Smart Live Gaming Review
While live dealer games have become a popular pastime in online casinos around the world, they have a special importance in the United Kingdom. There, games hosted by real dealers and croupiers for Internet gaming sites aren’t just available on your computer, phone, or tablet; you can also watch some of them right on your television, playing along with viewers from across the UK.
Beginning in 2007, Smart Live Gaming was one of the companies that provided such games, bringing both roulette and blackjack to UK players via various Sky TV channels. The games were bounced around to different channels for a few years, and blackjack was moved to an online-only format in 2009. Eventually, their roulette games made a similar move, and are now only playable through the Smart Live Casino website (though Wikipedia still reports that Maltese viewers can watch the games on Melita 609).
However, the television origins of these games are still apparent today, thanks to the slick presentation and friendly dealers who run the online games out of the same London studios that once broadcast to viewers throughout the country. There may not be a large variety of games available through this provider, but the options they do feature are very appealing.
Roulette and Limited Blackjack Available
Smart Live produces games that are among the better looking ones we’ve seen in the industry, but that’s no surprise given their background in television. The video quality is very high, and the interface is very slick, with plenty of customizable parts that you can play around with to your liking. You can resize the video overlay to give yourself as much of a view as you need of the table layouts, and there are plenty of other informational overlays that you’ll have the option of keeping on screen, such as recent results and chat with other players. The dealers come across more as presenters than typical casino personnel, but that’s also to be expected: when your goal is entertaining a large audience on a broadcast, it’s important to have lively, enthusiastic hosts, and they certainly help make the games more fun.
The company currently produces two different types of games. First, there is roulette, which is available with hosts for 21 hours a day (there are also automated wheels that are available all day long. All of the various tables use European rules, which include the use of a single-zero wheel.
In total, there are three different types of tables presented, each of which is available in low limit (bets from £0.25 to £500) and high limit (£1 to £5,000) versions. London Live is the version that looks most like the original version, with the full studio look and game show feel. Alternately, there is a faster-based Rapid game that – interestingly enough – features Japanese-language croupiers. Finally, the automated wheel games are also available, providing spins whenever you want them all day long.
The site also offers up a blackjack game, though it appears to be on a much more limited schedule. While there is a blackjack tab on the company’s site, these games are not always active, taking breaks during the UK’s morning hours (and sometimes beyond then). Once again, the games appear to be quite attractive thanks to the high quality video feeds, with each table designed to accommodate up to seven players.
Worldwide Audience, But Primarily English
Smart Live Casino is available almost everywhere in the world (with the notable exception of the United States), so it’s hard to say that the company’s games – which are only available on their site – have a narrow target audience. But with the exception of a few Japanese-language offerings, everything else is in English, and that’s the only language spoken on their broadcast-quality roulette games. That’s no surprise: after all, when they were producing their games primarily for television, they were going out to a British audience, and the company still holds a license with the UK Gambling Commission. Still, these games can be enjoyed just about anywhere, even if a little of the interaction gets lost in translation.
Like Netplay TV, the association with television has also made these games a little more casual friendly, meaning that you’ll be able to try them out for free if you’d like. If you’d rather play for real money, though, you’ll have plenty of options. We talked about this a bit above, but most games come with both low and high limit tables, which allow you play for less than a unit in the currency of your choice (pounds, dollars, or euros), or as much as several thousand, depending on your preferences. That’s enough for any typical gambler, though the true whales will have to go elsewhere if they want to make five-figure bets.
High Quality, Low Quantity
There is no denying the quality of the games delivered by Smart Live. Their background in broadcasting is still apparent to this day, and their London-based studio is about as good as anything we’ve seen in the industry. The dealers are friendly and affable, the sound and video quality is high, and the interface itself offers plenty of customization without feeling bloated or cramped.
The only problem here is the fact that the company doesn’t produce all that many games. The blackjack options are often unavailable, and even roulette goes offline at times (though the automated games, without a human presenter, are always offered). That’s not exactly an inspiring selection, and it hasn’t gotten better over time: in fact, there used to be a baccarat option included in their platform, which is no longer available.
However, there is good news. This platform is only used at Smart Live Casino itself, and even there, the company understands that their gaming collection isn’t really up to par. That’s why they also offer games from other providers in order to flesh things out, ensuring that you’ll never be in a situation where you only have access to their limited number of tables.
With that in mind, we can actually give Smart Live a pretty solid recommendation. If you want to play at their site, you’ll probably enjoy their package, especially the roulette games. It’s just like playing one of the major televised roulette shows – though with a much smaller audience.
