Some casino table games are purely luck-based. I covered some of those in yesterday’s article. Most require some degree of skill. The games listed below require little strategy beyond some beginner poker knowledge.
High Card Flush
High Card Flush ignores all poker hands except flushes. The goal is to make a hand with seven cards of the same suit. Most hands will have two or three flushed cards.
High Card Flush requires an ante and has some optional side bets. The ante requires a raise equal to it to stay in the game so it is important to have enough chips to finish the hand. The player must beat the dealer to win the ante and raise bets. The dealer must have at least a nine-high three-card flush to qualify.
When dealt cards, figure out which suit you have the most. If you hold four or more of the same suit, raise. If the hand only has a three-card flush, raise with a ten, eight, six or higher. Otherwise, fold. The house edge when accounting for the raise is 1.58%.
Three Card Poker
Three Card Poker is one of the most popular poker table games. The player makes an ante bet with an optional pair plus wager. The pair plus does not have any skill involved and allows for larger payouts on big hands.
The ante requires a raise to stay in play. There is an easy strategy behind this. If the player is dealt a hand that is queen, six, four or better, the correct play is to raise. This is an equal amount to the ante. Make sure to have a bet left over to make the raise with after anteing. If you do not raise the hand, it is folded.
A queen, six, four is below any queen and seven as the queen ties and the seven beats the six. The goal is to beat the dealer’s three cards if you raise. A straight beats a flush in Three Card Poker. The house edge when including raises is just over two percent.
Caribbean Stud Poker
Caribbean Stud Poker is a five-card poker game. The player makes an ante with an optional bonus side bet. The cards are dealt with four of the dealer’s five placed down. This game requires two wagers to raise as it is double the ante, as opposed to equal to it like in Three Card Poker. If you do not have enough money to raise, your hand will be folded.
A player should raise any pair or better. Any unpaired hand that does not have an ace and king in it is a fold. If you have an ace-king hand without a pair or better, the Wizard of Odds suggests raising:
- If the dealer is showing a two through queen and matches one of your cards.
- If the dealer’s up card is an ace or king and you have a queen or jack.
- If the dealer’s card does not match any in your hand, you hold a queen, and the dealer’s card is lower than your fourth highest.
The house edge when accounting for the raise is 2.55%. Caribbean Stud Poker is found at Venetian and Palazzo in Las Vegas.
Face Up Pai Gow Poker
Face Up Pai Gow Poker took a moderately complicated game and made it simple. The player and dealer receive seven cards. In this version of Pai Gow Poker, the dealer sets the house hand first. If it has an ace-high pai gow, the hand ends and players push. Otherwise, the players see the house hand before setting theirs. This makes it simple to know how to play it. The dealer will help the player place two hands. One is a five-card high hand. The other is a two-card low hand. There is a joker in the deck that may be used to complete a flush or straight, otherwise it is an ace.
The five-card hand must beat the two-card hand. The house edge is 1.81%.
