NetEnt are one of the largest companies in the online gambling world, and they’re known by players all over the world for their video slots. Along with slots, NetEnt offer a wide variety of casino table games, back-end casino systems and more… and in 2013, they set up their live dealer casino. NetEnt’s live casino – currently – offers just a couple of games… but they have created some “themed games”, which we’ll look at later in this post.
In fact, in this NetEnt live casino review, we’re going to look at what games the live dealer casino offers, along with information on where they can be played. Let’s start off by taking a look at some background information on NetEnt and how they entered the live dealer games industry.
Best NetEnt Live Dealer Casino
Company Information and History
NetEnt is one of the oldest and most reputable iGaming companies on the planet, and they were founded way back in 1996. It wasn’t long until the company were disrupting the industry, and in 2002 they launched their online casino.
By 2003, NetEnt had reached profitability, and they offered their Casino Module to a number of external companies. 2009 saw the company become listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, and the following year is when they became really mainstream, after the launch of their hit video slot Gonzo’s Quest.
Since then, NetEnt have gone from strength-to-strength, and in 2013, the company launched their Live Casino operations – an offshoot of their business that’s grown exponentially.
NetEnt were one of the first online gambling companies to enter the Italian market back in 2011. Since then, they’ve acquired a number of online gambling licenses, including from regulators in the UK, Denmark, Spain, New Jersey, Romania, Portugal and the Czech Republic. All of NetEnt’s games (be it virtual or live) are tested by independent 3rd-party testing houses to ensure their compliance with laws and regulations.
NetEnt Live Casino Review: The Games
Despite being one of the largest live dealer games providers on the planet, NetEnt – currently – only offer two live games. However, these games are offered in multiple variations. We tried both of them when writing this NetEnt live casino review and you can find out all about them below.
NetEnt’s Live Blackjack
NetEnt offer two Live Blackjack games. Both of the games follow the same rules – it’s just the way the games are played that differs. 6 decks are in play, and these are shuffled automatically, or manually. The cards are shuffled approximately halfway through. According to European rules, the dealer only deals him or herself one card initially. The dealer will always stand on 17. Insurance can be taken when the dealer shows an Ace, and you can Double Down any two cards. You an also split any two cards, though only one additional card is dealt when splitting Aces. You are also given the chance to take even money when you’re dealt a Blackjack, and the dealer shows an Ace.
Below, we look at the two formats of the game NetEnt offer:
- Common Draw Blackjack: This is a one-seat table, although an unlimited number of players can play at once. Accordingly, only one hand is dealt per game round. Other player’s decisions do not impact your hand at all. If other players opt to Double Down or Split, you do not need to follow suit.
- 7-Seat Blackjack: 7-Seat Blackjack is more of a traditional Blackjack experience. There are only 7 seats available, meaning there can – at busy times – be a waiting list to join. Side bets are also offered in 7-Seat Blackjack, including Perfect Pairs and 21+3.
We found, when writing this NetEnt live casino review that both Blackjack variations are widely available. Virtually every casino offering NetEnt’s live games offer both.
NetEnt’s Live Roulette
NetEnt offer five variations of Roulette. As you can probably guess, we played all five to write this NetEnt live review! Their Roulette variations include European Roulette, European Roulette with La Partage, French Roulette, Themed-European Roulette, and Automatic Roulette. All variations use a single-zero format and have a Racetrack betting option available.
Players are also given the chance to ‘save’ their favourite bets. This allows you to quickly and easily place your chips in a pre-saved manner, saving you time on each spin. You can also toggle a view to see other player’s chips – but it’s not recommended, especially at busy times as it will completely cover the betting area.
Streaming Quality
NetEnt’s live casino isn’t perfect – and they’ve clearly got work to go (particularly when it comes to their game range.) However, one thing they have got right, is their infrastructure. This was something we were impressed with time and time again when putting this NetEnt live casino review together.
Netent’s live dealer games display really well, and virtually all players will be able to enjoy the games in crisp high-definition. NetEnt also use state-of-the-art technology to offer low latency video streams. This helps to eradicate some of the lagging/buffering you get with other software providers, and is particularly useful to players who are on a slower/weaker internet connection.
Their mobile live casino is also excellent – and again, as long as your internet connection is relatively stable, you’ll experience no issues while playing.
Playing Interface and Betting Options
We came across a number of unique features while writing this NetEnt live casino review. We’ll get to those in a moment – first, let’s look at the basics. All of NetEnt’s live dealer games run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. New tables open up automatically during busy periods, so you should rarely need to wait to get a seat.
NetEnt’s live dealer games are usually offered without a gaming lobby – instead, you access them by opening the games directly from the casino you’re playing at. NetEnt use some pretty impressive technology in their live dealer games too. One of the most notable is the Chroma Key technology. This allows operators to change the background of the games to fit around a theme – usually a slot, or a sporting event. This means, that while the game tables themselves may look the same, the background and ‘theme’ behind the game is different. We’ve seen NetEnt’s Starburst Blackjack prove to be quite popular.
Another thing we noticed when writing this NetEnt live casino review was that their betting interfaces are incredibly clean and easy-to-use. The betting grid and the dealer takes up the majority of the screen – meaning you’re not squinting to try and see the action unfold. You’ll find the betting chips at the bottom of the screen (in the centre), and to the left and right-hand-side of these you’ll find the various game options and settings.
When it comes to betting limits, NetEnt’s live dealer games are some of the most generous around. While it’s ultimately up to the casinos to decide on the final limits, NetEnt’s games have the ability to be played from as little as 0.50, and as much as 100,000 per round. The chip denominations are vast, and vary between 0.10 and 5,000 credits.
Languages Offered
The majority of NetEnt’s games are offered in English, but they do offer some 20 spoken languages – but it’s up to the operator to choose which games they want to offer. From writing this NetEnt live casino review, we found that nine times out of ten operators just choose English-speaking tables.
To make it easy for players to find a table using their preferred language, NetEnt’s tables are frequently called “Norsk Roulette” or “Deutsches Blackjack”, allowing you to quickly see what language is being offered in the game. Of course, the UI itself comes in a massive number of different languages, and over 40 languages are available here.
NetEnt Live Mobile Casino Review
With NetEnt shifting completely to HTML5 a few years back, it made sense that their live dealer games would follow suit… and, indeed, they did. All of NetEnt’s live dealer games can be played from phones and tablet devices, and there’s no need to download any additional pieces of software to begin playing. We tried both their games from mobile devices when writing this NetEnt live casino review and we had no issues with them.
If you’re planning on playing Live Roulette, you will need to tilt your device into landscape mode – they don’t offer a portrait version here. They do, however, offer portrait modes if you’re playing Blackjack. Both of the mobile versions of Roulette and Blackjack are designed to be as easy-to-use and easy-to-navigate as possible, and while it doesn’t look identical to the desktop game, both are relatively similar with a few sized-down areas of the game to ensure an optimal playing experience on mobile.
NetEnt’s Live Dealers
NetEnt are one of the few live casino providers who take gender diversity seriously, and they employ a combination of male and female croupiers. (It’s common practice to see developers using only – or at least a significant ratio – of female dealers.) By 2020, NetEnt aims to have a 50/50 male to female ratio, and it’s great to see NetEnt taking such an initiative.
Regardless of gender, all of NetEnt’s dealers are professional, well-dressed and friendly, and they greet all players by name when joining the table. They’re extremely well trained, and excel at their job – and it’s the little things, like wishing everybody good luck before a hand/spin that makes NetEnt’s live dealer games such a pleasure to play.
NetEnt Live Casino Review: Our Thoughts
NetEnt offer one of the best live casino products around and this is why you’ll see their games offered at so many online casinos. Their games are built to an extremely high quality, and the technology used ensures a smooth, buffer-free gaming experience.
Pretty much the only criticism we found when writing this NetEnt live casino review was their limited game range. They currently offer just two types of game – Roulette and Blackjack – and if they want to continue expanding they’ll need to add to this in the future.
NetEnt’s live games come with a ton of customisable options. This allows you to tailor the game to your personal preferences. Their dealers are also incredibly well-trained and professional, and you’ll feel as though you’re sat in an actual casino while playing. It’s also worth pointing out that their live mobile platform is one of the best around – and we’d say it probably tops that of Evolution Gaming’s.
If you’d like to play NetEnt’s live dealer games for yourself, you’ll be glad to know hundreds of casinos offer them. Below, you can view our top-rated casinos featuring NetEnt’s live games. Simply choose to one you like the look of and sign up – you’ll be able to start playing right away.
Where To Play NetEnt’s Live Casino Games?
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