Ultimate Texas Hold'em

Last updated

Ultimate Texas Hold'Em
Type Community card poker
Players2+, usually 2–9
SkillsProbability, psychology, game theory, strategy
Cards52
Deck French
Rank (high→low)A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
PlayClockwise
ChanceMedium

Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em (also known as Ultimate Texas holdem and Ultimate Texas Hold'em) is registered trademark of Bally Gaming, Inc. and refers to a reinvented variant of the classic poker game Texas hold 'em. In this variation, the player does not compete against other players. Instead, they play only against the dealer. At any point during the course of the hand, the player is free to make one raise. In this poker-based game (community cards), the earlier the raise is made, the higher its value is.

Contents

The game begins with the player making a blind bet and an ante. They are also provided with an optional Trips side which allows them to acquire a payout whether their hand loses or wins. Ultimate Texas Hold 'em is different from other poker-based games in the sense that the ante still remains in play even after the players made a raise and even if the dealer does not open. [1]

Objective

The format of Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em is similar to other variants of poker available in most casinos and online poker sites. The objective is to outrank the dealer's hand by making the best five-card poker hand from two hole cards and five community cards.

The dealer and each player are dealt two hole cards. The player looks at his cards and decides if he wishes to check or raise 3x or 4x his Ante bet. If the player decides to raise ("Play" bet) at any point during the hand, the player action ends for that hand.

After the player decides to check or raise, the dealer reveals three of the five community cards which are referred to as the “flop”. A player who did not raise before the flop has a choice to check again or raise 2x their Ante bet.

After the player decides to check or raise, the last two community cards are revealed. At this point, the player who has not raised is required to match their Ante 1x or fold. After this, the dealer reveals his two hole cards and grades the hand. In order for the dealer to qualify, he must possess at least a pair. If he fails to qualify, the Ante bet pushes before the hands are assessed.

The dealer compares his hand to the player hand. If the dealer qualifies and the player beats the dealer, both the Ante and Play bets pay 1-to-1. The Blind bet pays on a straight or better. If the dealer beats the player, Ante, Play, and Blind bets lose. Ties push the Ante, Raise, and Blind bets.

History

Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em was developed by Roger Snow of Bally Gaming, Inc. (formerly Shuffle Master). [2] [3] It is one of the newest variations of the poker game and is currently widely popular among US casinos. It is one of the most in-demand niche table games in casinos in Las Vegas and many other states. [4]

Initially, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em was only available on multi-player electronic machines. However, through the years, its popularity increased and some casinos decided to pick it up and expand it, turning it into a table game. [5] [6]

Rules

Like the common poker game formats, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em is played with a single, regular 52-card deck. Towards the end of the game, the dealer and the players left use any combination from their own two cards and the five community cards in order to come up with the best possible hand for themselves. The dealer will only be able to open if they possess at least a paired board. The play, ante, and blind bets are graded, depending on who wins, and whether the dealer will open. The table below illustrates the scoring guidelines.

WinnerDealer OpensPlayAnteBlinds
PlayerYesWinWinWin
PlayerNoWinPushWin
DealerYesLoseLoseLose
DealerNoLosePushLose
TieYes or NoPushPushPush

Winning play and ante bets are rewarded 1 to 1. Look at the table below to learn how winning blind bets are paid out.

Player handPayout
Royal Flush500 to 1
Straight Flush50 to 1
Four of a Kind10 to 1
Full House3 to 1
Flush3 to 2
Straight1 to 1
All otherPush

On the other hand, the payout for trips bets depends on the value of the player’s hand – regardless of the value of the hand possessed by the dealer.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poker</span> Card game

Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, but in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game was played with just 20 cards, today it is usually played with a standard deck, although in countries where short packs are common, it may be played with 32, 40 or 48 cards. Thus poker games vary in deck configuration, the number of cards in play, the number dealt face up or face down, and the number shared by all players, but all have rules that involve one or more rounds of betting.

Blinds are forced bets posted by players to the left of the dealer button in flop-style poker games. The number of blinds is usually two, but it can range from none to three. When there are two blinds they are called the small blind and the big blind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omaha hold 'em</span> Community card poker game

Omaha hold 'em is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make their best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five community cards. The exact origin of the game is unknown, but casino executive Robert Turner first brought Omaha into a casino setting when he introduced the game to Bill Boyd, who offered it as a game at the Las Vegas Golden Nugget Casino. Omaha uses a 52-card French deck. Omaha hold 'em 8-or-better is the "O" game featured in H.O.R.S.E.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betting in poker</span> Procedures of betting in poker

In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, and small variations in etiquette exist between cardrooms, but for the most part the following rules and protocol are observed by the majority of poker players.

Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River, is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was one of the most widely played poker variants in home games across the United States and in casinos in the eastern part of the country. Although seven-card stud is not as common in casinos today, it is still played online. The game is commonly played with two to eight players; however, eight may require special rules for the last cards dealt if no players fold. Playing with nine players is possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas hold 'em</span> Variation of the card game of poker

Texas hold 'em is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages. The stages consist of a series of three cards, later an additional single card, and a final card. Each player seeks the best five-card poker hand from any combination of the seven cards: the five community cards and their two hole cards. Players have betting options to check, call, raise, or fold. Rounds of betting take place before the flop is dealt and after each subsequent deal. The player who has the best hand and has not folded by the end of all betting rounds wins all of the money bet for the hand, known as the pot. In certain situations, a "split pot" or "tie" can occur when two players have hands of equivalent value. This is also called "chop the pot". Texas hold 'em is also the H game featured in HORSE and HOSE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poker tournament</span> Series of competitive poker games

A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table, and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables. The winner of the tournament is usually the person who wins every poker chip in the game and the others are awarded places based on the time of their elimination. To facilitate this, in most tournaments, blinds rise over the duration of the tournament. Unlike in a ring game, a player's chips in a tournament cannot be cashed out for money and serve only to determine the player's placing.

Caribbean stud poker, also called casino stud poker, is a casino table game with rules derived from five-card stud poker. However, unlike standard poker games, Caribbean stud poker is played against the house rather than against other players. There is no option to bluff or deceive as this is played against the house and not other players.

Razz is a form of stud poker that is normally played for ace-to-five low. It is one of the oldest forms of poker, and has been played since the start of the 20th century. It emerged around the time people started using the 52-card deck instead of 20 for poker.

A big bet (BB) is the larger of two fixed bet amounts in a fixed-limit poker game. A big bet is used in the final rounds of a game to increase the pot amount and thereby enable the possibility of a bluff. Big bets are generally double the wager of the initial or small bet. Any multi-round poker game can use big bets to standardize wagers while maintaining a sufficient risk-ratio to encourage bluffing. Casino poker tables use big bets to set a limit to the amount of money a patron can lose in each wager.

Texas Hold'em Bonus Poker is a casino table game, owned and licensed by Mikohn Gaming/Progressive Gaming International Corporation. The game is based on traditional multi-player Texas Hold'em poker, but differs in that there is no bet after the river card.

A hand history is a record of the action in an online poker hand. These records are generated by poker sites, and used internally to track player behavior and provide a verifiable log to resolve player disputes. If the poker site and client permit it, plain text versions of hand histories may be made available to players, which facilitates personal record-keeping and the sharing of interesting or problematic hands. A typical hand history will contain the following information:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casino hold 'em</span> Casino gambling game

Casino Hold'em is a casino gambling game. This banking game, introduced by Stephen Au-Yeung in 2000 and now played in live casinos worldwide. It was licensed for use in the United Kingdom in 2007. In addition online casinos offer the game, which is based on the traditional multi-player Texas Hold'em Poker.

The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.

Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds. Stud games are also typically non-positional games, meaning that the player who bets first on each round may change from round to round. The cards dealt face down to each individual player are called hole cards, which gave rise to the common English expression ace in the hole for any hidden advantage.

Poker is a popular card game that combines elements of chance and strategy. There are various styles of poker, all of which share an objective of presenting the least probable or highest-scoring hand. A poker hand is usually a configuration of five cards depending on the variant, either held entirely by a player or drawn partly from a number of shared, community cards. Players bet on their hands in a number of rounds as cards are drawn, employing various mathematical and intuitive strategies in an attempt to better opponents.

Draw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community card poker</span> Any game of poker that uses community cards

Community card poker refers to any game of poker that uses community cards, which are cards dealt face up in the center of the table and shared by all players. In these games, each player is dealt an incomplete hand face down, which are then combined with the community cards to make a complete hand. The set of community cards is called the "board", and may be dealt in a simple line or arranged in a special pattern. Rules of each game determine how they may be combined with each player's private hand. The most popular community card game today is Texas hold 'em, originating sometime in the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi Stud</span>

Mississippi Stud is a casino table game based on poker introduced by Scientific Games. It has been identified by The Motley Fool as part of a new generation of table games designed to appeal to younger players by offering easier-to-learn strategies while having a lower house advantage than traditional blackjack.

Six-plus hold 'em is a community card poker game variant of Texas hold 'em, where the 2 through 5 cards are removed from the deck. Each player is dealt two cards face down and seeks to make the best five card poker hand from any combination of the seven cards.

References

  1. "Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em® - Wizard of Odds". wizardofodds.com. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  2. Justia
  3. "Ultimate Texas Holdem Online – The Strategy Guide to an Exclusive Poker Game". Casino Wizard.
  4. "Ultimate Texas Hold'em: Advanced Guide, Statistics & Odds". Hityah.com. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  5. "Ultimate Texas Hold'em" (PDF). oag.ca.gov. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  6. Sortal, Nick (March 14, 2016). "Gambling Dead at Florida Legislature but Will Be Stronger Next Year". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Retrieved March 17, 2016.