Live Blackjack Options for Players in the USA
The US betting market has been in the news a fair amount as of late after the country legalised online sports betting nationwide, getting the attention of many brands from around the world who are now vying to be the biggest name in the Stateside online sports betting world.
However, while sports betting is making the nationwide move first, online casinos have been legal in some online states for a while now.
For those looking to play Live Blackjack in the USA, the options are limited. However, there is no federal law outlawing online casino play, so it is down to the state to legalise Live Blackjack games, and so far, only three have.
The Legal States
It may surprise you to learn that the first state to legalise online gambling in the USA wasn’t Nevada, home of Las Vegas, or New Jersey, home of Atlantic City, but it was, in fact, Delaware.
The legalisation was made official in 2012, but it wasn’t until the end of November 2013 that the market opened up, with racetracks offering sports betting services along with blackjack, poker, roulette, and slot games.
New Jersey was the next state to follow suit, passing online gambling legislation in 2013, allowing for Atlantic City Casinos to offer online games, New Jersey still has by far the most varied options for online casino lovers.
Finally, Pennsylvania added its name to the list when it legalised online gambling in late 2017, this is a recent addition and, as such, there are no online casinos operating in Pennsylvania at this point, but there’s undoubtedly a queue waiting to be launched, and it won’t be long until they add their names to the growing online casino market in the United States.
Nevada, somewhat surprisingly, has exclusively legalised online poker, so Live Blackjack options are still not available in the state, although this could always change, and we can expect more states to legalise online gambling in all its forms, even if Nevada doesn’t.
Top US Friendly Sites for Live Blackjack
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Live Blackjack Providers in the United States
As the market is new, and still only present in a small number of states in the country, American players have substantially fewer choices than those in most Europe and many other jurisdictions.
In fact, outside of New Jersey (where there is more choice available) the only provider supplying Live Blackjack games is Visionary iGaming (ViG), but if you are to only have one choice, it’s a good one!
Visionary iGaming
Visionary iGaming has always offered a quality Live Blackjack product, but as with all Live Dealer providers, as technology moved forwards, and internet speeds increased, there was more opportunities available, and ViG pounced on them.
Refurbishing their already popular 7-Seat Classic Live Blackjack game in 2015, the game now includes full HD full screen, and Ahead capability, which allows players to bet on receipt of their cards, giving the option to increase the pace of a Blackjack game.
There’s also a Back Bet option, which means that if you can’t get a seat at the game, you can bet behind the players at the table using either the popular Pairs bet (11:1) or the less often available Rummy Bet (9:1).
With the latter option, a player bets on their two cards and the dealer’s up card, the player wins if a Rummy is gained, either three cards of the same suit, three of the same rank, or a 3-Card Straight.
Live Blackjack Early Payout is another ViG Live Blackjack game and offers an impressive 99.5% return-to-player (RTP).
This Common Draw Blackjack game has no limit on the number of players that can sit at the table, and any player can opt out at any time for an Early Payout, which depends on the dealer’s up card and can either be more or less than the player’s original bet.
Bovada
Probably the best known online casino in the entire of the United States, Bovada has worked hard to gain that reputation, and works even harder to maintain it.
While the Poker option that was once available at Bovada has moved over to Ignition Casino (players can move their accounts over too, so little has changed there)
Blackjack has remained, alongside slots and sports betting options, to ensure that Bovada remains a popular destination for players of all preferences.
If you are looking for Live Blackjack play, then the excellent reputation and customer service that Bovada has can offer an extra level of reassurance to some top-quality gaming options.
MYB Casino and Vietbet.eu
MyBookies is a name that many in the US may know, well, MYB Casino is their casino options, and while holding a license in Curacao, the casino also operates in the United States.
Vietbet.eu, with a name from Vietnam and a domain name in Europe, may not be one you would expect to offer choice to US players, but like MYB, this is one of the best.
If you are looking for something less commercial than Bovada, or just something a little different, either of these two sites are good options.
Payment Methods
While there are an increasing number of payment methods, such as eWallets, becoming available in the US as online casino play grows as an industry, most players still prefer the old school bank card method, with VISA and Mastercard being the most popular.
However, bitcoin is on the rise, as it is in all industries, and you will find that many US facing casinos will offer bitcoin as both a payment and a withdrawal method for online casino players.
Live Blackjack has come on leaps and bounds over recent years, now being about as close to you can get to the real thing (and with VR on the horizon, that may become truer very soon), and USA players, while more restricted than most in their options, still have the ability to play some of the best Live Blackjack games around.