The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City launched live online slots on Tuesday morning. It is the time in the history of online gambling that a live version of slots has been offered.
Live dealer games at online casinos cropped up during the poker boom (perhaps toward the end of it – I don’t recall the exact year) as a way to make potential customers feel more comfortable playing online. There was still much uncertainty from the general public as to whether or not online casinos were on the up-and-up, whether the outcomes were truly random (not that that feeling has disappeared). Enter live dealer games.
In live dealer games, a webcam broadcasts an actual dealer at an actual gaming table – typically in a studio, not on a casino floor – running a game as normal, except without players at the table. Cards are often larger to make them easier for people at home to see and technology like RFID is used so that the cards, dice, or roulette spins can be automatically read by a computer. Players make their bets from home and the results are processed as they normally are online.
With such games, players at home can see the cards as they are dealt, the ball land in the roulette wheel spaces, and the dice actually roll. Nobody is required to trust that a computer program is randomly generating anything. Everything can be seen as it happens.
And that’s the same concept for the Hard Rock’s online live slots. The live slot room contains a dozen slot machines representing five popular live game varieties: Leprocoins, Buffalo, SpitFire Multipliers, Hotter than Blaze, and 3x4x4x Double Times Pay. One of the walls separating the room from the rest of the casino has holes in it through which curious patrons can see the games.
On the Hard Rock’s online casino, players can sit down at the machines and control them remotely. They will see the reels spin via a web cam and claim their winnings as always. And further simulating the live experience, only one person can occupy a machine at a time. I would expect a wait if I was looking to play these games.
The online live slots are likely targeting an older customer base who might have trouble getting to Atlantic City, but still want to play slots. They are the ones who are probably the most skeptical of internet casino gambling, so offering live slot machines could assuage those concerns.
“Similarly to live table games dealers, live slots enables our players to have one seamless experience to earn Wild Card rewards, including hotel rooms, entertainment and dining at Hard Rock Atlantic City,” said Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City president Joe Lupo. “Bridging the gap to provide a live experience to our online consumers is something we are not only excited for, but very proud to be the first in the world.”
Softweave Ltd. provides the technology to link the live slots with the online casino.
