What it is
A live dealer game is a real casino table on camera. A dealer stands at a physical table, deals real cards or spins a real wheel, and the player watches by video while placing bets on the screen. The outcome is whatever happens on the table.
It exists because some players do not trust a software game, or simply find one dull. Watching a person turn a card answers both complaints. For an agent it is a way to offer the nearest thing to a casino floor without anyone leaving the house.
How a streamed table works
There are three parts.
The first is the room. Wikipedia's account of online casinos says the games are streamed in real time from a land-based casino or a studio recreated to mimic one.
The second is the translation. The same article explains that what the dealer physically does, such as the result of a wheel spin or the cards dealt, is turned into data the software can use by means of optical character recognition. That is how the platform knows a king was dealt without anyone typing it in.
The third is the betting. Players place bets through the on-screen interface during a short window before each round. When the window closes, the dealer plays the round, the result is read from the table, and the platform grades every bet.
The player sees a dealer and a countdown. You see a line in the weekly figures.
Why it costs more than digital games
A slot game is a piece of software that can serve a thousand players at once. A live table cannot.
The Wikipedia article is direct about it: these games are a lot more expensive for websites to host than virtual games, because they involve a heavier investment in technology and staffing. It lists who a studio typically employs, including camera operators, several croupiers, an information technology manager and a pit boss who settles disputes.
That cost is why live dealer is billed separately almost everywhere, and why the same source notes that casinos tend to offer only a handful of the most popular games in this format. Its list of the most common live games is short: baccarat, blackjack and roulette.
How it is billed here
On this platform the digital casino is included in both plans. Live dealer is an add-on at $13 per active player per week, on top of Standard at $8 or Pro at $11. It is charged separately because it is the piece that costs the most to operate.
We take no percentage of what your casino makes. The add-on is the whole charge. BookiePerHead takes no wagers and holds no player money, so what the tables win or lose is the agent's to carry and to settle with the rest of the week.
For what the product looks like to your players, see the live casino tables.
What changes for the agent
Pace. A live round takes far longer than a slot spin. Fewer bets per hour means the house edge shows itself more slowly, and a session is less likely to run away in either direction in ten minutes.
Bet size. Table players often bet more per hand than slot players do per spin. A slower game with bigger bets can still produce a large figure. Know what a player may risk at a table before he sits down.
Hours. Live tables are busiest in the evening and late at night, which is also when sports results are landing. Your heaviest hours get heavier.
The bill. The add-on is charged per active player per week. Whether it pays for itself depends on how many of your players would use it and how much they play. That is arithmetic you can do before you commit.
Is it worth adding
Work it out from your own book.
Count the players who already use the digital casino in a normal week. If you have not switched that on yet, start with what a casino adds to a sportsbook. They are the likely audience. If that number is small, live dealer will not create demand that is not there.
Ask the provider exactly how the add-on is counted on the bill, and write the answer down. Then compare that weekly cost with what you would expect those casino players to produce. If you cannot make the comparison come out clearly in favor, wait.
There is one more test that has nothing to do with money. If your players are people who have sat at real tables, they will notice the difference between a dealer and an animation. If they have only ever bet sports on a phone, they may not care.
An example
Take an agent, call him Ulises, with sixty players in Monte Claro. Twenty-two of them use the digital casino most weeks. Several have asked whether there are real tables.
Before adding anything, Ulises asks on the demo call how the add-on is counted and which tables are offered. He decides to try it through the two busiest months of his year and to judge it on one question: does the casino line in his weekly report grow by more than the add-on costs him.
He also sets an expectation with his players. Table play goes into the same weekly figure and settles on the same day as everything else. Nobody gets a separate arrangement because they prefer blackjack.
After eight weeks he has a real answer from his own figures. Whatever it is, it cost him two months to learn, not a year.
Questions to ask on the demo call
- How exactly is the live dealer add-on counted on the weekly bill?
- Which tables are available, and during which hours?
- In which languages do the dealers work?
- How do I control what a player may risk at a live table?
- Where does live casino play appear in the weekly report?
Write the answers down. They are the difference between a feature you are paying for and one your players use.
One thing to check first
Casino games and sports betting are often regulated under different rules, and live tables can raise their own questions. Whether you may offer either depends on where you and your players are. That is for a lawyer who practises where you operate, and it is worth asking before you add a product, not after.