Everything About Live Casino Hold’em

In 2000, Stephen Au-Yeung designed live Casino Hold’em, the first live poker variant. Today, it remains one of the most popular casino games at the best live casinos. The gameplay is pretty straightforward, where players make a five-card hand that beats the dealer’s hand.

But despite all the hype surrounding this game, most players still struggle to get the hang of it. If you’re one of them, read on to learn the basics of playing Casino Hold’em like a pro.

Live Casino Hold’em rules

Casino Hold’em is a poker variant where gamers face the house instead of other players. The game is a straight contest between the dealer’s hand and the player’s hand. That said, it uses the traditional 52-card deck/shoe. First, both the dealer and the player are dealt two face-down cards. Then, three cards are dealt to the board, which will eventually house five cards.

After getting the two cards, the gamer makes an ante wager before checking their cards. They then decide to fold and lose the ante bet or call and double the ante bet. Remember, if a player folds, the live casino will skip to the next round while keeping the dealer’s hand secret. But if a player calls, they get two additional community cards.

Meanwhile, the dealer’s hand must hold a pair of fours or better to qualify. And if they qualify and the gamer’s hand is better, the call bet pays out 1:1. On the other hand, the ante bet pays out depending on the paytable. But if the dealer’s hand doesn’t qualify, the call bet becomes a push or tie while the ante bet pays according to the paytable.

Live Casino Hold’em paytable

In this live table game, players mostly win a standard of 1:1 sum in case they hold a more substantial hand. But for rare hands like the royal flush and straight flush, the payout is 100:1 and 20:1, respectively.

Below is the Casino Hold’em ante bet paytable:

• Royal flush: 100:1
• Straight flush: 20:1
• Four of a kind: 10:1
• Full house: 3:1
• Flush: 2:1

In addition to the ante bet, players can also make a side bet or AA bonus. This bet depends on the hand value of the gamer’s two cards as well as the starting three flop cards.

The side bet paytable is as follows:

• Royal flush: 100:1
• Straight flush: 50:1
• Four of a kind: 40:1
• Full house: 30:1
• Flush: 20:1
• Pair of aces and below: 7:1

Live Casino Hold’em house advantage and strategy

With standard rules, Casino Hold’em comes with a 2.16% house edge. But because the ‘average’ bet size can be 2.64x the original ante bet, this makes the house advantage per unit wagered to be 0.82%. Generally, the house edge depends on the live casino and the game developer, with most offering anything between 2% and 2.5%.

But to be honest, finding an optimal strategy for this game can be a bit challenging. That’s because decisions depend on the hand combination of the seven cards. But still, there are a few things players can do to survive. Below is a summary:

• Raise if you have an Ace/King high and a pair.
• Raise if you have a straight draw or flush draw.
• Raise if you have a King/Jack high.
• Fold if you have unpaired low cards.
• Fold if the board has a pair and your card suit doesn’t match.

Conclusion

See, Caribbean Stud is easy to play. The game retains most aspects of Texas Hold’em and allows gamers to compete against the house instead of other players. Add in the low house edge, and Live Casino Hold’em is the game to play.