Ultimate Texas Holdem is a casino card game that borrows elements from traditional Texas Hold’em Poker. It is quite similar to the Texas Holdem, but players do not play against each other.
One important difference is that in Ultimate Texas Holdem players play against the house, where the house has a mathematical edge. In contrast, Texas Hold’em games are played against other players in a poker room.
What Is Ultimate Texas Holdem?
Ultimate Texas Holdem is similar to traditional poker in some ways, remember that it is a game in which the house has an edge, and is found in blackjack, roulette, craps, late ride, and other games. Casino pitfalls are in the same category as casino games.
A player can reduce the house edge by applying a good basic strategy.
Let’s take a look at the Ultimate Texas Holdem rules and some basic strategies:
Ultimate Texas Hold’em Rules
When you sit down at the Ultimate Texas Holdem table, you’ll see a layout that looks like this (image courtesy of Table Games Online):
Each hand begins with a player placing bets on the ante and blind spots on the table. The minimum and maximum allowed for these bests may vary depending on where you play.
The gut and blind must always be equal to each other. For example, if you want to place an ante bet of $100, you must also place a blind bet of $100.
After posting the ante and blind, the player and dealer receive two face-down hole cards. Ultimate Texas Holdem uses a standard 52-card deck.
Once your hole cards are dealt, you have the option to do one of three things:
- Bet to play 3 times the previous amount
- Place a play bet that is 4 times the previous amount
- Check, don’t leave anything in the play area
If you bet 3x or 4x in the game before the flop, the dealer keeps five community cards and there is no further betting. If you can make a better five-card poker hand than the dealer, you can win.
If you check after seeing your hole cards, the dealer has only dealt three cards (aka the flop). After seeing the flop, you can make a bet 2 times the previous amount. Then the dealer keeps the last two cards (turn and river) and both the player and the dealer keep their hole cards face down.
If you have a better five-card hand than the dealer according to the standard poker hand ranking, you win.
If you check pre-flop and also check post-flop, the dealer makes a turn and the river is out. At that point, you must either place a play bet that is 1x or multiples of the prior amount and surrender your stripes and your prior.
Scoring Rules and Payouts
You win if your best possible five-card hand beats the dealer’s hand. If you check pre-flop, check the flop, and fold after the turn and river, this showdown between your hand and the dealers is not successful.
The amount you win or lose depends on a variety of factors.
One aspect of the Ultimate Texas Holdem payout rules is the dealer’s hand. The dealer must make a pair or better as the final hand to “open” or “qualify” for the hand.
The general Ultimate Texas Holdem payouts rules are as follows:
Ultimate Texas Hold’em Pay Table
When the dealer doesn’t qualify, either the dealer or the player still has the best hand, so they push.
When the dealer qualifies, if you have the best hand, you win 1-to-1 first and play the bet. You also win on a blind bet, and the payout for that bet is according to the blind payout table, which we’ll see later in this article.
If the dealer qualifies and has a better hand than you, you lose the Ante, Play, and Blind bets.
If you and the dealer are in the same position, all bets will go forward, whether the dealer qualifies or not.
If you win the game Ante and Play bets always pay 1-to-1. A Blind bet pays out using a different pay table and pays out if you win against the dealer (whether the dealer qualifies or not).
The Blind payout table can vary depending on the different casino games, but generally looks something like this:
- Royal Flush: 500-to-1
- Straight Flush: 50-to-1
- Four of a Kind: 10-to-1
- Full House: 3-to-1
- Flush: 3-to-2
- Straight: 1-to-1
Trip Bet
We’ve discussed the antes, blinds, and play bets that come with each hand of Ultimate Texas Holdem. However, you can make another possible bet, known as a trip bet.
A trip bet is a side bet that you can place before the start of each hand. Like the blind payout table, Trip Bet uses a payout table that offers payouts based on the absolute rank of your hand according to standard poker hand rankings.
A trip bet pays less than a blind payout table for a royal flush or straight flush but pays more for other hands made on the table.
A typical trip pay table might look like this:
- Royal Flush: 50-to-1
- Straight Flush: 40-to-1
- Four of a Kind: 30-to-1
- Full House: 9-to-1
- Flush: 7-to-1
- Straight: 4-to-1
- Three of a kind: 3-to-1
The Trips bet pays out whether your poker hand beats the dealer or not.
Basic Ultimate Texas Hold’em Strategy
If you play Ultimate Texas Holdem online, you can significantly reduce the house edge if you use optimal strategy. Your gameplay can go many different ways depending on your starting hand and preflop strategy, your decisions on each street, the board cards, and whether or not you bet on the travel side.
According to wizardofodds.com, a player can reduce the house edge by as much as 2.43% by playing the optimal Ultimate Texas Holdem strategy. When going up against one of the lowest house advantages you’ll find in any casino poker game in Las Vegas or online casinos, the right strategy with the right bankroll can help you enjoy this poker game.
Let’s take a look at some basic strategy tips:
Preflop Strategy
Remember, once your hole card is dealt, you have a chance to see the flop by playing 3x before, 4x before, or checking.
If you are going to bet, you can use these guidelines:
- If you are going to bet, always bet 4x. Do not use 3x size
- Bet on all hands of ax
- Bet all suit kings and all offsuit Kx with K5 or better
- Q7/Q6 suits and all offsuit queens at Q8 or better
- Bet on J9/J8 suits and JT offsuits
- Bet all pocket pairs on 33 or higher (check pocket deuces)
- Bet on all other hands not included in this list
Strategy After Checking Preflop
If you bet pre-flop, the dealer keeps all five community cards and pays out the hand based on all relevant pay tables.
If you check pre-flop, the dealer puts three cards on the board (the flop). At that point, you will have the opportunity to check 2x before or after.
Use the following guidelines on the flop after checking the preflop:
- Bet with two pairs
- Bet more than deuces on any hidden pairs (where your hole cards and board form a pair)
- Bet with four for a flush with hidden Tx or better
Check if your hole cards and the flop don’t meet one of the requirements.
Strategy After Checking Preflop and Checking the Flop
If you choose to check preflop and recheck on the flop, the dealer calls the turn and river.
You must then bet 1x the prior tie, or fold, losing both the prior and blind bet. If you fold, the hand is removed.
A good strategy for this spot includes these guidelines:
- Bet with a hidden pair or better
- Bet if you lose with less than 21 dealer outs
If your hand doesn’t meet any of these criteria, simply fold and move on to the next hand.
The Trips Bet
The Trips bet (or any other side bet other than the Ante and Blind) is a -EV bet and should be avoided if you want to play an optimal strategy.
Ultimate Texas Hold’em Strategy Chart
The following Image shows the Ultimate Texas Holdem Strategy Chart
Final Thoughts
Ultimate Texas Holdem can be a fun casino game and by following the guidelines for optimal play you can maximize your time at the table.
However, remember that Ultimate Texas Holdem online, like all against-the-house casino games, has -EV in the long run. This is different from the version of Texas Hold’em played in a poker room in a casino, where you compete against other players and play +EV games.