Amaya are a well-known name in the online gambling world, and they offer operators and players with a versatile, high-quality range of products and services as you’ll see from this Amaya live casino review. From virtual casino games to video slots and back-end casino systems, Amaya have their fingers in many pies – and they’ve recently started operating their own live casino.
While Amaya’s live casino operation is nowhere near the size of market leaders like Evolution Gaming or Playtech, they’ve built a solid product. In this Amaya live casino review, we’re going to take a look at who Amaya are, what live casino games they offer, along with some general pros and cons. Let’s get started by taking a look at some basic details of the company, and their history.
Best Amaya Live Dealer Casino
Company Information and History
Amaya is one of the world’s oldest online gambling companies, first created way back in 2004. The company started off developing slot machine games and casino table games – and while they still do today, their focus has shifted substantially.
A few years back, Amaya became part of The Stars Group (the company then owns PokerStars and Full Tilt), and since, Amaya appear to have all but disappeared from the web! However, they are still creating games – and their live dealer casino is one of their latest ventures.
With gambling licenses in 19 jurisdictions, and offices all over the world, Amaya continues to offer a stellar range of games and casino solutions, and their live dealer casino – while not the biggest – is well-worth checking out, thanks to the quality of their games.
Now, before we get on with this Amaya live casino review, there’s something we should clear up. While Amaya are the company who makes the games, they’re actually done in partnership with another company – Ho Gaming. Amaya and Ho Gaming work together to deliver the games. Because of this, you may not even see Amaya’s name/branding on the games – but know that it’s just because Ho Gaming are the ones who actually offer the games.
Amaya Live Casino Review: The Games
Amaya currently offer three five live dealer games, and you can find out all about them below.
Amaya’s Live Baccarat
Amaya provide both a 7-seat multi player table, and a single player table. The interface is clean, easy-to-navigate and easy-to-use. On the right-hand-side, you’ll see there’s a comprehensive data set available. This allows you to view roads, trends, and various other game stats. (These trends are all updated in real time.)
There’s a couple of Baccarat tables available, including No Commission Baccarat / Super 6, and Premium Baccarat. In both, the Player and Banker hands pay even money, unless the dealer is dealt a 6. In this scenario, commission is paid at a rate of 1:2. The Premium Baccarat table is geared more towards high-rollers. As a result, the betting limits are higher.
Amaya’s Live Blackjack
Amaya’s Blackjack table uses a total of 8 decks. The shoe gets shuffled roughly halfway through using these decks. As always, a red card shows when the decks will be shuffled. The game takes uses classic Vegas rules; the dealer is dealt two cards right off the bat, and hits a soft 17.
As the player, you will be given the option to double down (when holding a 9, 10, or 11), and insurance is offered when the dealer’s first card shows an ace. We like the fact that Amaya allow players to bet behind on their Blackjack table. If you opt to do so, you won’t have any control over the hand – but if the main player chooses to split or double, you do not need to do so.
There’s also a couple of cool features which we’ll cover quickly. First off, there’s a ‘pre-decision’ option, which allows you to choose whether to hit, stand, double, or split before your turn is reached. This can help to save some time. There’s also a waiting list option, which alerts you in the main lobby when a seat becomes available.
Amaya’s Live Roulette
Amaya’s Roulette uses a European Roulette format with a single zero. Below, we’ll cover the basic playing options which are available to you.
First off, there’s the “Autobet’ feature. This allows you to bet a specified pattern on the board, and repeat this pattern automatically on the next spin. You will also be given the option to leave winning chips on the table, after a spin, if you’d like to keep them in place for the subsequent spin.
To the left-hand-side of the dealer, you’ll see some detailed stats. These stats are all updated in real time, and allow you to view Hot/Cold numbers, the last 14 numbers rolled in, and more. It’s quite comprehensive, and it’s a nice addition especially if you like to get detailed stats during your gameplay.
There’s also a variety of custom bets available. These include French betting options (Voisins du zéro, Tiers du cylindre, and Orphelins), as well as Call betting options. Amaya also allow you to place special custom bets which are put together by specialist Roulette players. The final betting options available is known as “Crowning”. This allows you to place a bet in a crown pattern. This will then cover the maximum number of bet options for that one place on the board.
Amaya’s Live Dragon Tiger
Amaya run live Dragon Tiger games from two different studios – Classic and Grand. While writing this Amaya live casino review, we found both to be pretty good and the only real difference is some slight visual changes. Players have the ability to zoom in and out, and mini-games (slots) can also be displayed within the game. Dragon Tiger is available in five different bet limit ranges.
Amaya’s Live Sic Bo
Sic Bo is a popular game among Asian players, and Amaya have added their own variation to their live casino product. Their Sic Bo game is available in both Classic and Grand mode, and in Classic, you can play mini-games alongside. There’s a comprehensive set of statistics available which displays the last 15 game results. The camera angle also changes during play to zoom in on the dice. This allows you to see the action unfold for yourself.
Streaming Quality
Amaya have – clearly – invested a significant amount of time and effort into building their live streaming system. Their technology is state-of-the-art and features what’s called ‘auto detection’. This means your internet connection’s quality is automatically detected, so that the video feed can be optimized so it renders well on your device.
This allows the quality of the stream to dynamically adapt – depending on your internet connection’s quality – and it allows players on both slow and fast connections to enjoy the action.
There appear to be very few bugs/glitching issues, and overall, Amaya’s platform is solid, reliable, and high-tech.
Playing Interface and Betting Options
We spent quite a bit of time playing the developer’s games while writing this Amaya live casino review. One of the things that became immediately apparent, was that the playing interface looked great and was easy to use. All games have a “Home” button, which takes you back to the main game lobby, and to the right-hand-side of this is a “History” button. Clicking this will show you results from past games.
While the exact betting options change, depending on the casino’s preferences, you’ll generally be able to use chip values between 1 and 100 credits. You will also see an option to toggle on/off a fullscreen mode. To the top-left-hand-corner of the screen, you’ll also see an “Info” pane. Here, you can view the dealer’s name, the min/max bet, and a bet counter which keeps track of your bets and winnings for that game session. You can also click the “Bet Limits” button to view that particular table’s betting limits.
Languages Offered
All of Amaya’s dealers are English speaking – and they are all fluent, meaning you’ll have no problems understanding what they’re saying. If English isn’t your preferred language, you’ll also be able to change the language used in the game’s UI. They currently support some 24 languages, so you shouldn’t have any problems understanding the games!
Amaya Live Mobile Casino Review
Amaya’s live dealer games are available for mobile users – but it’s fair to say they’re not the best, and there is some work to be done. Most iOS and Android players should be able to play the games without any significant problems, but the game’s aren’t particularly well optimised for mobile use. In general, we’d recommend you try to play from a desktop computer/laptop, as your playing experience will be significantly better.
Amaya’s Live Dealers
All of Amaya’s dealers are either Australia, North American, or they’re from Europe. Amaya have brought in trainers from land-based casinos in Macau – so the dealers really are the best you’ll find. Their competency shows from the moment they begin dealing the games, and they’re also quite chatty too, so you can have conversations with them! Amaya use a mixture of male and female dealers, and they all look professional, happy to be there, and engaged with the games – a refreshing change!
Amaya Live Casino Review: Our Thoughts
Amaya’s live casino software is well built and comes with plenty of built-in features for players to take advantage of. While their games aren’t found at many online casinos those that do have them tend to offer the provider’s full portfolio.
One of the things that did stand out to us when writing this Amaya live casino review was the fact that you can play their games in demo mode. This lets you try them all out without risking any of your own cash. We were also really impressed by Amaya’s live Roulette – it offers a massive number of betting options, and it’s actually one of the most comprehensive live Roulette products we’ve come across.
Amaya’s live dealer games also come with tons of customisable options. This tends to benefit the casino more than the player, but it means you’ll see their games fitted with some pretty state-of-the-art options and settings. While Amaya’s games are somewhat hard to come by they’re great to play, and if you’d like to give them a try for yourself you can see the best Amaya live casinos below.
Where To Play Amaya’s Live Casino Games?
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