• Ultimate Texas Hold Em Strategy
• Ultimate Texas Holdem Strategy Guide
• How To Win At Ultimate Texas Holdem
• Ultimate Texas Holdem Strategy Printable

Just a few months ago, I wrote about how I thought Ultimate Texas Hold’em has the perfect betting structure. This past Saturday night, I had an opportunity to see this in action.

A lot of Texas Hold 'Em strategy is based on the cards in your hand. You must be willing to suffer through a series of poor hands (e.g. 5-8, 2-6, 4-9) without getting impatient. The good hands will come, eventually, and you'll be in a better position to take advantage of them if you don't waste your chips trying to get something out of nothing. Simple Casino Ultimate Texas Hold'em Game. Try your casino strategy without risk. This game does nothing else than simulating the 'ultimate texas hold'em' poker game in a casino. The idea behind this game is orignated during a visit in a casino.

My wife and I attended the new variety show at Wynn called Showstoppers. I definitely recommend it, but would suggest looking for discount tickets!

1. The simplest and most effective Ultimate Texas Holdem strategy to remember is pre-flop, and that is: Bet the max (4x your ante and not 3x) when you are dealt premium hole cards What hands qualify as premium hole cards?
2. This Ultimate Texas Hold ’em card contains the optimal strategy for the game, along with the casino edge for different paytables and instructions on how to play each. Buy this card individually, or save money by purchasing the entire Table Game Strategy Cards set of five, containing eight of the most popular carney games, at a bundled discount.

After the show, we stopped to watch an Ultimate Texas Hold’em table game in action. It was a $15 table, which is not for the faint of heart. You have to be ready to wager $75-$100 per hand, including the Ante, Blind, Trips and Play wagers.

In one hand, I saw everything that makes this game the blockbuster it is. First there was a player who had a marginal 4x hand. He had a King-8 offsuit. The player will win this hand about 54% of the time and lose about 42.5%.

The player clearly did not have a strong grasp of the game or the rules. After seeing his first two cards, he attempted to make a play wager that was only 1x his Ante. I don’t know how you sit down with hundreds of dollars at risk and have little idea of the strategy and knowledge of the basics of the game!

The dealer told the player he could not bet 1x at this point. He asked the player to show him the cards. Upon seeing the K-8, the dealer said this hand was worth the wager, but only 3x and not 4x!

At this point, I was ready to smack my head against the table (or maybe the dealer’s). There is no hand in UTH that would make you want to bet 3x instead of 4x. Being able to bet 4x is an advantage to the player. By betting only 3x, you’re giving some of this back to the house.

While there are some hands betting 3x is better than waiting for the flop, there are none you are better off betting 3x over 4x. The right play was to bet 4x and this player cost himself some potential payback.

Lesson No. 1:Don’t listen to the Dealers.

I’m sure many are knowledgeable at some basic games like Blackjack or games that have simple strategy like Three Card Poker. But why would you think the dealer knows the strategy for UTH?

I developed the only known strategy for the game. I haven’t had a chance to yet complete my booklet, so the likelihood the dealer really knows the right strategy is very slim.

Lesson No. 2:Know the rules of the game you are playing.

I didn’t notice if the table had instruction cards for the game, but here in Las Vegas, the tables frequently do. Read them before you play.

The story doesn’t end there. From what I’ve told you so far, it would explain why the game holds so much for the casino, but it doesn’t necessarily explain why the game is so popular despite holding so well for the casino. We have to move to our second player for that. He had an even stronger hand. A-10 offsuit.

Again, not a massive hand, but this one will win 59% of the time vs. losing 38%. I watched as he chose not to make a 4x wager at all. I guess only a pair of bullets will do. The flop came – J-5-3. No real help.

He decided to make a 2x wager shaking his head, as if he wasn’t too happy about doing it. He had the top card. There was little chance of a Straight or Flush on the board. The hand still wasn’t great, but not bad.

Along comes the turn and the river. The 5 paired up and an 8. He shook his head further. I didn’t understand why. Sure, he didn’t pull an Ace or a 10, but still had the top kicker. The dealer had now automatically qualified because the board had a pair. Realistically, there were 11 outs for the dealer, who would need a J, 8, 5 or 3 to beat the player.

On a very rough calculation we can go with 11 outs times 2 Dealer Cards, which gives us 22 out of 45 remaining. The player was in a 50/50 position at this point, if we allow for pocket pairs. Again, not exactly where you want to be, but you could be doing a lot worse.

I don’t remember the exact cards the dealer had, but I do know he didn’t have a J, 8, 5 or 3 or a pocket pair. The player won $15 for the Ante and $30 on the Play. The Blind pushed. He won $45. He was as happy as can be!

At that very moment, my thoughts on UTH’s betting structure were completely confirmed. The player made a wrong decision and cost himself money. He should have had $75, but won only $45. He was happy as a clam.

A few months ago, I likened this to a player playing blackjack who doesn’t double down when he should and is still happy he wins the hand for $10 instead of $20. The only difference is in blackjack an opportunity to double down occurs about 5-10% of the time.

In UTH, the opportunity to bet 4x occurs around 50% of the time.

This means if you chicken out of all but the top hands, you’ll be doing the wrong thing 25-40% of the time. This is going to cost you big bucks over time.

The ultimate irony is that you’ll probably be as happy as can be while doing it!

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Elliot Frome is a second generation gaming analyst and author. His math credits include Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Mississippi Stud, House Money and many other games. His website is www.gambatria.com. Contact Elliot at [email protected].

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Table Of Contents

Ultimate Texas Hold’em is one of the most popular live and online casino games for poker players.

One big reason is that if you know what you are doing, the game will feature one of the lowest house edges of any casino game.

Half the battle is just knowing the basic rules of Texas Hold’em, particularly the hand rankings which are common in most poker games.

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About Ultimate Texas Hold’em

Ultimate Texas Hold’em was developed by Roger Stone of Shuffle Master and similar formats are also known under other names including Heads Up Hold’em distributed by Galaxy Gaming.

If you have learned the basic rules of Texas Hold’em, you will quickly pick up on how to play Ultimate Texas Hold’em with the hand rankings and each player holding two hole cards being the same in both games.

As this is a casino, the house will have an edge. Players should experience plenty of winning sessions, but unlike regular Texas Hold’em, players are competing against the house and not a player.

What you might not know about Ultimate Texas Hold’em is that if it is played correctly it has one of the lowest house edges among any casino game at around 2%.

Reasons to play Unlimited Texas Hold’em

• Low house edge of around 2% when following basic strategy
• Fun to play alone or with friends
• Similar to Texas Hold’em
• Can play for just a few minutes
• Potential to win big

Read on to learn more about the rules of Ultimate Texas Hold’em and how to optimize your play to reduce the house edge to almost nothing.

How to Play Ultimate Texas Hold’em

Usually, you can play Ultimate Texas Hold’em at a casino with up to six players and a dealer (also known as the house).

The game utilizes a standard 52 card deck. Although online, you will find many heads-up games where you will compete one-on-one against the house.

Each player must post an ante and a blind before each hand begins. You will see posted minimums and maximums. Keep in mind that your bet must be the same for both of these and that it will also serve as a base for other bets as the hand progresses.

Therefore, we recommend when first getting your feet wet to bet as small as possible to further the power of your bankroll. You can always adjust with higher bets once you feel comfortable that you have optimized your game.

There are also optional side bets which can vary from casino to casino including the Trips bet you can place before the hand is dealt which we will get into later.

Two cards are dealt to each player and the dealer after the initial Ante and Blind bets are placed.

Remember, hand rankings are the exact same as Texas Hold’em.

Check out our detailed description of how to play Texas Hold’em to brush up on Hold’em hand rankings.

You can decide to bet three times or four times the Ante and place the bet into the Play box or check before the flop comes.

A flop is then dealt and you will have an option whether to bet two times the Ante bet or check once again.

The turn and river are dealt one after the other and you will have one last option on whether to place a bet equal to the Ante in the Play box or to fold the hand.

Ultimate Texas Hold Em Strategy

There is a bit of basic strategy that you should either memorize or have a chart with you while playing to best optimize when to bet in the Play box, when to check, and when to fold.

Players that folded after the river was dealt will automatically lose their Ante and Blind bet.

Those remaining in the hand will turn over their cards as will the dealer. If you have a better Texas Hold’em hand than the dealer you win the Play bet for the same amount as bet.

The Blind bet can also only be won if you have won the hand. Assuming this is the case, it is paid out on a sliding scale and can be worth as much as 50 to 1 for a straight flush. However, if you don’t have a straight or better, you will simply just get your bet back as a push.

Here is a look at the potential different payouts of the Blind bet which can vary slightly from casino to casino.

The Ante bet is a bit trickier. If the dealer doesn’t qualify with at least a pair, you will get your Ante refunded as a push. This is the case whether you had a better hand or not, as long as you didn’t fold your hand.

If the dealer qualified with a pair or better, you will need to beat the dealer in order to win this even money bet.

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Best Ultimate Texas Hold’em Strategy

You should quickly get the hang of the rules of Ultimate Texas Hold’em by reading the rules above and potentially watching a few hands being played.

However, we don’t recommend that you hop right into Ultimate Texas Hold’em until you learn some basic strategy as it could turn out to be a nightmare to play based on gut feeling.

For example, if you decide to blindly bet four times your bet in the Play box every hand, you will be subject to a house edge of around 14%. Likewise, if you aren’t betting at the right times, you will also increase the house edge.

You should always bet the maximum allowed in the Play box before the flop when you bet. The following chart should serve as a guide to when you should place a bet in the Play box and when you should fold preflop.

• B = Bet four times in Play box
• C = Check
• S = Bet four time in Play box if suited, otherwise check

The strategy gets a little easier if you didn’t bet preflop. You should bet two times on the flop in the Play box if you have two pair or better, a hidden pair, or a flush draw with a hidden ten or better. A hidden pair means that there isn’t a pair on the board and you are using one or more of your hole cards to create that pair.

River strategy can be particularly tricky. It is easy to memorize what to do but not always easy to make the optimal play in real-time.

Place a bet of equal to your Ante bet if you have a hidden pair or better or the dealer has less than 21 outs to beat you. After some practice, determining how many outs the dealer has to beat you will become more second nature but take your time at first as it’s your money and the game typically doesn’t have a time limit with the exception of some multiplayer online games.

Side Bets

Side bets are usually a way for online and live casinos to extract a little extra money per hand, spin, or dice roll at extremely bad odds.

This isn’t necessarily the case in Ultimate Texas Hold’em with its optional Trips bets that you will see on just about every table.

It all comes down to the odds that they are paying on the Trips bet as it could be an under 1% advantage for the house under optimal conditions if you can find them.

Ultimate Texas Holdem Strategy Guide

Your Trips bet can be a different amount than your Ante and Blind bets and is only paid if you wound up with trips or better. In just about every case you are paid 3 to 1 for trips or a set and 50 to 1 if you nail down the elusive Royal Flush.

What you should be looking for if considering to place a Trips bet is a bet table similar to below which gives the house less than a 1% advantage.

How To Win At Ultimate Texas Holdem

Other payout tables might look similar with a Royal Flush paying 50 to 1 and trips paying 3 to 1. However, some smaller differences in the middle of the pay table can make a big difference.

For example, the pay table below would give the house a more than 6% advantage and should be avoided at all costs.

There are other side bets that online and live casinos make available including hole card bonuses and bad beat jackpots.

In general, any side bet that isn’t the Trips bet gives the house a huge house edge and therefore should be avoided.

One exception might be in the case of progressive jackpots where the jackpot is high enough to make the house edge low and, in some cases, even give the player an advantage. One pitfall even here is that the jackpots are few and far between and thus will likely cause you money unless you hit at least one jackpot in your lifetime.

Ultimate Texas Holdem Strategy Printable

Conclusion

Ultimate Texas Hold’em is a fun online and live casino game that can be played whether you have a few spare minutes or want to grind a long session.

The rules are easy to learn and before long it is possible to master the strategy of the game to reduce the house edge to approximately 2% in the base game.

While it isn’t likely you will become a long-term winner in this game without a bit of luck, it is more likely than many other games to have winning sessions and go on runs to win a chunk of change.