Casino Hold'em Rules

Casino Hold'em is a house-banked game. Each player plays against the dealer only. The object is to finish with a better five-card hand than the dealer.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Hands are ranked according to the standard poker hand rankings.

Hands are formed as in Texas Hold'em: the best five cards from the player's two hole cards and five community cards. Players do not bet against each other, and there are no blinds or betting rounds between players.

The game was devised by Stephen Au-Yeung in the late 1990s and launched as a casino game in 2000.

Before the deal, each player places an ante. A player may also place the optional AA Bonus side bet (Article 6).

The dealer deals two cards face down to each player and two cards face down to the dealer.

The dealer then deals three community cards face up: the flop.

After looking at their hole cards and the flop, each player shall either:

3.1(a) Fold: give up the hand and lose the ante; or

3.1(b) Call: place a call bet equal to twice the ante.

When all players have acted, the dealer deals the turn and the river, completing the five-card board.

The dealer then turns over the dealer's two hole cards. Each remaining player's best five-card hand is compared with the dealer's best five-card hand.

The dealer qualifies with a pair of fours or better.

If the dealer does not qualify, the ante is paid according to the ante pay table (Article 5) and the call bet is returned as a push.

If the dealer qualifies and the player's hand is better, the ante is paid according to the ante pay table and the call bet pays 1 to 1.

If the dealer qualifies and the hands tie, the ante and the call bet both push.

If the dealer qualifies and the dealer's hand is better, the player loses the ante and the call bet.

The call bet is never paid from the pay table. It pays 1 to 1 when the player beats a qualifying dealer, and pushes otherwise unless the dealer wins.

The AA Bonus is an optional bet placed before the deal. It is settled on the player's two hole cards and the three flop cards only, a five-card hand, whatever happens later in the hand and whatever the dealer holds.

The bet wins if those five cards make a pair of aces or better. The standard pay table is below; some casinos use a shorter table that pays 7 to 1 for a pair of aces up to a straight and 25 to 1 for a flush or better.