Live casinos provide you with an awesome platform to play a real-time version of your favourite casino games. They have live dealers running each round, so it feels like you’re in a real casino. Only this time, you’re playing on your mobile phone or desktop, right from the comfort of your home. Ready to try live roulette, blackjack, baccarat, or poker? Check out our guide first!
Top Live Dealer Casinos in March 2024
What is a Live Dealer Casino and How Does it Work?
Most online casinos around the world have a live casino, and Nigeria is no exception in this regard.
Live casinos use OCR to capture live studio action in real-time, translating it to players worldwide. Top providers offer high-quality video, 3D graphics, and immersive sound, making the interface interactive.
In live games, a stable internet connection ensures you catch every moment. Each game features a live dealer, chips, and relevant equipment. The dealer manages rounds, announces bets, and interacts with players. They welcome new players and guide existing ones. Live chat enables player-dealer and player-player interaction. Every action is in real-time, allowing you to follow every move.
How To Play at a Live Casino Online in NG?
Below are the steps required to start playing those live games you may have in mind.
- Sign up at one of the best live casino sites. Visit any of our top-rated casino sites on this page and sign up there. Provide the necessary information, such as name, home address, email address, phone number, etc. If you already have an account at any of these casinos, you should log in to your account.
- Fund your account. The casinos on this page have various deposit methods, including USSD, bank transfer, debit cards, e-wallets and online banking. Select any method in the cashier and use it to deposit real money into your casino account. Keep in mind that the deposit method must be registered in your name.
- Play any live casino game you like. Once your deposit is successful, visit the live casino section and choose any game that catches your fancy. Typically, you’ll find live blackjack, roulette, baccarat and poker at most casinos. Live game shows are also popular among players.
- Withdraw your winnings. These casinos allow you to withdraw your real money winnings. However, you can only withdraw if you have wagered your deposit the number of times prescribed by the casino.
What is the Difference Between Live Dealer Casinos and Regular Online Casinos?
The curious reader might be wondering and asking about the difference between live casinos and online casinos. Since our goal is to educate you on the best gaming choices you can make, our expert sheds light on this topic. We present the distinctive features of live dealer casinos and online casinos in the table below.
| Live Dealer Casino Features | Online Casino Features |
| Live dealer games are played and broadcast in real-time | Online casino games aren’t played in real-time |
| All actions are alive, so there’s no RNG | Random number generators (RNG) determine the winning result |
| Live dealers are present | No live dealers |
| Live games include a chat for player-player or player-dealer communication. | Chat feature isn’t available in all online casino games |
| Many live dealer games have very high maximum bet limits | Bet limits are mostly moderate in online casino games. |
| Live casino games only have a real-money version | Online games have a demo or free-play version |
Popular Live Dealer Casino Games
There are many types of live dealer games you can play. These range from live slots to live table games and live game shows. While live slots aren’t popular in Nigeria, table games and live shows enjoy a great following. We explore these games in detail below.
♦️ Live Blackjack
Unlike roulette, blackjack has a lot to do with skill and strategy. As such, the game requires a sound knowledge of applicable rules before you can play. The first and most important rule is to avoid busting (scoring over 21), as that automatically gives you a loss. Popular blackjack variants you’ll find in most live casinos include European, American and Spanish 21.
You’ll find a dealer when you open each live blackjack game. You’ll also find a card shoe, a pile of used cards, and a few blackjack rules on the table. Every title has specific rules, which you can access by clicking/tapping the game info button on the screen. Some live blackjack titles have the Bet Behind or Back Betting feature, allowing you to place the same bet as another player at the table.
Many titles also have side bets, such as 21+3, Perfect Pairs, Bust It or Bust Bet, Any Pair, etc. You’re allowed to combine multiple side bets to achieve your game strategy at any round.
♦️ Live Roulette
Live roulette is an exciting title played with the same rules as online roulette. The game has a general style, which you can find in all variants, including European, French and American. The style involves all players at the table making bets on a number or group of numbers. Afterwards, the dealer spins the roulette wheel and a ball begins to rotate around the wheel. The ball eventually lands on any random number on the wheel. So, all bets covering that number will win the round.
Besides the live dealer, you’ll find bet chips, a game grid, a roulette wheel and a ball when you open a live roulette game. The types of bet you can place include inside and outside bets. Inside bets involve fewer numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (for American roulette) and 6. These numbers are represented by bets like Straight-up, Split, Street, Corner/Square, Basket (for American roulette) and Line. Outside bets have much more numbers, so their payouts are less than inside bets’ payouts. Outside bets include Odd/Even, Red/Black, 1-18/19-36 (Low/High), Dozen and Column.
Live European and French roulette games also have call or announced bets, such as Orphelins, Tiers du Cylindre, Voisins du Zéro and Jeu Zero. Neighbour bets are also available in all three variants.
♦️ Live Baccarat
Baccarat is a thrilling table game that delivers so much fun to players around the world. The live version will place you side by side with other players, while a dealer oversees the round. Although you must have your strategies before you start playing, baccarat isn’t as complex as blackjack. The goal is to finish with a hand value of 9 or with a lesser value close enough to 9.
The main bet types are Banker, Player and Tie. For most live titles, you’ll find the statistics feature detailing the most recently successful bet types. You may avail yourself of such statistics for decision-making, but keep in mind that nothing is certain in the game. There are side bets, which you can combine to enhance your possible win, if you’re lucky.
Popular side bets include Perfect Pairs, Big, Small, Banker/Player Pair, Fortune 7, Super 8, etc. There’s a concept known as the Third-card rule in baccarat. The Third-card rule is a set of game steps you must take when you’re dealt a third card with the banker or player bet. Ensure you study such steps and rules.
♦️ Live Game Shows
Live game shows are fast-paced titles similar to TV game shows. They have become a big part of live casino gaming around the world. Live shows are often easy to play, as they don’t require any special strategy for anybody to win. Most live game shows have a Money Wheel concept, where a live dealer spins a large wheel after all bets are placed. The wheel usually has a ribbon or any other indicator at its top. So, after the spin, the ribbon or indicator points at any of the bet spots on the wheel. That bet spot immediately becomes the winner.
In some game shows, the indicated bet spot becomes eligible for a bonus round. One distinctive feature of live shows is that they all have interesting bonus features. These features always award huge multipliers to lucky players. Some titles even have multi-level progressive or non-progressive jackpots, enhancing the overall entertainment for players. Many other game shows have other themes, such as movies, wealth, sports, adventure, etc.
Live Dealer Casino Online Bonuses
Even though most online casinos exclude live games from casino bonuses, some best payout casinos offer live game bonuses. Considering that our investigations allow you to make an informed decision, we provide information on live casino promotions. As such, we explain popular live casino bonus types in this section.
Welcome bonuses
Welcome bonuses are reserved for new players after one or more qualifying deposits. Some top casinos include live games as part of games on which players can wager their sign-up bonus. Therefore, as a live casino enthusiast, you should check whether a welcome bonus applies to live games before claiming it.
Reload bonuses
Live reload offers are available at some casinos daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Reload bonuses are for existing players, who must have either used a welcome bonus or forfeited their welcome offer. This bonus is also subject to a qualifying deposit as stated in the bonus terms.
Live cashback offers
In casino terms, cashback is the refund of a certain percentage of your daily, weekly or monthly losses. Some best live casino sites offer such refunds on losses incurred while playing live games. Hence, you may want to stick to such casinos.
Live tournaments
Some software providers have tournaments for live games, including Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Playtech, etc. Our research shows that Pragmatic Play’s Drops and Wins Live is currently the most popular live casino tournament. You may leverage the tournament and other tournaments to have a good time. Some casinos may also offer specific live tournaments to players.
What are the Software Providers for Live Casinos?
| Casino | Live blackjack games | Live baccarat games | Live roulette games |
| 1xbet | 210 | 148 | 170 |
| Betway | 80 | 23 | 51 |
| Bet9ja | 40 | 20 | 30 |
1xbet Casino: 1xbet Casino offers a wide array of live casino games from top software providers such as Pragmatic Play, Playtech, Ezugi, and many others. With partnerships including Authentic Gaming, Vivo Gaming, and Evolution, players can enjoy immersive live blackjack, baccarat, and roulette experiences.
Betway Casino: Betway Casino collaborates with leading software providers like Evolution, Playtech, and Authentic Gaming to deliver live blackjack, baccarat, and roulette games. With a selection from Real Dealer Studios and Pragmatic Play, players enjoy high-quality live gaming experiences.
Bet9ja Casino: Bet9ja Casino partners with reputable providers such as Pragmatic Play and Ezugi to offer live blackjack, baccarat, and roulette games. With LiveG24’s contributions, players enjoy engaging live gaming experiences.
Comparison of the Top Brands
| 1xbet Casino | Betway Casino | Bet9ja Casino |
| Many casino bonuses | Almost no casino bonus | Almost no casino bonus |
| Large live game variety | A good live game Variety | Average live games Variety |
| Numerous software providers | Several software providers | Few software providers |
| Responsive mobile site + a mobile app | User-friendly mobile site + a mobile app | Solid mobile site + a mobile app. Live casino is not on the app. |
| Table limits (₦100 – ₦2,000,000) | Table limits (₦100 – ₦2,000,000) | Table limits (₦100 – ₦2,000,000) |
1xbet Casino
1xbet has more live casino games than all other casinos in Nigeria. Specifically, it has over 700 live games from 23 software providers. The live casino lobby is so comprehensive that you can easily select any game of your choice.
You can choose with filters like software providers, game type or even the search button. What’s more, new live casino players can grab a welcome bonus of up to ₦700,000 on the first four deposits. Existing players have access to several regular promotions, too.
Betway Casino
Betway Casino offers Nigerian players over 250 live titles from 7 software providers. It powers a comprehensive site that makes game search very convenient.
The mobile app is accessible to iOS and Android smartphones. When you select any game, you can also switch to the game provider’s lobby and explore all titles by that developer. Betway doesn’t have casino bonuses for new or existing players during this review.
Bet9ja Casino
Bet9ja has an average live casino lobby. But this doesn’t take away the entertainment on offer. Though you won’t find many games in the Bet9ja live lobby, you can access many more games through each provider’s game lobby.
So, there are way more live games than what you can see in the Bet9ja lobby. It has a mobile app, but the casino and live casino sections aren’t available on the app.
How do We Rate the Best Online Live Casinos in NG?
As a trusted portal for gaming information in Nigeria and Africa, we analyse and study each gaming site thoroughly. In carrying out our analyses, we always look at certain areas before giving our mark of approval. We have explained those areas in the following sections.
Range of live games
The whole essence of playing at a casino is to have as much fun as possible. And you can’t achieve that with a paltry number of live games. That’s why we check the number of games thoroughly before we rate the live casino. Variety is a key part of online gaming, which means you’ll likely be entertained at a casino with numerous live games.
Mobile Experience
As players ourselves, we don’t waste time on cluttered, unresponsive or slow casinos. Before recommending a live casino site, we check its speed and user-friendliness on several mobile browsers. So, you should only play at fast, responsive and mobile-friendly live casinos. We have done the research for you on which live casinos have great mobile platforms. Thankfully, all the casinos on this page have a good mobile site.
Software Providers
A casino’s reputation is always linked to the software providers it partners with. Reputable live casinos are known to offer games from prominent software providers. As such, we advise you to play at live casinos offering titles from trusted software developers. Some reputable brands include Evolution, Pragmatic Play, Playtech, LuckyStreak, Ezugi, etc.
Licensing and security
We only recommend licensed and regulated live casinos in Nigeria. If a live casino isn’t licensed or regulated, you’ll never find it on PunchNG. We also check how secure the website is by verifying that it complies with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR). All these must be in place before we recommend a platform.
Payment Methods
It’s always good to play at a live casino site that accepts indigenous banking options. We tested all the casinos on this page and confirmed they all have such indigenous payment solutions. Therefore, you may deposit via bank transfer, USSD, debit cards, online banking or e-wallets. 1xbet even offers cryptocurrency payment options.
Conclusion
We had no issues reviewing the live casino games on 1xbet, Betway and Bet9ja because they have mobile-friendly sites. 1xbet and Betway each have a mobile app where you can enjoy thrilling sessions. However, the Bet9ja mobile app doesn’t have a casino section, which is disappointing. Overall, 1xbet is the leading live casino in Nigeria.
FAQ
Where can I play live casino online?
You can play live dealer games at 1xbet, Betway, Bet9ja and many other live casinos in Nigeria.
Should I play on a mobile live dealer site or an app?
This depends on your preference. Top-rated casinos offer the same features on their mobile site and app. So, you can play on either platform.
What are the main deposit methods for online live casinos?
The popular deposit methods include OPay, GTB USSD, online banking, bank transfer, Kuda, Moniepoint, Paystack, PalmPay, Mastercard, Verve, etc.
What are the pros and cons of playing at a live dealer casino?
You enjoy live actions with more fun. You can chat with a dealer and with other players. You can also wager a lot of money on live games. However, live games don’t have a free-play version.
Do welcome bonuses apply to live dealer games?
It depends on the live casino. 1xbet Casino allows bonus wagering on live games. Therefore, you can claim the welcome bonus and use it on live games.
Can I play at a live casino online for free?
No. Live casino games can’t be played for free. If you don’t have money to play, you’re only allowed to watch the action as it happens live.
How important are table limits when choosing a live casino?
Table limits allow you to plan your gaming according to how much you want to spend. If you’re a low or medium roller, you should go to tables accepting low to medium stake limits. But if you like high wagers, you should go to such tables accepting them.
