Live Roulette's New Mobile Interface Lays Down the Gauntlet for Live Poker Games

Regardless of if they're playing at a venue, on a website, or mobile devices, people expect to see two things in a casino: card games and roulette. Of course, poker - particularly Texas hold'em - is often cited as the most popular gambling game in the world, but in mobile and online circles, the game is significantly lacking in the immensely popular arena of live gaming.

Due to its rise in prominence in the live casino gaming arena, live roulette has become the dominant force of table gaming online. Now, it has gone another step further to enhance mobile gameplay as well. Meanwhile, the great game of poker has remained very much the same.

So, what can poker learn following the revolution of mobile live roulette gaming if it's to grow its audience even further?

Roulette enhancing its mobile gaming offering

Having a strong mobile offering is perhaps the most important factor for any digital game provider as the vast majority of people not only use their phones daily, but they also expect to have many games available. Live roulette has been available to mobile players for a long time, but now it's better than ever.

In a recent update rolled out across NetEnt Live roulette products, users will now be able to enjoy an optimized performance and enhanced experience of playing mobile live roulette. The update brings in a header bar featuring up to 34 recent numbers in landscape view, or 18 in portrait view, as well as full-screen live-streamed video, and the opportunity to bet exclusively on the ever-popular racetrack area.

The sheer level of options and information that has been incorporated across the NetEnt Live roulette selection in an easy-to-find and natural way, will continue to push the table game up the popularity charts. Anyone who wants to play the best possible live games can choose to spin the wheel here!

So, what can card games like poker learn from the ever-enhancing format of live roulette?

It's time for poker to step it up

While there are many poker variants in circulation and many further versions of each game-type online, poker is distinctly lacking in its live casino footprint, with one mainstay game being at most online and mobile casinos. Invented by Stephen Au-Yeung, who gave the late great Dave Ulliott his signature nickname, "Devilfish", casino hold'em does pump a dose of poker into the live scene, but much more can be done.

Across all poker offerings, players can be given more information when playing the game. While giving the tools to count cards obviously needs to be avoided, including information in the UI, like the last winning hand (if revealed), as well as potential winning hands from the community cards shown, could help to enhance the experience, particularly for new players.

As mentioned, casino hold'em - also known as Caribbean hold'em - is the only real widespread poker offering in live casino gaming. Given the popularity of poker, one would assume that developers would have expanded into the live scene much more, but a lot of the issue comes down to poker being more of a player-vs-player game than a player-vs-house game. Regardless, some innovation is needed from poker brains to enable the card game to become a powerhouse of live gaming akin to roulette, which boasts several versions of its three main variants - French, European, and American - in live gaming.

As roulette continues to improve and further dominate the live gaming scene, it is down to poker to step up and become a bigger factor in the innovative new gambling scene.