Live Dealer Casino Holdem Poker Online: an Expert Guide

Thanks to movies like “Rounders” and the popularity surrounding the annual World Series of Poker, Texas Hold’em poker online has enjoyed a resurgence over the past two decades. Online hold’em is best enjoyed at live dealer casinos, where you can banter and interact with your fellow players.Among other things our guide to live dealer casino hold’em will cover:

• The best live dealer hold’em casinos for US players
• How to play live dealer hold’em (with winning hands)
• Proven live dealer hold’em strategy
• Different variations of live dealer hold’em

Best Live Dealer Hold’Em Online Casinos

Here are our favorite live dealer hold’em online casinos for US players:

How to Play Live Dealer Texas Hold’em Poker

Simply put, your goal in live dealer hold’em is to build the best possible poker hand using the two cards you’re dealt and any three of the five shared community cards.

The Difference between Standard Online Hold’em and Live Dealer Hold’em

In Live Dealer Hold’em, as opposed to traditional Texas Hold’em online, you play against the dealer and the dealer only, rather than trying to beat the other players.

Live dealer casino hold’em places you at a virtual casino table, but unlike other online poker rooms, the flashy graphics and random card generators are replaced by a real-life dealer and a real card deck seen via live video stream. Thanks to this live video stream, you can interact with the dealer and fellow players just as if you were at a real casino, sitting at your favorite poker table.

Hold’em Deal and Betting Rounds

At the beginning of each hand, each player at the table will be dealt two cards face down. These are also known as the “pocket” or “hole” cards. Over the remainder of the hand, the dealer will reveal five community cards, interspersed with rounded of betting.

Here’s what the game looks like:

• Each player is dealt two cards face-down
• First round of betting
• The dealer reveals the first three community cards (this is known as the “flop”)
• Second round of betting
• The dealer reveals the fourth community card (this is known as the “turn”)
• Third round of betting
• The dealer reveals the fifth and final community card (this is known as the “river”)
• Final round of betting

After all rounds of dealing and betting are complete, the remaining players will reveal their ‘pocket’ cards, and the best hand wins the pot.

Bet Types in Live Dealer Holdem

When it’s your turn to wager in a hand of Live Dealer Hold’em, you’ll have five options available to you: fold, check, bet, call or raise.

Live Dealer Hold’em Hand Rankings

Below are Live Dealer Hold’em winning hands, ranked strongest to weakest:

Full House

Three cards of the same rank and a different pair

A Full House is a hand that contains three cards of the same rank, and two different cards of the same rank (e.g. three 6s and two Jacks)

Straight Flush

Any five consecutive cards of the same suit

A Straight Flush is a hand that contains any five consecutive cards of the same suit (e.g. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 of Hearts)

Four of a Kind

Four cards of the same rank

Four of a Kind is a hand that contains four cards of the same rank (e.g. four Kings)

Full House

Three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank

Full House is a hand that contains three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank (e.g. three Aces and two Kings)

Flush

Any five cards of the same suit, not consecutive

A Flush is a hand that contains any five cards of the same suit, not consecutive (e.g. 2, 5, 7, 9, King of Diamonds)

Straight

Any five consecutive cards of different suits

A Straight is a hand that contains any five consecutive cards of different suits (e.g.: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten of mixed suits)

Three of a Kind

Three cards of the same rank

Three of a Kind is a hand that contains three cards of the same rank (e.g. three Queens)

Two Pair

Two sets of pairs

Two Pair is a hand that contains two sets of pairs (e.g. two Aces and two Kings)

One Pair

Two cards of the same rank

One Pair is a hand that contains two cards of the same rank (e.g. two Jacks)

High Card

Five cards of different ranks and suits, not in sequence

High Card is a hand that contains five cards of different ranks and suits, not in sequence (e.g. Ace, 2, 5, 9, King of mixed suits)

Different Variations of Hold’em Poker

While there are more than a dozen variations of Texas Hold’em, like Omaha and Pineapple, the most common, and most popular among US players, are these three:

Limit Hold’em – the size of the bets are determined before the start of the game, but wagers in the first two rounds are smaller than bets placed in the final two rounds. If you’re playing a $10/$20 limit Texas Hold’em game, you can wager in multiples of $10 after receiving your cards and after the flop, but bets increase to $20 following the turn and the river.

Pot Limit Hold’em – the maximum amount players can wager per round is whatever the total is in the pot. If after the flop, there’s $50 in the pot, no player may wager more than $50.

No Limit Hold’em – exactly what it suggests. So long as they have the chips in front of them to cover the bet, a player may wager as much as they wish per betting round. The World Series of Poker is played under No-Limit Hold’em rules.

Live Dealer Hold’em FAQs