Online Casino Holdem is a casino poker game that became licensed in the US in 2007 and since it’s introduction has grown in popularity. The rules of this casino game are not that different to Texas Holdem Poker, you have to form a winning hand from five cards using the same winning combinations that are used in Texas Holdem. The biggest difference to this format of the game is you are playing against the dealer rather than fellow players.
You form a winning hand by combining your two playing cards (hole cards / player cards / personal cards) with five community cards. If your hand is better than the dealer’s hand, you win.
This moves the odds slightly in your favour because you only need to beat the dealer not the other players around the table. As any onling gambler knows, a large part of playing poker is bluffing and reading the body language of your fellow players. The bluffing skills and the reading of body language are not needed with Casino Holdem because the dealer will play to the end regardless of what you are betting.
Overall it’s a great video poker game and you can play Casino Holdem at thousands of online casinos as well as land based casinos.
We’ve compiled a list of casino sites where you can play casino holdem:
The game is played in South Africa, Holland, Latvia, Estonia, Ireland, Egypt, Russia, Morocco, Malta, Ukraine, Panama, and Romania. The game Ultimate Texas Holdem is very similar to Casino Holdem and Ultimate Texas Holdem is available to play in land based casinos in Las Vegas as well as being available online.
Casino Holdem can be found at casino sites powered by Net Gaming, Playtech, Gamesys, Real Time Gaming and Galewind Software.
If you are familiar with playing online poker then you should be able to get to grips easily with the rules of Casino Holdem. If you are new to playing poker then Casino Holdem is a good place to start as an easy way to think about Casino Holdem is a simplified version of poker.
The skill level needed to play the game in comparison to other forms of online poker is significantly less, which what makes this table game so appealing.
The game starts with an Ante wager. If you don’t place the Ante bet you won’t be dealt into the game similar to other games of Poker. The only thing to consider when placing the ante bet is that you will need to double the ante bet later in the game once the community cards have been revealed (the flop).
There are two optional bets that can be placed alongside the ante bet:
AA Bonus Side Bet – the AA bonus bet is a side bet. This bet is settled after your two hole cards, the dealer’s cards and the community cards are dealt.
You win the side bet by combining your two hole cards with the first three community cards to form a winning combination. The winning combinations of the AA bonus bet have the standard poker value and are as follows:
| Royal Flush | 100 to 1 |
| Straight Flush | 50 to 1 |
| Four of a Kind | 40 to 1 |
| Full House | 30 to 1 |
| Flush | 20 to 1 |
| Pair of Aces to Straight | 7 to 1 |
You either win or lose the side bet at the first round of betting. The payouts on the winning side bet are a lot higher than an ante bet. So the optional AA bonus side bet is a great bet to play alongside the ante bet.
Progressive Jackpot Bet – some casino game makers offer a progressive jackpot option. You will see a progressive jackpot and the value of the jackpot continuously. The following is a screenshot from the Evolution Live Casino version of the game.
The winning combinations for the progressive jackpot are displayed below in the bonus paytable:
| 7 Card Straight Flush | Jackpot Win |
| 6 Card Straight Flush | $5000 |
| 5 Card Straight Flus | $250 |
| Four Of A Kind | $50 |
| Full House | $5 |
| Flush | $5 |
| Straight | $2 |
Unlike the AA Bonus the progressive jackpot is won by forming five community cards with your two personal cards. So it pays out on the poker value of your hand after the flop.
The great thing about progressive jackpot games is the jackpot size can be quite large. In the screenshot above the progressive jackpot stands at $3.2m and the winning amount can change.
The dealer will then deal the cards from a 52 card deck, three community cards are dealt in the middle of the table face up, each player is dealt two hole cards face up and the dealer is dealt two card face down.
At this stage of the game, you either play by doubling your bet or fold. If you decide to play then you will need to double your Ante bet. If you fold the ante bet is lost but if you opted for the progressive jackpot bet then this is still in play.
If you are playing a live casino version of the game and fold you will get to see the remaining community cards turned as well as the dealer cards. This is because the live casino version works in real time.
If you aren’t playing the live casino game and are playing against a random number generator if you decide to fold the game resets and you don’t get to see the remaining community cards or the dealer cards.
Once the final two community cards are turned and the dealer turns their own two cards then you will know if you have won or lost your bet. Similar to other poker games the highest card combination wins, so the player with the highest value or better hand wins.
The dealer will need to have a minimum of a pair of fours in order to qualify. If the dealer hand qualifies then the bet is paid out however if the deal does not qualifier the call bet is returned and you get paid out on the ante.
If the dealer managers to beat you as the player with a stronger hand then you lose the ante bet and any call bets you have placed.
Listed below are the poker hand rankings (payout table) that can give you a winning combination. Certain card combinations are a lot harder to get than others.
A royal flush cannot be beaten by any other card combination. This is the best poker card combination and it is very rare to get a royal flush. If you get a royal flush you are almost certain to hit the jackpot.
A straight flush is the next best hand. All the cards have to be the same suit for example all spades and be consecutive numbers.
As the name suggests all you have four of the same card across all four suits. If the dealer happens to have four of a kind the highest value card wins. So 4 x 10’s beats 4 x 7’s.
A full house is when you have three cards from one suit and two cards from another suit. For example 2,3,4,5 of hearts and a 7 and 8 of spades.
A flush is when you have five cards all of the same suit (for example all spades) and they can be any combination.
A straight is a run of cards from any suit. For example 2 3 4 5 6.
Three of a kind is when there are 3 cards that are the same but from any suite, as example ace of spades, ace of hearts and an ace of diamonds. In the event of a tie, similar to four of a kind the highest value card wins.
Two cards from two different suits. For example a pair of Jacks and a pair of Kings.
A pair of cards that are of the same value.
If there are no other winning combinations then the player with the highest card wins. For example, you hold a queen and the dealer has a 10. The is the weakest card poker hand.
Given that you are only ever competing against the house and the house will always play and never bust. So in this form of poker, there are very few strategies that will help you so it’s very difficult to recommend an optimal strategy.
There are great strategies in card games like online blackjack but sadly not in Casino Holdem. Other than a basic strategy of if you don’t have a minimum of a 10 fold rather than go with the call bet.
If you are not an experienced poker player then Casino Holdem is a great place to start and a good way to become familiar with the names and values of poker hands.
The house edge on the game (excluding any side bets ) is around 2 – 2.16%, what that means is the casino is making $2 for every $100 which when you compare it to the RTP value in slot games, the house edge be as high as 25% in some games.
