Ready to play Ultimate Texas Hold’em like a pro? We are going to teach you how easy it is to play Ultimate Texas Hold’em online and give you our top tips to help you win. You can even put your skills to the test with our free Ultimate Texas Holdem game, with no download or registration required.
Our experts have created this comprehensive guide to teach you everything you need to know about the exciting Ultimate Texas Hold’em table game. And to save you the hassle of spending hours of your time researching the best real money casinos for Ultimate Texas Hold’em, we’ve found them for you.
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Wondering where you can play Ultimate Texas Hold’em online for real money?
To save you wasting hours reviewing and comparing different casinos, we have created a list of the best casino sites for you:
Wondering how we came up with our list of the top casinos for Ultimate Texas Hold em? We take many factors into consideration when evaluating online casino sites. The key factors we consider include:
As a new player, you should be warmly welcomed at every online casino you join. We look for casinos that offer generous deposit bonuses and perks like free spins. These offers must offer fair terms and conditions, including realistic wagering requirements. You should also be treated to exciting promotions.
Our recommended Ultimate Texas Hold’em casinos take your security and safety seriously. The first thing we look for is 128-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption. If there is no little green padlock, we instantly exit the webpage. Two-factor Authentication (2FA) is also another important security measure.
Every online casino should leave you spoilt for choice when it comes to game selection. While Ultimate Texas Hold’em may be your game of choice, you should find plenty of other games to enjoy. Whether it’s hundreds of slot games or Three Card Poker you’re after, our casinos have you covered.
Gone are the days of desktop-only online casinos. Nowadays, you can play Ultimate Texas Hold’em and all your other favorite casino games on desktop or mobile. Most casino sites are programmed using HTML5 technology these days to provide the same great experience across all platforms and devices.
Instant deposits and lightning-fast cashouts are guaranteed at all our recommended casinos. You should have a long list of deposit methods to choose from when making your first deposit. And when you win big, you should receive your winnings in the blink of an eye. Friendly banking limits are also imperative.
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One of the biggest dilemma’s players have after leaning how to play Ultimate Texas Holdem is whether to play for free or real money. We’re going to compare the two versions and let you make up your own mind.
The five main benefits of playing Ultimate Texas Hold’em games for real money versus free are:
Playing Ultimate Texas Hold’em is easy once you wrap your head around the game’s rules. To show you just how easy it is to play this great casino game, we have created a step-by-step guide to help you:
Ultimate Texas Hold’em is a table game that pits the player against the dealer in a one-on-one poker matchup. Like the game it is based on, each hand is dealt out of a standard 52-card deck. While it helps to have a basic understanding of how Hold’em works, it is not entirely necessary, and here we cover the relevant rules you need to know about Ultimate Texas Holdem. Practice these rules on our free game above so you’ll know exactly what you’re doing when you hit the casinos.
At the start of each hand, the player must make two equal-sized bets, one known as the Ante, and the other known as the Blind. There is also an optional bet known as “Trips,” which we will talk more about in a bit. Once the bets have been made, both the player and the dealer will receive two face down cards, with the player being allowed to look at their hand.
The player has the choice to check – meaning that they pass on the option to make a bet – or make the Play bet. This bet can be for either three or four times the size of the Ante. It’s worth noting at this point that after the player has made that Play bet, they are done with making decisions in the hand; the rest of the cards will be dealt out, but no more bets will be made.
Once the player has made their decision, three community cards will be dealt in the middle of the table. If the player checked in the last round, they now have another chance to make a play bet, though this time it will only be twice the size of the Ante. The player also has the option to check once again.
Finally, the last two community cards will be dealt. If the player has checked up until this point, they now have a decision to make. They have one last chance to make a Play bet – this time equal to the size of the Ante – or to fold, thereby forfeiting their Ante and Blind wagers.
At this point, the player and dealer will reveal their hands. If the player has not yet folded, then the hands are compared. Each side will make the best five-card poker hand they can using any combination of their two cards and the five community cards.
Much like the poker room version of the game, Ultimate Texas Hold’em offers players plenty of chances to flex their strategic muscles. The fact that there are several decision points during each hand complicates things greatly, and perfect, optimal strategy can be rather complicated. Remember that if you want to get better at developing your strategy in Ultimate Texas Holdem, practice and practice until you get a better feel of the game. That way it will be much easier for you to make the right moves.
However, it’s fairly simple to come up with a plan that will stop you from making any major mistakes. We’ve presented one here that should help you get started, allowing you to approach the table with confidence, knowing that you are playing well enough to avoid leaving very much money on the table in the long run.
First, we need to decide whether or not we are going to make the initial 4x raise with our initial hand. We recommend raising with any of the following hands:
If you get to the flop (the first three community cards) without raising, you’ll have another chance to make a Play bet for 2x your Ante. You should do so any time you have the following:
If you still haven’t made a bet by the time you get to the river (when all five community cards are dealt), you’ll need to decide whether or not to fold or make the small Play bet. At this point, it is safe to make the bet if you have at least a pair that uses at least one of your hole cards. If you do not have that strong a hand, try to count how many single dealer cards could possibly beat you. If the total number of possible cards is 20 or less, you should make the bet; if it is 21 or more, it is time to fold.
If you are having trouble doing the math on this final decision, it is okay to estimate; anything around the cutoff point will be a fairly marginal situation. However, you do not want to pass up a situation where you have a big edge, or bet one when it is almost certain that the dealer has you beaten, so try to at least make a rough assessment of where you stand if you did not connect with the board at all.
Overall, the house edge in this game is only about 2.19%, which is very competitive when compared to the whole range of casino games. Using this strategy won’t get the casino’s advantage quite that low, but we’re confident that it will keep it well under 3%, meaning you won’t be giving up much by following only these simple suggestions.
Ultimate Texas Hold ’em uses standard poker hand rankings, meaning that hands rank from best to worst in the following order:
| Hand Type | Cards | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush |  A, K, Q, J, 10 of hearts | A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit |
| Straight Flush |  2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of hearts | Five consecutive cards of the same suit |
| Four of a Kind |  A, A, A, A, 10 | Four cards of a matching value |
| Full House |  A, A, A, 10, 10 | Three of a kind and a pair |
| Flush |  2, 5, 8, J, K of hearts | Five cards of the same suit |
| Straight |  2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Five consecutive cards of any suit |
| Three of Kind |  A, A, A, 2, 6 | Three cards of a matching value |
| Two Pair |  A, A, K, K, 3 | Two pairs of cards with matching values |
| One Pair |  A, A, 4, 2, J | Two cards of the same value |
| High Card |  A, 3, 6, 7, 9 | Highest card in the hand |
The dealer will need at least one pair to qualify. If the dealer fails to qualify, then the Ante bet will be a push. If the dealer does have a strong enough hand to qualify, then the player will win even money on the Ante if they have the better hand and lose the bet if the dealer’s hand is higher.
Both the Blind and Play bets win when the player wins, and lose when the dealer has the superior hand, regardless of the dealer qualifying. In the case of a tie, all bets push.
Payouts in Ultimate Texas Holdem differ depending the kind of bet you make (Ante/Play bets vs Trips bets). Let’s take a closer look at the different payout combinations on offer for each type of bet.
The Ante and Play bets pay out rather simply: if the player wins, they receive even money on their wagers. The Blind bet, however, is a bit more complicated. If the player has made a winning hand of less than a straight, then the bet will only push. However, all stronger hands pay the player based on their strength, according to this pay table:
| Hand | Payout |
|---|---|
Royal Flush | 500-1 |
Straight Flush | 50-1 |
Four of a Kind | 10-1 |
Full House | 3-1 |
Flush | 3-2 |
Straight | Even Money (1-1) |
You can also make an optional Trips bet at the start of each hand. This bet pays out based solely on the strength of your hand, and it doesn’t require you to beat the dealer in order to win. In fact, even folding your hand does not prevent you from winning money on this side bet. The Trips pay table can vary, but one popular one looks like this:
| Hand | Payout |
|---|---|
Royal Flush | 50-1 |
Straight Flush | 40-1 |
Four of a Kind | 30-1 |
Full House | 8-1 |
Flush | 7-1 |
Straight | 4-1 |
Three of a Kind | 3-1 |
In some online casinos, there is also a progressive side bet that players can play for one dollar. The specifics of these bets vary, but they will usually require a royal flush in order to win the full jackpot – sometimes on the first five cards the player sees (their hidden cards plus the first three community cards), or at the end of a hand.
Thanks to extensive television coverage since the early 2000s, Texas Hold’em has become easily the most popular poker game in the world and might just be the most glamourized game in casinos today. A test of skill, nerves, and experience (mixed with a healthy dose of luck), the online slots for real money variant has made true celebrities of elite poker players, and now millions play as an online slot for real money for big or small stakes every day.
However, actually competing against other players in a casino setting can be a bit intimidating, and the action in poker can be a bit too slow for some gamblers. That’s why many companies have developed table games based on poker that offer some of the same gameplay with simplified rules and a brand of one-on-one competition against a dealer. One of the best of these games is Ultimate Texas Hold’em, which allows players to win big on every hand – if they’re willing to commit themselves early on.
Throw in the fact that this game comes with a very reasonable house edge, and you have something that should appeal to players of all stripes, be they poker fans looking for something to do while their friends play blackjack, or experienced gamblers who want to take on a new game of strategy. It’s not quite like playing for a bracelet at the World Series of Poker, but it’s about as close as you can get while playing against a dealer.
You can improve your Ultimate Texas Hold’em strategy and odds of winning by following our expert tips.
Our top five tips are:
Free online Ultimate Texas Hold’em games are the perfect way to get to grips with the game. You can hone your skills and get used to the different types of bets without risking any of your own money. We have a free game right here on this page that you can use to practice Ultimate Texas Holdem with no download or registration needed.
Every Ultimate Texas Holdem expert will advise you to bet 4x pre-flop when you are dealt a strong hand. Such hands include those that contain an Ace, K-5+, Q-8+, J-10+, or any pairs. These pocket cards will place you in a very strong position to beat the dealer, so capitalize by making the aggressive play.
Unless your balance is running low and you can’t afford to do so, always raise by 4x rather than 3x. All leading Ultimate Texas Hold’em experts agree that there is no value in raising by 3x. In the long run, you will be leaving a lot of money on the Ultimate Texas Hold’em table if you raise 3x pre-flop instead of 4x.
A Trips bet is simply a side bet that is made in addition to your Ante bet. By playing it, you are increasing the size of your total bet for each hand. The house gains an edge of 1.9% when you place a Trips bet, which emphasizes that it’s a bet that the online casino wants you to make. Don’t overplay this side bet.
Whether you are on the turn or making your final decision at showdown, Ultimate Texas Hold’em strategy advises to always raise when your hand is better than a three of a kind. A raise is always the value bet in this position. The dealer would need to have an extremely strong hand to beat you.
We’re sure you are excited to play Ultimate Texas Hold’em after reading our expert guide. It’s a great game to play, and it’s very easy to learn. Simply get to grips with the different bets that you can make, and you’ll be on the road to becoming a pro in no time at all. To play Ultimate Texas Hold’em for real money, simply pick a casino from the list above, or head straight to our #1 casino by clicking below:
If you don’t know how to win playing Ultimate Texas Hold’em, we suggest reading this page from top to bottom. Basically, your goal is to beat the dealer by making a superior Texas Hold’em hand. The best five-card hand wins, but how much you win will depend on the bets you placed before showdown. You can practice Ultimate Texas Holdem before you make real bets.
We have saved you spending hours researching to bring you the best online casinos to play Ultimate Texas Hold’em. Each of these casino sites offers Ultimate Texas Hold’em and welcomes you with a generous deposit bonus. You’ll also have an array of banking options and casino games to choose from.
Absolutely not! Like any casino game, Ultimate Texas Hold ’em has a house edge. Thankfully for us, it’s a lot lower than many other casino games, and casinos would never risk losing their license by offering a rigged game. Only rogue casinos would, so make sure you play at one of the safest online casinos.
The maximum payout for Ante/Play bets is typically 500-1, which is paid out for a Royal Flush. Other payouts for these bets include a Straight Flush (50-1), Four of a Kind (10-1), Full House (3-1), Flush (3-2), and a Straight (1-1). Payouts range from 3-1 to 50-1 when you play Trips bets in Ultimate Texas Hold’em.
You are not required to make the Trips bet when you play Ultimate Texas Hold’em. Whether or not this side bet should be played has divided many experts over the years. While your Trips bet can win regardless of whether your hand beats the dealer’s, the house edge is quite significant at 1.9%.
A low house edge if one of the main reasons why so many players enjoy playing Ultimate Texas Hold’em online. The house edge is 2.18% when your ante and blinds bets are taken separately. When combined, the house edge is 1.09%. Follow our Ultimate Texas Hold’em tips to keep the house edge at a minimum.
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