While online slots have been popular with Canadian players since the first Internet casino launched many years ago, live casino games have become more popular with real money players as time has gone on.

Live dealer casino online is a simple enough concept. A real human dealer, either in a studio or a real bricks and mortar casino, deals the blackjack cards, spins the roulette wheel, and so on. Instead of everything being automated and impersonal, there's a real person to interact with on the other end of the screen.

Spin Palace voted the best live dealer casino of 2023.

Live dealer casino games are more realistic than other online casino play for the simple reason that when playing at a live dealer casino, Canada players can replicate the experience that they would have in the best casinos across the country. When playing for real cash, this can be reassuring for Canadian players, even at the top casinos.

The best Canadian online casinos are subject to rigorous testing to guarantee that their games are fair, but sometimes you just want that human element to provide a greater sense of realism. Often, playing at a real dealer casino online is the best way to achieve this.

Instead of using a random number generator (RNG) to simulate online casino games, a live dealer casino brings a live video stream from a studio or real-life casino, where a dealer carries out the same function that they would in any real-life game of blackjack, roulette and so on. This means you might get fewer hands or spins per hour, but the best sites will be the ones that keep you entranced throughout so there is no risk of boredom through repetition.

A variety of top live casino providers are behind these games, and each of them is subject to their own tests to ensure everything is above board. Some of the most popular Canadian online casino sites will use the same provider or same studio, so do not be alarmed if live casino games on two different sites look similar.

The most important requirement for top live casino games is the ability to stream video content, as without that you lose the one thing that sets live dealer casinos aside from a standard RNG online casino.

A growing number of sites are also beginning to offer some of the best live casino games via mobile and tablet in Canada, giving you another way to play these great games online. For this you will need a solid internet connection to ensure you can enjoy real money live dealer casino games to their full extent.

In terms of the actual gameplay itself, live dealer casino games have little to distinguish them from RNG casino games. The rules are the same, be it roulette, blackjack or any other live casino game, but there are some important differences.

• More interaction: real money live dealer casino games let you chat with the dealer and the other players at the table, to make things more involving.
• You can see actual cards being dealt, rather than the random number generator creating virtual cards.
• Some casino games hosted by real dealers will have a higher minimum bet than standard RNG casino games, as the cost of maintenance is a little higher, but there are still a variety of bet sizes available to all players in real cash live dealer games.
• Certain variants which have become popular in online casinos do not yet have a live dealer equivalent, though live dealer casinos do offer all the regular variants of games like roulette, blackjack and casino hold’em, so real money players have plenty of options available.

Some sites let you play free live casino games. For Canadians, there's no better time than right now to test the waters. All it takes is a few clicks to take a few casino games for a spin, so read our reviews and say hi to a real dealer. Check out the best live dealer casinos, including live blackjack, live roulette and live hold'em.