The Royal Vegas Live Casino is one of the biggest and most popular live casinos in the industry. It utilizes the Microgaming software to offer fast-paced, always available live dealer games to all of its members. In this guide we’ll be looking at the Royal Vegas Live Blackjack game in particular.
This game actually takes place in Canada, where real dealers deal real cards to players sitting behind their computers anywhere in the world. It’s one of the best ways to play the game of blackjack, because as we shall discover in our review there is one interesting feature that makes big wins a real possibility for any player with basic blackjack knowledge and the ability to count.
How Does Royal Vegas Live Blackjack Work?
Royal Vegas Live Blackjack works in much the same way as other live blackjack games. These games take place in a room that has been fitted with cameras and other technology. These rooms are often actual casinos, but they can also be custom-fitted warehouses and TV studios.
There are tables and dealers throughout these rooms, and most of the action that takes place does so in real-time. In games of Royal Vegas Live Blackjack, the dealer draws cards from a shoe and in doing so drags them across a sensor, face-down. This sensor quickly reads the card and programs the data in.
The cards, which are specially made so that the numbers and suits appear much larger than they do usually, are then dealt face-up to each of the players. The dealer then instructs the players to move, and once those players initiate their move this is fed through to the dealer. He or she then hits/stands accordingly and the hand plays out like it usually would.
The fact that these cards are automatically read during the deal means the computer always knows who has what, and whether they have won or lost. This means that everything can move as quickly as it would in a virtual environment, with the chips moving to and from players’ stack instantly.
Review of Royal Vegas Live Blackjack
There are a few interesting features on Royal Vegas Live Blackjack that will appeal to professional players and should also draw the eye of casual players. These include:
- No Shuffles: The cards are not shuffled after every hand and all used cards are moved to a different stack. This is how offline casinos operate and how live casinos should—but don’t always— It means that it is possible to count cards. Just be careful, as it is also possible for you to be booted from a game for counting cards.
- Changing Skins: There are new themes added to the game on occasion, including a time when they employed a Playboy theme, complete with dealers wearing bunny ears. It’s not a big deal, but it helps to make the games more interesting and more seasonal, which is another reminder that you are playing a live game in real time.
- No Side Bets: If you think this is a bad thing, then you have a lot to learn. A lot of casual players are drawn to side bets, but as any blackjack strategist will tell you, they are never a good idea and nearly always reduce your chances of getting a return. There are side bets in the “Party Blackjack” game, but we wouldn’t recommend this.
- Lots of Tables: More tables mean more games. There is no shortage of seats during any Royal Vegas Live Blackjack session and even if there is you should not need to wait for very long.
- Bet Behind: If you are not able to sit at a table you can take advantage of a feature known as Bet Behind. Simply put, this allows you to bet on another player. If they are on a hot streak then jump onboard and join in the fun. This feature is fairly common in land-based casino games, but online you will struggle to find it offered anywhere outside of Royal Vegas Live Blackjack.
Live Blackjack vs Virtual Blackjack
Live dealer blackjack moves a little slower than virtual blackjack. If you are used to the latter then you may find things a little tedious at first, but you will grow accustomed to it and before long you won’t even notice the time differences. It’s just like playing in a real casino after all—you’re not as desperate for things to move quickly because there is more going on around you.
One of the biggest reasons why we recommend live blackjack over virtual blackjack is that you can count cards in the former and you can’t in the latter. There is also more of a trust element to it. It doesn’t matter how many eCOGRA audits you read or how any times an expert assures you, there will always be an element of doubt when playing virtual games. You know that these games can be rigged with the press of a button, and if you hit a losing streak the doubt begins to keep in.
This can not be done on live blackjack games. They could certainly rig the games if they wanted to, but it wouldn’t be as easy and it would be much more obvious.
What you Need to Know
- You can play Royal Vegas Live Blackjack on your desktop or mobile and it can be accessed through the Instant Play and the downloadable casino.
- There is another variant called Party Blackjack. It uses many of the same rules but is geared more to casual and “fun” play, with side bets, additional games, and more of a party atmosphere.
- There is minimum bet of $1, but this goes all of the way up to $4,000. The Bet Behind is much more limiting though and ranges from $10 to $200.
- You can, and should, use your Royal Vegas welcome bonus to play Royal Vegas Live Blackjack. The limits are high, the house edge is low, and you’ll feel like a VIP as you stack-up those bets with money that isn’t yours. It’s also a great way to clear your play-through rate due to the high payouts.