Exploring the Most Popular Casino Poker Games

Caribbean Stud Poker – Simple Yet Rewarding

One of the most popular casino poker variants is Caribbean Stud Poker. The variant is extremely easy to learn and offers the chance of winning huge payouts. Particularly as many variants of the game have a progressive jackpot side bet.

To win at Caribbean Stud Poker, you must hold a better five-card poker hand than the dealer does. The round starts by placing an Ante bet on the table. Then, the dealer serves five cards to you and takes five cards themselves, four of which are face down and the final one is face up.

Once this happens, you will have the chance to either Fold or Call. If you choose to Fold, you abandon your hand and surrender the Ante bet that you previously placed. If you choose to Call, you place a second bet that is double the size of the Ante bet. This allows you to continue the round. If you choose to Call, the dealer reveals their cards and the stronger hand wins.

If your hand is stronger than the dealer’s you are paid at least 1:1. The dealer must qualify to play the round by having either an Ace or King in their hand. If they do not, you reclaim the Ante bet and secondary bet back as a push (no money won or lost).

If the dealer qualifies and you beat their hand, you win the round. Typically, the payouts for Caribbean Stud Poker are as follows:

• 100:1 for a Royal Flush
• 50:1 for a Straight Flush
• 20:1 for a Four of a Kind
• 7:1 for a Full House
• 5:1 for a Flush
• 4:1 for a Straight
• 3:1 for a Three of a Kind
• 2:1 for Two Pair
• 1:1 for a Pair
• 1:1 for High Card

These payouts are used in most Caribbean Stud Poker games although they may vary depending on the casino and the software.

Casino Hold’em – Single Player Texas Hold’em

Casino Hold’em is a popular poker game that is based on Texas Hold’em. It was developed in the late 1990s and launched at online casinos in 2000. Casino Hold’em is similar to Texas Hold’em as the player is required to form the best possible hand by using a mixture of player cards and community cards.

At the start of each round, the player places an Ante bet. After this, the dealer serves the player two face-up cards and receives two face-down cards themselves. Once this is complete, the dealer serves the “flop”, three face-up community cards to the centre of the table.

At this point, the player must assess the value of their cards. The aim here is to form the best possible combination using the player’s two-card hand and the three community cards on the table. The player will have the chance to either Fold or Call. If the player Folds, they lose the Ante bet and surrender the hand. If the player Calls, they must place a second bet that is double the size of the Ante bet. This allows them to continue the round.

Once calling, the dealer will serve two more face-up community cards to the centre of the table, known as the “Turn” and the “River”. The player will have to form the best possible five-card poker hand using their two cards and the five community cards.

The dealer reveals their cards after the River is served. The person with the strongest hand wins. However, the dealer must have at least a pair of 4s to qualify for this. If they do not qualify, the player’s Ante bet is paid out 1:1 and the Call bet is returned as a push. Otherwise, if the dealer qualifies and the player wins, the Ante bet and Call bet are both paid at 1:1.

Casino Hold’em may vary depending on the casino and on the game variant and provider, but typically, the payouts for stronger hands include 100:1 for a Royal Flush, 20:1 for a Straight Flush, 10:1 for a Four of a Kind, 3:1 for a Full House, 2:1 for a Flush and 1:1 for a Straight or lower.

Three Card Poker – The Simplest of Them All

Three Card Poker is one of the easiest casino poker variants to play and that is why it is so popular, especially in the US and the UK. It was developed in 1994 and first played in 1997. To play Three Card Poker, players must aim to build the best possible three-card poker hand. Thus, the casino poker variant does not have as many poker hands as found in five-card poker games.

In Three Card Poker, the poker hands from strongest to weakest are as follows:

• Straight Flush
• Three of a Kind
• Straight
• Flush
• Pair
• High Card

If the player and the dealer both have the same type of hand, the player with the highest-ranking card will win.

The round begins once the player places the Ante bet on the table. When this happens, the dealer serves three face-up cards to the player and receives three face down cards. At this moment, the player will have two options, either to Play or to Fold.

If the player chooses to Play, they will have to place a second bet that is equal to the Ante bet. If the player wishes to Fold, they surrender the hand and lose the Ante bet.

If the player continues to Play, the dealer will then have to reveal their hand. If the players hand is stronger, they win 1:1 for the Ante bet. The dealer must qualify to play by holding a Queen high card or better. If they do not qualify, the second Play bet is returned as a push. Otherwise, the Play bet is also won and paid at 1:1. Stronger hands may receive better payouts, although this varies from one version to another. An example of Three Card Poker payouts may include 4:1 for a Straight Flush and 4:1 for a Three of a Kind.

Pai Gow Poker – Casino Poker with An Asian Twist

Pai Gow Poker was developed in 1985 and is essentially a combination of the Chinese game Pai Gow and poker. A major attraction in Pai Gow Poker is that the house edge is lower than in other poker variants and many rounds end in a tie. This means that players can play for a longer period of time and do no lose large amounts of money.

To win at Pai Gow Poker, you will have to build two poker hands. However, rather than trying to beat a dealer with one poker hand, the aim is to build two separate hands that are both stronger than the dealer’s two hands.

Pai Gow Poker is played with a standard deck of 52 cards plus a Joker. The Joker acts similar to a wild card, as it typically is represented as an Ace. However, it can also help form Straights and Flushes.

At the start of the round, the player places their Ante bet. After doing so, the dealer serves seven face down cards to the player and to themselves. The player must then arrange their cards into two poker hands, a five-card hand and two-card hand. The game uses the standard poker hands mentioned, although the player must try to beat both of the dealer’s hands with their two hands.

The two-card poker hand is known as the “Top” hand. As for the five-card poker hand, it is known as the “Bottom”. The Top hand can never be stronger than the Bottom hand. For instance, if the Bottom hand has a pair of Kings, then the Top hand cannot have a pair of Aces.

Once the rearranging is complete, the dealer and the player reveal their hands and they are compared. If both of the player hands beat the dealer, the player is paid 1:1 for the ante bet. If one of the hands beats the dealer but the other hand loses, the Ante bet is returned as a push. If both hands are weaker than the dealer, the Ante bet is lost.

Furthermore, the dealer will win any ties. Thus, if the player has exactly the same hand strength in both hands, the dealer win. Many casinos also tend to charge a 5% commission on winnings for Pai Gow Poker.

Red Dog Poker – Where Poker Meets Spread Betting

Red Dog Poker is not really a poker variant at all. However, it has remained a casino staple since it rose to popularity in 1930s Las Vegas and it can be hugely entertaining.

Red Dog Poker is played with one to eight decks, depending on the casino and software. The more decks that are used, the lower the house edge is. On average, most providers tend to go for a standard six decks.

To win at Red Dog Poker, all you have to do is guess. Two cards are drawn onto the centre of the table, and you have to guess if the third card will have a value in between the first two. Most variants value all face cards (J, Q, K) as 10 however in some variants, Jack is worth 11, Queen is worth 12, King is worth 13 and Ace is worth 14. For arguments sake, let’s assume that the face cards are all worth 10.

At the start of the round, the player places an Ante bet. The dealer proceeds to deal two face up cards. If they have the same value, the third card is dealt immediately. If the third card also has the same value, you are paid 11:1 on the Ante bet and the round ends.

If the two cards have consecutive values, for instance 6 and 7, the round ends immediately and your Ante bet is returned as a push.

If the two cards do not have consecutive value, the round may proceed as usual. The dealer announces the spread between the cards. The spread distinguishes how many spaces are between the lower and higher card. For instance, a 6 and 10 would have a spread of 4. The player can then choose to Raise or to Call. To Raise, the player doubles their bet. To Call, the player continues with the same bet.

The dealer then draws a third card. The player wins if the third card is between the two face-down cards. If the card is outside of the spread or equal to one of the first two cards, the bet is lost. For instance, if the first two cards are 2 and 9 and the third card is a 5, the player wins. However, if the third card is a 9, 10, J, Q, K or A, the player loses.

The payout for Red Dog Poker depends on how large the spread is. Typically, a spread of 1 pays 5:1, a spread of 2 pays 4:1, a spread of 3 pays 2:1 and a spread of 4 or more pays 1:1. If the first two cards are consecutive, the Ante bet is returned as a push, whereas if they are equal and a third card with the same value is drawn, the player instantly wins 11:1.

Ultimate Texas Hold’em – A Game Not to Be Missed

Ultimate Texas Hold’em is based on the classic poker game Texas Hold’em. It was developed by Bally Gaming and is straightforward to learn. In addition, Ultimate Texas Hold’em is extremely popular because of the relatively low house edge.

In Ultimate Texas Hold’em, the way to win is to build a stronger five-card hand than the dealer does. The round starts by placing an Ante bet and the Blind. These two must always be the same in value. For instance, €1 for the Ante bet and €1 for the Blind, a total of €2. Once you have placed the two bets, you receive two cards, as does the dealer.

At this point, you are given three options. The first is to Check where you take no further action. The second is to bet 3 times the Ante. The third option is to bet 4 times the Ante. If you decide to wager 3 times the Ante or 4 times the Ante, the bets are placed into the ‘Play’ section on the table.

Once you have taken one of the three actions, the dealer proceeds to serve three face-up community card to the centre of the table. If you chose to Check, you can bet 2 times the Ante or Check again. The dealer will then serve two more community cards to the table. If you have Checked in both previous betting rounds, you can either Fold (surrender your bets) or bet 1 times the Ante. However, if you previously raised in the first round, you cannot raise again. This means you can only bet one time per round.

Once the round finishes, all cards are revealed. The dealer must be holding at least a Pair to qualify. If they do not qualify, then the Ante bets are returned as a push. If the dealer has qualified, then the Ante bets and the Play bets are paid at 1:1. The Blind bet wins if you beat the dealer’s hand with at least a Straight or better. Typically, Ultimate Texas Hold’em pays 1:1 for a Straight, 3:2 for a Flush, 3:1 for a Full House, 10:1 for a Four of a Kind, 50:1 for a Straight Flush and 500:1 for a Royal Flush. If the hand is not one of these, the Blind is returned as a Push.

Closing Remarks

There are many different variants for Casino Poker, but the most popular and well-known versions are listed above. Different strategies exist for each of the games and it is not hard to find these online. Take some time to research your chosen game and with a bit of luck, some winnings will soon be coming your way.