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How to Play Live Dealer Games Online in Pennsylvania

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The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) began allowing live dealer games in the Pennsylvania state online casinos in October 2020.

This regulatory body ensures the proper protocols are in place to make it safe for players to enjoy live dealer games from trustworthy Keystone State casinos while relaxing at home.

The casinos offer live dealer games for the most popular table games. That means you get to play your favorite games with a real person dealing in baccarat, craps, three-card poker, ultimate Texas hold ’em, roulette, and blackjack.

If this sounds like an exciting endeavor, keep reading for the latest news and key information about live dealer casinos in Pennsylvania.

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What Are Online Live Dealer Games?

A Pennsylvania online live dealer gives players that genuine in-person feel while relaxing at home. The dealer is in front of a camera dealing the cards on a table in front of him or herself. 

You’ll use the controls online to interact with the dealer and to place your bet. There will also be other players around playing the game alongside you. 

Note: Some of the casinos utilize secure third-party vendor platforms. Make sure you check the mobile app provider or the web address beforehand if this makes you uncomfortable. 

The online casinos also offer some live dealer games via the app so that you can bet from anywhere on the go with a live online dealer. 

The casino operators have apps for Android and Apple devices that are responsive and optimized to provide the best playing experience possible.

Live Dealer Photo

Baccarat

In Baccarat, there are three potential outcomes that you’re betting on; the banker’s hand wins, the player’s hand will win, or it’ll be a tie. Face cards and tens do not have assigned point values, but the rest of the deck is worth the card’s value. 

The objective in Baccarat is for your hand total to be the closest to 9. Every player gets two cards, including the dealer. The game continues until someone meets the primary goal of the game. 

Blackjack

Often regarded as the best PA online live dealer game, Blackjack online is similar to the game you’d play at a physical casino. The primary difference between the two may be the number of decks in a PA live dealer shoe. 

Many online live dealer casinos in PA utilize the eight-deck shoe to make it more challenging for card counters. 

Other rules that might be different from what you’re used to:

  • You can’t double down after a split
  • The dealer can hit on soft 17
  • You can’t surrender for a half-bet 
  • The dealer can’t peek at the whole card

Craps

The goal of Craps is to roll your dice, and the sum of the two determines the game’s scope in terms of which bets win and which lose. 

The players place a bet on one number, which wins or loses each roll, or they can set a target that lasts for several rolls. This game has the second-best odds among the featured online casino games listed here on a nearly 50/50 spread between house and player wins.

Three-Card Poker

You only play against the live dealer in Three-card Poker. The dealer and the player each get three cards, and the player has to decide if they’re willing to bet that their hand is better than the dealer’s. 

If they believe this to be true, they must make another ante bet to keep playing. If they don’t think they have the superior hand, they must fold, regardless of the dealer’s hand value. 

Roulette

The dealer tosses a small ball into a spinning wheel for Roulette, and the players can place a bet on the table. 

The two types of bets for Roulette are outside or inside. An outside bet happens when a player places a bet on a particular event, like an even or odd number, a group of numbers, or a specific color. 

An inside bet is when the player makes a bet on one or multiple numbers. It’s also possible to combine an outside and inside bet at your discretion. The dealer pays out the winners depending on where the ball lands after the wheel has stopped spinning.

Take note that there are various styles of Roulette. French and European Roulette carry different rules in comparison to American Roulette. Be mindful of the rules before placing a bet. 

Ultimate Texas Hold’em

Ultimate Texas Hold ’em is very similar to Three-Card Poker. The dealer and player must try to create the best hand from the two cards they have and the five community cards on the board.

The player makes an ante bet and a play bet, the latter of which they may raise while playing. The players can raise, stay with their current bet, or fold at any point while the game is on the river. 

Dream Catcher

Dream Catcher is a live game similar to the Big Wheel game, which is prominent at many physical casinos. The game consists of a big wheel with dollar values on every partition, and players wager on which dollar amount that wheel will land on. 

This game doesn’t involve a lot of strategy, so if a simple game is what you’re looking for to pass the time, Dream Catcher is the game for you.

How Do Pennsylvania Live Dealer Games Work?

With Pennsylvania live dealer games, you get real-time live streams straight from the casino. The Games get broadcasted from specially-designed studios, which are onsite at the casinos.

Interestingly, you actually place your bets on games happening at the same time in another area of Pennsylvania. You can even interact with the dealer and, in some cases, the other players via live chats on the apps.

Since you’re interacting with a live person and receiving the feedback you’re looking for, live dealers help to eliminate the most significant problem when playing online casino games. The social isolation you can feel from interacting with an app completely disappears. You end up having a casino experience comparable to the feeling you have when you visit one in person.

With live dealers, you don’t have to worry about the idea the site is rigged. Each site uses real-number generators for its games and gets monitored for equity and fairness by PGCB. This addresses the feeling that players may have where they think the odds are stacked against them online. This is never actually the case as all games are run in fairness and accordance with PA online gambling guidelines. 

Live dealer games allow the user to watch the dealer interact with the roulette ball, cards, or dice which reassures them that the game is fair.

How To Play Live Dealer Games in Pennsylvania

You can now play the following games in a live dealer setting with Pennsylvania gaming apps:

  • Ultimate Texas Hold’em
  • Dream Catcher (Money Wheel)
  • Baccarat
  • Blackjack (and variants)
  • Roulette
  • Craps
  • Three-Card Poker

Roulette and blackjack can be found quite easily. On the other hand, not all Pennsylvania apps have all these games available.

Because live casinos are new to PA, the offerings on various sites continues to grow. Live dealer craps is a welcomed new addition to all PA online casinos.

Tips for Playing

Every game plays just like it does in the real world. Although there may be slight variations, it usually results in an extra side bet or a game format that’s optional for players to explore if interested.

The most noticeable difference is the speed at which the games move; this is the case because the dealer does not have to manage every player’s chips at the table. As a result, live dealer moves are a bit faster than their real-life counterparts.

So be ready to move quicker, because you will have less time to decide than you would in a physical casino.

Remember that live dealer games are nearly exclusively offered for real money play. Therefore, the option to try out games in demon mode is unavailable.

Additionally, the house advantage on live dealer games goes up slightly higher than on normal games, so ensure you fill in any holes in your strategy beforehand. 

You can find many live dealer games with a wide range of stakes. You’ll see betting minimums that are lower than what you’re used to seeing at the physical casino.

PA Online Casinos With Live Dealer Games

Many online casinos have live dealer games. Keep in mind that this list can change rapidly. At the moment, here is the list of all the Pennsylvania casino apps with live dealer games:

Wrap-Up

There are many options for playing live dealer games in Pennsylvania. Choosing to gamble online with live dealers can add variation and fun to your regular rotation of game selections.

Remember that you can also interact with dealers and players when playing live dealer games. So there’s no reason that you can’t feel like you’re at the casino, even if you’re still in bed!