Discount Gambling

Click to practice Casino Hold’Em basic strategy

Although the game Casino Hold’Em has been around for years, mostly online as far as I know, in recent years it’s become a more popular game than either Ultimate Texas Hold’Em or Texas Hold’Em Bonus in live-dealt games from Evolution.com. There’s usually 100+ players on a table, while Ultimate only gets a small fraction of that. This makes sense because: 1) it’s a faster game, 2) it’s got more of a “poker feel” that rewards good hands and decisions.

Up to now, no one’s taken the time to work out and publish a basic strategy for the game. This is because no easy strategy falls out of the analysis, especially the type with a few simple rules that table game players prefer. I wanted to develop a reasonable strategy, easy to remember, and that makes sense in poker terms. Here’s what I came up with. It returns within 0.29% of the ideal 2.16% house edge:

2x any pair or better, else
2x any flush draw, else
2x any open-ended / double-gut draw, else
2x suited 9-or-better w/ runner-runner flush draw, else
2x nut kicker, else
2x any tripped flop, else
2x any flop with two non-qualifiers (22X, 23X, 33X), else
On a paired flop, 2x any gutshot, or 4th nut kicker or better, else fold
Fold to suited flop, else
2x any gutshot with two qualifiers, else
Fold to a no-gap flop (e.g., 9-8-7), else
2x any two hole cards greater than mid flop card, else
2x 2nd nut kicker, else
2x 3rd nut kicker vs flop with 2/3, else
2x 3rd nut kicker with overcard*, else
2x 3rd nut kicker with runner-runner flush draw, else
2x 3rd nut kicker with two qualifiers vs no-reach rainbow* flop, else
2x 4th nut kicker vs no-reach rainbow* flop with 2/3, else
2x 4th nut kicker with overcard* vs no-reach rainbow* flop, else
2x 5th nut kicker with runner-runner flush draw vs no-reach flop with 2/3, else
Fold all others

Where:

*overcard = (low hole card > low flop card)
two qualifiers = both hole cards 4 or higher
no-reach = no possible dealer straight on flop
rainbow = flop all different suits OR you have the runner-runner flush draw

Click on the above image to practice the Casino Hold’Em basic strategy with randomly dealt starting hands. Click whether you think the right decision is either 2x or Fold. The program will correct you based on the actual EV[2x], which must be greater than EV[Fold] = -1 to play. The program will also tell you what the Basic Strategy decision is, based on the starting cards.

In practice, many will learn to play almost perfectly learning from the numbers and the hands. You’ll reference the strategy table initially, then decisions become automatic. The important thing is actually see the value of the hands, in order to learn correctly.

After finishing the basic strategy for Texas Hold’Em Bonus, I figured it’d be a lot easier to play Casino Hold’Em, since there’s only one decision point (2x raise or fold) in the game. Also, I can play online for $1 Antes instead of waiting for the next Vegas trip to find a Bonus game. So I worked out the basic strategy for Casino Hold’Em as it didn’t exist yet. Fortunately, the set of betting rules isn’t too elaborate. It’s very easy to remember once you play the game a few times.

When you look at the strategy table, you’ll see that Casino Hold’Em plays very loose, betting hands like 6th nut kicker, overcards, gutshots, and runner-runner flush draws. This makes sense because the dealer needs a pair of 4’s or better to qualify, and the Ante pays odds for a flush or better. I really doubt anyone plays the game correctly, since you have to bet some crazy hands. (E.g., you 2x bet 5h4d against a 3d3hTd flop because it’s a runner-runner flush draw against a paired, but unqualified board.) Well, I guess I’d rather play more hands than fold them, since the overall house edge is still only about 2.5%. This is the only kind of game I play anymore: Hold’Em based table games with a house edge in the low 2% range. I guess I like seeing poker hands, and making post-flop decisions.

I’ll try the game out, and tell you how it goes. Most importantly, I want to be able to transfer money around easily (i.e., cash out wins via bank EFT). And I want to be able to quit while I’m ahead. This is the game I’ll probably play: