Another frontier has been crossed regarding the service of online and brick-and-mortar gamblers.
A real casino can now enter one’s home.
Borgata recently unveiled Dual Play Baccarat, now available at BetMGM and Borgata Online Casino in New Jersey. It brings live action from Borgata in Atlantic City to those who wish to play online. BetMGM and Borgata are partnered with Evolution Gaming.
The setup allows players at the casino’s physical baccarat table and online players to participate in the same game. Borgata deems it the first Dual Play Baccarat based in the United States serving a regulated U.S. market.
Casino officials hail this concept as an industry breakthrough. Brick-and-mortar properties can livestream their game to an online customer in real time. This serves as a convenience for online players and a recruitment tool for the properties.
Dual Play Baccarat extends a live-online gaming dynamic. In August 2023, Dual Play Roulette arrived at Borgata and online at BetMGM and Borgata Online Casino in New Jersey. It was the first Evolution Dual Play game at an MGM Resorts International North American property, company officials say.
They consider Dual Play Roulette one of Borgata’s most popular tables and that the game delivers impressive online numbers.
Here comes a Baccarat version to drive revenue.
How Dual Play Baccarat works in New Jersey
With multiple cameras positioned around the table, online players enjoy a fully immersive experience. An unlimited number of players can join the game online. They can experience the action as if they were seated at that live table.
Pros
The game puts players up close to the action. The cards are real. So are the felt, chips, and the live dealer elements. Angles provide an excellent view of the cards, conveying the requisite sense of drama around the game. This brings the feel of a real casino onto one’s tablet, phone, or gaming device.
One can wager throughout this process, and, from a gambling standpoint, is every bit in the game.
A player may feel that they are making a decision that impacts the result, thus allowing strategy. The online result of other casino games may appear more random.
One does get the feeling of bridging the online and brick-and-mortar worlds.
This is also a change of pace from other online games.
Cons
One gets ALL the aspects of live play. This includes the occasional slow process of watching the dealer count money and make change. The dealer also conducts conservations with customers whom online gamblers can’t see, or converse with. This presumably complies with regulations prohibiting the filming and dissemination of casino customers without their consent.
A player is present in one sense, but an onlooker in another. There is no social connection to the dealer or other players. One is more a visitor than a participant in the vibe of the table.
Final thoughts on the online-retail blend?
This is another option for players in a lineup that includes roulette, craps, and blackjack, some with speed editions. The game contrasts others that move faster.
The online menu is seemingly endless. A typical menu contains somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 games. Game categories include new, table, jackpot, slot, and special themes. It’s a visual all-you-can-eat.
Overall, players can deposit, play, and cash out, quickly. They don’t have to drive to Atlantic City, park, and walk through the property to find a game. A customer can win money in their pajamas.
Customers can also gain rewards linked to an Atlantic City casino from the convenience of their own homes, which may encourage a special trip to Atlantic City.
Linking online with brick-and-mortar is smart business
Casinos have been trying to connect and bolster both realms for several years. The evolution is a gaming equivalent of space exploration, or the improvement in television clarity and reception over the years. Innovations occur. Boundaries keep getting pushed further.
Some of the early designs on this idea included dealers portrayed as hologram people, projected into a three-dimensional space. This made the games more immersive than ever before. Several advancements followed, periodically.
And now we have another chapter.