Blackjack is unbelievably popular in physical casinos – as a matter of fact, in many countries where gambling is legal, it’s precisely blackjack which rakes in the biggest profits, mostly thanks to high rollers who’re hoping to beat the game. In the online space, though, it’s probably one of the least popular casino games, staying WAY behind other games like roulette and especially slots. And when you think about it, it’s not exactly hard to see why – online blackjack just isn’t all that exciting. Online slots are incredibly fun, with their flashy animations and bonus games, they were practically made for the online space (and it really doesn’t hurt that even the overwhelming majority of physical slots these days run on computers), and roulette also offers a fair share of spectacle. Online blackjack, though, does not – card games online have never been too exciting, and when you add the fact that you can’t really count cards online, which makes all of those blackjack books useless. And besides, part of the fun when playing blackjack is the interaction with the dealer – after all, who here hasn’t started a friendly chat with a dealer at least once when playing blackjack?
Thankfully, online casinos have thought about this, and the solution is live blackjack! Think of it this way – imagine a real life dealer playing a real game of blackjack with a very real deck of cards. The game is being filmed on a high definition webcam and broadcast on the Internet, where players can watch it live and make bets based on the cards that are drawn from the deck. The dealer, similarly, can see the players live (or at least what commands they input) and as such can hit them or hold on their command. As an added bonus, the dealer can also see chat messages written by the players and can, similarly, respond to them in real time. That’s essentially what live blackjack is! Now, keep in mind that I suck at explanations – the folks at liveblackjack.org.uk can probably explain it a lot better than I ever could, but that’s basically how it works in a nutshell. It’s practically the best of physical casino from the comfort of your own home!
Honestly, while I’d absolutely recommend live casino over online casino, you should be aware of the fact that it’s not perfect, not by a long shot. Since there’s only a handful of live casino tables at each casino, and dozens of players who want to play at any time, there’s usually up to ten players playing per table at the same time (especially if the dealer is an attractive girl). That means that games can go pretty slowly, and if you want to count cards, that could put a damper on your plans. However, if you can overcome that, I think you’ll find plenty to like in live blackjack – certainly a lot more than in standard online blackjack!