The Poker Variations That Casino Players Love

When people talk about poker, they usually refer to one of the games we see being played at the World Series of Poker: Omaha, razz, stud, and, of course, Texas hold’em.

Those games are played against other gamblers, the house gets paid by taking a rake from each pot (or an entry fee, if it is a tournament format), and everybody is on a level playing field.

Play poker online at William Hill

But there are gamblers who like to engage in online poker without squaring off against their fellow casino habitues. They can’t resist playing in the pit and taking on the house. For them, poker is a whole other game. It’s one in which you benefit from pay tables and beat the dealer. Making bonus bets, they hope to hit high-paying premium hands that are longshots, and all the players at the table root for each other instead of going up against each other.

Here, then, are the three casino-run poker variations that gamblers can’t get enough of.

THREE CARD POKER

Three Card Poker was invented by Derek Webb in 1994. It first appeared at the Grand Casino in Gulfport, Mississippi, and has since become an international sensation.

Gamblers love the simplicity, the speed of play, and the chunky payouts on Pair Plus wagers. The game begins with the player putting up an ante bet and being dealt three cards. The dealer gets three cards as well. If the player thinks his hand is a winner, he makes a second bet equal to the ante. If he thinks he has a loser, he folds and gives up the ante bet.

When the player plays, it comes down to who has the best hand. But there is a catch: the dealer must have Queen high or better. If not, the ante wager wins 1 – 1 and the play wager is returned. If the dealer qualifies, then the player can either win and be paid even money on each bet or lose and forfeit the bets.

The house edge on the ante/play bets is 3.37 percent. The Pair Plus bet usually has a house edge of some 7 percent.   It’s not great in terms of odds, but it pays bonuses that most people find impossible to turn away from. The basic strategy for Three Card Poker is to bet with Queen/6/4 or higher and to fold everything else.

ULTIMATE TEXAS HOLDEM

Ultimate Texas Holdem was invented by Roger Snow back when he was a vice president at Shuffle Master, the company that devised the first automatic shuffling machine. Snow’s game came to the casinos in the early 2000s and is a major hit today.

How to play poker in this format? This is a great game for people who want to play Texas hold’em without playing Texas hold’em.

The Ultimate version has each player putting up ante and blind wagers of equal sums. Then, like in the real holde’em, he sees a flop and can bet or check. Unlike in the original iteration, the turn and river come together. At that point, you must bet if you want to be in the running to win (doing so would entail beating the dealer’s hand).

Win the hand and the game gets interesting: the play and ante bets win even money, but the blind bet is paid out based on a pay table. Four of a kind, for example, earns 3  – 1 while a straight-flush lands 10 – 1.

The house edge in this game is 2.2 percent or so. The Trips bet is a side wager in which players bet that they have three of a kind or better. Hit a royal flush and you get paid at 50 – 1 or higher (which sounds good until you realize that the actual odds of making the hand is 1 in 30,940).

To play optimal basic strategy for this game, my advice is to get an Ultimate Texas Holdem strategy card and always do what it advises.

PAI GOW POKER

Pai Gow Poker was invented in the mid 1980s by Sam Torosian who owned the Bell Card Club in California. He devised his offering after hearing about a Filipino game called Pusoy. Torosian simplified it and Pai Gow was born.

The player and dealer each receive seven cards. From there, two poker hands are laid out – a five-card hand and a two-card hand. Jokers are in the deck and can be used as any card. The goal is to beat the dealer on both hands for an even money payout. Win one and lose one and the whole thing is a push. Lose both and the dealer takes the bet. The house edge is around 2.8 percent. It derives from the house winning ties and, additionally, there is usually a 5 percent commission on hands won by the players.

Playing tip: If you are dealt a full house, put three of a kind as your top hand and the pair as your bottom hand, rather than keeping the full house all together up top.

A bonus wager known as the Fortune bet offers big payouts for strong hands. Hit a 7 card straight flush without a joker and it pays a whopping  8,000 – 1. Putting a damper on the big haul is that the real odds of making such a hand is 1 in 41 million. The Frutune bet outcome is based on all seven cards, irrespective of the two hands that they get broken up to make.

Despite the reduced payout, the Fortune bet seems too alluring for most gamblers to avoid, and the casinos would have it no other way.