Casino Hold'em: how to play poker against the dealer

Most poker rooms put you against other players: you win their money, and the room takes a cut. Casino Hold'em works differently. You play heads-up against the dealer, there is nobody to bluff, and the casino's edge is built into the pay table. It is one of the poker games you meet most often in live casino lobbies. This article covers the rules, the payouts, and the one decision that sets what the game costs you. Hand rankings and the rules of ordinary Texas Hold'em are on our poker page.

How a round works

You bet an ante, see your two cards and the first three community cards, then either fold or call.

1. You place the ante. You can also place the optional AA bonus bet (more on it below).

2. You and the dealer each get two cards face down; your cards are turned up. Three community cards are dealt - the flop.

3. You decide: fold and lose the ante, or call by placing a bet of exactly twice the ante.

4. If you call, two more community cards are dealt - the turn and the river. You and the dealer each make the best five-card hand from your two cards and the five community cards.

The hand rankings are the same as in any Hold'em: from royal flush down to high card. Our poker hand rankings show them in order, with how often each one comes up.

When the dealer qualifies

The dealer qualifies with a pair of fours or better. This rule decides how your bets are paid:

• The dealer does not qualify - the ante is paid according to the ante pay table, and the call bet is returned to you (a push).
• The dealer qualifies and you win - the ante is paid according to the pay table, and the call bet pays 1:1.
• The dealer qualifies and wins - you lose both the ante and the call.
• A tie - both bets are returned.

The ante pay table

The most common pay table, as analysed by Wizard of Odds, pays on the ante:

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

The call bet always pays 1:1 when you win. Some casinos use slightly different tables, so check the payouts in the game's info panel before you sit down.

Fold or call: the decision that sets the cost

With this pay table and correct play, the house edge is about 2.16% of the ante. On average you lose about €2.16 for every €100 placed as antes.

That figure assumes you call about 82% of the time and fold only the worst 18% of hands. Wizard of Odds describes those folds as hands where your two cards are unpaired and low compared with the flop, with little or no chance of a straight or flush. In practice:

• Call with any pair or better after the flop, including a pair made with the board.
• Call when the flop gives you a real chance of a flush or straight.
• Call with high cards that are above the flop cards, even with no pair.
• Fold only the weakest hands: two low, unpaired cards below the flop, with no straight or flush chance.

The common mistake is folding too often. The call costs twice the ante, so it feels expensive, but folding gives up the ante for certain, while calling a weak hand still wins often enough - especially when the dealer fails to qualify and the call is returned. A player who folds "anything that is not a pair" folds far more than 18% of hands and pays more than 2.16%.

The AA bonus bet

The AA bonus is a side bet on your two cards and the three flop cards: it wins if they make a pair of aces or better. It is settled before you decide to call or fold, and it pays even if you fold.

The common pay table: royal flush 100:1, straight flush 50:1, four of a kind 40:1, full house 30:1, flush 20:1, straight 10:1, three of a kind 8:1, two pair or a pair of aces 7:1. Its house edge is about 2.97% - higher than the main game, though modest for a side bet. It does not improve your main bet; it is a separate wager with its own price.

How it compares with Caribbean Stud

Caribbean Stud is the older house-banked poker game, also found in live lobbies. You get five cards and no community cards, the dealer needs ace-king or better to qualify, and the raise is twice the ante. Its house edge is about 5.22% of the ante - more than twice that of Casino Hold'em (Wizard of Odds). If both are on offer, Casino Hold'em is the cheaper game.

What you cannot do against the dealer

There is no bluffing in Casino Hold'em. The dealer does not make decisions: their cards are played out by the rules whatever you do. Reading opponents, position and bet sizing do not exist here. What remains is the call-or-fold decision and the choice of side bets - and that is where the cost of the game is set.

Play within your limits

Every call adds twice your ante, so a single round can cost three times your ante. Set your session budget in antes before you start and stop when it is spent. Our guide to responsible gambling tools shows how to set deposit and time limits in your casino account, and the responsible gambling page lists where to get help. All the casinos we review are on our all casinos page.