With online casinos surging in popularity in many places around the world, some games that have been physical throughout their entire existence are suddenly making the shift to digital. Take roulette, for instance. While this game might appear simple enough to make that transition without any hiccups, it’s worth asking if anything is lost in the process. Is there something inherently physical in its nature? Or is it identical or even improved when you shift it to a digital space?
Not only can the answers here help you to figure out how you want to experience this game for yourself, but they can also get you thinking about the subtle differences that the presentation of a game can incur.
The Role of the Dealer
The dealer might feel like a somewhat antiquated concept in an age where all of these games can be played digitally through the help of the casino AI. However, that distinction is an important one. The RNG (random number generator) provided by online casinos offers a subtly different effect than the hand of the dealer, and that’s something worth taking into account. The dealer is very much an active component of the game, and not everyone will be happy with their removal. Of course, you can get live casinos that remedy this while retaining the convenience of online casinos. For instance, at online casinos in the US like Unibet Casino you can play blackjack with live dealers in real-time instead of playing against RNG software.
The Social Experience
Of course, with the removal of the dealer comes the removal of another element – the social component of casinos. It might be that part of roulette for you is gathering around the table with friends and strangers and feeling as though your bet has the attention of everyone involved.
With that removed and the game shifting towards a digital format, it’s a much more individual experience. While this might allow for a more distilled experience, it could threaten to strip away aspects of what you feel made it enjoyable in the first place.
The Shift Towards Mobile Gaming
Therefore, you might find it worthwhile to think about what you personally look to get out of roulette. If you find that you prefer the game to be the sole focus, this shift towards it joining the ranks of other mobile games might make a lot of sense to you. The ability to pull out your phone when you have spare time and engage with the games you find most enjoyable can make roulette a game that you become much more familiar with than you otherwise might.
However, with this familiarity comes a risk of normalization and over-exposure. When you’re gambling with real money, you want to ensure that enough of a healthy distance is left in place for you to retain enough self-control to recognize when enough is enough. You still want the game to remain enjoyable, after all. That’s why engaging in responsible gambling is advised, such as playing with a budget and setting yourself a time limit in terms of when and how long you play.
Coexistence
In some ways, then, you might find it easier to think of these two variations as different games. While the bulk of the experience will be identical, the different emotions and sensations that they produce can lead them to occupy two different purposes. With that in mind, it might be that you don’t even have to pick one, and you might find that different occasions call for one or the other.
The time that you spend with the online version of roulette might familiarise you with the way that the game works so that you feel more confident at a physical table next time you and your friends have a casino night. Investigating the aforementioned possibility of a live dealer can also get you thinking about what a compromise might end up lacking about either option – leading you to see it as a third option rather than a replacement for both.
