Casino Holdem is a variation of the ever popular Texas Holdem poker game that many players all over the world play. Undoubtedly, the casino version of the game isn’t as popular, but it still has a loyal following of fans. Players who are familiar with the rules of Texas Holdem should pick up this game pretty quickly.
The introduction of the live casino Holdem games has definitely added another dimension to the game and it’s this that allows players to not only play as if they were in a real casino, but also to interact with fellow players and even croupiers. The game, unlike Texas Holdem, is very much a luck based game, but with a small element of skill involved. You basically get to choose which hands you play and which hands you don’t, in a fit or fold type of strategy. There will be optimum starting hands to play, but this will be massively adapted from that of Texas Holdem.
The games do actually function quite differently to that of online casino Holdem games. The biggest change you will notice is that online the table can usually seat up to six different players, whereas the live version only plays one hand. But this one hand can be played by a number of players and it won’t be uncommon for a table to include several players all playing the same hand. Bear in mind that when playing live casino Holdem you won’t get to see what the other players actions were, simply what your own are.
The next major difference between live and traditional online casino Holdem comes in the way the cards are shuffled and distributed. So, to start with each will have just one deck of 52 cards and after each hand this pack will be shuffled. Now online they use a system called a Random Number Generator (RNG) which basically picks out the cards at complete random for each hand instantly. The live format of the game will require the dealer to shuffle up after every hand before then starting a new hand with the cards again, totally randomised.
The inclusion of the dealer will mean that time it takes between hands will likely be much slower than that of the online version; having to simply shuffle the deck after every hand takes time. But the live format definitely adds a lot more player interaction with both other players and the dealer.
As with all types of live casino games, the layout will likely vary depending on which bookmaker you use. But you will probably find that the feed from the casino with the table and dealer will have a HUD (Heads UP Display) based over it to allow you to physically see the dealer and cards, but electronically deal with your chips and consequently your decisions.
How to Play Live Casino Holdem
The games start with the player having to put in a required ante to be part of the hand. Next the dealer shuffles the deck before then dealing two cards face up for the player and two cards face down for the dealer. Three community cards are dealt face up, which is called the flop. At this point you will be asked to fold or call. If you decide to fold then your ante will be taken away and you will play no further part in the hand. If you call then you will be required to place twice your ante into the ‘Call’ section on the table.
If you call then two additional cards will be dealt into the community cards (turn and river) of which both can be used, if necessary, to improve your overall hand. The dealer then flips their two cards and it goes down to which player has the best hand.
There is a third section on the live casino Holdem tables called bonus. This section pays out on special hands hit by the players such as Royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house and flush. The pay-outs will depend on the casino but you can expect them to range from 2:1 up to 20: for the highest ranked hand. It’s worth bearing in mind that to qualify for a winning hand, the dealer must have a pair of fours or better. If they fail to do this then they will be pay out the amount of just the ante back to the player depending on the odds.