The rules of the game track 7-card Texas Hold’em.  A player begins by making two base bets of equal amount – called the “ante” and the “blind.”  Although these are common poker terms, their meaning is different in this game. These bets will be decided based on whether you ultimately have a winning poker hand against the dealer’s hand.  The player can also make a “Trips” bet that can be more or less than your ante and blind and pays out according to a pay table for hands three-of-a-kind or better regardless if you ultimately win the hand or not.

The players at the table are each dealt two cards face down, and the players cannot reveal their cards to other players at the table.  The player can then choose to make a bet 3x or 4x the amount of their base bet or check without increasing the bet at all.  While there is the option for a 3x or 4x bet, statistically it makes sense to only bet 4x if you are betting at all.  For example, if your ante and blind bet are $100 each, you 4x bet would be an additional $400.  At this point you would have $600 riding on the final outcome of the hand (plus any trips bet), and you have no more decisions to make.

After this initial round of bets, the dealer deals three community cards.  If you checked the first bet, you now have the option to do 2x your ante and blind bet – $200 in our above example.  If you make this second round bet, you have no more decisions to make.  If you check you have one more chance to bet.

After the second round of bets the dealer deals the final two community cards and your 7-card hand is complete.  You still have not seen any of the dealer’s two cards and you have to decide whether to make a 1x call bet or fold.  If you fold you lose your ante and your blind bet without regard to what the dealer has.  However, you can still win your trips bet (if you made one).

At this point the dealer will reveal its two cards to complete its 7-card hand using the same 5 community cards.  Standard 7-card poker rules apply to determine whether you or the dealer has the best 5-card hand.  The ante bet and the extra 4x, 3x, 2x, or 1x play bets win or lose based on these standard poker rules and is paid 1:1.  The ante bet loses and wins based on standard poker rules, but it only loses and wins if the dealer’s hand “opens” and “qualifies” by being at least a pair or better.  If you win the hand, but the dealer’s hand is not a pair or better the ante bet is a push.  If you lose the hand, but the dealer’s hand is not a pair or better, the ante is a push.  The blind bet loses if you lose the hand regardless if the dealer’s hand is a pair or getter and qualifies.  The blind bet only wins if your hand wins with a straight or better.  If you win the hand, but do not have a straight or better, the blind bet is a push.  If the blind bet wins, it gets paid out according to the most common pay table:

Straight: 1:1

Flush: 3:2

Full House: 3:1

Four of a kind: 10:1

Straight Flush: 50:1

Royal Flush: 500:1

The house gets its advantage in this game in the following ways: (1) the player makes the first and second round bets without seeing the full 7-card hand, (2) the player may fold a hand on the third round bet that ultimately would have been a winning hand if played, (3) on a winning hand the ante bet only wins if the dealer opens and has a qualifying hand (pair or better); and (4) the blind bet is exposed to losing every time the hand loses regardless if the dealer opens and qualifies, but it only wins if it is a straight or higher.  The blind bet’s pay table odds do not make up for these significant disadvantages.

The trips bet is resolved when all 5 of the community cards are dealt since it does not matter if the player’s hand ultimately wins or loses, but the winning bet is not paid until after the dealer’s hand is exposed.  The most commonly seen pay table for the trips bet is as follows:

Two pair or less: Loss

Three of a kind: 3:1

Straight: 4:1

Flush: 7:1

Full House: 8:1

Four of a kind: 30:1

Straight Flush: 40:1

Royal Flush 50:1

Some casinos have other bets available for this game such as a $1 bet on each hand to qualify for a progressive jackpot that is based on the player’s two cards and the first three community cards.  In addition to the progressive jackpot for a royal flush, there are lesser amounts for other high hands based on a pay table.  The progressive jackpot is frequently over $100,000.  This is a bad bet, but it is almost always played by players out of fear of hitting a Royal Flush without making the $1 bet.  There is also sometimes a “six-card” bet available that has a pay table based on hands made from the player’s 2 cards and the first 4 community cards.

Mathematical models have been calculated and computer simulations have been run to determine what the player should do on each of the 3 betting opportunities.  We are providing these scenarios to you below, but we explain later why we recommend they do not be followed despite the statistical advantage:

Statistically make the 4x bet in the following scenarios:

Any pocket pair other than 2s

Any hand with an Ace

Any hand with a King and 5 or better

Any hand with a King and a suited 2-4

Any hand with a Q and an 8 or higher

Any hand with a Q and a suited 6 or 7

Any hand with a J and a 10

Any hand with a J and a suited 8 or 9

Statistically make the 2X bet in the following scenarios (assuming you have followed the 4x bet scenarios):

Any hand 2 pairs or higher using at least one of the player’s cards

Any pair that only uses one of the community cards other than 2s

Statistically make the 1x bet in the following scenarios:

Any hand 2 pairs or higher using one of the player’s cards

Any pair that only uses one of the community cards

Any hand that has less than 21 outs to beat you (The problem with this calculation is that the dealer has two cards, or outs, that the player does not see.  This means that the dealer can make a straight or flush using only 3 of the community cards)

We recognize the advantage of maximizing the statistical advantage by playing the hands according to the above rules.  The problem is that doing so may send you home from the casino early.  While betting 4x the amount of your ante in these scenarios is statistically the correct move, we believe it is risking too much given the corresponding odds of winning.  To put this in perspective, let’s say you were given the option in blackjack of quadrupling your bet instead of just doubling.  Would you really be quadrupling that 10 against the dealer’s nine?  Statistically, the answer is “yes.”  But if your goal is to keep playing and win money in the long run, I would choose to only double.  That is the equivalent in quadrupling your bet in UTH with a Jack and a 10.  Do you really want to risk that much money on such a mediocre hand? 

So we have developed a different strategy.  Our first bet strategy is much more conservative and is as follows:

Bet the 4x play bet only in the following scenarios:

Any pocket pair 9s or higher

Any hand with Ace, King

Any hand with Ace and suited 10 or above

Any hand with King, Queen

Bet the 2x play bet only in the following scenarios (assuming first rule followed):

Any hand 2 pair or higher using at least one of the player’s cards

Any pocket pairs 3s to 8s

Any pair using one of the community cards except for 2s

Any hand with an Ace and the 3 community cards make a pair or higher

Any hand that has four cards to the flush and one of your potential flush cards is a 10 or higher

Bet the 1x play bet only in the following scenarios (assuming first two rules followed):

Any pair using one of the community cards (now including 2s)

Ace, King or Queen high IF the 5 community cards by themselves make a pair or higher

The five community cards themselves make a hand higher than three of a kind (you are playing for a push)

The five community cards themselves are two pairs and the one card not paired is an Ace, King or Queen (playing for a push)

The key to the 2x and 1x bet scenarios above where you bet on hands that are less than a pair is that you already know the dealer has a qualifying hand because the 5 community cards make a pair or higher.  So now you know your ante bet is in play.  Thus, when you make that bet instead of folding you know you have the potential to win both the ante bet and the 1x play bet and you avoid the scenario where you only win the 1x play bet and push the ante bet. 

There is much discussion about whether to play the trips bet.  Statistically it is a worse bet than the ante and blind bet combined.  However, it is certainly not as bad as a side bet on blackjack.  It is also frustrating to see a winning flush pay only 3:2 on a blind bet but 7:1 on a trips bet win or lose.  And flushes often lose because the dealer has a higher flush (or a full house).  So we always make a trips bet.  Typically, our trips bet is half the amount of our ante bet. 

Although not as important as blackjack, you should vary your bets in UTH. 

Finally, if you hit a big payout in UTH with a trips bet (royal flush, straight flush, or four of a kind) and get up big, then at most you should play just one or two hands more and leave if you don’t keep winning.  Those big odds wins are rare, but they happen.  Bank the money from them and leave the table.

UTH is an excellent game and has all the fun elements for the player.  If played properly, it is also one of the fairest games to the player.  But it can be dangerous and complicated.  Let us show you the finer points of the game and how we implement the above strategy in person by signing up for one of our services.