Live casino tournaments have a rather simple premise, and every lover of live dealer games can easily take part, as long as they have a valid casino account funded with real money.
Generally, tournaments are open to both new and existing players. However, most newly registered customers are more interested in welcome bonuses and similar perks. As such, live casino tournaments online are generally reserved for long-time players on a casino site. There’s nothing stopping you from taking part, but you may wish to hold off on tournament play if you just opened an account.
A typical live dealer tournament typically starts whenever the casino announces it. They tend to last somewhere between a week and a few months. Every tournament also has a specific prize pool and requires the players to opt in on the promotions page to enter the tournament.
While the tournament lasts, participating players are ranked based on accumulated points. These points are collected in different ways, which varies from tournament to tournament. However, this usually involves one of these factors:
- How much money you stake in a certain type of live casino game
- How much money you win through that game
- The ratio between your stake and your winnings
For example, a blackjack tournament may reward players who win the most cash during a single week. A roulette tournament can similarly rank players, but base the rankings on how big their winnings are compared to their stake. The latter example is more fair for players who play with smaller bankrolls.
At the end of the week, usually at midnight on Sundays, the rankings are final and the winners are announced.
Most online casino tournaments split the prize pool among multiple best-ranked players. This can be the top 10 players or the top 1,000 participants, depending on the terms of the promotion.
Players who qualify to receive a cash money prize will either receive email notifications about their position on the leaderboard or have the possibility to check the table themselves on the promotions page.
Note that tournaments may include specific games such as casino’s private or exclusive blackjack tables, or one particular roulette table from a certain software provider. However, many target entire types of games such as blackjack in general, on multiple tables from multiple providers.
To sum up the proceedings, most tournaments in live casino sections come down to three steps: opting in to the tournament, playing at one’s favorite live tables, and then keeping an eye on the leaderboard.
How to Participate in Live Casino Tournaments Online
To avoid any confusion, we’ll boil down how live dealer casino tournaments work in a few simple steps.
- Opt-in – Players who wish to take part in the tournament opt into them, usually on the casino’s promotion page.
- Wait for the right time – Most tournaments run on a weekly loop. As such, the smartest thing to do is start playing as soon as a tournament round begins. This typically means Monday morning.
- Play the relevant games – During the allotted period, play the live dealer games outlined in the tournament’s terms. These can be specific tables, games from a certain provider, or the casino’s entire portfolio of a certain game type.
- Collect points – Players are ranked based on targets described in the tournament’s terms. You might need to wager as much as possible or win as much as you can.
- Rank and win – If you collect enough points to be among the best-ranked players, you’ll win a portion of the tournament prize pool. Higher rankings are awarded bigger prizes, but the reward structure can vary.
If you manage to outperform enough other players, you’ll usually snag some sort of prize. The prize can be cash money, bonus funds at the casino, comp points, or any number of things.
Rankings and Prizes
The prizes given in live casino tournaments are dependent on the total prize pool of the promotion. The size of the prize pool and individual cash rewards differs from one casino to the next.
Here is an example of how prize pools may be divided, inspired by an actual completed live roulette tournament:
- 1st place – $1000
- 2-3rd place – $500
- 4-7th place – $350
- 8-12th place – $100
- 13-22nd place – $50
- 23-62nd place – $25
In this example, the total prize pool adds up to $5,500.
However, many tournaments consist of several rounds. For instance, the tournament lasts a week, after which the rewards are awarded, the scores reset back to 0, and a fresh round begins. This gives everyone a new chance to get on the leaderboards.
In a sense, multi-round casino tournaments are actually just multiple smaller tournaments that take place one after the other. It’s a convenient way to allow players to take things at their own pace. The downside is that the announced prize pools may not be as amazing as they seem. For instance, that massive six-figure pool will look a lot more modest once you split it into multiple rounds and dozens of winners.
Speaking of prize pools, pay attention to what the actual rewards are:
- Cash prizes – The favourite among players, cash prizes are immediately withdrawable and don’t come with any special terms or strings attached. You just get the money and walk off a bit richer.
- Bonus funds – While bonus money in casinos may seem as good as a cash prize, these rewards can usually only be used to bet at the casino. You’ll only be able to actually withdraw these funds after you play through the full amount several times over. Check out our guide to casino bonus terms and conditions to find out more about wagering requirements.
- Other prizes – Other, less common types of rewards include free chips or spins to be used in casinos, valuable items such as watches (or even cars!), or anything else.
Top Online Casinos to Play Live Tournaments In
By their very nature, online live casino tournaments are limited-time offers. They start, end, and open the way for new promotions. As such, any list of top current live casino tournaments would be quickly outdated. However, you can always keep up with the latest promotions (including tournaments) from the world of live dealer gaming on our promotions page.
Instead, we’ll go through a few sites that often run online casino tournaments for live games.
Energy Casino is a versatile online betting platform that has been operating under UKGC and MGA licenses since 2013. On top of being one of the leading gambling brands in the UK and Europe, this casino is by far the best operator for anyone who specifically enjoys tournaments for live dealer games.
We’ve seen Energy Casino host roulette, blackjack, and even baccarat tournaments. They’ve also been known to run exciting competitive promotions for specific games such as Crazy Time, Lightning Roulette, and many other player-favourites.
Of course, that’s just scratching the surface of everything that this site offers. The promotions page hosts a huge collection of offers of all kinds, which is why this casino is so versatile. There’s a little bit of something for everyone, but tournament fans are bound to have a great time.
Energy Casino Tournament Example
The Speedy Live tournament ran for several months in 2021, ranking players based on a point system that ranks players depending on their total stake.
The interesting part is that this Energy Casino tournament applied to all games from Evolution. Prizes were reserved for the 10 best-placed players, awarding cash rewards and free bets.
- 1st place: €/£100 + 100 Free bets
- 2nd place: €/£50 + 50 Free bets
- 3rd place: €/£25 + 25 Free bets
- 4th – 5th place: 20 Free bets
- 6th -10th place: 10 Free bets
While this is admittedly not the flashiest of tournaments, it was incredibly accessible and long-lasting.
The Energy casino is a great example of what solid foundations can achieve if there’s also a willingness to grow. It’s one of the most respected gaming brands around with a multi-software live casino library and a basketful of other perks. Top-notch.
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The next casino on our list is a brand that’s probably familiar to most online gamers. LeoVegas is a powerhouse casino with more than a decade of experience. During this time, it’s managed to bubble up to the very top of the industry through its massive game collection, innovative promotions, and commitment to technical excellence.
Many of these acclaimed promotions take the form of various tournaments. LeoVegas has offered some truly massive competitions over the years, with prize pools reaching hundreds of thousands. The operator has been known to partner with major providers like Evolution and Pragmatic Play to offer unique, exclusive live casino tournaments.
Throw in the fact that it’s one of the most consistently praised and well-rated brands in the business, and LeoVegas is an easy choice for most types of players.
LeoVegas Tournament Example
A relatively recent example of a LeoVegas tournament is a special Pragmatic Play promotion. It ranked players based on their total stake size for select Pragmatic tables.
The so-called Pragmatic Gold tournament was a weekly event that covered multiple types of games, ranging from roulette to game shows. Every week, the 10 best-ranked players would win the following prizes:
- 1st place: €1,300
- 2nd place: €740
- 3rd place: €400
- 4th to 10th places: €80 each
All of the rewards were good old withdrawable cash, which is what sets this tourney above the rest.
Considered one of the best live dealer casinos on the market, the LeoVegas Live Casino is a great destination for both low and high-rollers who enjoy numerous games and attractive tailor-made bonuses. The platform is available on a top-notch mobile app offering 24/7 authentic casino action.
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If you want a casino with a guaranteed, year-round cycle of online tournaments, BetOnline is your pick.
This large gambling brand hosts tournaments pretty much every month. You can find slot, roulette, and blackjack tournaments active 24/7. Multiplayer poker tournaments are also an option.
Beyond that, BetOnline is a fairly large platform that attracts players from all over the world, including the US. It doesn’t boast the biggest or most impressive live game library around, but it covers all of the important bases with varieties of roulette, blackjack, poker, and similarly popular games.
Besides being available all the time, BetOnline.ag tournaments also tend to reward successful players rather than just ones who wager a lot of money. For instance, their blackjack tournament awards players points based on hands won, not stake wagered. This makes these competitions viable even for punters on a very strict budget.
BetOnline.ag Tournament Example
BetOnline’s weekly blackjack tournament awards points to all participating players. A single round win counts as 1 point, while a natural blackjack wins 3 points.
Players are then ranked and awarded prizes based on those rankings, after which the ladder resets. The best-ranked players collect rewards as follows:
- 1st place: $120
- 2nd place: $100
- 3rd place: $80
- 4th – 15th place: $40
- 16th -25th place: $30
- 26th to 50th place: $15
That’s a lot of winners every week even though the individual prizes are relatively modest. Still, a strong offer considering multiple tournaments are running every week.
BetOnline.ag has been a favorite amongst US casino players for a number of years now. They have lots of blackjack tables, plus variants of other games. Give them a shot, you’ll love it.
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VBet is an online betting platform that is currently known as one of the biggest in the business. It is an all-in-one online casino and sportsbook site with a remarkable live casino section powered by an impressive list of industry-leading providers. Its portfolio is largely powered by Evolution and Playtech, as well as a growing collection of smaller providers.
Similarly to BetOnline, VBet also has a number of almost permanent tournaments. The casino features a dedicated tournament page where you can check out dozens of concurrent competitions at any moment. Most of these are related to online slot machines, but you can always find a few live dealer tournaments as well.
Tournaments on the VBet casino can target types of games, software providers, specific titles, or any number of other things. They’re quite varied, too, so you can always expect to find a new and exciting competitive promotion.
VBet Tournament Example
VBet’s Lightning Race was an interesting, atypical tournament built around Evolution’s Lightning series of games.
Lightning games are all about big random multipliers, so the goal of this competition was simple – snag the biggest multiplier possible. It’s a unique idea that leverages the features of the titles it promotes.
The total prize pool was divided based on rankings:
- 1st place: 25% of the weekly pool
- 2nd place: 15%
- 3rd place: 10%
- 4th – 8th place: 6%
- 9th -12th place: 1.5%
- 13th to 20th place: 0.75%
- 21st to 50th place: 0.25%
The prizes had no wagering requirements but varied from week to week – the total pool depends on the number of participating players.
VBet, for us, was a pleasant surprise, in so many ways. The brand grew from a medium-sized gaming room into a betting giant catering to Asian and European players alike. If you decide to join, you gain access to games from almost 20 different live casino game providers, which is the kind of variety almost unheard of in the industry.
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