Live Dealer Casino Hold’em

Live Dealer Casino Hold’em is a recent addition to the live casino catalog. Casino Holdem’s popularity has grown since it was first introduced to brick-and-mortar casinos back in 2000. While the game is popular enough in traditional online casinos, it’s at live casinos that the game has found its niche.

Benefits of Playing Live Casino Holdem:

• Players play against the dealer, not each other
• Exciting betting options including a bonus bet and progressive Jumbo 7 Jackpot
• Attractive live dealers add to the real-life casino experience.

Live Casino Hold’em is the closest an online player is going to get to brick-and-mortar Casino Holdem on the Internet. The game uses live dealers and real cards to produce a result, all of this with no random number generators.

Best 2025 Live Dealer Casinos

How to Play Live Casino Holdem

A hand of Casino Hold’em is easy to play. If you’ve ever played Texas Hold’em, most of the conventions are the same. The game uses the same community card rules, but in this case, you only need to beat the dealer’s hand.

Another difference is the use of an ante bet each hand, instead of a big blind/small blind betting of Texas Holdem. The following is a step-by-step guide to play Live Dealer Casino Holdem.

1. Place Your Ante Bet

   A new round of Live Casino Holdem begins with each player making an ante bet.

2. Cards Are Dealt

   The dealer gives each player 2 hole cards each while dealing out 2 hole cards to himself or herself. Then the dealer deals 3 community cards, which are placed at the center of the table.

3. Make Your Decision

   Players have to decide whether to fold or raise. If the player folds, they duff their cards and lose the bet. If the player raises, then the call bet is 2x the ante bet.

4. Community Cards are Placed

   Once the raise bets are made, then the live dealer places two more community cards on the table. Casino Holdem does not have multiple raise bets like regular Texas Hold’em would.

5. Dealer Reveals Hand & You Get Paid

   After the community cards are placed, the dealer reveals their cards. The dealer must qualify to play, by holding a pair of 4’s or better. Here are the possible outcomes of each round:

   • The dealer does not qualify: Players are paid on the ante bet according to the pay table. The raise bet is considered a push.
   • The dealer’s hand qualifies: If the dealer’s hand beats the player’s hand, then the player loses their ante bet and raise the bet.
   • The player beats the dealer’s hand: The player is paid on the ante bet according to the pay table. The raise bet is paid at a 1-to-1 rate.
   • The dealer qualifies and their hand ties the player’s hand: The ante bet and raise bet are considered a push.

Evolution Live Casino Hold’em is a gripping poker-style game that can be played live on desktop and tablet. Watch the following video to get a better feel of the game.

Best Casinos To Play Live Casino Hold’em Online

It used to be that Live Dealer Casino Holdem was hard to find online. That is no longer the case. There has been a proliferation of live casino providers, along with the online and mobile casinos who license the use of their studios. These operators know Live Casino Holdem is a favorite with players, so they license this game if they can.

Below is a list of our Online United States Casinos recommended Live Dealer Casino Holdem sites.

Below are other casinos that offer live Casino Hold’em online. Some of these casinos accept US players, while others cater to international players. Be sure to read the reviews for the casinos. For those casinos that do not have a review, we have not verified their legitimacy. Proceed with caution if you decide to play at any of the casinos not reviewed.

When it comes to live poker games, there’s no shortage of options. If you want to play similar Casino Holdem games, check out the following titles:

To play Live Casino Holdem for real money, you will need to register with a site and fund your account. This process is not hard, but new players who don’t want to miss a step can use this as a guide. This section provides the steps for signing up to play at a live casino.

1. Sign-Up at an Online Casino

   Register for an online casino account. Be prepared to provide your full name, address, valid email address, and the question-and-answer for a few security questions.

2. Fund Your Account

   To play for real money, you’ll need to make a deposit with a credit card, debit card, web wallet, e-voucher or wire transfer. Some sites allow other casino payment methods like bitcoin, prepaid cards, and gift cards. Remember to use bonus codes if you have them. Understand that these have wagering requirements to assure a certain level of participation before the bonus can be withdrawn.

3. Play Live Casino Hold’em

   Under the live dealer tab select Live Casino Hold ’em. Most live casinos have a lobby section with a list of the games available. If you can’t find the game, look to see if the operator has a second room.

4. Withdraw Your Winnings

   Once you’re done playing, go to the cashier page and make a withdrawal. It can take from a couple of days to a few weeks to make a cashout, depending on the site. New customers need to provide proof of identity, so have documents ready to send to the site.

Live Dealer Casino Holdem – Rules and Side Bets

Each round of Live Casino Holdem begins with players placing a bet or “ante”. Live dealer games need to run fast, so you’ll need to place your Ante before the timer runs out. At this point the dealer will deal 2 cards to the players face-up, 2 cards for herself face down and then 3 more cards in the middle of the table – the flop.

You now get to make the main decision of the game – whether to fold or to call by placing twice your ante bet on the table.

If you fold, you forfeit your ante (and bonus bet, if applicable) and take no further part in the hand. If you call, the dealer will deal two more community cards. The best five-card poker hand made from any combination and two hole cards wins the game.

Betting interfaces vary slightly between the casinos, though the key parts are all there. To bet you will choose your chip amount and drop this chip onto the screen to the Ante (and then Call) circles. This is exactly the same as in a virtual game. You can drop an additional chip onto the ‘AA’ side-bet if you wish.

In the middle of the screen, you will see the dealer deal extra-large cards from a shoe in full view. You can interact with the dealer via a text chat option, which can also be used to chat with the other players. Dealers will reply where appropriate out loud. The final parts of the interface include the recent hand histories, sizing, and stream quality options. When the hand is complete, winning bets will be paid out automatically, and you’ll have the opportunity to repeat your last bet.

Side bets in the casino usually have a higher house edge than the main game – and Live Casino Holdem is no exception. If you want to add some excitement and variance to your results, then the optional ‘AA’ side bet will help you do exactly that.

This gamble is based on your cards and the flop – and does not involve the dealer’s hand or turn/river in any way. You place a bet and if you make a pair of aces or better on the flop, you will win a prize.

Live Dealer Casino Holdem Strategy

The best live casino hold’em strategy is to keep the house edge as small as possible. By making the right moves you can bring the Live Dealer Casino Holdem house edge down to around 2.5%. This gives you a reasonable chance of hitting some winning streaks or clearing that casino bonus.

The first step is to place an Ante bet; this is a requirement for you to participate in the game. The minimum bet will vary between different casinos, starting at just $1. At this point, you have the option to play the ‘AA’ side bet, which pays out for good hands on the flop.

The exact strategy for this is complex; however, this can be broken down into the following rules of thumb:

• Situations to Call: If you have a pair (either both hole cards or in combination with the flop), 2 overcards to the flop, any ace or king high or 1 card to a straight or flush.
• Situations to Fold: When the board is paired and you do not hold a card above 10 when you miss the flop and do not have 2 overcards or an ace or king in your hand.

After you call (or fold), the dealer will deal the turn and river, and then reveal her own cards. Payouts depend on whether the dealer has ‘qualified’ with a pair or better. If not then you only get paid double your ante. If the dealer qualified and you beat her hand, then you get paid on your call at 1-to-1 and the ante based on the following table:

If the dealer has the better hand, then you lose both your ante and call bets. You can refer to the Wizard of Odds to learn more about Casino Hold’em strategy.

What is Live Casino Hold’em?

Live Dealer Casino Hold’em puts the player against the dealer, instead of other players at the table. The House holds an edge, but it tends to be about 2%, which is better than most table games. The game was enough of a hit that online and mobile casinos operators wanted Casino Holdem in their games list.

Most software providers have their own version for their online casino licensees, though the mobile gaming version is not as widespread. In fact, if you want browser-based Casino Hold’em, you probably need to play it in a live dealer casino.

The successful advantage player, Stephen Au-Yeung, invented Casino Hold’em in the late 1990s as a tool to train his girlfriend at the time how to play Texas Hold’em. In 2000, Stephen Au-Yeung marketed Casino Holdem, using the slogan “Holdem against the House”.

The game proved to be wildly successful in land-based casinos. Even though Texas Hold’em had been the preferred poker game tournament for decades, that all changed when the World Series of Poker Main Event became a TV success on ESPN in 2003.

With the uptick in public interest in Texas Hold’em, casinos became a lot more interested in providing a table game version. By the end of the decade of the 2000s, most land-based casinos offered the game. In the online gaming industry, Casino Holdem has only grown in popularity and live casinos around the world are staffing tables with Live Casino Hold’em dealers.

Why Should You Play Live Casino Holdem?

Many players prefer Live Dealer Casino Hold’em to the virtual simulations in most online casinos. Here’s a list of reasons why players like to play this popular poker variant.

It should be noted that some casino operators, like Real Time Gaming, offer games like Caribbean Holdem as a substitute. Such games pay 1:1 on the ante bet, which is a stark contrast to Live Dealer Casino Hold’em. While Caribbean Holdem has a progressive jackpot side bet, the odds are simply better when playing the original version of the game.

Live Dealer Casino Holdem Players Also Asked