Online gambling games have exploded in recent years, whether you like to play for real money, or just with play chips you have a wide choice. NL Holdem Poker is very popular, as is Omaha Poker but there’s also Bingo and various Lotteries. And if you like a traditional bet you can now do it on a wide range of sports, political events, bets on the horses and all sorts of other things. Let’s take a look at the Paddy Power Live Casino.
Another growth area right now seems to be live casinos. I have been a keen poker player for over 12 years now so I am no newcomer to online gambling, having also used the casino games such as slots and blackjack. But I’d never played on one of the live casino services. So I decided to try out the Paddy Power Live Casino because I already have an account with them. Here’s how I got on.
First Impressions
I really like the gold and dark green design of the website. I love casinos that feel plush and really fancy in real life. Much better then glitzy flashly light types which feel a bit tacky to me. For my taste this website is great. They have the usual array of ‘dealers’ on the homepage which funnily enough happen to mainly be good looking young women, I wonder why! It is also nice and simply laid out and easy to get to the game of choice, which for me was roulette.
On the Tables
First up Roulette. The image above is a screenshot of the live table I chose. There is also an option to see it in ‘HQ’ which I only noticed later on, it didn’t improve the quality that much for me to be honest. You can type in the chat and the dealer will talk back to you. I’m sure many guys are happy to talk to her – especially as she giggles and wafts her hair! Quite entertaining. Playing the game is easy. It’s all very simple to use really much like normal roulette. I stuck around for a while and really enjoyed it, even managed to finish up a few quid!
Next up I thought I would have a quick go at Blackjack to show you what it is like. I’m not really a fan of this game, I don’t find it much fun and it is really hard to actually win any good money with it! But I thought I would give it a whirl. Once again there was a good choice of dealers, mainly pretty girls again! I didn’t get a very good screenshot this time, apologies, would have been better with when the cards had been dealt. But don’t worry, the cards they deal have large digits on so they are easy to see.
The dealer was chatting away to another player which was nice to see. Not really my cup of tea to make idle chit chat about hobbies but hey if you like a natter then fair play! The speed of play wasn’t particularly fast which on one hand is good making it nice and relaxing, but I just wanted a quick blast. So I tried a couple of hands and then left the table. It was all simple and easy to do, the options pop up on the screen, such as ‘stand’, ‘split’ etc and you choose your action. If you are a fan of blackjack I would certainly recommend this over the normal version where it is just graphics you see and not a real dealer.
Offers
All of the online providers of these websites often have offers. They give you deposit bonuses and all sorts of different incentives. They are well worth taking advantage off, sometimes you have to manually opt-in so always be sure to check them out! At the time of writing I have been able to take advantage of a ‘bet 10 get 10’ promotion and also one called ‘bull market monday’. Check out your own account though for what you can take up.
Rest of the service
Depositing is quick and easy to do. And withdrawals are simple as well. Withdrawals take 3-5 days to get into your account but that isn’t too bad at all. The website was fairly swift in loading for me, and everything was easy to use and navigate. All round I think the service is very good.
Final Thoughts
It was certainly a new experience for me, and did feel different to how I have played online casino games before. In fact, I enjoyed it a lot more. It felt more involving and less cold-hearted then when just a computer and some whirly graphics are in front of your face. It was much better. I think this segment of the market will grow given how much nicer it is to play when a real dealer is there. So if you haven’t tried it out yet give it a go and see what you think, it is a new experience!