Live tables: what the rules decide and the dealer does not
Published on · Tobias Hoffmann · 7 min read
The atmosphere of a live table is real; an edge from it is not. What genuinely changes is on display before you sit down.
Four lines set the house edge
| Rule | Favourable | Unfavourable |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack payout | 3:2 | 6:5 |
| Dealer on soft 17 | Stands | Hits |
| Double after split | Allowed | Not allowed |
| Number of decks | Few | Many |
The difference between 3:2 and 6:5 alone weighs more than anything watching the table could produce. These details are shown at the table view and can be read before sitting down.
Why a dealer cannot be read
At blackjack their behaviour is fixed entirely by house rules: they draw to a given value and stop. At roulette the procedure yields no usable information. Card counting requires cards to stay in play across several hands — in the usual live formats the shoe is shuffled early.
What genuinely changes
- Pace. Markedly slower than a slot — at the same stake less turnover accumulates per hour. The only item that favours the player.
- Table limits. Fixed and usually higher than on slots.
- Data use. A video stream costs roughly what an hour of video costs.
- Side bets. Perfect Pairs, 21+3 and similar extras carry, without exception, a considerably higher house edge than the base game.
The "German accent"
German-speaking tables are a comfort feature, not a rules feature: the dealer's language changes neither the payouts nor the house edge. What does depend on the market is whether an operator is subject to the German order — the check for that is in the article on the GGL.
What the halls this format descends from looked like is described in the article on the history. The tax side of a win is covered in the article on taxes, and what VR technology changes at the table in the article on VR.
