If you’ve played enough live dealer games, you probably feel as if you’ve tried everything.
Casinos come and go, but their releases rarely change. The big four are present on nearly every website: blackjack, baccarat, poker and roulette. Occasionally, we see a new variant for these games. It keeps us busy, but then, it’s back to the usual.
But if there’s one good thing about the iGaming industry, is that it doesn’t stay put for long. With such fierce competition on all sides, operators and developers alike continuously experiment with new ideas. Whatever it takes to draw attention to yourself in this crowded field.
This doubly rings true for live dealer releases, since they are rarely the primary focus of most casinos. Because of this, software providers like Evolution have been doing their best to create new and innovative games. Are they worth your time and money? Read on to find out!
Dream Catcher
This was Evolution’s first foray into the world of gameshow-like live dealer games. It was very much so an experiment, but one which paid off massively for the developer! This release became a smash hit and a must-have in any serious casino.
And it’s easy to see why players love it so much. The wheel is colourful, the payouts are good, and the rules are simple. There’s no need to learn any complicated strategies to be good at this game.
The wheel has a total of 54 slots, 52 of which are numbers. There is a decent variety of numbers: one, two, five, ten, twenty and forty. Lower value numbers, like one and two, have the most segments, meaning they are most likely to be drawn.
It may be great for win frequency, but not so great for payouts. If you bet on one and win, your payout will be 1:1. This is where those other two slots on the wheel come into play. They house a 2x and a 7x multiplier, respectively.
If the wheel lands on a multiplier, it will be spun again. Then, once it lands on a winning number, the prize will be increased accordingly. The maximum prize you can win in Dream Catcher is artificially capped at €500,000.
Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be any detailed strategy for this game. The best advice we can give you is to stick to lower wheel numbers as you build up your betting pool. You can either keep hoping for a multiplier or make big wagers afterwards to score a big win hopefully!
Monopoly Live
Next on the list is Monopoly Live, which is in many aspects an upgrade to Dream Catcher. Many elements, like the 54 slot wheel and €500,000 maximum prize have remained the same. However, there are some notable differences.
First, there are fewer numbers on the board overall.48 position on the wheel are reserved for numbers. The other six are split into two Chance, three 2-roll and one 4-roll segments. These new positions are used to trigger special features.
Chance bonuses are available to everyone who’s made a bet for that particular spin. If the wheel stops on a Chance, Mr Monopoly will give you a card. From the said card, you can either receive a direct cash prize or a multiplier increase. If a multiplier is granted, all current bets remain active, and the dealer spins the wheel again. The multiplier will then increase any prizes you win on that re-spin.
To get access to the 2-roll and 4-roll bonus, you have to make a wager on the said special feature. If you haven’t made a bet, you won’t be able to play. Once active, the bonus transports you to a real-life Monopoly board!
Once you’re done gawking at the awesome graphics, you can start playing. The casino will auto-roll a pair of dice, which controls how many tiles Mr Monopoly will travel. When he finishes moving, he will pick up the prize for that specific tile on the board.
Mr Monopoly can also stand on Chance or Community Chest tiles. These will award a cash prize or incur a penalty of some sort. Landing on Go To Jail will imprison Mr Monopoly, preventing him from moving.
To free our favourite ruthless capitalist, we must roll a double. That means both dice must display the same number. If you aren’t in prison, a double will grant you one extra dice roll in the bonus.
Like with Dream Catcher, there’s no strategy to help you win. It’s almost entirely luck-based! The only thing you can do is cross your fingers and hope you get an awesome bonus round in. Otherwise, the payouts are rather dull.
Deal or No Deal
Straight from the TV screens and onto our computers and phones comes Deal or No Deal! This time around, it’s the players that are in the hot seat, and have to make the tough calls which can result in big wins.
This release is made up of three parts. First is the qualification period, where you spin a three-layer wheel. All three layers have to line up for gamblers to be able to qualify. Once you succeed in doing so, you can move onto the second step.
Successful qualification means you are now eligible to play the game. Before that, you can choose to fill the boxes with more money from your pocket. You do this by clicking a specific box and spinning the wheel. Depending on where the wheel lands, the prize within that particular box will be increased by that amount.
Finally, we get to part three: the main game! The banker will open three briefcases, and give gamblers an offer. You can choose to Deal (accept) or Not Deal (reject the offer). If you decide not to take the deal, you will be made two more offers for the next set of two cases.
On your fourth round, only two briefcases remain. Here, you get your final offer. You also have the option to swap briefcases if you think the other one is a better value. This is where the round ends, and you start the qualification process again.
It’s important to note that the money you spend trying to qualify does not increase the funds within the boxes. Money lost while playing that part of the game lost completely.
Gamblers hoping to win Deal or No Deal must keep track of how much money they spent on each round. Then, if the banker offers you a Deal which is a net profit, you take it. While you can try and risk it with the final briefcase, most of the time it’s not worth it.
Lightning Dice
Behind a visually stunning presentation lies a rather simple game. Guess the total of the three dice correctly, and you receive a prize! The attraction here comes from the random multipliers, and how you can trigger them.
The less frequent a number is the higher its multiplier. The probability of getting 3 or 18 is minuscule. But you’ll still want to make a small bet on them since they can benefit from a 1,000x multiplier!
Multipliers you receive are random. There is no guarantee you will receive the maximum value of a multiplier, or that one will appear at all! As a result, our strategy suggests sticking with safe numbers.
These safe numbers are 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. 8 and 13 pay 5:1, 9 and 12 pay 6:1, and 10 and 11 pay 7:1. All of these numbers can benefit from a 50x multiplier for a substantial boost under the right circumstances.
But just betting these numbers means you’ll see frequent wins, but awarded prizes will be small. As a result, we also recommend betting on 3 and 18. You never know when Lightning Dice will award that juicy 1,000x multiplier!