For many players, the appeal of sitting down for a table game session in their local brick-and-mortar casino isn’t the prospect of profit, but rather the chance to meet new people and having a good time together.
Classic casino games like blackjack, roulette, craps, and baccarat are all social games to some extent, with players sitting alongside one another while sharing a common goal: to beat the house. Over a few hours spent playing table games, you can easily meet peers within your profession, folks hailing from your home state, or perfect strangers blessed with a pleasant personality.
Online Gambling and Social Interaction
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According to a study published by Michigan State University in June of 2015, “Worldwide, the online gambling market has nearly tripled in the past decade, from $14 billion in 2005 to $41 billion in 2015.” As casino gaming continues to enter the online realm, however, much of its social element can become lost in translation. As players sat behind their laptops or tablets to enjoy a session of virtual casino gaming, there was always the risk of casino gaming being boiled down to what was essentially a solitary activity.
Fortunately for fans of online casino gaming, the latest technological innovations to transform the industry are turning a previously personal experience into a more personable pursuit. Thanks to the introduction of features like ‘live-dealer’ and multiplayer gaming, players are able to connect directly with peers all over the planet.
Today, playing your favorite casino games online doesn’t have to be a silent experience spent alone, and you can enjoy pleasant conversations with your dealer and fellow players through a combination of chat functions and live streaming.
The concept behind live-dealer casino gaming has revolutionized online play, bringing the sights and sounds of a brick-and-mortar casino directly to your screen. With a living, breathing dealer working behind a genuine blackjack, roulette, or baccarat table, live-dealer games record the action on high-definition cameras and stream the scene straight to players. As noted by an article published by Canadian Gaming Lawyer Magazine in 2014, “there are an estimated 173 million people playing social casino games worldwide … (and) Morgan Stanley reports that social gambling is a $1.7 billion industry within the $391 billion global gambling industry.”
In 2015 a study entitled An Exploratory Study of Interrelationships Between Social Casino Gaming and Gambling observed that “Social casino games represented five of the top 23 Facebook games in 2013 based on user popularity, Facebook implementation, growth and overall quality.” Comparable to a conversation held on Skype or FaceTime, these games replace the artificial graphics and animations of traditional online casino gaming with a friendly dealer, actual chips, and cards hitting the felt. When you have a question about the game, you can simply type your query into the chat box. Within seconds, the dealer on hand will look you right in the eye and provide an answer, before wishing you luck or congratulating you on the latest win.
Part of the allure of any casino game comes from the air of excitement surrounding the table. Just imagine the most celebrated film scenes depicting roulette games in popular culture. From James Bond’s preference for “Black 17” in Diamonds are Forever, to Rick Blaine tipping a man off to his rigged wheel in Casablanca, personal interaction typically takes precedence over the in-game action. And for good reason: someone sitting in silence while the wheel spins simply lacks entertainment value.
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The same is true for online casino gaming. While a traditional session of online blackjack can be stimulating on a mental level, the lack of conversation can soon turn the game into a mind-numbing affair. The advent of live-dealer technology changes that, however, by connecting players to each other and the dealer, replicating the live casino experience more accurately than ever before. Another improvement offered by live-dealer blackjack and other games is the inclusion of bilingual dealers capable of serving players from several distinct nationalities. Now, if you’re curious about doubling down in a certain spot, but you feel more comfortable speaking in German, your live-dealer game can accommodate without a hitch.
Multiplayer casino games are here to stay
Social games and multiplayer casino games are another great way to make the experience more social, as players thousands of miles away from one another can revel in the excitement of a big win together. The system used to make live-dealer games economically feasible involve simultaneous live streaming of the same table to hundreds of individual players.
During a game of multiplayer roulette, for example, everyone involved shares the same dealer and wheel, but the chips on your screen will be colored differently than your virtual table-mates’– just like you’d see at an actual roulette table. While you watch other players place their bets, a convenient chat function enables you to communicate directly with them to create a genuinely social experience.
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Perhaps you’re curious about someone’s interesting betting strategy, or you’d just like to congratulate them for finding the right number at the right time. Whatever it is you’d like to talk about, multiplayer roulette, and other table games like blackjack and baccarat, give you the chance to reach out and tell people what you think.
People play casino games online for any number of reasons, ranging from the availability of game types in their area to plain old convenience, but no matter why you play, making the game more social is a winning proposition. Nobody likes to win (or lose) alone. Part of the thrill comes from celebrating alongside others.
In a brick-and-mortar casino, these celebrations are usually based on high-fives and claps on the back, but online casino games lack this physical dimension. By bringing your game to a live-dealer or multiplayer table, you can replace the high-five with a chat message directed at recentwinners, or even a simple smiling-face emoji.
However you choose to celebrate, you’ll soon discover that playing a socially-connected form of your favorite game blows the alternative out of the water – even if we have already warned about the risks of over socializing. The first time a stranger sends you a message congratulating you on a well-timed wager, you’ll instantly realize the benefits of this new wave of online gaming. Encouraging words can help keep you focused during a downswing, and questions about your strategies and systems can challenge you to expand your mind and improve your game. And, as is the case in a brick-and-mortar casino, the casual conversations you’ll enjoy at the table can actually be expanded into genuine friendships, as you discover players in the game who hold similar interest and ideas.
Casino games should always be entertaining above all else, and by combining chat functions with live dealers, socially-driven online casino gaming is indeed the wave of the future.
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