Anyone played Texas Hold 'em (the table game) at a casino?

Cafe Society
1

I was at Harrah’s St. Louis last night and was about to sit at a blackjack table when I saw a Texas Hold 'em table game nearby. I ended up playing for awhile and broke even over two hours. Anyone else played?

This is how it works here - players have to ante (this table was $5 min) to get the two hole cards. If you like what you see you have to double your ante to see the flop. You can bet the amount of your ante before the turn and river or check. You only have to beat the dealer’s hand to win.

There was also a bonus bet you could make where you’d get 30-1 if you had A-A in the hole, 25-1 on A-K suited, 20-1 on A-K unsuited, etc. Most people put 1 or 2 bucks in on that each hand - A-A is what helped me break even.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I was just wondering if anyone else had played and if they had any strategy thoughts about the game.

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Ah, yes, Texas Hold’Em Bonus. Similar to Casino Hold’Em, which I have played for play money. Apparently, if you want to play Texas Hold’Em Bonus, you want to play the Vegas rules and not the Atlantic City rules because the difference in house edge is considerable. As the strategy has not been completely quantified, I would probably never play it unless it was for play money or I had cash to burn. Apparently, though, you won’t do too badly if you fold unsuited 2/3 to 2/7 and 3/4 when in Atlantic City preflop. Then I guess it’s just play the board for whether or not you want to risk any more cash.

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I saw when I was up in AC two weeks ago. I was intrigued but ultimately left it alone as it looked too much like Let It Ride for my tastes. Went with the usual craps and blackjack instead.