Live dealer games at online casino platforms are a popular way to get a taste of being on a real casino floor, without having to leave your house. Games are provided by live streams from special studios, with dealers hosting the show and engaging players with banter to keep the entertainment levels high.
Innovation in live dealer casino games has led to developers pushing different themed games to try to appeal to as many players as possible. Given that football is the most popular sport on the planet, it makes sense that developers would push into areas that blend casino games with beautiful games.
Different Providers
While there are many different versions of live casino games like blackjack, roulette and baccarat to find online, there are also a range of game providers. Casinos themselves don’t create the games they host; they are, instead, brought in from third-party developers who do all the development work from the ground up.
Many casino players like to stick to their preferred game developers because of having had a good experience with reliability and trustworthiness. But that leads to the question of which provider is the best.
Evolution
Evolution is the biggest live casino game developer going, and they have consistently been at the forefront of innovation and variety. They boast a portfolio of more than 80 live casino games, encompassing multiple versions of games like roulette and baccarat, as well as gameshow RNG titles.
They supply their titles to over 800 operators globally, including deep integration with many of the major casino operators, making them an extremely trustworthy and reputable provider. Many licensed UK operators, such as those reviewed by experts on the page https://legalcasino.uk/providers/evolution-gaming/, also offer a wide range of Evolution titles.
One of the most notable football-themed games that Evolution has is called Football Studio, which is a simple two-card high/low game. The dealer lays down a card for the “home” team and one for the “away” team, and then the player bets on which they think will have the higher card. There’s also the option to back the draw, too.
Evolution Gaming, known for high-quality streams and content, tends to drive simple games like Football Studio and Football Studio Dice (the latter simply replacing playing cards with dice to give a more varied pay table). These types of games perhaps don’t offer quite as much punch in playing engagement as traditional table games, as they are rapid-fire, strategy-less types of titles.
Playtech
Another developer with a strong portfolio of live casino games is Playtech, who not only have a major presence of slots, but they also deliver some excellent live casino products too. They have one of the most popular football-themed ones in this area, called Live Football Roulette, which is standard European single-zero roulette with a sprinkling of football.
The football theme essentially comes into play through the studio’s theming more than the game itself, so this isn’t a wondrous innovation in gaming, meaning players will need to know the ins and outs of roulette. The theming of Live Football Roulette, however, includes a video wall which shows live streams of games, scores, fixtures, important updates and statistics.
The game also integrates a “Goal” side bet where players can capitalise on a random multiplier feature up to 100x the stake. Playtech deliver high-quality, reliable live games, and the dealers provide good banter and commentary about the beautiful game. The developer also has a virtual RNG-driven football-themed roulette game for those who don’t want the engagement of a live dealer table.
Pragmatic Play
Pragmatic Play entered the live casino arena in 2019 and has developed some popular games, which can be found at more than 1,000 casinos globally. They have touched upon football themes, but not quite as extensively as the providers above. One of their flagship games in this theme is Football Blitz Top Card, which is very much like Evolution’s Football Studio high/low card game.
But Pragmatic Play incorporated a spread bets feature into the title, so players can bet on the difference between the value of the cards, along with other side bets. It fits a niche, but by and large, it lacks the complexity of roulette, for example, and the presence of side bets can feel a bit gimmicky because they are designed to attract players into making riskier bets as they favour the house so much.
Are There Other Options?
Other game developers, like Ezugi and BetGames, have live casino options as well, but they simply don’t match up to the market presence that the top-tier developers have, particularly when it comes to football-themed titles. Through the development and acquisition of newer brands, the likes of Evolution sit at the top of the tree for innovation and variety.
