Casino Holdem Bonus

Casino Hold'em is a casinogambling game. This banking game, introduced by Stephen Au-Yeung in 2000 (First Texas Hold'em Poker play against the casino and not other players) and now played in live casinos worldwide. It was licensed for use in the United Kingdom in 2007. In addition online casinos offer the game, which is based on the traditional multi-player Texas Hold'em Poker.

In Casino Hold'em, played with a 52-card deck, you can win on your Ante bet and optional AA Bonus side bet. After placing your Ante bet and optional AA Bonus bet, you and the dealer each receive two cards face down. Three community cards are dealt face up on. Casino Hold'em offers an optional bonus bet. The bonus bet pays based on a 5-card hand composed of the player's 2 cards and three flop cards. The remaining two community cards are not included. Like most side bets, the house edge of the bonus bet is significantly larger than the house edge of the main game. Casino Hold'em is a house game designed to be dealt by a croupier for casino patrons to play in the main casino. Players play the house and not other players in this variant. Subject to the dealer qualifying, it is a straight contest between the dealer's hand and the player's, player may also get paid an AnteWin Bonus on his Ante bet.

Dealing the turn in Texas hold 'em
Picture of hole cards in a game of Texas hold 'em

Casino Hold'em is a house game designed to be dealt by a croupier for casino patrons to play in the main casino. Players play the house and not other players in this variant. Subject to the dealer qualifying, it is a straight contest between the dealer's hand and the player's, player may also get paid an AnteWin Bonus on his Ante bet.Player can also place an AA Bonus side bet which is based on the poker value of his two personal cards and the first three flop cards.

History[edit]

Stephen Au-Yeung devised the game in the late 1990s as a tool to assist in training his partner of the time to play Texas Hold 'Em poker. After this the training tool was developed into a House game and launched in 2000.[1] It first appeared as a live casino game in Egypt, Russia and South Africa. It was shown in 2001 at the World Gaming Congress Expo, Las-Vegas, US and in 2002 at the International Casino Exhibition held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, UK.


Rules[edit]

  • The game is played with a standard 52 card deck.
  • Each player makes an Ante bet and may make an optional AA bonus side bet.
  • The player and dealer are both dealt two cards (face down).
  • Three cards are then dealt to the board and will eventually contain five cards.
  • After checking his/her cards, the player has to decide (a) to fold with no further play losing the Ante bet or (b) to make a Call bet of double the Ante bet.
  • If one or more players makes a Call bet the dealer will deal two more cards to the board, for a total of five.
  • Players and dealer make their best five card poker hand from their own two personal cards and five board cards.
  • Each player’s hand are compared with the dealer’s.
  • The dealer must have a pair of 4s or better to qualify.
  • If the dealer does not qualify, the Ante bet pays according to the AnteWin pay table and the Call bet is a push (stand off).
  • If the dealer qualifies, and the player's hand is better than the dealer's, the Ante bet pays according to the Ante-Win pay table and the Call bet pays 1 to 1.
  • If the dealer qualifies, and the dealer's hand is equal to the player's, all bets are push (it doesn't win or lose).
  • If the dealer qualifies, and the dealer's hand is better than the player's, the player loses all bets.

Strategy[edit]

There is no easy way to quantify optimal strategy for this game since the optimal decision for each hand is based on the combination of all 7 cards (two personal cards and five board cards) dealt. As such while computer programs can easily deal with the calculations required to make the correct play in any particular hand, it is difficult to make a set of general rules which can be memorized such as exists for Blackjack. The optimal strategy player will raise 82% of the time. So only in the worst 18% of hands should the player fold. These are broadly 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.[2]

AnteWin pay table[edit]

Casino Holdem Bonus

In Casino Hold'em the player not only wins a standard 1 to 1 sum if they have the stronger hand, but for rare hands a higher sum. This pay table typically pays a royal flush 100 to 1, straight flush 20 to 1, four of a kind 10 to 1, full house 3 to 1, flush 2 to 1, and straight or less the standard 1 to 1.

House edge[edit]

The house edge of Casino Hold'em excluding the side bet (that is, the percentage of each bet the casino will on average win, assuming perfect play on the part of the player) varies depending on the specific rules in the casino but is the most common pay tables result in a house edge varying from just below 2% to around 2.5%. Using the ante pay table above, the house edge is 2.16%.

Side bets[edit]

A side bet known as the AA Bonus is based on the poker value of the player's two cards and the first three flop cards.

A pair of aces to a straight pays 7 to 1, flush 20 to 1, full house 30 to 1, four of a kind 40 to 1, straight flush 50 to 1 and royal flush 100 to 1. A variations to this pay table, A pair of aces to a straight pays 7 to 1, flush or higher 25 to 1.

References[edit]

  1. ^ThePOGG (26 February 2014). 'ThePOGG Interviews – Stephen Au-Yeung – Creator of Casino Hold 'Em'.
  2. ^wizardofodds.com
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Casino_hold_%27em&oldid=960908850'

On This Page

Introduction

Texas Hold 'Em Bonus is a poker based table game I noticed at the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas in September 2005. I also hear that it can be found in Atlantic City. Like real Texas Hold 'em the player may bet his hole card, after the flop, and after the turn (but not after the river). As in one on one poker all bets pay one to one, except the ante requires a straight or flush (depending on the location) or higher to pay.

Texas Hold 'Em Bonus goes by the name of Easy Poker at the Casino Bregenz in Austria.

Las Vegas Rules

  1. The game is played with a single 52-card deck.
  2. The player makes an Ante wager, plus an optional Bonus bet.
  3. Two hole cards are dealt face down to the player and dealer. The player may look at his own cards.
  4. The player must either fold or make a Flop bet. The Flop bet must be two times the amount of the ante.
  5. Three community cards (the Flop) are dealt.
  6. The player may do nothing or make a Turn bet. The Turn bet must be exactly equal to the ante bet.
  7. A fourth community card is dealt (the Turn).
  8. The player may do nothing or make a River bet. The River bet must be exactly equal to the ante bet.
  9. A fifth community card is dealt (the River).
  10. The player and dealer each make the best five-card hand using any combination of the five community cards and his own two initial hole cards. The higher hand wins.
  11. If the dealer has the higher hand the player will lose all wagers, except possibly the Bonus bet.
  12. If the player has the higher hand the Flop, Turn, and River bets will pay even money. If the player has a straight or higher the Ante bet will also pay even money, otherwise it will push.
  13. If the player and dealer have hands of equal value the the Ante, Flop, Turn, and River bets will all push.
  14. The Bonus bet will pay based only the player's and dealer's initial cards, according to the pay table posted.

The Horseshoe casino in Hammond, Indiana, follows the Las Vegas rules. Despite what the rule booklet says, the Casino Bregenz in Austria follows the Atlantic City rules.

Atlantic City Rules

Casino Hold'em Bonus

There are only two rule differences under the Las Vegas rules. The player needs a flush or higher to win even money on the ante. The bonus bet does not have a line item for both player and dealer having a pair of aces.

House Edge

The following table shows all the possible outcomes assuming optimal player strategy and the Las Vegas rules. An explanation of each column follows the table. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.04%. The standard deviation is 3.51.

Texas Hold 'em Bonus Return Table — Las Vegas RulesExpand

Turn BetRiver BetOutcomeWinCombinationsProbabilityReturn
NoNoDealer wins-3161919379699880.291077-0.873232
NoNoTie012592751631760.0226380
NoNoPlayer wins with less than straight253034245372000.0953380.190676
NoNoPlayer wins with straight or higher310844712100360.0194950.058486
NoYesDealer wins-413961730007000.025099-0.100394
NoYesTie01677046055360.0030150
NoYesPlayer wins with less than straight322968670620000.041290.12387
NoYesPlayer wins with straight or higher46057301841640.0108890.043556
YesNoDealer wins-418966395093560.034095-0.136381
YesNoTie01355814452880.0024370
YesNoPlayer wins with less than straight312473818804800.0224240.067271
YesNoPlayer wins with straight or higher42521409294360.0045330.018131
YesYesDealer wins-556047088273160.100754-0.50377
YesYesTie05479434476800.009850
YesYesPlayer wins with less than straight4123726571544800.2224190.889677
YesYesPlayer wins with straight or higher527478962411640.0493980.24699
Player folds-125170868800000.045249-0.045249
Total556276200480001-0.020369

Explanation of table

  • Column 1:Yes if player makes turn bet, no otherwise
  • Column 2:Yes if player makes river bet, no otherwise
  • Column 3:Outcome
  • Column 4: Net win
  • Column 5:Total combinations
  • Column 6:Probability
  • Column 7:Contribution to return (win*probability)

The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.037%. However I think this makes the game look like a worse bet than it really is. What this means is that for every dollar bet on the ante the player can expect to lose 2.037 cents. However by the end of the hand the average wager will be 3.8181 times the ante. So the element of risk, or ratio of loss to total amount bet is a much lower 2.037%/3.8181=0.5335%. The standard deviation is 3.500839.

According to Scott McIntosh the house edge is 5.5935% under the Atlantic City rules. I trust this figure because we agree exactly on the Las Vegas rules.

Strategy

The following is when the player should fold the initial two-card hand, according to the rules.

  • Las Vegas: unsuited 2/3 to 2/7.
  • Atlantic City: unsuited 2/3 to 2/7, and unsuited 3/4.

I have not quantified the strategy past the first decision point. I can say that under the Las Vegas rules the player who made the Flop bet will make the Turn bet 43.13% of the time, and the River bet 48.46% of the time. If the player made the turn bet, then he will also make the river bet 85.76% of the time. If the player made the flop bet, but not the turn bet, he will make the river bet 15.78% of the time.

In Beyond Counting Exhibit CAA (pages 367-371), James Grosjean presents a rather complicated and still incomplete strategy after the flop.

The following table shows the expected value of all 169 possible initial hands under both the Las Vegas and Atlantic City rules.

Two-Card Expected Values

Initial HandLas Vegas RulesAtlantic City Rules
2,3 unsuited-1.155927-1.195592
2,4 unsuited-1.091604-1.13521
2,5 unsuited-1.019987-1.067022
2,6 unsuited-1.046723-1.077817
2,7 unsuited-1.031301-1.050057
2,8 unsuited-0.896002-0.917393
2,9 unsuited-0.763132-0.784523
2,T unsuited-0.613979-0.636507
2,J unsuited-0.459414-0.478676
2,Q unsuited-0.28969-0.305687
2,K unsuited-0.102668-0.1154
2,A unsuited0.1843730.160096
3,4 unsuited-0.950034-1.009069
3,5 unsuited-0.874456-0.937452
3,6 unsuited-0.899632-0.946711
3,7 unsuited-0.8854-0.919748
3,8 unsuited-0.850607-0.872617
3,9 unsuited-0.699497-0.724139
3,T unsuited-0.549947-0.575726
3,J unsuited-0.395206-0.417719
3,Q unsuited-0.225563-0.24481
3,K unsuited-0.038499-0.054482
3,A unsuited0.2544370.226376
4,5 unsuited-0.735126-0.813569
4,6 unsuited-0.756096-0.819136
4,7 unsuited-0.740561-0.790904
4,8 unsuited-0.7068-0.744413
4,9 unsuited-0.654394-0.679669
4,T unsuited-0.487036-0.516079
4,J unsuited-0.332233-0.358011
4,Q unsuited-0.162612-0.185124
4,K unsuited0.0247990.005551
4,A unsuited0.3216420.290174
5,6 unsuited-0.614318-0.692805
5,7 unsuited-0.595481-0.661787
5,8 unsuited-0.560487-0.614096
5,9 unsuited-0.508593-0.549471
5,T unsuited-0.437507-0.467184
5,J unsuited-0.265364-0.294408
5,Q unsuited-0.095642-0.12142
5,K unsuited0.0923670.069855
5,A unsuited0.3928930.358138
6,7 unsuited-0.457726-0.536213
6,8 unsuited-0.421014-0.48732
6,9 unsuited-0.36839-0.421999
6,T unsuited-0.297258-0.339273
6,J unsuited-0.217975-0.244386
6,Q unsuited-0.031216-0.056994
6,K unsuited0.1568190.134306
6,A unsuited0.3707190.351472
7,8 unsuited-0.284039-0.362526
7,9 unsuited-0.229986-0.296292
7,T unsuited-0.157768-0.212535
7,J unsuited-0.078216-0.116966
7,Q unsuited0.019887-0.003259
7,K unsuited0.2249110.202399
7,A unsuited0.4567980.434885
8,9 unsuited-0.092377-0.170864
8,T unsuited-0.016383-0.08401
8,J unsuited0.0627090.011207
8,Q unsuited0.161440.125955
8,K unsuited0.2828090.262927
8,A unsuited0.5337160.511803
9,T unsuited0.1270270.046521
9,J unsuited0.204340.139978
9,Q unsuited0.3044650.256228
9,K unsuited0.4281870.395968
9,A unsuited0.6024070.583126
T,J unsuited0.3702790.288219
T,Q unsuited0.4716940.405776
T,K unsuited0.6002280.550453
T,A unsuited0.781940.745643
J,Q unsuited0.5355550.472903
J,K unsuited0.6657610.619251
J,A unsuited0.8524930.819462
Q,K unsuited0.7354440.6922
Q,A unsuited0.9253110.895545
K,A unsuited0.9993170.972816
2,3 suited-0.886985-0.923987
2,4 suited-0.826008-0.866658
2,5 suited-0.75798-0.801803
2,6 suited-0.782881-0.811796
2,7 suited-0.768076-0.785429
2,8 suited-0.639021-0.658814
2,9 suited-0.51015-0.529944
2,T suited-0.364595-0.385438
2,J suited-0.212709-0.23053
2,Q suited-0.044946-0.059747
2,K suited0.1411420.129363
2,A suited0.4250220.402419
3,4 suited-0.693044-0.74813
3,5 suited-0.62123-0.679983
3,6 suited-0.644776-0.688639
3,7 suited-0.631082-0.663007
3,8 suited-0.597478-0.617842
3,9 suited-0.450882-0.473684
3,T suited-0.304918-0.328768
3,J suited-0.152868-0.173698
3,Q suited0.014889-0.002919
3,K suited0.2013760.186589
3,A suited0.4906180.464512
4,5 suited-0.490199-0.563403
4,6 suited-0.509707-0.5685
4,7 suited-0.494853-0.541737
4,8 suited-0.461634-0.496581
4,9 suited-0.40913-0.432516
4,T suited-0.246108-0.272979
4,J suited-0.094025-0.117875
4,Q suited0.0738490.053019
4,K suited0.2609290.243121
4,A suited0.5535540.524295
5,6 suited-0.376191-0.449435
5,7 suited-0.357989-0.419804
5,8 suited-0.323018-0.372923
5,9 suited-0.270833-0.308801
5,T suited-0.199974-0.227429
5,J suited-0.031373-0.058245
5,Q suited0.1367450.112895
5,K suited0.3247930.303963
5,A suited0.6207670.588467
6,7 suited-0.227072-0.300316
6,8 suited-0.190276-0.252091
6,9 suited-0.137464-0.187369
6,T suited-0.066542-0.105559
6,J suited0.013273-0.011162
6,Q suited0.1976280.173777
6,K suited0.3858580.365029
6,A suited0.599820.582012
7,8 suited-0.05986-0.133104
7,9 suited-0.005551-0.067365
7,T suited0.0662870.015313
7,J suited0.1462670.110272
7,Q suited0.2460240.22461
7,K suited0.4511060.430277
7,A suited0.6829110.662637
8,9 suited0.1256480.052404
8,T suited0.2009550.13792
8,J suited0.2807950.232842
8,Q suited0.3813330.348359
8,K suited0.506560.488168
8,A suited0.7572190.736945
9,T suited0.337570.262459
9,J suited0.4162670.356253
9,Q suited0.5184070.473476
9,K suited0.6461450.616192
9,A suited0.8222760.80444
T,J suited0.5745330.497955
T,Q suited0.6770170.615537
T,K suited0.8085210.762138
T,A suited0.9902890.956538
J,Q suited0.7376660.679207
J,K suited0.8704920.82713
J,A suited1.0562111.02548
Q,K suited0.9365060.896165
Q,A suited1.1244321.096723
K,A suited1.1940241.169336
2,2 pair-0.134137-0.140431
3,3 pair0.0785840.068777
4,4 pair0.3222890.308953
5,5 pair0.5894570.572593
6,6 pair0.8374650.820601
7,7 pair1.0936691.076805
8,8 pair1.3530481.336184
9,9 pair1.6121141.59525
T,T pair1.878991.860933
J,J pair2.0974152.082887
Q,Q pair2.3158382.304838
K,K pair2.5356912.528219
A,A pair2.7888992.78206

Bonus Bet

The bonus bet pays based only on the players hole cards, and in some cases the dealer's two hole cards. Who wins the hand does not matter. There seem to be two pay tables available for the bonus bet as follows. From what I hear the Atlantic City pay table is also used in Missouri and Indiana.

Bonus Bet — Las Vegas Rules

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Player has AA, dealer has AA100060.0000040.003694
Player has AA3073440.0045210.135636
Player has AK suited2549000.0030170.075415
Player has AQ or AJ suited2098000.0060330.120664
Player has AK unsuited15147000.009050.135747
Player has KK, QQ, or JJ10220500.0135750.135747
Player has AQ or AJ unsuited5294000.01810.090498
Player has Pair 22 to 10,103661500.0407240.122172
All other-114700000.904977-0.904977
Total16243501-0.085406

Bonus Bet — Atlantic City Rules

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
AA3073500.0045250.135747
AK suited2549000.0030170.075415
AQ or AJ suited2098000.0060330.120664
AK unsuited15147000.009050.135747
KK, QQ, or JJ10220500.0135750.135747
AQ or AJ unsuited5294000.01810.090498
Pair 22 to 10,103661500.0407240.122172
All other-114700000.904977-0.904977
Total16243501-0.088989

The lower right cells show a house edge on the bonus bet of 8.5406% under the Las Vegas rules and 8.8989% under the Atlantic City rules.

6-Card Bonus

Some casinos add on a side bet known as the 6-Card Bonus. This side bet is found on multiple poker-derivative games, so I created a special page for it. For more information, please see my page on the 6-Card Bonus.

C5

At the Casino Bregenz in Austria, where the game goes by the title Easy Poker, they add a side bet called the C5, which is based on the poker-value of the player's seven-card hand. The following return table shows a house edge of 8.95%.

C5

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Royal flush1004,3240.0000320.003232
Straight flush6037,2600.0002790.016710
Four of a kind40224,8480.0016810.067227
Full house83,473,1840.0259610.207688
Flush64,047,6440.0302550.181530
Straight46,180,0200.0461940.184775
Three of a kind26,461,6200.0482990.096597
All other-1113,355,6600.847300-0.847300
Total133,784,5601.000000-0.089540

Internet casinos using software by OneTouch feature a side bet called simply the 'side bet,' that also pays on the poker-value of the player's hand. It follows a 2-4-6-10-20-50-250 pay table, for a house edge of 6.92%.

Casino Hold'em Bonus Games

Methodology

A brute force approach was used to cycle through all possible cominations of cards. In total 7,089,794,712,000 hands were played out, requiring 72 days of computer time to loop through them all.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Scott McIntosh of Online Poker Room Reviews for his contributions to this page. He confirmed my Las Vegas results and provided the Atlantic City house edge and expected values. His program runs in six hours compared to the 72 days mine takes, so I was happy to use his numbers. For reviews and advice on playing poker online I encourage you to visit his web site.

Links

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

Casino Hold’em Online – Play Online For Free Or Real Money

Analysis at ReviewPokerRooms.com.

See Full List On Wizardofodds.com


Casino Hold'em Bonus Code

Written by:Michael Shackleford