Casino Hold'em is a casinogambling game. This banking game, introduced by Stephen Au-Yeung in 2000 (First Texas Hold'em Poker play against the casino and not other players) and now played in live casinos worldwide. It was licensed for use in the United Kingdom in 2007. In addition online casinos offer the game, which is based on the traditional multi-player Texas Hold'em Poker.

The house edge of Casino Hold ‘Em using the standard paytable and across the full round of wagering (both Ante and Call bet) and assuming that the player plays using the optimal strategy listed above is 0.82%. If the player does not play optimally this figure will rise. The house edge of the AA Bonus bet using the standard paytable is 6.26%. General Texas holdem poker strategy is the same for both games, but some of the specific strategies have to be different if you want to win as much as possible. This page covers Texas holdem cash game strategy and focuses on the most important areas of strategy needed to maximize your chances of winning in the long run while playing ring games. Maintaining a balanced Ultimate Texas Holdem Strategy and knowing when to use each of the three raises is crucial. We will discuss this below. The Large Raise. There is an Ultimate Texas Holdem Strategy that you can follow to win the game on the large raise. Here is the recommended way: If you have an Ace, you can make a large raise of 4x. Casino Hold‘em Strategy Call Much More Often Than You Fold If you follow the optimal betting strategy for this game, you will call 82% of the time while only folding 18% of hands. Playing this way results in a house edge of only 2.16%.

Casino Hold'em is a house game designed to be dealt by a croupier for casino patrons to play in the main casino. Players play the house and not other players in this variant. Subject to the dealer qualifying, it is a straight contest between the dealer's hand and the player's, player may also get paid an AnteWin Bonus on his Ante bet.Player can also place an AA Bonus side bet which is based on the poker value of his two personal cards and the first three flop cards.

History[edit]

Stephen Au-Yeung devised the game in the late 1990s as a tool to assist in training his partner of the time to play Texas Hold 'Em poker. After this the training tool was developed into a House game and launched in 2000.^[1] It first appeared as a live casino game in Egypt, Russia and South Africa. It was shown in 2001 at the World Gaming Congress Expo, Las-Vegas, US and in 2002 at the International Casino Exhibition held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, UK.

Rules[edit]

• The game is played with a standard 52 card deck.
• Each player makes an Ante bet and may make an optional AA bonus side bet.
• The player and dealer are both dealt two cards (face down).
• Three cards are then dealt to the board and will eventually contain five cards.
• After checking his/her cards, the player has to decide (a) to fold with no further play losing the Ante bet or (b) to make a Call bet of double the Ante bet.
• If one or more players makes a Call bet the dealer will deal two more cards to the board, for a total of five.
• Players and dealer make their best five card poker hand from their own two personal cards and five board cards.
• Each player’s hand are compared with the dealer’s.
• The dealer must have a pair of 4s or better to qualify.
• If the dealer does not qualify, the Ante bet pays according to the AnteWin pay table and the Call bet is a push (stand off).
• If the dealer qualifies, and the player's hand is better than the dealer's, the Ante bet pays according to the Ante-Win pay table and the Call bet pays 1 to 1.
• If the dealer qualifies, and the dealer's hand is equal to the player's, all bets are push (it doesn't win or lose).
• If the dealer qualifies, and the dealer's hand is better than the player's, the player loses all bets.

Strategy[edit]

There is no easy way to quantify optimal strategy for this game since the optimal decision for each hand is based on the combination of all 7 cards (two personal cards and five board cards) dealt. As such while computer programs can easily deal with the calculations required to make the correct play in any particular hand, it is difficult to make a set of general rules which can be memorized such as exists for Blackjack. The optimal strategy player will raise 82% of the time. So only in the worst 18% of hands should the player fold. These are broadly when the player has two singletons in the hole that are low compared to the flop, with little or no chance for a straight or flush.^[2]

AnteWin pay table[edit]

In Casino Hold'em the player not only wins a standard 1 to 1 sum if they have the stronger hand, but for rare hands a higher sum. This pay table typically pays a royal flush 100 to 1, straight flush 20 to 1, four of a kind 10 to 1, full house 3 to 1, flush 2 to 1, and straight or less the standard 1 to 1.

House edge[edit]

The house edge of Casino Hold'em excluding the side bet (that is, the percentage of each bet the casino will on average win, assuming perfect play on the part of the player) varies depending on the specific rules in the casino but is the most common pay tables result in a house edge varying from just below 2% to around 2.5%. Using the ante pay table above, the house edge is 2.16%.

Side bets[edit]

A side bet known as the AA Bonus is based on the poker value of the player's two cards and the first three flop cards.

A pair of aces to a straight pays 7 to 1, flush 20 to 1, full house 30 to 1, four of a kind 40 to 1, straight flush 50 to 1 and royal flush 100 to 1. A variations to this pay table, A pair of aces to a straight pays 7 to 1, flush or higher 25 to 1.

References[edit]

1. ^ThePOGG (26 February 2014). 'ThePOGG Interviews – Stephen Au-Yeung – Creator of Casino Hold 'Em'.
2. ^wizardofodds.com

Introduction

Heads Up Hold 'Em is an Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em variant by Galaxy Gaming, based on Texas Hold 'Em. The player may raise his bet one time, and has three opportunities to do so. The earlier he raises, the more he can bet. The main differences between Heads Up Hold 'Em and Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em are in the former the player may raise only 3x his Ante bet before the flop, but the game includes bad beat bonuses for losing with a straight or higher.

Rules

Following are the rules for Heads Up Hold 'Em. For those used to the terminology in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, what is called the Blind there called the Odds bet here.

1. The game is played with a single ordinary 52-card deck.
2. The player must make an equal bet on both the Ante and Odds.
3. Two cards are dealt face down to the player and dealer. The player may look at his own cards.
4. The player can check or make a Play bet equal to three times the Ante.
5. The dealer turns over three community cards.
6. If the player previously checked, then he may make a Play bet equal to two times his Ante or check again. If the player already made a Play bet, then he may not bet further.
7. Two final community cards are turned over.
8. If the player previously checked twice, then he must either make a Play bet equal to exactly his Ante, or fold, losing both his Ante and Odds bets. If the player already raised he may not bet further.
9. The player and dealer will both make the best possible hand using any combination of their own two cards and the five community cards.
10. The dealer will need at least a pair to open.
11. The following table shows how the Ante, Odds, and Play bets are scored, according to who wins, and whether the dealer opens.
    

    Scoring Rules

    Winner	Dealer Opens	Ante	Play	Odds
    Player	Yes	Win	Win	See rule 12
    Player	No	Push	Win	See rule 12
    Dealer	Yes	Lose	Lose	See rule 12
    Dealer	No	Push	Lose	Lose
    Tie	Yes or No	Push	Push	Push

12. Winning Ante and Play bets pay 1 to 1. Winning Odds bets pay according to value of the hand and whether it wins or loses. The following pay table shows what winning Odds bets pay.
    

    Winning Odds Bet Pay Table

    Hand	Pays
    Royal Flush	500
    Straight Flush	50
    Quads	10
    Full House	3
    Flush	1.5
    Straight	1
    All Other	Push

    Galaxy Gaming, the game owner, has four different pay tables for losing blind bets, as follows.

    Losing Odds Bet Pay Table

    Hand	Pay Table
    	1	2	3	4
    Straight Flush	500	500	500	500
    Quads	50	50	50	25
    Full House	10	10	10	6
    Flush	8	6	5	5
    Straight	5	5	4	4
    All Other	Loss	Loss	Loss	Loss

13. In addition, there are two side bets, that pay based on the player's cards only, the Trips Plus and Pocket Bonus. These side bets are explained after the analysis of the base game.

Strategy

The player should make the 3X raise with any pair except deuces. Otherwise, use the following table shows when to make the large 3X raise.

The strategy for the medium and small raise are the same as in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, as follows:

Medium Raise: Make the 2X raise with any of the following:

• Two pair or better.
• Hidden pair*, except pocket deuces.
• Four to a flush including a hidden 10 or better to that flush

* Hidden pair = Any pair with at least one card in your hole cards (thus the pair is hidden to the dealer).

Small Raise: Make the 1X raise with any of the following, otherwise fold:

• Hidden pair or better.
• Less than 21 dealer outs beat you.

For a more powerful small and medium raise strategy, I recommend the James Grossjean strategy card for Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em.

Analysis

The following table shows all possible outcomes of each hand, what it pays, the probability, and contribution to the return under the losing Odds bet pay table number 1 (the one that goes 500-50-10-8-5). The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.36%.

Return TableExpand

As shown in the lower right cell, the house edge is 2.36%. This is the expected loss to the Ante wager only. For example, if the player bets $5 on both the Ante and Odds, then his expected loss would be $5 × 0.023584 = 11.79¢.

The average final wager per hand is 3.67 units. That makes the element of risk 2.36%/3.67 = 0.64%. This means for every dollar you wager in the game, on anything, other than the side bets, you can expect to lose 0.64¢.

By comparison, the element of risk in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em is 0.53%.

The standard deviation, relative to to the Ante bet, is 4.56.

The next table shows the house edge and element of risk under all four losing Odds bet pay tables according to the pay table for a losing Odds bet.

House Edge Summary

This is full table cloth.

Strategy Texas Holdem

Trips Plus

The Trips Plus bet will pay according to the poker value of the player's hand regardless of the value of the dealer's hand. Following is an analysis of the most common pay table.

Trips Plus Return Table

The next table shows four known pay tables for the Trips Plus.

Trips Plus Pay Tables

Pocket Bonus

The Pocket Bonus bet will pay according to the value of the player's two hole cards. The follow tables show what each two cards pays, the probability, and contribution to the total return for each known pay table for the Pocket Bonus.

Pocket Bonus — Pay Table 1

Pocket Bonus — Pay Table 2

Pocket Bonus — Pay Table 3

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Charles Mousseau and Stephen How for their assistance, which confirmed my analysis. Thanks to Charles also for his advice on the medium and small raise strategy.

Internal Links

Detailed calculations on some starting hands.

Extneral Links

Casino Holdem Strategy

Play Heads Up Hold 'Em at the Galaxy Gaming web site. One click and you're playing.

Limit Holdem Strategy