How to Beat Live Dealer Online Casino Hold’em Games

Casino Holdem pitches your Texas Holdem skills against the house. This game first appeared in the early 2000s and saw a rise in popularity on the back of the 'poker boom'. Now you can find it spread in casinos across the world, from Las Vegas to Macau. The game is also a favourite of online casino players, and thanks to developments in technology, you can now enjoy Casino Holdem on Live Dealer tables too.

Here you can find out the best strategy for playing Casino Holdem at the 888 Live Casino. The games are provided by Evolution Gaming and are ran by very friendly and professional dealers in Latvia and Malta. While the casino's software is used to interact and place your bets, all the action is real and can be watched via HD quality live streams. These games create the best casino experience you can find, without actually travelling to one, and by following the simple strategy below, you can increase your chances of being able to celebrate a win.

Best Live Dealer Casino Holdem Games Online

How Live Casino Hold’em works Casino Hold’em is an easy game to play at its most basic form. Those that have a basic knowledge of poker will be comfortable playing this rendition of a card game classic. Casino Hold'em Online Table Game. Casino Hold'em is a poker game variation of Texas Hold'em, but in Casino Hold'em, you play against the dealer instead of other players. This game is sometimes referred to as Texas Hold'em Bonus Poker, but they are essentially one in the same.

Non-US Players: My go-to studio is operated by Evolution Gaming, and is available via the leading big brand PlayTech powered casinos. If you are in the UK, then Titan Bet Casino is a very strong (and fully licensed) rec. Outside of the UK then I recommend the long-running Europa Casino instead.

US Based Players: The Vegas Technology studio offers this game, and the very easy recommendation of the casino which hosts them is the long-running BetOnline.ag. Based in Panama, this brand is already the leading US offshore sportsbook – and is fast becoming the go-to casino as well.

Live Dealer Casino Holdem - The Basics

Playing Casino Holdem is very similar to a regular Texas Hold'em game. The key differences are your ability to bet is restricted, and you are only playing against the house, not the other players.

If you wish to be dealt into a Casino Holdem hand, you must first place an ante. This can be anything within the table limits, although it is worth remembering this bet size controls your next wager, if you wish to play the hand to the end.

Two cards are dealt to both yourself and the dealer, with the dealers hand faced down. The Flop is then dealt and you decide if you wish to continue or not, based on the strength of your hand. If you do not think your hand is strong enough you can fold and give up your ante bet. If you wish to continue however, you can call for twice your ante amount.

The Turn and River cards are then dealt and the dealer reveals their hand. In order to be able to play, the dealer must qualify by having one pair or higher. This is based on their best five card hand, so if the board pairs then the dealers hand automatically qualifies, without needing any help from their hole cards.

Should the dealer have the best hand, you will lose both the ante and call bet. If the dealer does not qualify, you win the ante bet and the call bet is pushed back to you, or if the dealer qualifies and loses you win on both. While call bets are simply paid at even money, your ante bet is paid out as follows:

  • Royal Flush - 100/1
  • Straight Flush - 20/1
  • Four of a Kind - 10/1
  • Full House - 3/1
  • Flush - 2/1
  • Straight or Less - 1/1

Live Dealer Casino Holdem - The Best Strategy

While Casino Holdem appears a simple games of 'fit or fold' on the flop it is actually more complicated than that.

For a start if you keep folding when you miss you will give up far too many antes, plus you need to remember the dealer has to qualify in order to play their hand. You should also consider the chances of your hand improving on the Turn and River, as well as whether the payouts make your decision mathematically correct or not.

This all creates many variables, although learning optimal strategy can bring the house edge down to around 2.5%. Instead here are some easy to remember rules, which while not perfect, will bring the house edge down, near to this level.

  • Always call with a pair or higher
  • Always call if you are holding A high or K high, with your hole cards
  • Always call with two overcards
  • Call with Q high or J high, so long as the board is not suited and you do not hold that suit in your hand.
  • Call if you only need one card to complete a straight or flush
  • Unless you hold a card higher than 10, or a straight or flush draw, fold on paired boards
  • Fold everything else

Live Casino Hold'em

Live Dealer Casino Holdem - Side Bets

The Casino Holdem game on 888 Live Casino, offers you an 'Aces or Better' side bet. While the payouts are attractive, like all side bets this is generally a sucker bet, where you give-up an unnecessary advantage to the house. In this case the house will gain a 6.26% edge.

If you wish to play the Ace or Better bet, you must place your wager in the marked area, before the deal. Once the Flop is dealt, if you can make a five card poker hand, ranking AA or higher your bet will be paid accordingly. The Aces or Better bet is paid out separately to the main ante and call bet, so you will still get paid out even if you lose the hand.

The payouts for Aces or Better are as follows:

  • Royal Flush - 100/1
  • Straight Flush - 50/1
  • Four of a Kind - 40/1
  • Full House - 30/1
  • Flush - 20/1
  • AA, Two Pair, Straight - 7/1

Those recommendations once again: where to find the best Casino Holdem live dealer games online!

Non-US Players: My go-to studio is operated by Evolution Gaming, and is available via the leading big brand PlayTech powered casinos. If you are in the UK, then Titan Bet Casino is a very strong (and fully licensed) rec. Outside of the UK then I recommend the long-running Europa Casino instead.

US Based Players: The Vegas Technology studio offers this game, and the very easy recommendation of the casino which hosts them is the long-running BetOnline.ag. Based in Panama, this brand is already the leading US offshore sportsbook – and is fast becoming the go-to casino as well.

More Casino Articles

On This Page

Introduction

Casino Hold 'Em is a poker variation, similar to Texas Hold 'Em, that is played in Egypt, Russia, South Africa, Holland, Latvia, Estonia, Ireland, Morocco, Malta, Ukraine, Panama, and Romania. It is also available to play online at casinos using Net Gaming, Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Gamesys, and Galewind Software.

Hold

The game also goes by the name Casino Hold 'Em Open. Under this name, the rules are the same except the player hole cards are dealt face up. In normal Casino Hold 'Em they are dealt face down.

Rules

The rules are as follows.

  1. Play begins with each player making an Ante wager. There is also an optional Progressive Jackpot side bet.
  2. The dealer gives the player and himself two hole cards and three community cards face up on the table.
  3. Each player must decide to either fold or call. If the player folds, then he gives up his cards and his Ante bet. If the player calls, then the Call bet must be equal to two times the Ante bet.
  4. The dealer will then deal two more community cards, for a total of five. The dealer will then turn over his own two cards.
  5. Both hands shall be scored according the highest poker value of the two hole cards and five community cards.
  6. The dealer must have a pair of fours or better to qualify. If the dealer does not qualify then the Ante will pay according to the Ante pay table below and the Call bet will push.
  7. If the dealer qualifies and beats the player, then the player will lose both the Ante and Call.
  8. If the dealer qualifies and the player beats the dealer then the Ante will pay according to the Ante pay table below and the Call bet will pay 1 to 1.
  9. If the dealer qualifies and the player ties the dealer then both Ante and Call bets will push.
  10. The Progressive Jackpot side bet pays based on the player's final seven card hand only, even if the player folded or loses to the dealer. More on this bet at the bottom of the page.

Ante Pay Table

HandTable 1Table 2Table 3Table 4
Royal flush2025100100
Straight flush20252049
4 of a kind10121017
Full house3333
Flush2222
All other1111

Caribbean Hold 'Em Warning

Be warned that Realtime Gaming has an imitation of this game called Caribbean Hold 'Em. However, they pay 1 to 1 on the Ante if the dealer doesn't qualify, as opposed to the full Ante Bonus pay table. Nowhere is this rule change disclosed in their game rules, I might add.

Analysis

The following table shows the number of combination, probability, and contribution to the return of all possible outcomes under ante pay table 3, which I'm told is the most frequently used. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.16%.

Return Table — Pay Table 3Expand

HandPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Player wins with royal flush1027362590400.0000260.002700
Player has royal flush, dealer doesn't qualify1001198929600.0000040.000431
Player wins with straight flush2260011222840.0002160.004747
Player has straight flush, dealer doesn't qualify2010896728280.0000390.000784
Player wins with four of a kind12414198965520.0014890.01787
Player has four of a kind, dealer doesn't qualify109094993200.0000330.000327
Player wins with full house55895050376600.0211950.105973
Player wins with flush45051314195800.0181610.072645
Player wins with straight or less364266700165720.231060.693181
Player has full house, dealer doesn't qualify3246016768320.0008850.002654
Player has flush, dealer doesn't qualify21688835364320.0060720.012144
Player has straight or less, dealer doesn't qualify155213762191480.1985120.198512
Tie06785969165800.0243980
Player folds-150090671026000.180093-0.180093
Player loses-388397017556120.317817-0.953451
Total278138100240001-0.021576

The following return table is four pay table 4. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 0.35%. This pay table can be found at Internet casinos using Gamesys N.V. software titled 'Casino Hold 'Em with Zero House Edge.' As you can see, the 'Zero House Edge' part is a misnomer. The player must pay a 10% commission on any net gambling win per session. A 'session' ends after a period of one hour with no bet or 24 hours, whichever happens first.

The owner of Casino Hold 'Em wishes for me to state that Gamesys N.V. is using his game without permission.

Township

Return Table — Pay Table 4Expand

HandPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Player wins with royal flush102736,259,0400.0000260.002700
Player has royal flush, dealer doesn't qualify100119,892,9600.0000040.000431
Player wins with straight flush516,031,161,9320.0002170.011059
Player has straight flush, dealer doesn't qualify491,096,758,9360.0000390.001932
Player wins with four of a kind1941,421,337,0560.0014890.028295
Player has four of a kind, dealer doesn't qualify17909,634,1040.0000330.000556
Player wins with full house5589,638,417,8160.0211990.105997
Player wins with flush4505,727,272,9200.0181830.072730
Player wins with straight or less36,429,871,396,5160.2311750.693526
Player has full house, dealer doesn't qualify324,601,738,1760.0008850.002654
Player has flush, dealer doesn't qualify2169,051,416,9120.0060780.012156
Player has straight or less, dealer doesn't qualify15,526,154,486,5120.1986840.198684
Tie0679,763,871,1400.0244400.000000
Player folds-14,984,375,678,9200.179205-0.179205
Player loses-38,854,310,701,0600.318342-0.955027
Total27,813,810,024,0001.000000-0.003511

I would like to thank Stephen How of Discount Gambling for supplying the combinations in pay table 4.

The only pay tables fully analyzed are 3 and 4, because it takes my computer about a month to cycle through all possible combinations. However, assuming the player was following optimal strategy under pay table 3 but playing under pay table 1 or 2, the house edge under pay table 1 would be 2.40%, and under pay table 2 would be 1.96%. The actual house edge under pay tables 1 and 2 would be slightly less or equal to these figures.

Strategy

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to quantify optimal strategy for this game. I can say that the optimal strategy player will raise 82% of the time. So only in the worst 18% of hands should the player fold. In general these are 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.

Side Bets

The only side bet I am aware of for this game is known as the AA+. It pays based on the poker value of the player's hand after the flop. There are three known pay tables, as follows:

AA+ Pay Tables

HandPay Table 1Pay Table 2Pay Table 3
Royal Flush25100100
Straight flush255050
4 of a kind254040
Full house253030
Flush252020
Straight7710
Three of a kind778
Two pair777
Pair of aces777
House edge6.40%6.26%2.97%

Pay tables 1 and 2 can be found in land casinos. Pay table 3 is used by Internet casinos using Gamesys software.

As an example, following is the full return table for Pay Table 1.

AA+ Side Bet — Pay Table 1

HandPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Royal Flush2540.0000020.000038
Straight flush25360.0000140.000346
4 of a kind256240.0002400.006002
Full house2537440.0014410.036014
Flush2551080.0019650.049135
Straight7102000.0039250.027473
Three of a kind7549120.0211280.147899
Two pair71235520.0475390.332773
Pair of aces7844800.0325050.227537
Other-123163000.891241-0.891241
Total25989601-0.064023

Progressive Jackpot

The Progressive Jackpot bet shall pay based on the player's two hole cards and the five community cards only. It does not matter whether or not the player folds or loses to the dealer. In the event of a straight flush or royal flush on the board, all players who made the Progressive Jackpot bet shall split the win.

The following table shows the probability and contribution to the return for each event. Obviously, the return from the top two awards will depend on the jackpot size, so are treated as unknowns.

Progressive Jackpot

HandPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Royal flushJackpot4,3240.000032x
Straight flush10% of Jackpot37,2600.000279y
4 of a kind$100.00224,8480.0016810.168100
Full house$10.003,473,1840.0259610.259610
Other$0.00130,044,9440.9720470.000000
Total$0.00133,784,5601.0000000.487931+x+y

The table above shows the fixed wins return 42.77% of the amount bet. Assuming the player is playing alone, for every $1,000 in the meter the return will increase by 6.02%. Under the same assumption, the break-even point is $9,503.22. Due to jackpot sharing, the return will go down slightly according to the number of other players making the bet.

Jumbo Jackpot

There is another progressive jackpot called the 'Jumbo Jackpot.' The following table shows the wins, probabilities and the contribution to the return for each type of winning hand.

Live casino hold

Jumbo Jackpot

HandPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
7-card straight flush?320.00000024x
6-card straight flush$5,000.007520.000005620.028105
5-card straight flush$250.0040,8000.000304970.076242
4 of a kind$50.00224,8480.001680670.084034
Full house$5.003,473,1840.025961020.129805
Flush$4.004,047,6440.030254940.121020
Straight$2.006,180,0200.046193820.092388
Other$0.00119,817,2800.895598710.000000
Total$0.00133,784,5601.000000000.531593

The return for the top award depends on the amount in the jackpot. I can say that all the other wins return 53.16% of money bet. For every 100,000 bet units in the meter the return increases by 2.39%. At a jackpot of $1,958,300.75 the return reaches 100%.

Progressive Jackpot Side Bet

Live Texas Holdem Casino

There is yet another side bet based on the player's first two cards and the three-card flop. I put information about it in my page titled Casino Hold Em Progressive Jackpot Side Bet'.

Casino Razz Bonus

I believe this side bet pays according to the poker value of the player's two hole cards and the three cards on the flop -- the lower the poker value, the more it pays. For all the rules and analysis, please see my page on Casino Razz Bonus.

Methodology

The above analysis was performed using a brute force combinatorial program that analyzed all 27,813,810,024,000 possible outcomes, and played every hand according to optimal player strategy. It took my computers about a month to crank though the 27.8 trillion hands.

External Links

The web site for Casino Hold'em, as well as other games, is www.casinopokergames.com.

There is a good Casino Hold 'Em calculator at beatingbonuses.com.


Written by:Michael Shackleford