Have you ever wondered how live casino games work? From our end, it seems very simple. A dealer draws cards or spins the roulette wheel, and a camera films everything. However, you simply cannot see many details just by looking at what is going on. The cameras are positioning in such a way to hide certain elements from view. It boosts your immersion, which is part of what live dealer games use to keep you invested.
Live Dealer Casino Studio and Technology Behind It
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We saw the question pop up a lot more after Evolution Gaming Crazy Time launched. Many players were impressed by the way camera swaps could follow hosts to different sections of the studio. Most impressive was the effect when one of the special features was activated, and a huge wheel was spun! This article will cover the basics of live casino studios, and how the technology in them works.
Custom-Built Studios
Most live casino games we play are ran through special high-tech studios. Developers use these purpose built places to power their releases. A great deal of elements are things we cannot see, which is thanks to camera placement. Not only are the cameras capable of filming in awesome quality, but they are also carefully positioned. That allows you to focus on the action and the dealer without any distractions.
High quality camera output and smaller sizes are just part of the equation. Another very important part of live dealer titles is the Optical Character Recognition software, shortened to OCR. The software scans everything the cameras sees, and cross-references it with its available data. This allows results and other details to be immediately visible on the screen with no delay!
This software is a key part of the Game Control Unit, which is attached to every table. It does several things at once, such as encode the video stream and process OCR software information. If a live casino table was a car, the Game Control Unit would be the engine. It is instrumental in ensuring a great time playing live dealer games.
Cameras let us see the host and the action. Each table also has a monitor that keeps track of new arrivals at the table and brief live chat logs. The monitor allows hosts to keep up with players easily, even if they are constantly busy dealing cards. The monitor is often positioned near the camera, giving you the impression that the dealer is always looking at you.
Streaming from Real World Casinos
In terms of technology, streaming from actual brick-and-mortar locations is nothing too different. Instead, minor adjustments have to be made in order to not disturb actual players who might want to play there. For example, some releases that stream from real world casinos have monitors for punters, too. This allows online and offline players to chat as they play despite being miles apart.
Live casinos in actual casinos usually consist of three rooms. You have the area where all the games are played. There is also a software room that makes sure everything is running smoothly. Finally, an analyst room keeps track of players and their bets to make sure no one is cheating. This setup tends to vary between casinos, so there is no guarantee all titles work this way.
Importance of Live Dealers
It is easy to dismiss dealers and hosts in live casinos as pretty faces with basic training. However, that is not the case, especially for more serious software providers! In order to get licenses from the strictest regulators, developers have to use trained professionals as dealers. Even without the requirement, software providers are incentivised to do so. Players are more interested in tables where the host knows what they are doing.
As such, you can freely choose between brick-and-mortar live casino games or ones streamed directly from a studio. In both cases, you have people who know exactly what they are doing handling the cards or roulette wheel.
Final Thoughts
We are constantly amazed just how complex the systems that power live casinos are. Live casinos employ lots of impressive technology to make player enjoyment possible. It is the reason why demo mode for these titles is rarely feasible. The extra cost is definitely worth for software providers, given how popular these releases are with players.
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