Ultimate Texas Hold'em is a Live Casino game that gives you all the excitement of the world's most popular poker game in a simpler and more accessible format. In this game, which was created by Evolution in partnership with Scientific Games, you only need to try and beat the casino by getting a better five-card poker hand than the dealer. An optional side bet also makes it possible to win a prize even if you don't manage to beat the dealer, which is handy. Read on and we'll explain how the game works and how to play.
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Presentation and Format
The casino studio from which Evolution broadcasts Ultimate Texas Hold'em has an abstract black and gold background that reminded me a lot of the candlestick charts used in financial day trading circles. It's quite busy, but not so much so that it will distract you from the game in any way, and I have no doubt that just as many players who dislike the decor will love the game.
As far as the poker table itself is concerned, it has a plain baize surface with betting areas marked Trips, Ante, Blind, and Play, and we will explain how those are used very shortly. Across the middle of the table, you will also see the phrase, "Ante pushes if dealer has less than a pair", which is a simple reminder of one of the main rules of the game.
Your casino chips can be selected from a virtual chip rack that will appear on your screen whenever it might be needed. Another virtual display to the left of the screen shows the hands of both yourself and the dealer, along with the name of any qualifying five-card poker hand and the final outcome of that round.
How to Play Ultimate Texas Hold'em
As we said earlier, the aim of this game is for you to make a better five-card poker hand than the dealer from two hole cards and five community cards. A single standard deck of 52 playing cards is used.
HOW TO PLAY:
To begin, you need to make an Ante bet and also a Blind bet of the same value.
The dealer will then deal the hole cards. These are two cards face-up to your hand and two cards face-down to their own hand.
At this point, you will be presented with an opportunity to raise your bet (by 4x or 3x the ante) or to check, which means to proceed without raising your bet.
When you have made your decision, the dealer will deal the first three of five community cards face-up to the middle of the table.
Another opportunity to raise (this time by 2x the ante only) or check will be given to you.
The dealer now deals the last two community cards face-up to the middle of the table. You will be given just one choice here, and that is to make a Play bet for 1x the ante or to fold your hand entirely and lose by default.
After this decision has been made, the dealer's hand will be revealed. As the reminder in the middle of the table states, if the dealer has less than a pair then the Ante will be pushed, which means returned to you. In this scenario, if you haven't beaten the dealer your Blind and Play bets will also be returned.
Standard five-card poker hand rankings are used in this game, so if you are unfamiliar with those it would be worth reading through our Texas Hold'em Poker page.
Payouts for Winning Hands
The Ante and Play bets both pay odds of 1:1. The Blind bet pays according to the strength of your hand, as follows:
The Trips Side Bet
If you want to make the optional side bet, you should do so when making your Ante and Blind bets. The side bet makes it possible for you to win a prize according to the strength of your hand, regardless of whether or not you beat the dealer, as long as you have a Three of a Kind or better. The side bet payout schedule is as follows:
The Ultimate in Live Casino Hold'em
We think that Ultimate Texas Hold'em is the best Live Casino version of Hold'em that is currently available. We love the side bet and having the chance to win even when we don't manage to beat the dealer, and the high RTPs of this game (99.47% without the side bet and 96.50% with the side bet) means that our bankroll has a fighting chance of lasting a while. In short, if you enjoy playing poker and you're a fan of Live Casinos, you'll probably love this game as much as we do.
