REVIEW:

For most online casinos, the live aspect is an add-on and perhaps even an afterthought. Celtic Casino, on the other hand, has been built from the ground up around the concept of live dealers. Powered by Visionary iGaming (ViG), Celtic Casino has a robust platform with live roulette, live Irish roulette, live baccarat (punto banco), and live blackjack, which has an early payout feature. Note that despite the Celtic trappings, this casino is operated in and licensed by Costa Rica.

Celtic Casino Live Casino

Celtic Casino uses the Visionary iGaming platform, which provides instant play of all live games. There is no software to download or install. Once you’ve registered, you can log on through the website and access the game via any web browser that supports Adobe Flash.

Despite being located in Costa Rica, the croupiers are all native English speakers; most of them are from the United Kingdom and the United States. ViG also offers both female and male professional dealers. The women are not simply eye candy. The female croupiers are dressed professionally, and they are all charming and highly skilled, so it is clear that ViG has chosen them not simply for their good looks.

Note that Celtic Casino offers all live dealer games in a free-to-play mode, which is played using “funny” money. This is an excellent opportunity to experience the live croupiers before you commit any actual money.

Celtic Casino Live Games

Celtic Casino offers live baccarat, live roulette, live Irish roulette, and live blackjack with an early payout feature. Celtic Casino also advertises live slots, but these are actually typical online video slots that are simply more accessible from the live games interface.

Live roulette uses a European roulette wheel (single zero), and bets range from €0.50 to €300. Live Irish roulette is streamed from an actual brick-and-mortar casino, the Sporting Emporium in Dublin, Ireland. The croupiers are all Irish, and the bet limits may differ, but the games are otherwise similar.

The punto banco (mini) baccarat game has pairs and dragon bonus side bets, and the wagers range from €0.50 to €300. The blackjack game also has bet limits of €0.50 to €300. The blackjack game enforces strict basic strategy, which is beneficial to novices. Also, the “early payout” feature allows a player to sacrifice maximum earning potential on a hand and instead be paid based on the current odds. VIP bet limits are available to all players upon application.

Celtic Casino Welcome Bonus for Live Games

The Celtic Casino sign-up bonus is interesting in how much it differs from the promotions offered by other live casinos. Most online casinos offer you a straight 100 percent match bonus on the first deposit. Celtic Casino however provides you 50 percent cash back on losses in the first week up to €100. All bonus money earned via this promotion has a 35x wagering requirement.

Therefore, if you deposit €200 and lose all of it, you’ll receive a €100 bonus and have to wager €10,500 before you can withdraw it: (€200 deposit + €100 bonus) * 35. Note also that this promotion has a good faith component. In other words, if you place simultaneous ‘black’ and ‘red’ roulette bets to reduce the overall risk, those wagers will not apply to the wagering requirement.

It is also important to note that due to the payout rates of live blackjack with early payout (99.4 percent) and live baccarat (greater than 99 percent), wagers on these games DO NOT count toward the wagering requirement. This means that you would have to wager on live roulette, Irish live roulette, or “live” slots, or you would have to place the bets on games available in the “virtual” aspect of Celtic Casino.