Up until relatively recently (about two years ago), I only played at real, physical casinos. I don’t know why I never gave online casinos a chance earlier, maybe I just liked to stick with what I knew, or there was a part of me that wrongly believed the online experience wouldn’t quite stack up to the real thing. It does, don’t get me wrong, playing online blackjack is just as intriguing as playing it in a physical casino, but… Not quite in the same way. You see, that’s the thing I’ve noticed after a little while – the two experiences, while alike in many ways, have their own strengths and weaknesses. So let’s dig a little deeper and try to outline just where each of them shines!

Physical Casino is More Personal Than Live Casino

Let’s be honest – I love live blackjack. I really, really do. But even with the added effect of a dealer sitting in front of a camera and responding to messages on the internet, the whole experience feels horribly disconnected. That’s not the fault of the online casino. It’s just physically impossible to recreate a genuine casino experience at your home no matter how hard you try. If you’ve never been to a real casino before, then you definitely can’t imagine what it’s like. You might think you can, but honestly, the smells, the atmosphere, the adrenaline, the sounds, the sights, the emotions flowing through you, the feeling of chips in your hand… No simulation could ever substitute for the real thing.

Live Casino is More Convenient Than Physical Casino

Interestingly enough, though, as time went on, I found myself visiting a physical casino less and less, with more of my weekend evenings spent browsing liveblackjack.org.uk for a place to bet some virtual chips. It wasn’t a conscious decision that I made, and at no point did I go “Hey, you know what would be a good idea? Staying at home tonight and playing online blackjack!” No, it happened naturally. As time went on, I just felt less and less compulsion to go outside, travel for an hour and get to a casino only to then play for a little while and go back home. That pull simply decreased in strength. Why go through all that effort when there’s a very similar experience I could be having right in the comfort of my own home? Sure, nothing quite compares to real casinos, but nine times out of ten, I don’t really need it to.

Blackjack Tactics Don’t Work In Live Casinos

If you’re anything like me, then you’ve probably read everything there is to read on the topic of blackjack, and go to sleep hugging a copy of Patrick Linsenmeyer’s excellent “Modern Card Counting”. What’s surprising to many people is that “The Hangover” was a lot more correct in its portrayal of card counting than “Rain Man” – you don’t need to be a savant autistic person to be counting cards, all you need to do is read up on it. The problem is that while card counting technically works in live casinos as well as in physical ones, online the process is a lot slower and is just not worth it. Of course, if you try it in physical casinos and get caught chances are you’ll be thrown out immediately and unceremoniously (or, if the movie “21” is to be believed, you’ll be involved in a high-stakes adventure filled with danger and drama), so I think this is a bit of a blessing in disguise.

Live Casino Gives You A Sense of Community

Let’s be completely honest here – online casinos don’t exactly aim to be social networks. For the most part, they try to leave the impression that you and only you are their most valued and only customer, to the point where you rarely even have a statistic on how many players are gambling alongside you. Of course, that illusion gets immediately broken the moment you enter the live blackjack section, where it’s impossible to maintain it (or at least highly cost-ineffective). This is the only place in the casino where you get to interact with other gamblers thanks to the chat system, which was originally designed for keeping the dealer in the loop, and I’ve noticed that over my two years of gambling I’ve noticed a small community forming in my preferred room, with the same people signing on at the same time on the same days. It was fun, and unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a physical casino!