Live Dealer Casino Hold’em – Online US Live Dealer Gambling
Live Dealer Casino Hold’em is proving to be a popular form of gambling for online US players. In playing for real money, this casino table game is a favorite of many who enjoy card games in which you compete against the house, such as baccarat and blackjack. It’s also attractive to those who like to play Texas Hold’em, although the game itself in terms of betting structure and strategy is quite different.
How Live Dealer Hold’em Works
As it is when playing at a land-based casino, with online gambling, Live Dealer Casino Hold’em, which is played with a 52-card deck of standard playing cards, does not involve making betting choices after the turn or river. There are two initial bets players may make and those are set before your two cards are dealt. After the three-card flop, a player decides if they want to fold and lose their wager or continue. If they continue, they must match their ante with a Call bet.
The primary wager in Live Dealer Casino Hold’em is your Ante. Players may also make an additional AA Bonus side bet that will payout only if you hit certain hands that combine your two hole cards and the flop. These hands include a full house, four of a kind, or a straight flush. The better the hand, the higher the payout on your side bet.
In order to qualify to play their hand, the dealer must have a pair of fours or better. If they do not qualify the Ante bet is paid according to the betting table and the AA Bonus wager is a push. As it is with brick and mortar casinos, when gambling online, Live Dealer Casino Hold’em has a payout table that’s calibrated upward, paying more for hands of higher value, and a separate AA Bonus payout table, that also pays more for quality hands.
Basic System Requirements
In order to for you to enjoy gambling online, Live Dealer Casino Hold’em will require that your computer meet certain standards. Please note, that some online US live dealer gambling sites will accommodate both PC and Mac users, while others will only be accessible if you have a PC.
Basic requirements include:
- PC with Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz, AMD Athlon 3000 or faster processor (or an equivalent) with at minimum of 2 GB of memory RAM, or Apple/Mac with Intel Core™ 2 Duo or a faster processor with at a minimum requirement of 2 GB of memory RAM
- 10 GB available on Hard Drive
- Network Bandwidth: 512 Kbps with 750 Kbps recommended
- Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768
- Pop-up blockers must be deactivated
- 16 MB Video Card (1280×800 or higher resolution, 16-bit color)
PC System and Browser Requirements
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or newer
- Internet Explorer 6.0 or better or Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or better or Safari 4.0 or better
- Flash Player 10.0 or above
Apple/Mac System and Browser Requirements
- Operating System: OS® X 10.8.x or newer
- Safari 4.0 or better or Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or better
- Flash Player 10.0 or above
Playing Live Online
What makes Live Dealer Casino Hold’em so much fun to play for real money is that you get to interact with your dealer in a more comprehensive manner than you do with other table games. That’s because you have three bets to make; plus there’s quite a bit more activity than you’ll find with other games. Casino Hold’em includes the dealing of hole cards, the flop, the turn, and the river. As far as online gambling Live Dealer table games are concerned that amount of action makes Casino Hold’em a very entertaining game.
Casino Hold’em Tips
First of all, if you’re a Texas Hold’em player, be aware that this is a very different game. You can’t raise, you cannot get the dealer to fold, and you can’t get a read on your opponent. However, you will be able to play percentages after the flop in deciding if you should continue with your hand or not.
One thing to keep in mind after the flop is where the dealer may be at in relationship to you. If you flop a pair of nines and that’s the nine is highest card on the board and you hold an ace kicker, you may be in good stead. However, missing the flop entirely, even if you have ace/king suited may be a good fold.
Be sure to read up on hole card winning percentages and flop percentages in relationship to your hole cards. Your best bet is to calculate and play mathematical odds when they are in your favor. Please note that the AA Bonus side bet is a high-risk wager, and it is often a losing one. It’s great if you hit it, but it will diminish your bank quickly if you bet it on every hand.
Finding a Game
If you want live casino action and like online gambling, Live Dealer Casino Hold’em is certainly a game that you should play. If you are a player in the USA, please check our Live Dealer pages to find which of our quality casinos offer Casino Hold’em. Online US Live Dealer gambling is a lot of fun and this version of Hold’em is a great draw for card players who love table games and action.