Although they have been around for a while, online casino live dealer games are still evolving as a brand new concept to many novice players.

What started as an optimistic attempt to bring the atmosphere of brick-and-mortar casinos to the online realm has basically become a standard for playing blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and other popular table games over the internet.

Featuring live dealer games was what set good online casino operators apart. However, today, nearly every competitive online casino has at least a dozen live dealer games on offer. Finding a live dealer online casino is easy, but choosing a worthwhile one is just as difficult as it was before.

That said, we present a list of the best live dealer online casinos in the US, as made by our meticulous experts and industry veterans. Meanwhile, if you’re completely new to these types of games, you can look beyond our toplist and read how and why you should play live dealer games, what types of live games exist, how they compare to regular casino games, and more.

How Do I Play Live Casino Games?

The first step to playing live dealer games is creating an account on an online live dealer casino platform. Choose one of the casinos from our list, as they are completely safe, have the best choice of games, and feature lucrative offers. 

You must have an account on a given casino site and deposit some money into it, as live dealer games are the only online casino games that you can’t play in free mode.

The sign-up process is relatively straightforward and requires you to fill out some personal info. As for depositing, you’ll have several payment options to choose from, including credit and debit cards, certain e-wallets, and other online banking methods.

Once you finally set everything up, navigate to the section of the casino with all live dealer games and select the game you want to play. You can also use search filtering options to find games from specific studios or with specific table limits.

The live stream will load in a bit, after which you must wait for the next betting round to begin and use the interface to start placing bets.

Mind that while live dealer games are more immersive than RNG ones, they also cost more to operate, making them have higher table limits, so make sure to have a steady bankroll. Other than that, follow up on your strategies and play responsibly. Good luck!

Why Should I Play A Live Dealer Online Casino?

Playing RNG table games from the comfort of your home is more convenient and cost-efficient. Still, it’s also very bland in comparison to the experience provided by brick-and-mortar establishments.

Live dealer games look to compensate for this blandness by putting you in an environment similar to what you would see in a land-based facility, and this is their main purpose. 

A live stream from a studio shows a professional dealer interacting with real game elements. Everything is played out in real-time, and you can increase the immersive element by switching camera angles and using live chat to communicate with other players and the dealer.

Dual-play games go even a step further and show a stream from an actual casino where you can join players who are there physically.

Many players also trust online casino live dealer games more than they do RNG ones, as they can actually see the game elements, such as cards, dice, balls, and wheels, handled by a person instead of just seeing results spewed out by a virtual generator.

Another reason to choose live dealer games is the bonuses. Namely, many casinos offer deposit bonuses, free credits, and cashback deals exclusive to specific live dealer installments.

Popular Live Dealer Casino Games

The choice of live dealer games is more versatile today than ever before. How many different types of games and their variants you can choose from depends on a live dealer online casino itself, but nearly every top casino features at least several tables running the most popular games — blackjack, roulette, baccarat, poker, and craps.

Live Blackjack

Blackjack is the go-to live dealer game, which is why you’ll find the biggest number of tables and variations on most casino sites. A very popular version of live blackjack is Infinite Blackjack, where each player plays the same hand, allowing the game to have an infinite number of players.

You may also run into Blackjack Switch, where you can exchange the top two cards between the two hands being dealt to you. High-rollers will surely find interest in VIP online blackjack live dealer rooms, which are known for high table limits. Blackjack variations with popular side bets like Perfect Pairs and 21+3 are also quite common on online live dealer casino sites.

Live Roulette

Roulette is another well-liked casino classic ideal for playing in a live form. Every live dealer roulette variant essentially consists of the same inside and outside bets you’re used to seeing in a land-based casino, with American, European, and French as the three main variants. 

However, some variants add a twist to the standard gameplay, such as Lightning Roulette, for example, which offers massive multipliers of between 50x and 500x on numbers that get “struck by lightning” every round. Speed Roulette is a popular option for those that don’t want to wait too much between betting rounds, while Auto Roulette puts you in a live environment minus the dealer.

It’s also not uncommon for a live roulette online casino to feature several VIP tables with limits suited to bigger bankrolls.

Live Dealer Baccarat

If you’re a beginner not only to live dealer games but table games in general, baccarat live dealer is a good game to start with. This simple card game, where the goal is to bet on one of the two sides to have a more valuable hand (or bet on a tie), has its rather interesting live dealer variations.

For instance, you can try Baccarat Squeeze, which plays just like a regular game, the only difference being that the deciding card is revealed extra slowly (“squeezed”) for added drama. There’s also No Commission Baccarat, where the casino collects no commission on winning banker's hands but offers slightly lower payouts and Speed Baccarat for those who enjoy the fast-paced play.

Live Dealer Hold’em

Texas Hold’em is the most prominent variant of competitive poker, and it’s also the most popular poker game played heads-up with the dealer, whether in RNG or live casino form.

The goal of live dealer Hold’em is to beat the dealer by creating the best possible five-card hand using your hole cards and community cards. It’s not the easiest game to master, so make sure to know your card rankings and win probabilities. Also, some variations offer interesting side bets that are unavailable when playing against other players. 

Live Dealer Craps

The atmosphere of playing craps is probably the most difficult thing to emulate online, as it’s all about the crowd gathering around the table and cheering for the shooter (the person throwing the dice).

Nevertheless, live dealer craps exist and it’s fun to play regardless of the lack of people, as you still get to experiment with loads of different bets. The only big difference is that instead of a shooter, the dice are thrown by a machine.

Live Dealer Games vs. Regular Online Casino Games

When you enter a live dealer online casino, you’ll probably notice that it also features a few RNG casino games.

The main difference between these two is that live games are played via live stream with an actual person acting as the dealer, while RNG games have a completely virtual environment. 

Your choice should be obvious if you’re all about immersing yourself in the real-life casino atmosphere without actually being there. There’s also the social aspect of live games, like communicating with other players and the dealer via live chat.

A casino’s live dealer lobby is likely to feature a more diverse portfolio of games. Variants like Lightning Roulette and Baccarat Control Squeeze are simply not available as RNG titles, not to mention a growing number of game shows like Crazy Time, Monopoly Live, or Deal or No Deal, which are solely presented in live dealer form.

All this can make you question why RNG table games even exist and if there are any good sides to them. Well, there are still a couple of reasons why you should choose a regular online table game instead of a live one.

Most RNG table games are available in free mode, which simply isn’t an option with live dealers. This gives you a shot at learning the basics of a given game and seeing how it feels to play it without risking your money while at the same time practicing your skills.

On top of that, live dealer online casino games are not exactly designed for those with a low bankroll. To cover higher operating costs, they impose much higher limits than their RNG counterparts. So, if you’re a casual player running on a very limited budget, playing regular online casino games would be a much smarter choice.