Play Casino Hold’em

If you enjoy the thrill of Texas Hold’em poker, the chances are you’ll like the popular casino spin-off, Casino Hold’em. Casino Hold’em was conceived around the turn of the new millennium, with brick-and-mortar casinos keen to capitalise on the poker ‘boom’ by running their own dealer-based games. 

Casino Hold’em has also translated seamlessly to online casino gaming, providing a refreshing alternative requiring you to focus on only two hands – your hand and the dealer’s. 

Within this beginner’s guide to Casino Hold’em, we’ll explore the nuts and bolts that make this one of the most popular casino poker variants.  

This includes the hand rankings to remember, the types of bets you can place, your expected returns for specific hands, the house edge and even tips to hone your basic Casino Hold’em strategy. 

What is Casino Hold’em? 

Casino Hold’em is a casino table game designed to adopt many of the principles of Texas Hold’em poker with one key differentiator. Instead of playing your poker hand against the other players at your table, you just need to beat the dealer’s hand instead. 

This high-octane poker variant is relatively new to casino floors and online casinos compared to classic table games like blackjack, roulette and craps, which have been enjoyed for generations. However, Casino Hold’em has rapidly established itself as a fun and frenetic way to enjoy poker without the psychological battles of having to play your opponents and their hands. 

Casino Hold’em is a poker game you can enjoy alone or with other active players at a live casino table. We’ll discuss the differences between RNG-based Casino Hold’em and live dealer Casino Hold’em later in this guide. 

What is the Appeal of Casino Hold’em? 

It’s helpful to help you learn the ropes of Texas Hold’em poker 

If you’re new to Texas Hold’em poker but don’t feel ready to lock horns with experienced poker players, Casino Hold’em is the ideal opportunity to get to grips with poker’s hand rankings. As in Texas Hold’em poker, you get two hole cards in a Casino Hold’em game, with the ability to use any of the five community cards to make the best possible hand. 
 

Suits casual gamers who only need to beat the house 

You don’t need to think about your opponents’ hands. In Casino Hold’em, all you need to focus on is the value of your hand against the dealer’s hand. It’s a heads-up table game, just like Blackjack or Baccarat. 
 

There’s no need to bluff 

The game dynamics of Casino Hold’em are such that you don’t need to bluff. The dealer plays their hand until the end, regardless of what your hand is. You can concentrate on playing your A-game instead. 
 

You don’t need to find a poker room or people to play with 

Parimatch has multiple Casino Hold’em tables available for you to play at home or on the go. Log in to your Parimatch account, head to our online casino, and enjoy virtual or live dealer Casino Hold’em on any device. 

Like Texas Hold’em poker, Casino Hold 'em is played with a 52-card deck. That’s unlike some card-based table games like Blackjack, which can be played using as many as eight decks of cards. 

The number-one goal in Casino Hold’em is to make a five-card hand that beats the dealer’s best five-card hand. The best five-card hand can use any combination of your two hole cards and the five community cards on the table before you. 

Hand rankings 

How do you determine whether your five-card hand beats the dealer’s five-card hand? You’ll be pleased to know Casino Hold’em uses the same hand rankings used in Texas Hold’em poker. 

If you’re unfamiliar with Texas Hold’em poker and discovering Casino Hold’em for the first time, don’t worry. Below, we’ll explain the standard poker hand rankings from most to least valuable hands: 

Royal Flush 
This is the best poker hand you can make. It’s the highest possible straight you can make – Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 – all in the same suit. It doesn’t matter which suit it is, either. 
 

Straight Flush 
A Straight Flush is only narrowly beaten by a Royal Flush. This hand is a run of five numbers in numerical order, all in the same suit. For example, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, all in hearts, spades, clubs or diamonds. 
 

Four-of-a-Kind 
As the name suggests, Four-of-a-Kind requires you to have four cards of the same value or rank. This could be four Aces, nines or even twos. 
 

Full House 
A Full House is a fun poker hand to build. You’ll need three cards of matching values, followed by another two cards of matching values, e.g. three Aces and two Kings (one Pair and one Three-of-a-Kind). 
 

Flush 
A Flush requires you to build a hand of five cards in the same suit. They don’t need to be in numerical sequence, though. 
 

Straight 
A Straight is essentially a five-card run of five numbers in numerical order. They don’t need to be in the same suit, though. 
 

Three-of-a-Kind 
Similar to Four-of-a-Kind, this hand requires you to have three cards of the same value or rank. For example, three Aces, Kings or Queens. 
 

Two Pair 
A Two Pair requires two pairs of cards of the same value or rank—for example, a pair of Aces and a pair of Jacks. 
 

Pair 
A Pair is arguably the easiest poker hand to remember. You just need two cards of the same value or rank. For example, a pair of eights. They don’t need to be in the same suit. 
 

High Card 
High Card is the lowest-value poker hand. It doesn’t require any matching cards; it’s just the highest-ranking card in your five-card hand. The best possible High Card hand is an Ace. 

You can place multiple bets in a round of betting in Casino Hold’em. Below, we’ll explain each one in turn so you know what to expect: 

Ante bet 

The ante bet is the first mandatory bet you must place to get started. Drag and drop your betting chip onto the ante betting circle, and the dealer can begin to deal the game. 

With most Casino Hold’em tables, you’ll have a minimum ante bet that must be placed and a maximum bet, too. You can set your stake anywhere in between the two if you’d rather. 

Play bet 

The second major betting circle in Casino Hold’em is the play bet. The play bet is placed when you want to proceed with your hand once the first three community cards are shown. 

The play bet is twice the size of your ante bet. 

The issue with the play bet is that it’s also loosely linked to the strength of the dealer’s hand. The dealer’s hand must be a pair of fours or better for your play bet to be eligible. If you can still beat the dealer’s hand, the play bet will pay out at even-money odds (1:1). 

If the dealer’s hand is worse than a pair of fours, their hand is ineligible, and your play bet is deemed a ‘push’. Your play bet stake is refunded to you in full. 

Bonus (AA+ or Pair Plus) bet 

The third betting circle in Casino Hold’em relates to the bonus bet, either known as the AA+ or Pair Plus bet. This bet must be placed alongside your ante bet at the start of the round. 

The outcome of the bonus side bet is determined after the flop is dealt, i.e. the first three community cards are shown to the table. 

Using your two hole cards and the three community cards, you must be able to make a hand of a pair of Aces or better. Payouts for the bonus side bet typically start from 7:1 to 100:1 for the best possible hand, a Royal Flush. 

Progressive Jackpot bet 

Some Casino Hold’em tables may also offer a progressive jackpot side bet. This bet is based on using your two hole cards and the five community cards shown at the end of the round. The progressive jackpot pays out in full if you manage to make a Royal Flush, and you’ll get 10% of the progressive jackpot if you can make a Straight Flush instead. 

The progressive jackpot side bet will typically pay out for a Flush, Full House and Four-of-a-Kind, too. 

The ante bet in Casino Hold’em usually pays out at even-money odds (1:1) for winning hands like Two Pair, Three-of-a-Kind or a Straight. 

Things get a little more interesting if you land a Flush, Full House or Four-of-a-Kind, as you’ll get paid at odds of 2:1, 3:1 and 10:1, respectively. 

Ante bets usually pay out at odds of 20:1 to 25:1 for a Straight Flush or Royal Flush. 

An example of a round of Casino Hold’em 

The round starts with all active players placing a betting chip in the ante betting circle. 

The dealer then deals two hole cards to each player and two cards to themselves. The dealer’s hole cards will be face down, but yours will be dealt face up. 

The dealer also deals the ‘flop’, i.e. the first three community cards on the table. 

At this stage, the onus is on you to decide whether to carry on with your hand or not. If you can make a strong five-card hand using your hole cards and the flop, you’ll probably want to place a play bet. If you don’t like the look of your hand, you can fold at this stage and surrender your ante bet. 

After all players have folded or placed their play bets, the dealer reveals the two remaining community cards. 

The dealer then turns their hole cards face up. They will reveal their best possible five-card poker hand to the table. 

The dealer must have a pair of fours or better for play bets to be eligible. If not, all play bet stakes are returned. 

The dealer then checks each player’s hand against their own, paying out to those with stronger hands and taking the antes and play bets of those with weaker hands. 

It is said that the total house edge of Casino Hold’em is upwards of 2.50%, making a return-to-player (RTP) percentage of 97.50% over the long term. 

However, there is an optimal strategy you can deploy at the Casino Hold’em tables, which can cut the house edge by more than half to as low as 0.82%. 

The optimal strategy for Casino Hold’em games requires you to make ante and play bets around 82% of the time. You’ll only need to fold your ante bet 18% of the time. 

Hands you must never fold post-flop 

All paired hands 

All Ace-high and King-high hands 

All Flush draws and open-ended Straight draws 

Hands you’ll rarely fold post-flop 

Gut-shot Straight draws (when you need a card in the middle of a numerical sequence to complete a Straight) 

Most Queen-high hands 

Hands you’ll likely fold post-flop 

Many Jack-high hands – especially when the community cards are all of different suits 

Steer clear of the AA+ or Pair Plus bonus bet 

Although the payouts on the bonus bet can appear tempting, the likelihood of it happening is far less than winning your ante and play bets. 

In fact, just by playing the AA+ or Pair Plus bonus, you increase the game’s house edge from 2.16% to a maximum of 6.40%. 

At Parimatch, you’ll have two choices to play Casino Hold’em – virtual Casino Hold’em and live Casino Hold’em. 

Our virtual games are powered by independently verified random number generators (RNGs), giving you instant table game experiences on any device. You won’t have to wait for another human player at your table as you’re in control of the software – it’s just you Vs the dealer. 

If you’d prefer an authentic casino floor experience, our live dealer Casino Hold’em tables always exist. These games are live streamed in high-definition (HD) quality broadcasts from state-of-the-art live casino studios. You can interact with the dealers and other players in real-time and watch the action unfold as the dealer responds to each player’s actions. 

There are several other casino poker games you can find at Parimatch Casino. If you’re keen to know more about the poker-style table games within our library, here’s a guide to three of the most popular alternatives to Casino Hold’em: 

Ultimate Texas Hold’em 

Ultimate Texas Hold’em is a very similar version of Casino Hold’em. Like Casino Hold’em, you must make a play bet during the hand or fold and surrender your bets. 

The onus is still on you to create a better five-card poker hand than the dealer’s. Ultimate Texas Hold’em can play with live dealers at Parimatch Casino. 

2 Hand Casino Hold’em 

2 Hand Casino Hold’em was conceived as a variant of the original Casino Hold’em game. You’ll get two chances to beat the dealer’s hand instead of one in this format. 

The betting round works in the same way. Place ante bets on each hand and any optional side bets. You’ll then decide to fold or place a play bet on either hand to try and beat the dealer. 

Teen Patti 

Teen Patti is the most popular Indian variant of poker played on casino tables. Mimicking the game dynamics of Three-Card Poker, Teen Patti pits you heads-up against the dealer, with the option of placing up to two additional side bets. 

In Teen Patti, the ante bet can pay out more than even-money whenever your three-card poker hand is a Three-of-a-Kind or Straight Flush. 

Play Casino Hold’em on any Device at Parimatch Casino 

At Parimatch, you can find RNG-based and live dealer Casino Hold’em tables available 24/7 on desktop or mobile devices.  

Our fully licensed virtual Casino Hold’em tables have been independently verified for safe and fair gaming. Meanwhile, our live dealer Casino Hold’em games are powered by state-of-the-art live casino studios, Evolution and Ezugi. 

Playing casino poker games with Parimatch for the first time? It’s quick and easy to create a new account. We’ll verify your identity as quickly as we can so you can fund your account and start playing – our Casino Hold’em tables will be ready when you are. 

Before you begin, take some time to sift through our Safer Gambling Portal. This contains a wealth of tools and features at your fingertips to help you stay in control of your casino betting.