A live casino brings the table to your screen. A real dealer shuffles real cards or spins a real wheel in a studio, the round is streamed to you as video, and you place your bets through buttons laid over the picture. This guide explains how live dealer games work, which games you will find, what the odds are and how live play fits with bonuses at Boo Casino.
What a live casino is
Live casino games are table games and game shows run by a person in front of a camera. The cards, the ball and the wheel are physical, so the result comes from the table itself rather than from a random number generator.
That is the main difference from the digital versions of roulette, blackjack and baccarat, which use software to produce each result. Both are online casino games, but they feel different and they work differently:
| What differs | Live dealer table | Digital (RNG) table |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the game | A dealer or presenter in a studio | Software |
| Where the result comes from | Real cards, dice or a wheel | A certified random number generator |
| Pace | Set by the table, with a betting timer | As fast as you click |
| Other players | Usually, with a chat window | No |
| Free demo | Rarely; at Boo Casino, real money only | Often |
Neither type is "fairer" by design. Card shoes, wheels and RNG software are all tested, and in both cases the long-term result is set by the house edge of the game, not by how it is dealt.
How a live dealer game works, from bet to result
Every live table follows the same loop, whether it is a blackjack seat or a game show wheel:
- 1. Join the tablePick a game in the lobbyThe stream opens with the table's minimum and maximum bets
- 2. Place your betBefore the timer endsChips go on the betting grid over the video while the countdown runs
- 3. Watch the roundThe dealer deals or spinsIn blackjack you also choose to hit, stand, double or split
- 4. Get paidWinnings go to your balanceThe table settles every bet and the next round starts
Because the round runs on the table's clock, a slow connection costs you more here than in a pokie. If the video freezes during a betting window, your bet may not be placed in time. Wi-Fi is usually steadier than mobile data for a long session.
Live casino games you can play
Most live dealer casino lobbies are built around a handful of game families. Here is what each one is and what to watch for.
Roulette
The classic live game. European tables have one zero, American tables add a double zero, and French tables with La Partage return half of an even-money bet when the ball lands on zero. Studios also run versions with random multipliers, such as Lightning Roulette, and Auto Roulette, where the wheel spins without a dealer. The rules, every bet and its payout are in our roulette guide.
Blackjack
A standard table has a fixed number of seats, usually seven, and everyone plays against the dealer. When the seats are full, Bet Behind lets you bet on another player's hand without making the decisions. Infinite Blackjack and similar games give every player the same first cards, so there is always a seat. The blackjack strategy guide has the full chart for six- and eight-deck live tables.
Baccarat and Dragon Tiger
Baccarat needs no decisions after the bet: you back the Player, the Banker or a Tie, and the cards are dealt by fixed rules. Speed tables shorten each round, and No Commission tables change how a winning Banker bet is paid. Dragon Tiger is a faster cousin: one card each for Dragon and Tiger, and the higher card wins.
Poker-style games
These are played against the house, not against other players. Three Card Poker, Casino Hold'em and Russian Poker ask you to fold or raise after seeing your cards, and the dealer's hand has to qualify for some bets to pay.
Game shows and dice
Game shows mix a presenter, a big money wheel and bonus rounds. Mega Wheel, Monopoly Live, Dream Catcher and Sweet Bonanza CandyLand all work this way. Dice games such as Sic Bo, Lightning Dice and Craps are settled by real dice. They are easy to follow, but they are built for entertainment, so read the payouts in the game's rules before you bet.
Live casino odds and the house edge
A live dealer doesn't change the maths of a game. These are the house edges Boo Casino's help centre gives for the main table games, which apply to the live versions too:
| Game and bet | House edge |
|---|---|
| Blackjack, with basic strategy | 0.5% to 2%, depending on the rules |
| Baccarat, Banker | 1.06% |
| Baccarat, Player | 1.24% |
| Baccarat, Tie | 14.36% |
| Craps, Pass Line | 1.41% |
| Three Card Poker | 1.5% to 3.37% |
| European roulette | 2.70% |
| American roulette | 5.26% |
The house edge is what the casino keeps on average over many bets: 1.06% means about NZ$1.06 for every NZ$100 staked on the Banker in the long run. Two things in the table are worth remembering. The Tie bet in baccarat pays well but costs more than ten times as much as the Banker bet. And the single zero makes European roulette nearly twice as cheap to play as American. Game shows and side bets vary from game to game, so open the help or rules panel inside the stream before you bet.
Live casino and bonuses
Most bonus terms are written with pokies in mind, and live tables are where that shows. At Boo Casino, bets on live dealer games count only 1% towards wagering, compared with 8% for digital table games and 100% for most pokies. While a bonus is active, the maximum bet is NZ$4 per round.
Take the first part of the welcome package: deposit NZ$20 and get a NZ$20 bonus. The 40x wagering applies to both, so you need NZ$1,600 in bets. On most pokies that is NZ$1,600. On live tables, where each bet counts 1%, it would take NZ$160,000.
In practice, live games are best played with your own money and no bonus running. Every offer and its wagering rules are on our bonuses page.
The live offer that does suit table players is cashback. From Wednesday to Friday, Boo Casino pays 10% of your net losses on Pragmatic Play live games, up to €100 (about NZ$200) a day, as real cash with no wagering. Baccarat bets and low-margin roulette bets don't count. The promotional day follows GMT, so in New Zealand it runs from 1 pm Wednesday to 12:59 pm Saturday NZDT.
Live casino at Boo Casino
When we checked from New Zealand on 8 November 2026, the Live Casino section listed 460 games, sorted into these categories:
| Category | Games | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack | 272 | Classic, Speed, Free Bet, Power and ONE Blackjack, plus Bet Behind tables |
| Roulette | 67 | European, American and French wheels, Lightning, Gravity and Mega Roulette, Auto Roulette |
| Other Card Games | 55 | Mostly baccarat, plus Dragon Tiger, Three Card Poker and Casino Hold'em |
| More Games | 20 | Game shows and dice games, including Mega Wheel, Sic Bo and Bac Bo |
| Quick Play | 89 | Speed and auto tables with shorter rounds |
| VIP Games | 57 | Higher-limit roulette, blackjack and baccarat |
| Cashback Express | 240 | Tables listed for the Wednesday to Friday cashback |
Some games appear in more than one row, so the categories add up to more than 460. A Popular row near the top holds 27 tables.
Live games at Boo Casino are real money only. Each table page offers "Play for real" and no demo, so if you want to learn the rules first, read them in the game's help panel or start with a digital table. The live casino works in your phone's browser in the same way as on a computer, and you can add Boo Casino to your home screen, as our app guide shows.
Live rounds come quickly and the timer keeps the game moving, which makes it easy to play longer than planned. Deposit limits, reality checks and time-outs can be set in your account, as our safer gambling guide explains. The full lobby, including pokies and studios, is covered in the Boo Casino games guide.
Live casino terms in plain English
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Live dealer | The person running the table or show on camera |
| Table limits | The smallest and largest bet a table accepts, shown when you join |
| Bet Behind | A bet on a seated blackjack player's hand; you win or lose with them |
| Side bet | An optional extra bet, such as Perfect Pairs in blackjack, usually with a higher house edge |
| Speed table | A version with shorter betting windows and faster rounds |
| Auto Roulette | A real wheel that launches the ball automatically, with no dealer |
| Multiplier | A random boost to the payout on some numbers or segments, as in Lightning Roulette |
| Game show | A presenter-led game built around a wheel, dice or board, with bonus rounds |