Top Live Casinos & Live Casino Promotions in UK 2022

What are Live Casinos?

A standard live table game has you, the UK gambler, watch and interact with a human dealer that directs the casino activity and accounts for each participant’s input. Live casinos are an umbrella term for various online gambling activities that are streamed and develop in real-time.

The beginning of live casinos

The novel concept appeared around 1996 as a more convenient and leisurely version of brick-and-mortar casino play. It took another decade for live casinos to go from fledgling to fully-fledged.

Advances in informatics infrastructure and streaming technologies finally could guarantee a smooth and veridic experience.

Let’s take a look at the present!

Nowadays, live casinos have grown to become an integral part of most top online casinos UK.

For this reason, our experts devote considerable time to our reviews of live online casinos, assessing each service’s live dealer casinos, among other extensive analyses that British readers can find.

There is perhaps no piece of technology apart from recording devices more important to the functioning of such sites, as is OCR.

What is OCR?

Optical Character Recognition technology is an automated data extraction system for printed or written information that can convert it into machine-readable text.

How does it work?

It registers the instances on the game tables of live dealer casinos and translates them into computer data. This ensures that the communication between the streamed dealer and all online casino players is quick, continuous, and reflective of reality.

Given their ever-growing fidelity and integrity, these sites have become, in recent years, player favourites in the UK, especially with the impressive game availability via live casino app versions.

How to register at live dealer casinos?

1. You go on your gambling website of choice.
2. You start your registration by providing your identification and contact details.
3. The live casinos will then attempt to verify your information.
4. Once you add your payment method, the site will also employ AML measures.
5. Complete all checks, and you can start playing on live dealer casinos with real money.

Take the safe route!

The KYC procedure is especially essential for the functioning of live dealer casinos. Such a procedure far surpasses verifications present in their real casino counterparts.

The current UKGC legislated procedure for online services is stricter as it needs to address money-laundering, minor and problem gambling concerns.

In one statement, our gambling experts can attest that live online casinos are in many aspects safer for their customers’ funds and well-being.

Live casinos vs land-based

CasinoAlpha brings you a comprehensive comparison of the main features of land-based and live casinos:

The appearance of live dealer casinos has posed a compelling and viable alternative to the harder to reach and perhaps more demanding of their clientele real-world casinos. Nevertheless, the UK gambler can consider them to be previews or preparatory for the real deal.

What do we look for in a live dealer casino?

All the top new casinos with the live dealer feature come with several responsible gambling measures. The UK live casinos are some of the strictest when it comes to providing a safe gambling environment for their customers.

These are some of the key features we look at and cover during our review process.

What Games are there in Live Dealer Casinos?

There are three main types of popular games that you will encounter: Live Roulette, Live Blackjack and Live Baccarat.

• Live Roulette

Live Roulette is a game of chance centred around a red and black wheel with odd, even and “0” numbers. It involves the dealer spinning the wheel and you making bets on numbers and it does not require complex strategies.

It has variations such as the American, French, or European versions. The top live casinos should have at least two out of the three, with additions like Speed, Two-Ball, or Lightning Roulette.

• Live Blackjack

This is a card game you play against the dealer, aiming to hit the 21 sum on every hand you’re dealt. You can find tables that have infinite player spots on Live Blackjack.

In this case, British gamblers will find the most variation in rules and game versions. Such games can include Multi-hand, Switch, or Side-bet options.

• Live Baccarat

It’s defined by a single and important rule which is you trying to pick the right hand valued closest to 9 points from 8 possible outcomes.

The best live dealer casinos will host Speed Baccarat, mini versions, and often add related games such as Sic Bo or Andar Bahar.

Recommended sites for live dealer games

Naturally, there are so many more games that live dealer casinos can similarly stream.

Technically speaking, gameplay via live dealer casinos requires these five elements to function:

How live game dealers work?

1. The cameras used to stream the commencing game.
2. The game environment, whether it is a table, wheel, or any other setup.
3. The game dealer playing the live game.
4. The game control unit that mediates between the physical game and the informatic interface.
5. A monitor showing the player’s decisions and input.

Are Live Games rigged?

You have multiple regulatory authorities reassuring you of gambling sites’ fairness and transparency. Activities in live casino sites are put under the same observations as any other games would.

Fairness measures go beyond basic verifications: while Secure Remote Testing is important, these types of activities also require On-Site Inspections.

iGaming forensics agencies, such as Gaming Labs, also perform:

• Responsibility tests: Evaluating if the live dealer casinos respect the laws and guidelines imposed by the UK Gambling Commission regarding safe gambling.
• Technical tests: Assessments of the technical and technological infrastructure used.
• Synchronicity tests: Checking for discrepancies between physical and informatic outcomes.
• Staff skill tests: Evaluating the competence and fairness of real dealers and employees.
• Premises tests: Verifying whether the physical setup is suitable for games in live casinos.
• Systems tests: Checking for informatic faults that can endanger the proper functioning of live dealer casinos.

Listing the best Live Game Providers

One of the most important aspects that guarantee fairness and high-quality games in best live dealer casinos is the developer behind them.

Our experts have a long background experience as far as knowing what a good provider is. We will provide a list and specs for the best developers on the UK market for live casino sites:

• Microgaming

The developer has a clear and stated interest in live and interactive gambling.

The game is part of a new wave of games garnering popularity in live dealer casinos and combining slots and live play mechanics.

They launched in June 2021 the first-ever online game show with a VR mode including, Gonzo’s Treasure Hunt.

• Evolution Gaming

Evolution Gaming has some of the most generous range of games. Still, when considering variety and novelty, the provider is a must for the best live dealer casinos.

Again, the largest fraction of its offer consists of Roulette games, with classic and niche entries, such as Double Ball Roulette. Each game also comes with favourite bets, as well as comprehensive statistics.

• Playtech

Playtech is simply the biggest software provider in the industry, which naturally reflects in the case of live game selections. Playtech is another obligatory appearance on the top live casinos.

As of recent times, the developer also inaugurated its Grand Royale game suite, suited for high-level clientele.

Here, players of top live casinos will find entries such as:

• Grand Blackjack, modelled after the Salle Privée table casino experiences
• Mini Prestige Roulette, a more engaging successor of Grand Roulette

• NetEnt

NetEnt is owned by Evolution Gaming.

Players from the UK may not find one of the strong points of live casinos in desktop offers but rather in its platform for mobile casinos.

We can say that it’s a struggle to find good live casino apps, an effort that we try to alleviate by covering the mobile viability of each such service in our casino reviews. Nonetheless, NetEnt does mobile gambling very well.

• Vivo Gaming

Although somewhat smaller, Vivo Gaming is slowly but surely making a name in the UK live casinos industry.

The developer provides round-the-clock streaming, with over 25 tables presented and translated in over 26 languages. Additionally, the provider hosts native-speaking dealer tables in Spanish, Portuguese, English, Turkish and Chinese.

It also counts itself among the few services that also showcase live bingo.

How to play at a Live Casino?

We will give you the UK three-step guide for playing live-streamed games:

• Choosing the Live Dealer Casino

Look for live casino promotions that fit the games you wish to play. You don’t need to scour anymore to do so, as we provide you with the best live dealer casinos.

• Picking a Live Dealer Game

Go on the dedicated live games tab and look for the best activity for you!

Games like Roulette or Blackjack have countless rule variations, so it is better that you familiarise yourself with them as well as with the titles each site hosts.

Most entries will also showcase minimum and maximum betting limits and free seats, and the current state of the game. Seeing this is as simple as hovering your mouse over a thumbnail or lightly tapping on it if you are using a live casino app.

• Starting to Play

1. If you are a bet behind, wait for the round to end
2. Once you can place wagers, select the desired number of virtual chips and place them on the table
3. The dealer will take note and account for your action
4. Finish this process within the wagering target completion period. You will know when this is done, as the dealer will announce when bets are over
5. Follow the live stream as the game unravels and find out the outcome.

Expert insights on Top Live Casinos in the UK

We help making the most of your time with the best live dealer casinos easier.

Use the Chat Feature

Live casino sites would not be the same without their social side. Most such services will allow you to communicate both with players and the dealer while betting.

Respect Casino Conduct

Several actions could lead to your account getting suspended and losing access to live casino sites.

1. Providing inaccurate data during KYC procedures.
2. Failing to provide proof of funds or payment methods’ ownership.
3. Live casino bonus abuse.
4. Depositing funds without an intent to wager them.
5. Cheating and using software aids or artificial intelligence systems.
6. Placing unfair or low-risk bets.
7. Using abusive, defamatory, unlawful, or prejudiced language, whether via live chat or the chat feature present in live casino sites.
8. Colluding with other players, including chip-dumping.

Avoid Irregular Play

• Consider the bet restrictions for using live casino bonus money exceeding a certain amount at once
• Respect the minimum bet requirement
• Account for time constraints, since live casino promotions interdict clients from playing the same game for longer than a certain amount of time. The most often encountered period is two hours
• Avoid low-risk betting or sudden changes in gameplay behaviour, such as: changing game types drastically following larger earnings or moving from low to high weighted games

Take into account that game weighting is another way of referring to the contribution qualifying games have towards your live casino bonus wagering requirements.

Read the T&Cs for General Info

We advise that you do your reading of the current terms and conditions well before registering, as the stipulations contained in them will dictate the type of experience you will have. This is key to using any type of gambling site, let alone live casino sites.

The main gameplay aspects you need to expect:

• The house edge for the real money games in live dealer casinos
• Platform specifications
• Wagering requirements
• Wagering contribution for live casino promotions.

Try Mobile

The best live dealer casinos will also have mobile apps.

What live casino apps are there?

Our iGaming specialists have devoted considerable time and effort to assess mobile app usability. This is exactly what we endeavour to achieve in our live casino app reviews.

The market is still at its beginnings, but with the UK gamblers’ growing interest in handheld play, we only expect it to grow and flourish. You would be surprised by the discrepancies encountered between desktop and handheld performance and overall experience. For this reason, our platform-specific guide is key for understanding these new gambling frontiers.

Download Software When Needed

Some top live casinos take it a step further with the development of live casino app versions, both for desktop and mobile use.

What is their purpose?

These are meant to alleviate connectivity and performance issues, as downloadable content can provide a more stable and faithful experience. High performance is key for such casinos.

Unfortunately, as developers and the selection of games advance, players’ setups can lag, given everchanging requirements for the best live casinos. But, a live casino app will provide a more direct and efficient internet connection.

Additionally, live casino app options are a wholly different breed from your average desktop gambling site or application, so you must get your information from knowledgeable sources.

Use CasinoAlpha to Compare Live Dealer Casinos

Let us recap how you should proceed:

1. Make use of our inside knowledge to assess and find only the best live dealer casinos out there.
2. Look through our reviews, both for live casino sites and bonuses.
3. Finding a viable offer may take some time, but we come to your aid with our comprehensive casino bonus listing. We encourage you to access our curated list rather than directly opting into such schemes.
4. Read the in-depth specifications for each entry, as these will highlight how your experience will turn out.
5. Once you pinpoint the best option for you, start your activity with the best live dealer casinos, whether on desktop or via apps.
6. Never forget to only play with the utmost responsibility. Knowing when to take a break or even stop altogether is essential. Fortunately, the UK has a series of tools and services, the most reliable being GAMSTOP. We go at length about how and why the agency helps you gamble safely and responsibly in our expert guide to GAMSTOP. We advise that you read it before starting your activity.