
If you’re looking to play live table games in Australia, you’re in luck. Although real money online casinos are banned, you can legally play live dealers and other casino-style games at sweepstakes casinos like Roo Vegas.
These sites allow you to play live blackjack, roulette, and other favourites using virtual currency instead of real money. Moreover, they are always free to play, with optional purchases available for those of you who want them. For those unaware, live dealers are virtual casino-style games that are hosted by a live-streamed dealer, and played in real-time with other players.
Live dealer games are real-time online versions of classic casino-style table games like roulette, blackjack, and baccarat. They are hosted by a human dealer, who is streamed to your laptop or smartphone screen directly from a studio that’s set up to look like a casino.
Additionally, you play these games in real time with other players at a virtual table. Effectively, live dealers are the closest thing that you’ll find online to a real night out at the casino.
To summarise the key points that we’ll cover in this guide, here are the pros and cons of live dealer games in Australia:
Here’s the thing, folks, you won’t find any legal live blackjack or baccarat online casinos in Australia where you can gamble with real money. Although licensed online bookies are legal here, the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) bans online casinos from offering live dealers, pokies, and other casino gambling games.
However, there is now a legal alternative in the form of sweepstakes casinos. These are websites where you can play live dealers and other casino-style games using virtual currency instead of real money. As they don’t allow real money gambling, but instead prizes through the “sweepstakes” element, they are legal in Australia.
Most sweepstakes casinos in Australia operate using a dual virtual currency system. With one of the virtual currencies, you can play just for fun. Meanwhile, there’s usually a promotional virtual currency that can be redeemed for prizes if you win.
To redeem a prize, you usually need to meet a playthrough requirement and reach the minimum balance threshold. We’ll show you how this works in more detail later when we review Roo Vegas, one of the best sweepstakes blackjack online casinos in Australia right now.
As we explained, live sweepstakes casino games tend to come in the form of classic casino-style table games. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the most popular options:
This classic card game is probably the most popular live table game that you can play at a sweepstakes casino in OZ. In classic versions, the aim is to get as close to 21 points and beat the dealer’s hand without going bust. On some sweepstakes casinos, you’ll find spinoff versions with extra features like side plays or multi-hand gameplay.
In this game, the dealer spins a wheel with 37 or 38 alternating red and black spaces, with one or two neutral green spaces (0 and 00). A ball is thrown into the spinning wheel, which will land in one of the spaces when the wheel stops spinning. You can place your virtual currency on a range of predictions, including red or black, exact number, and odds/evens. As with blackjack, some sweepstakes roulette online casinos in Australia have variations of the game with additional multipliers, special themes, and added features.
This is another classic and popular card game, only the goal is to get your hand to 9 points, rather than the 21-point aim in blackjack. When participating, you can try to predict who will have the better hand between the player and the dealer.
If you’re a bit short on time, live dice games are a quick way to get in on the action. In these games, the dealer rolls a number of dice (usually three), and you can stake your virtual coins on the number, or range of numbers, that you think they will land on.
Besides the classic casino-style live dealers, some sweepstakes casinos in Australia host live game shows in their lobbies. These are also hosted by a live dealer, but the gameplay is more akin to a TV quiz show or a game show.
Often, they carry the names of popular brands and franchises like Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and Deal or No Deal. Additionally, there are some live board games out there, like Monopoly and Snakes and Ladders.
Now that we’ve covered live dealers and how they work, let’s turn our attention to where you can play. Roo Vegas is our expats’ top selection of sweepstakes live dealers in OZ, thanks to its game selection, site design, and virtual currency system.
While you won’t find real money online casino free spins in Australia, you always get a no-cost signup offer at a Sweepsstakes casino. As you can see in the table below, Roo Vegas is one of the most generous sites in that regard.
We’ve also included details about the first-purchase offer. However, we should point out that you never need to make a purchase to play live dealers and other casino-style games on this site.
| 🎰 Sweepstakes casino: | Roo Vegas |
|---|---|
| 🏆 Free signup bonus: | 500,000 Roo Coins (RC) + 10 Spin Coins (SC) |
| 💲 First-purchase promo: | 1.5 million Roo Coins and 30 SC for $9.99 AUD |
| 🇦🇺 Accepted Australian States: | Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, and Western Australia |
| 🔞 Age limit: | 21+ |
| 🃏 Number of live dealers: | 10+ |
Roo Vegas is a fun and user-friendly sweepstakes casino website that blends Australian and classic Las Vegas-style themes. There are over 650 casino-style games in the lobby, including pokies from top third-party software studios like HungryBear, NetGaming, and BetSoft.
More importantly, in this context, there are 13 live dealer games from Iconic21 and Evoplay, which are two of the best software studios for live casino-style games in the world. You can find variations of all the classics, including Roulette, blackjack, and baccarat. Additionally, there are some different games, like Lightning Dice, where you can try to predict the number range within which the three dice that the dealer rolls will land.
There are two virtual currencies that you can use to play live table games on this site, with a third that can be redeemed for prizes. When you sign up to Roo Vegas, you’ll get 500k Roo Coins (RC) and 10 Spin Coins (SC) for free. If you play through your SCs once, they’ll convert to “Spin Cash”, which you can redeem for prizes.
To sign up and play live games at this sweepstakes casino, you must be over 21 and physically located in one of the accepted legal states in Australia. Currently, you can only access the site from Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, and Western Australia.
Ready to start playing live dealers and other casino-style games for free? Just follow these steps to create and verfiy your new Roo Vegas account:
Visit – Follow one of the promotional banners or links on this page to the Roo Vegas website
Begin – Hit the “Register” button to get started
Login – Create a username and password for your account login
Email – Enter your email or click the button to register via Google
Name – Enter your first and last name
State – Select your state of residence (you must be in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, or Western Australia
D.O.B – Enter your date of birth (must be over 21 to play)
Accept – Read and accept the T&Cs, Privacy Policy, and other documents
Submit – Hit the “Play Now” button at the bottom to submit the form and sign up
Verify – verify your email and start playing live dealers and other casino-style games for free
As we mentioned above, there are three virtual currencies at Roo Vegas, two of which you can use to play live table games. Here’s a quick explainer to cover how they work:
This is the standard virtual currency that you can only use to play live dealer games socially and for entertainment purposes. RCs have no monetary value and cannot be redeemed for prizes.
These are the promotional Sweepstakes Coins that you can use to play live casino-style games. If you win when playing with SCs, they are automatically converted into Spin Cash.
This virtual currency cannot be used to play games, but can instead be redeemed for real prizes at the ratio of 1 Spin Cash = $1.00 AUD. Alternatively, you can use Spin Cash to purchase SC packages in the “Coin Store”.
If you’re looking for where to start, our experts have picked the five best live dealers that you can play at Roo Vegas as a new Aussie account holder. We’ve included key details, including the minimum and maximum play limits, maximum win multiplier, and game volatility.
For clarity, high volatility games land larger, but less frequent wins on average. At the other end of the scale, low volatility games tend to have a higher hit frequency, but the wins are usually smaller. Naturally, medium-volatility games lie somewhere in the middle.
| 🃏 Live Dealer | 🎮 Provider | 🪙 Min./Max. SC Play | 🔥 Volatility | 🏆 Max. Win Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Lightning Dice | Evolution | 0.10 SC / 5,000 SC | Medium | 999x |
| 2. Top Card | Iconic21 | 0.20 SC / 4,000 SC | Medium | 11x |
| 3. Dead or Alive: Saloon | Evolution | 0.10 SC / 1,000 SC | Medium | 2,000x |
| 5. Live Roulette | Iconic21 | 0.50 SC / 4,000 SC | Medium | 35x |
| 6. Gravity Blackjack | Iconic21 | 1.00 SC / 5,000 SC | High | 3,000x |
To summarise, live dealers are casino-style games that you can play with other players and in real-time. They are always hosted by a human dealer who is streamed to you and the other players live from a studio.
Usually, these games take the form of classic casino table games, including blackjack and roulette. However, you’ll also find live dice games, game shows, and other subgenres.
As we explained, you cannot legally play live casino games for real money in Australia. However, you can legally play these games for free using virtual currency at sweepstakes casinos.
Our top-recommended sweepstakes casino online for Aussie players right now is Roo Vegas. If you are over 21 and located in one of the accepted states, you can register and claim your 500k RC and 10 SC free welcome bonuses via the banners on this page.
No, real money online casinos are illegal in Australia, meaning that you cannot play live dealers for real money. However, you can play live casino-style games legally using virtual currencies on sweepstakes casino sites like Roo Vegas.
While you won’t find any legal real-money online casinos with live dealers in Australia, there are some sweepstakes casinos that host them. The best option is Roo Vegas, which has 13 live dealer games, including Gravity Blackjack and Live Roulette by Iconic21.
Live casino games are hosted by a real dealer who is streamed directly to you and the other players from a studio. Accordingly, you play each round in real time with the other players who are at the virtual table.