can buy dedicated tables reserved for their own players, with custom studio environments, branding and native-language dealers.
- Studios. At the time of its 2024 annual report, Evolution operated 21 studios across Europe, North America and South America.
- Revenue. Its main income is commission calculated as a percentage of operators' winnings, plus fees for dedicated tables.
This matters for players because the company running the table may not be the company holding their account. Our provider profiles explain who makes which games.
Inside a live studio
A live table looks simple on screen. Behind it sit procedures intended to show that each round was run correctly.
Great Britain's technical standards set out what regulators there expect. The requirement is that live dealer operations must be fair and independently auditable2. The accompanying guidance covers five areas2:
| Area | What the guidance expects |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Commercial casino-quality equipment and consumables, with staff monitoring their integrity |
| Dealers | Croupiers trained to run games fairly according to documented procedures and rules, with training records kept |
| Supervision | Oversight staff and video surveillance covering the gaming area in enough detail to confirm procedures were followed |
| Access | Secure areas and equipment protected so only authorised staff can reach them |
| Analysis | Game logs kept and events collated into statistics that can be analysed for trends |
Providers can add their own monitoring. Evolution's report describes watching gaming tables in real time, 24 hours a day, year-round, from a control room intended to protect game integrity and detect fraud1.
How a round works
Every live game has its own rules. The sequence below is a simplified outline of a typical round.
- Betting opens. Players place bets on the interface during a set betting window.
- Betting closes. No further bets are accepted for that round.
- The dealer runs the game. The wheel is spun, cards are dealt or the prize wheel turns, in view of the cameras.
- The result is shown. The outcome is displayed on screen and applied to the bets placed.
- The next round begins.
Some games add steps. In Lightning Roulette, for instance, the presenter pulls a lever after betting closes to generate the round's Lucky Numbers and their multipliers3.
Where the randomness comes from
In a traditional live game, the result comes from the physical event: where the ball lands or which cards are drawn.
Some live games combine that with software-generated elements. In Lightning Roulette, between one and five Lucky Numbers are selected in each round and given multiplied payouts of between 50x and 500x3.
Some providers also turn live formats into fully software-based versions. Evolution describes its First Person games as RNG-based versions of its live games5.
Where a random number generator is used, Great Britain's standards require its output to be unpredictable, and games to be implemented fairly and in line with the rules and payouts described to customers6.
The maths is set by the rules
Putting a real dealer in front of a camera does not change a game's mathematics. A single-zero roulette wheel has 37 pockets whether it is in a studio or a software simulation, and a single-number bet paying 35 to 1 carries a 2.70% house edge either way4.
What does change the maths is a change to the rules. In Lightning Roulette, straight-up bets that do not land on a Lucky Number pay 29 to 13, compared with 35 to 1 in standard roulette4. The lower base payout is balanced against the chance of a multiplier.
Working out the edge of a game like this requires the probability of each multiplier, so the figure to look for is the RTP set out in the game's own rules. In Great Britain, information enabling customers to judge their chances of winning, including the average theoretical RTP, must be easily available before they commit to gamble7. The game's own help screen is the place to check.
For the underlying calculations, see house edge explained and what RTP means.
Live games compared with software table games
| Live dealer game | Software (RNG) table game | |
|---|---|---|
| Source of the result | Physical equipment, sometimes with random elements added | Random number generator |
| Who runs each round | A dealer or presenter on camera | Software |
| Pace | Rounds follow the studio's betting timer | Rounds begin when the player acts |
| House edge | Set by the game's rules | Set by the game's rules |
The last row is the same in both columns. Neither format gives players an advantage over the house.
Points to keep in mind
- Read the rules of each table. Two roulette or blackjack tables can have different payouts or side bets, and those differences change the edge.
- Check what happens if your connection drops. Look for this in the rules of the specific table, and ask the operator if the rules do not explain it.
- Watch the time. Live tables can operate around the clock1, and a continuous run of rounds can make sessions longer than planned. Time reminders and limits, described on our responsible gambling page, can help.
This guide explains how the games work. It does not describe whether they are lawful anywhere in particular. For the Maldives, see the proposed gambling offence in the Maldives.
- Live dealer
- A casino game run in real time by a human dealer or presenter using physical equipment, streamed by video to players who bet through an on-screen interface.
- Random number generator (RNG)
- Hardware or software that generates the random numbers used to decide game outcomes. In regulated markets, RNG output is tested to show that it is statistically random and unpredictable.
- House edge
- The average loss on a bet expressed as a percentage of the stake, representing the casino's built-in mathematical advantage. For a game with a fixed return, house edge equals 100% minus RTP.
- Multiplier
- A feature that multiplies a win or payout by a fixed or random factor, such as 2x or 50x.
- Side bet
- An optional extra wager placed alongside the main bet in a table game, with its own payouts and its own house edge.
Live game show 
Live game show 
Live blackjack