The online gambling industry continues to grow at a steady pace, so much so that this market is projected to reach the impressive value of US$94 billion by 2024. Live dealer casinos are one of the leading segments in the industry, attracting more and more players with their authenticity and enhanced gaming experience.
But how did this sector of the industry evolve to such an extent? In this article, SuperCasinoSites tracks the evolution of live casino games and discusses some of the biggest milestones in their history, including the foundation of the industry’s regulators, the launch of the first live casino platforms, and the improvements this vertical has seen over the years.
1994/2003 - The Birth of an Industry and Its Regulators
The online gambling industry would never have been as fair and transparent had it not been for the regulatory authorities that strictly oversee its operations. Regulations are in place to ensure the ethical treatment of players, fair playing conditions, responsible gaming, and customer protection. But when and where did these authorities emerge from?
1994 - Antigua and Barbuda Issues the First Online Casino Licenses
1996 - The Birth of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission in North America
2000 - Alderney Becomes the First European Online Gaming Regulator
2003 - eCOGRA Arrives on the Scene1994 - Antigua and Barbuda Issues the First Online Casino Licenses
The year 1994 is a crucial milestone in the history of online gambling. This is when the small Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda became the first ever jurisdiction to license and regulate online gambling companies after the local government signed the Free Trade and Processing Zone Act.
This piece of legislation led to the formation of the Directorate of Offshore Gaming, which is a division of the local Financial Services Regulatory Commission, mandated with various licensing and regulatory responsibilities.
This year was also marked by the birth of Microgaming, the first supplier of online casino software in history. The company launched the first online casino, the Gaming Club, and went on to become one of the largest suppliers of gambling software in the world.
1996 - The Birth of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission in North America
Two years after online gambling became a reality, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission was established in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Canada. The Commission issued its first licenses three years later after it enacted the Kahnawake Gaming Law, introducing its Regulations concerning Interactive Gaming in July 1999.
The regulator initially issued licenses to gambling operators hosted at its own data center Mohawk Internet Technology, including many casinos that serviced US customers despite the US government’s prohibition.
This changed in November 2017 when the Commission amended its policies after reaching an agreement with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Control whereby the regulator pulled out its licensees from the US market. The Kahnawake jurisdiction is currently one of the most prodigious regulators of online gaming operators and has numerous live casino licensees.
The year 1996 also saw the formation of the Interactive Gaming Council, with Microgaming being one of its founding members. This entity provides a unified voice across the online casino industry and ensures its members comply with a strict fairness code of conduct.
2000 - Alderney Becomes the First European Online Gaming Regulator
The Alderney Gambling Control Commission was established in 2000 with the mandate to enforce Alderney’s recently introduced online gaming legislation. The Alderney Gambling Law was enacted in the previous year. The Gambling Control Commission went on to become one of the leading regulators of online casino operations in the world.
Some of its most reputable licensees include Grosvenor Casinos, Genting Casino, Paddy Power, NetBet, and Super Casino, all of which offer impressive suites of live dealer games. One of the most recent additions to Alderney’s roster of licensees is Evolution Gaming, the world-renowned supplier of live casino solutions. Evolution received its Alderney license in August 2017.
2003 - eCOGRA Arrives on the Scene
The year 2003 was marked by the arrival of the non-profit organization eCOGRA many of you have probably heard of. Software studio Microgaming was also involved in its creation. The purpose of the organization is to provide a unified ethical-practices framework across the interactive gambling industry.
Apart from dealing with player complaints and assisting with their resolution, eCOGRA is also a world-acclaimed testing agency. It audits the software of various online casinos to ensure the games yield their expected theoretical return percentages and are fair to players. A casino with eCOGRA’s stamp of approval is always a good choice for those who insist on having their peace of mind where fair play is concerned.
2003/2008 - From RNG Online Games to Live Casinos
When online gambling first became a reality, interactive casinos had no other option but to restrict themselves to RNG-based games. Technology had not yet improved to an extent that allowed for live casino streams, especially where Internet speed was concerned. This all changed in the early 2000s when the first live dealer casinos arrived on the scene, transforming how online gambling games played overnight.
2003 - CWC Gaming Pioneers the First Live Casino Feed
2003 - Playtech Debuts Its Live Casino Platform
2006 - Microgaming and Evolution Gaming Introduce Their Live Platforms
2007 - Sky TV Live Casino Broadcasts Begin2003 - CWC Gaming Pioneers the First Live Casino Feed
The first live casino feed was pioneered by developer CWC Gaming after the company launched a live stream from its dedicated live dealer studio in the Costa Rican capital San Jose. The company was established in 2003.
Its gaming suite consisted of live baccarat, roulette, Sic Bo, and blackjack variations but the provider also offered a variety of RNG-based casino games. One of its most prominent customers was Ladbrokes.
However, the British operator signed a contract with Evolution Gaming in 2009 and CWC’s offering was quickly choked by the games of its competitor. The CWC games received less traffic and the revenue of the company dropped. CWC Gaming closed shop in December 2012 but nevertheless, went down in history as the first supplier to launch live casino games.
2003 - Playtech Debuts Its Live Casino Platform
The potential of live dealer games did not go unnoticed after CWC launched its live offering and soon the Isle of Man-based company Playtech followed suit. The company was founded in 1999 but it was not until 2003 that it added live dealer games to its product portfolio.
The year 2017 was a turning point for the company as this is when Playtech moved its live dealers to a new next-generation facility in Latvia’s capital Riga. It is considered the largest live-casino facility in the world, occupying a floor space of 8,500 square meters.
The technology within the new facility is just as impressive as its size. Hundreds of cameras are deployed to live stream the action for hundreds of custom-made casino tables. Apart from this, the company also has live studios in Romania, Spain, the Philippines, and Belgium.
Playtech uses state-of-the-art streaming technology to bring its live casino offering to players’ screens. The company currently distributes its live suite to many regulated markets including Romania, the UK, Italy, and Spain. The company employs more than 500 native-speaking dealers at its live blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and poker tables.
2006 - Microgaming and Evolution Gaming Introduce Their Live Platforms
As live casinos grew in popularity, many major software studios followed Playtech’s example by adding live dealer platforms to their portfolios. Two prime examples are industry dinosaur Microgaming and Evolution Gaming.
Microgaming made their foray into the live casino industry in 2006 with the launch of a sophisticated live platform that offers in-home replicas of classic casino games like baccarat, roulette, blackjack, poker, and Sic Bo.
The company delivers a premium gaming experience from its Philippine and Canadian studios. In 2010, Microgaming introduced several upgrades to its live dealer product, ditching the blue-screen background it previously used for a stylish casino floor, creating a more authentic gaming environment for players.
The year 2006 was also marked by the arrival of Evolution Gaming which went on to become one of the leading suppliers of live casino software in the world. In the following year, the company signed its first deals with major operators the likes of William Hill, Expekt, PartyGaming, and Gala Coral.
Launched in 2009, Evolution’s live studio in Riga occupies over 2,000 square meters of gaming space, offering dedicated environments for various blackjack, roulette, baccarat, casino-banked poker, and dice games.
By 2016, the company had already won seven consecutive EGR awards for Live Casino Supplier of the Year. It also has studios in Belgium, Romania, Malta, Georgia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, the USA, and Canada.
2007 - Sky TV Live Casino Broadcasts Begin
In 2007, the interactive gambling company and operator of major gaming sites like Super Casino, Smart Live Casino, and Jackpot247 NetPlay TV was issued a license by the UK Gambling Commission. As a result, Super Casino and Smart Live Casino started to offer live dealer roulette games over the dedicated TV channels Freesat and Sky TV.
In fact, Super Casino was the first ever gaming operator to broadcast live casino games on British television. Sky TV viewers now had the chance to place wagers via the casino website, over the telephone, and via their smartphones.
The broadcasts ran every weeknight. With that said, Super Casino was removed from the Freesat channel in the summer of 2010. Sky TV ceased broadcasting its live games in March 2016.
2008/2020 - The Growth of the Live Casino Industry
By 2008, live casinos had become a force to be reckoned with in the interactive gaming industry. No self-respecting online casino would skip on adding live tables to its line of gaming products. In the decade to follow, the industry continued to grow at an unprecedented rate as you shall soon see in the paragraphs below.
2008/2010 - More Operators Add Live Dealer Games
2011 - The First Localized Live Dealer Games Arrive
2012 - First Dedicated Live Dealer Rooms and Mobile Games
2013 - More Live Games Go Mobile, Landbased Casino Streams Commence
2015 - Regulated Live Games Arrive in the US
2017/2020 - Latest Improvements in Live Casino Gaming2008/2010 - More Operators Add Live Dealer Games
The number of gaming operators to incorporate live dealer games into their portfolios continued to grow at a steady pace in the years following 2007. In 2008, operators like Blue Square, Unibet, and BetVictor all launched live casinos powered by the Evolution Gaming platform.
The same year saw the formation of William Hill Online, a joint venture of software supplier Playtech and William Hill Plc. This led to the launch of the William Hill Casino Club which featured live casino games provided by no other than Playtech. Several years later William Hill bought out Playtech’s 29% share, gaining full control over William Hill Online.
More live casinos went online in 2009 when operators Paddy Power, 888, Ladbrokes, and PartyCasino all added Evolution Gaming live dealer offerings to their websites. Meanwhile, Evolution Gaming expanded its Latvian studio by the impressive 400%, adding more live tables.
New Evolution casinos continued to sprout like mushrooms in the following year, so much so that the company was named Live Casino Supplier of the Year at the 2010 EGR Awards. At the same time, Microgaming upgraded its live platform and added live blackjack to its selection.
2011 - The First Localized Live Dealer Games Arrive
Localized live dealer games started to appear around 2011. This is the year when Betfair added a selection of live games from Playtech’s European studio. These were language-localized live tables, designed to cater to players from different markets. Casino buffs now had the chance to benefit from multilingual user interfaces and live dealer services in their native languages.
Evolution had several other major achievements in 2011. The studio collected its second consecutive EGR award for Live Casino Supplier of the Year. It also received a license from the Italian regulator AAMS which enabled it to legally service players from the local market. The company launched several localized tables complete with native-speaking Italian dealers, including Venezia Live Roulette in 2011 and the 2012 release Ventuno Blackjack.
2012 - First Dedicated Live Dealer Rooms and Mobile Games
In 2012, many major gaming suppliers expanded their operations on the Italian market, launching “.it” domains under local licenses. Some of the most noteworthy names that penetrated this lucrative market include PartyCasino, William Hill, and Unibet, all of which make use of Evolution Gaming’s localized live tables.
Unibet, in particular, became the first gambling operator in history to get a dedicated Evolution Gaming live dealer room in March 2012. The casino’s live section was upgraded with five dedicated tables, four for blackjack and one for live roulette. The tables feature unique backdrops, with the dealers wearing special branded uniforms with the Unibet logo. Contender William Hill followed suit in May of the same year.
The first live dealer games for iPads were introduced one year earlier by the Macau-based supplier EntwineTech. However, it was not until 2012 that mobile live games gained traction when major operators Grosvenor Casinos and Blue Square added Evolution’s live roulette for iPads. The mobile gaming sector quickly took off.
2013 - More Live Games Go Mobile, Landbased Casino Streams Commence
In 2013, Playtech introduced live roulette for iPads while Evolution Gaming added live iOS blackjack to their gaming selection. Live casino apps started to appear in Apple’s UK App Store. Swedish software supplier NetEnt joined the live gaming revolution in the same year.
Until 2013, live dealer games were largely hosted and broadcast from sophisticated studio environments. This changed when Playtech unveiled its intentions to incorporate live streams from an actual landbased casino (Spain’s Casino Gran Madrid) into its constantly expanding selection of live dealer games.
Evolution Gaming was quick to notice the potential of this idea and soon followed Playtech’s example. The company launched live roulette streams from the floors of the Spanish casino Casino Rincon de Pepe and the Italian Casinò di Campione. Presently, Evolution also broadcasts live games from London’s Hippodrome Casino and the Maltese Dragonara Casino.
2015 - Regulated Live Games Arrive in the US
In 2006, the administration of then-US president George W. Bush enacted what is known across the industry as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). This piece of legislation made it illegal for financial institutions in the country to facilitate money transfers between US residents and offshore gambling operators without US licenses.
The trouble was very few states granted such licenses and the online operators had to work in partnership with US landbased casinos to legally service players from the local market. This forced many live casino suppliers, including Microgaming and Playtech, to withdraw their products and cease servicing US players.
Things took a favorable turn for some US gambling fans in 2015 when the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City added a selection of live dealer tables on its online gaming site. The software was provided by supplier Ezugi, which was acquired by Evolution Gaming in January 2019.
2017/2020 - Latest Improvements in Live Casino Gaming
We already mentioned Playtech spent the larger portion of 2017 migrating its live dealers to a new, bigger and better studio in Riga, which was a turning point in the company’s history. The past couple of years saw several improvements in the live dealer segment, with more and more providers introducing in-casino streams and gameplay.
Some of the most noteworthy names in this respect include Evolution Gaming, Extreme Live Gaming (recently acquired by Pragmatic Play), and Authentic Gaming. The latter offers exclusive live roulette games, streamed from the floors of Italy’s Saint-Vincent Resort & Casino, Georgia’s Hilton International Casino in Batumi, the US Foxwoods Casino, London’s Aspers Casino, Casino Bucharest in the Romanian capital, and Germany’s Casino Bad Homburg.
Tons of new features were introduced to improve players’ live gaming experience, including betting behind, multiple camera angles, multi-tabling, and multi-player tables. Fast play became a phenomenon, with the majority of suppliers adding speed deal and speed spin tables to their suites. Surely the live casino industry will continue improving at a steady pace in the years to follow.
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Find the answers of questions people asked so far:
When were Live Game Shows first introduced to online casino players?
While Live Casino providers have introduced a brand-new way to enjoy your online casino experience with an array of live table games, they did not stop there. Even though table games can be extremely fun, offering an authentic casino experience online, many prefer different types of casino games when they play online. That is why, many Live Casino providers have also added game-show types of games to their portfolios. Evolution Gaming was one of the first providers to introduce a brand-new casino product to Live Casino fans, adding titles like Deal or No Deal, Dream Catcher, and Live Monopoly to its portfolio. Nowadays, both Evolution Gaming and other Live Casino providers boast a large number of Live Game Shows, offering players a unique online casino experience.
Are Live Casino slots a new concept or are they just another variation of Live Casino Game Shows?
Live Casino Slots are a combination of Game Shows and RNG slots. That being said, these types of live dealer games are rather unique, offering a thrilling gaming experience to slot fans. Games like Buffalo Blitz Live and Everybody’s Jackpot Live have been launched by Playtech’s Live Casino Studio, offering players a unique and interactive slot experience. While you will still play your well-known slots, with the same paying systems, bonus features, and symbols, you will not have control over the spin of the slot. Instead, all players who have joined the Live Slot will place their bets and will wait for the automatic spin of the reels, which will apply to all players who have made a bet before the spinning round. That means that paying combinations, bonus features, and free spins are triggered for all participating players at the same time.
What are some of the latest innovations in the Liva Casino sector that are available across numerous online casinos?
More software developers are starting to introduce live-dealer games to their players, with Quickspin being one example. Thanks to a collaboration between Qucikspin and Playtech, the former also stepped into the Live Casino realm offering players a brand new way to enjoy their time spent online. While many companies still launch classic table games, software providers like Evolution Gaming, Pragmatic Play, and Playtech, to name a few, make sure to add various bonus features to classic table games, making them even more entertaining for casino fans.
Live shows, variety games, and slots have also started appearing at more virtual casinos, offering a brand-new concept of Live Casino to online players. Last but definitely not least, some software providers have also ventured into providing games, which are a mixture of RNG casino titles and live-dealer options. That way results are still solely determined by an RNG system but pre-recorded videos of real dealers reveal the results after every betting round.