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Live Casino Gambling in The United States
The ambiguous laws make the question of gambling legality in the US not-so-easy to answer. While the federal law considers gambling legal, there are plenty of restrictions attached and each state free to allow or prohibit the practice on its own territory.
State-run lotteries are more or less run everywhere, with Hawaii and Utah being the only two US states which have completely outlawed all forms of gambling. American gambling history is just as varied.
It starts off with Native Americans wagering on games of skill and chance, practice which was later adopted by the European settlers during the 1600s. In 18th and 19th century, British colonies were known to use lotteries for raising funds for university and schools. New Orleans was the first to claim the title of nation’s gambling capital, only to be overtaken by San Francisco during the California Gold Rush.
However, relevant laws getting increasingly restrictive has caused such activities to move underground. By the beginning of 20th century, gambling was pretty much outlawed throughout the USA, thus helping the development of mafia and organized crime.
These days players in the US are able to gamble for real money at several sites. In this article we’ve compiled a list of the top ones that offer a chance to play with live dealers.
We are working on a comprehensive state by state list of online casinos and legislation updates right now. Alternatively, you can see the state by state section of RealMoneyAction for an interactive overview of what the situation is in each US state.
Popular Payment Methods
If an online casino accepts US players, one can be sure they’ll be offered to deposit money and collect winnings in US dollars. With potential currency exchange issue out of the way, American gamers will expect to be able to pay via credit/ debit cards or Bitcoin.
Credit/Debit Cards – remain one of the most popular online payment option among gamblers worldwide, regardless of practical alternative solutions continuously being added to the list.
One will struggle to find a gaming site not offering at the very least MasterCard and Visa, both highly reputable service providers regularly upgrading their security measures to protect clients’ cash from thieving hackers.
Though American Express, sometimes referred to as Amex, is accepted at most online casinos that accept credit card deposits, it must be noted that the fees applied are usually much higher than cards such as Visa or Mastercard.
If you are an American Express customer, this should come as no surprise, but it is important to learn about the fees that are going to be applied to deposits before you initiate the deposit itself.
Bitcoin – is a digital currency created and held electronically, with a major advantage being that it allows funds to be transferred from one end of the world to another securely and quickly while safeguarding one’s anonymity. Bitcoin can be bought through a regulated exchange with the help of a credit/debit card or via bank transfer.
Coinbase, CEX.IO, Coinmama and Kraken are some of the recommended wallets and they all work with USD. To fund an online casino account, player will need to enter the amount they wish to deposit, select Bitcoin as deposit method, and copy the Bitcoin address which will then pop up into their Bitcoin wallet. In more recent years, casinos have begun accepting other forms of cryptocurrency as well, including Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and so many more.
The fact that there are almost never fees associated with cryptocurrency deposits is exactly why players are growing to love them more and more.
Western Union – Western Union is a popular method of depositing and withdrawing casino funds for players from the United States because it is safe, secure, and reliable. After all, Western Union is a company that has been in business since the middle of the 19th century.
What’s more, their agents number more than half a million and live in more than 200 different countries. What happens when you deposit via Western Union is that you are, quite literally, sending money from one person to another, somewhere else in the world.
Sometimes the person is the casino itself, whereas other times the person to whom you are sending money is nothing more than an agent of an online casino, an employee. By traveling to a Western Union location, you can quickly and easily dispatch funds.
Popular Live Dealer Games in the USA
Yearning for a land-based casino experience while not keen to travel and pay for a hotel, American players can experience the same kind of thrill with live dealer games offered by Vivo (Arrow’s Edge) and Visionary iGaming.
Vivo features a complete assortment consisting of Live Roulette, Blackjack and Baccarat with really impressive stream quality. ViG offers Live European and American Roulette, Live Blackjack with a unique Early Payout variant, Live Baccarat, and above-mentioned Super6 which is also known as No Commission Baccarat.
Super 6 side bet is offered as insurance to a Banker 6 win and pays 12:1, while Dragon Bonus side bet delivers when the hand is a Natural winner or wins by at least 4 points. Despite craps being a massively popular game at brick and mortar casinos across the United States, it is not found as often at live dealer casinos available to players from the US.
Vivo Gaming did offer craps for a period of time but, inexplicably, they removed it from their offering. There really aren’t many sites out there where live craps is available, and for the time being this is something US players simply have to deal with.
As gambling laws across the United States become increasingly lax, American citizens are becoming more familiarized with casinos and gambling. What this means is that, even though an increasing number of people are becoming familiar with gambling, they may not all live near brick and mortar gambling destinations like Atlantic City or Las Vegas.
This is why the need for live casinos has grown so much in recent years. As time progresses, and as the American public becomes even more interested in gambling, the number of live casinos will grow and competition will increase.
Live Roulette Options For USA Players
In terms of live roulette options for players from the United States, Visionary iGaming is king. They are the live roulette software provider you will find at casinos such as MYBCasino, Bovada, and VietBet.
ViG does well to keep players separated by stakes level at roulette tables. This means you will find tables with betting ranges from $1-$100, $5-$500, and $25-$5,000. This is just one example, as the exact betting ranges offered will vary from casino to casino.
5Dimes, for example, has more robust, wider betting ranges than Bovada does. Visionary iGaming also offers both European and American versions of roulette. As far as the stream quality is concerned, it does leave a little bit to be desired, especially when compared to some of the more established European companies such as Evolution.
The live roulette user interface at Bovada, for example, seem a bit too crowded and heavily dominated by digital graphics. The actual live dealer screen is quite small and changes in size as rounds progress.
What we really do like is the fact that the dealers are extremely friendly and the studios take on the look of a live brick and mortar casino, complete with the sounds of other dealers talking and other roulette tables being played. It is quite easy to see that the operation ViG is running is quite large.
Live Blackjack Options For USA Players
The live blackjack offered by Visionary iGaming is a bit better than the roulette offering in that it is simple and straightforward. Rather than there being all sorts of complicated aspects to the user interface, all that is pictured is the dealer and the table that is being operated. Small digital chips indicate how much you are wagering, but apart from those the game is as real as it gets.
In comparison to what you would get on the European market, there is not much difference between ViG and Evolution live dealer software. What is truly unique about ViG’s blackjack offering is the fact that the betting ranges are as robust as you will find. From small time players who may be sports betting transplants, to high-rollers that are playing hands worth hundreds of dollars, there is something for everyone.
At Bovada, for example, you will find no less than 10 tables at any given point in time, with betting ranges that can be as small as $5-$100, to as large as $100-$2,500. There is no shortage of options.
The newcomer on our site, Drake Casino, also offers 2 live blackjack tables with great stream quality, mobile compatibility and side betting options. However, these do not seem to offer a bet behind feature, which means that getting a seat at the table might take some time.
Live Baccarat Options For USA Players
Because live baccarat is not the absolutely most popular live game around, it should come as no surprise that sites like VietBet and BetOnline will only have a few tables running at a single point in time.
At Bovada, the betting ranges include $5-$100, $25-$1,000, and $100-$2,500. At BetOnline, the betting ranges differ slightly, but are more or less in line. Usually, you will find only two tables running at a single point in time.
The video quality is about in line with what you get while playing roulette at any ViG powered live casino. In comparison to what you will find from European online casinos, the quality may not exactly be on par.
At the end of the day, however, you are dealing with real dealers who are both friendly and helpful. After all, baccarat is not a game that many people immediately understand, so dealers do well to help players make decisions and better understand the game.
FAQs on US Online Gambling
There are some, but none of them are currently available in the USA.
For the best possible drawing rules we’d go with Early Payout Blackjack from VIG. The RTP of this game type is 99.50% which beats most top tier European providers. Join Vietbet Casino to play it for money.
Absolutely! In fact this is the dominant payment method at US Friendly live online casinos.
Our favourite ones are Vietbet for VIG games and Drake Casino for Arrow’s Edge tables.
Live casino games are definitely fair as long as you stick with licensed casinos and game providers. When I say licensed I mean in a jurisdiction that has a reputation for protecting it’s players – such as Isle Of Man, Malta, Gibraltar or the UKGC. These licences are all quite good signs that a casino is legit.
Curacao license is much easier to obtain, so we are generally more skeptical about live casino sites that hold a license in this jurisdiction.
Safety of playing online is much alike. Stick to casinos that have positive feedback and are well known.
Brands like Bovada, Ignition Casino, 5Dimes, Vietbet and Drake Casino have been around for years and have a solid reputation in the gambling community.
The only live dealer game provider in USA that supports mobile play is Arrow’s Edge.
The three casinos that offer their tables are Drake Casino, GT Bets and Gossip Slots.
It’s true that there are many software providers that don’t really live up to the expectations, but there also are some that provide game streams in real HD quality on all devices.
In the US live casino market the only one who does great stream quality is Arrow’s Edge. Available at Drake Casino, Gossip Slots and GT Bets.
Sure. Live dealer blackjack is by far the best game to play, after you master the basic strategy of it.
Actually you can just use a perfect strategy chart (that we provide, of course) while you play, to ensure that the house edge on you will be less than 1%.
Visit our live blackjack comparison section to see which software provider offers the best odds. At the moment VIG Early Payout Blackjack is best, having a 0.50% margin, while Arrow’s Edge product has a house edge of 0.61%.
Other than blackjack, live dealer baccarat offers reasonable odds and if you bet on the banker, the house edge is roughly 1.05%.
We’d definitely recommend taking a look at the different options available from Arrow’s Edge.
We can recommend playing live dealer games at Drake Casino – click here to visit.
Not at the moment – although Vivo Gaming actually had a real product for live dealer craps dating back to 2013. It seems it was discontinued though, as we could not seem to find it at any casinos offering games from their portfolio.
It also seems like the interest in this product is mainly coming from the United States, whose residents aren’t allowed at many live casino sites. Perhaps when more states, apart from Nevada and New Jersey, legalize online gambling, we’ll see a major player like Evolution Gaming introduce this popular dice game.
We currently have reviewed 19 live dealer software providers – each with different offerings in terms of stream quality, dealer training, languages offered and user interface. Below you’ll find links to the expert review pages that we have dedicated to each live games provider currently in the business.
- Evolution Gaming
- NetEnt
- PlayTech
- MicroGaming
- Ezugi
- Pragmatic Play
- Arrow’s Edge
- Visionary iGaming
- Vivo Gaming
- XPRO Gaming
- Wirex/Portomaso Gaming
- BetConstruct
- Authentic Gaming
- Media Live Casino
- BetGamesTV
- Asia Gaming
- Opus Gaming
- Lucky Strike
After receiving multiple questions of this nature we have created what should be a very useful live casino comparison tool.
Use it to compare two different live dealer sites based on a handful of metrics like game variety, special licensing, betting limits, payment methods and speed of transactions.
If you think we are missing something or your idea could enhance the usability of our tool, make sure you let us know!
To begin with, PayPal deposits to live casino sites are only permitted in certain countries – where online gambling is legalised. These include Canada, UK, Netherland, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Italy and New Zealand. Australia used to be one of the countries as well, but that seems to no longer be the case.
If you are located outside of the countries listed above, we recommend taking a look at Skrill, Neteller or using a bank card for depositing directly.
William Hill Live Casino is a good option for PayPal users, as they have very impressive, dedicated live dealer studios with Evolution Gaming and PlayTech.
Alternatives include Paddy Power and Unibet, both of whom are major brands in the iGaming business and have excellent live dealer offerings.
With over 1,000 online casinos available right now, and plenty more launched every month, many live casinos are pretty similar to each other. What generally differs are the designs, languages offered and the level of service.
Having that said, there are some casino sites that have managed to distinguish their operation from the crowd and do have something unique to offer.
Good example are the sites under Arrow’s Edge platform (so far we have found three) that have amazing quality live dealer games that cannot be found elsewhere. That’s their main unique selling point!
The three sites are: Drake Casino, GT Bets and Gossip Slots.
In general – yes. However, Arrow’s Edge lets you play around with a fun balance on live roulette and baccarat.
Blackjack is technically offered too, but with only 2 tables in the lobby it is almost impossible to get a seat.
Head over to Drake Live Casino to try these free.
Yes! Sloto Cash is a trusted US friendly live casino site from the DeckMedia Group of brands that lets you deposit via AMEX and they do have live dealer games from VIG.
MYB Casino is another casino site that has AMEX as one of the listed deposit methods.
Here you’ll also be able to access live dealer games from Visionary iGaming software without any download required.
VIG have studios in San Jose, Costa Rica and they have been looking to expand by opening up some in Cambodia last we heard.
Arrow’s Edge seems to run a European studio and based on the language it’s in one of the Eastern European countries.
Yes, there are quite a few actually – we have a full list on our US Friendly Live Casinos page.
We have tested Sloto Cash Casino that runs on a platform from RTG and offers live games from Visionary iGaming. It’s solid, but definitely not all that impressive.
Two other casinos we can suggest are MYB Casino and VietBet. Both of these have been online for quite a long time and have good reviews from players. Their live games are also powered by VIG software.
MYB Casino stands out by having high betting limits on live blackjack and quite fast payouts – thus it is one of the best US live dealer casinos for high rollers.
Vietbet, on the other hand, are certainly the longest running US friendly online casino in the business. Established in 1996, they have stellar reputation as a go-to sportsbook provider.
Another newcomer to the live casino niche in the United States is Drake Casino. This brand is unique, as they run tables from Arrow’s Edge platform that are completely different from VIG and of really good quality.