Casino War Online

Casino War online is a casino card game where the players draw and show high cards. War is perhaps the simplest and most straightforward of all card games. Players are dealt a randomly distributed yet equal portion of the deck, before turning over one card over at a time. The highest card wins the battle and all cards are claimed by the winner while matching cards spark the titular war.

When players go to war three cards for each are placed face down in the center of the table before players turn over a single card to determine the high card victor.

The following guide will prepare you for the online Casino Wars, beginning with a walk through the game’s rules and mechanics, terminology, and wagering options. You’ll find lists of several major online casinos that offer this game, as well as the software providers which power online Casino War tables throughout the industry. The Casino War strategy implications will be examined, including breakdowns of the house edge players are up against and the game’s fundamental probabilities.

Casino War Online Rules

The beauty of Casino War online is that you need to know nothing more than how to count to play the game.

When you sit down at an online Casino War table, the layout should look familiar if you’ve ever played a table game of any sort. It’s you versus the dealer, with a shoe holding several decks of cards in the corner, and three betting areas lined out in the center of the felt. Online players will also see an assortment of chips in various colors somewhere on the screen, typically ranging from $1 to $5 and up to $100 and beyond.

Just like the home game version, online Casino War becomes more interesting whenever the player’s card ties the dealer’s card. First, if you’ve placed the optional tie-bet, you’ll receive an instant payout of 10 to 1 on your money. Next, you’ll be faced with your only decision of the game.

After a tie between dealer and player occurs, you’ll be given a choice between going to war or surrendering. Obviously, nobody plays Casino War online with the intent of surrendering anything, so more than likely you’ll be clicking the onscreen prompt to launch a war. When you do, this automatically doubles your original ante bet. From there, three cards are dealt face down to either combatant, before a fourth card turned face up decides the outcome of the war. The same high card principles ruling the base game apply during a war.

The other option of surrendering simply means you decline the war and forfeit an amount equal to half of your ante bet.

With a $5 bet on the ante and a war pending, your two options are two double bet by going to war with $10 at risk, or to surrender and take back $2.50 while ending the hand immediately. One thing to remember about Casino War, however, is that even though you’ve doubled your bet from $5 to $10 by going to war, winning the war only returns an amount equal to your original ante bet. So by going to war, you’ll be putting up $10 to win $5, which is how the house derives its slight house edge in this high card game.

While the decision between going to war or surrendering might not appear to matter all that much, in reality, the mathematics driving the game dictate a strategy based on unrelenting aggression. In other words, you should always decide to go to war because when you surrender, the house edge stands at 3.7 percent, which significantly higher than the 2.7 percent house edge you’ll face during a war.

Another wrinkle in the rules offered by some online casinos concerns the rare occurrence of a tie after a war is declared. If you’re playing Casino War online at Bovada, for example, you’ll turn a winner for even money on your ante bet for a tie during a war. So on a $5 ante bet, doubled to $10 total after the war, a tie between you and the dealer results in a $5 return to the player, for a $5 loss altogether. Other casinos fail to include this payout, so make sure to check the rules page at your online casino of choice to be sure before playing.

Play Casino War Online

Best Places to Play Casino War Online

Before playing at any casino, make sure that they cater to players in your country by reading their reviews. The following list includes several of the most reputable online casinos currently operating worldwide that host Casino War online tables:

The following software providers include a version of Casino War online within their clients:

Online Casino War Strategy

The game offers many advantages to players, from a low house edge to an easily learned set of rules. However, there is a lack of Casino War strategy that players can easily use.

Players looking for a way to improve their odds will be left lacking, as no legitimate Casino War strategy for winning more often or reducing the frequency of losses exist. The game is based purely on chance, and all players can do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

The only Casino War strategy consideration is choosing whether or not to go to war in a tie. The correct decision is to always go to war in a tie.

That doesn’t mean you can’t improve your knowledge of the game, and through that process, give yourself slightly better odds over the long run.

The table below depicts the results of a probability analysis conducted by Wizard of Odds, and it includes a breakdown of various house edges based on the presence of the tie after tie ante bet bonus, your choice to surrender, and when placing the tie bet.

DECKS	WITH TIE BONUS	NO TIE BONUS	SURRENDER	TIE BET
1	2.06%	2.42%	2.94%	35.29%
2	2.24%	2.70%	3.40%	25.24%
3	2.29%	2.79%	3.55%	21.94%
4	2.31%	2.84%	3.62%	20.29%
5	2.32%	2.86%	3.67%	19.31%
6	2.33%	2.88%	3.70%	18.65%
7	2.34%	2.89%	3.72%	18.18%
8	2.34%	2.90%	3.73%	17.83%

Note that the number of decks you play with significantly affects the house edge, so if there’s any strategy at all to online Casino War, it’s locating a game played with a single deck and a bonus on ties after a tie. The majority of online casinos spread Casino War using a six deck shoe.

Finally, you should always avoid the tie bet because placing this optional wager balloons your edge from under 3 percent to over an average of 25 percent.

Creating Online Casino Wars

The objective of traditional war is to eventually capture every last one of the 52 cards in play, thereby winning the game. While no strategy whatsoever decides who wins in home game war, countless hours have been passed between players engaged in this classic contest.

In 1993, at the height of the hybrid table game craze that was sweeping through American casinos at the time, a company that was known as Shuffle Master Inc. filed a patent application for a game known as Casino War. By retaining the same basic gameplay structure of traditional war, while providing players a chance to take on the house, Casino War online created the perfect blend of home game entertainment and casino gambling.

Casino War online tables have been a staple of land based casinos ever since, but the game has also become one of the most popular options found on the menus offered by major online casinos like Bovada. Boiled down to a one on one contest between you and the dealer, an online Casino War online table offers players the perfect place to take a breather in between more challenging games.

Sporting an extremely low house edge, detailed information concerning the game’s odds and probabilities will be included below; Casino War online can be played at a minimal expense while passing the time. For avid online casino fans that spend long periods of time grinding out mentally taxing games like blackjack, putting one’s mind on cruise control for a few hands of Casino War online offers a welcome respite from the proverbial grind.