Online & Live Blackjack – The Differences

Blackjack is one of the oldest and most beloved casino table games, with its origins tracing back almost 500 years ago to 17th century Europe – it could be argued that its history is even greater than that, with the Blackjack we know today originating from even earlier versions of card games.

The rules that are common knowledge these days, though, aren’t even 100 years old, with Las Vegas casinos, following gambling becoming legalised, standardising the rules in the 1930s – prior to that, the most common versions were the Spanish one: Ventiuna (Spanish for 21), and this was probably closer to the rules that were settled upon. The alternative popular version was Vingt-et-Un (French for 21), but this enabled bets to be played after every round.

In this article we take a look at the main differences between online Blackjack and the Live Blackjack games that can be found at our Live Casino.

Live Dealers Create Different Playing Aesthetics

The most obvious difference to point out between standard online Blackjack and Live Blackjack, is that the latter features a living and breathing live dealer, who reacts to players just as a croupier in a brick-and-mortar casino would. This makes the experience as immersive and realistic as possible even while set in the virtual environment.  

Online Blackjack uses computer-generated graphics to try and replicate the role of an in-person croupier; these graphics range from a CGI dealer or simply via wording/image-led visuals.

In addition to the lack of an authentic dealer, online Blackjack also uses a random-number generator (RNG) to determine the outcomes of which cards are dealt.

It is therefore up to each individual player to choose whether he wants that additional human interaction, or he prefers to keep things simple by using the computerised dealers offered at standard tables.

Which Language Do You Play In?

While standard Blackjack tables tend to run in uniform English, Live Blackjack gives players the option of also gaming in other popular languages.

Our Live Casino gives players the opportunity to choose a native speaking live dealer in several languages such as English, German and Italian.

Speed of Play

With the authentic dealer element in live Blackjack the timings are more relaxed, with the natural ebb and flow of player-to-player/player-to-dealer interactions that occur during all casino games.

Of course, there’s timings to respect in live Blackjack, but there are more ‘windows’ i.e dealing of the cards can take anywhere between 10 seconds to 90 seconds depending on the situation.

That organic setting isn’t created with online Blackjack, with the whole process automated, everything is instant as there’s no waiting for other players to be ready or the dealer to finish cashing out a players chips, for example.

Availability and Table Limits

With live Blackjack being a real-life scenario there will be situations where players will need to wait for a space to become available at a table, especially during peak hours.

In addition, betting limits can vary widely based on the location of the casino, the time of day, how the casino’s profit-and-loss performance is for that month etc.

When it comes to online Blackjack, you will never not be able to play due to there being unlimited tables in the computer-generated world of animations and random number generators.

Due to this, you also experience greater flexibility in betting limits with it being known for tables to offer up to $500,000 per hand – live blackjack would rarely see max bets exceed four figures.

When it comes to the minimum bets there is also disparity between the two Blackjack options. Due to overhead costs of running a live table (staff wages/casino overheads), you’ll rarely see anything below a $1 minimum. However, online Blackjack has virtually zero costs to run, therefore, some will allow for microbetting i.e. 10-50 cents per hand.

Deck Shuffling Varies

On our standard online Blackjack tables, cards are shuffled by our software after every hand, but our Live Blackjack tables work differently, with the goal of delivering an authentic gaming experience.

In reality the game will play exactly the same, but this slight difference allows users to choose their preference, because after all, choice is the spice of gaming life.

How decks of cards are shuffled varies between standard online Blackjack and Live Blackjack

Exclusive Tables

Live Blackjack games can be reserved for certain communities of gamers, which is not always the case for online Blackjack games.

These tables vary from such things as high-roller tables, which will see higher minimum and maximum bets to invitation-only tables (speaks for itself) and even to celebrity tables.

At the PokerStars Casino there are some Live Blackjack variants that are exclusive to the PokerStars Casino community. Some of these include PokerStars All Bets Blackjack, PokerStars Blackjack and PokerStars Speed Blackjack.

Free Play Mode

One of the biggest pros to online Blackjack is its ability to offer free-to-play games, something live Blackjack cannot do due to that not being something casinos offer.

The beauty of being able to play for free is that it opens up the accessibility to everyone, with players allowed to learn, first hand, without the risk of losing money. Or trial new strategies, to learn the positives and negatives of that approach.

Different Ways to Play Privately

Our standard online Blackjack tables already offer discretion, as the software and computerised dealers ensure all games run smoothly.

Live Blackjack also offers the same levels of privacy if a PokerStars Casino member wants it, with it being possible for players to play in a Salon Privé.

This means a casino player can play alone at his pace at his own private gaming table, where he will be tended to by a live dealer focused solely on him, meaning no other players may join or even spectate the action.

Online & Live Blackjack

The one thing that players will find, whether people play standard online Blackjack or Live Blackjack, is that both games stay true to the original spirit of this classic card game.