Mobile casino poker games for one-on-one strategists.
Poker games are among the most exciting ways to place a bet. They give players control over their decisions, affording opportunities to maximize win rate through proper strategy application. But not everyone enjoys the communal nature of a multi-player-vs-player poker game. For these players, online casino poker games can be the perfect solution.
9-seat Texas Hold’em may be great for the more psychologically adept gamblers among us. Learning to understand the nature of each opponent, enough to exploit hidden weaknesses, takes a little something extra. Not everyone has the mental fortitude to pull it off, though. Even worse, many of us aren’t so great at hiding our emotions, making us perfect fodder for the more adept players.
Fortunately, there are games like Casino Hold’em, Triple Pocket Hold’em and Caribbean Stud that offer the same poker experience, without an excess in competition. These games are house banked, like blackjack or roulette, which means players compete against just one opponent – the dealer.
Mobile Casino Poker Games
Interactive software developers are constantly coming up with new ways to give players an online casino poker experience. The following games fall into this category. They are available at all Microgaming powered casinos, and can be played for free or real money, giving you chance to learn the ropes.
Casino Hold’em Poker
Casino Hold’em Poker is the most common mobile casino poker variant. You can also find it under the title Ultimate Texas Hold’em at some casinos. The premise is very similar to multi-player Texas Hold’em, but only consists of two bets, the Ante and Call.
You’ll place an Ante bet start, then the hole cards (2 each) are dealt, along with the Flop (3 community cards). From here, you can either place a Call bet, or Fold, giving up the Ante. If you Call, the last two cards are dealt, followed by a showdown.
This is where it gets tricky. The dealer must Qualify with a pair of 4s or better. If not, the player wins the Ante bet, and the Call is a Push. If the dealer qualifies, the hands are compared, and the winner takes all. The Ante bet can be worth bonus payouts of 2-to-1 up to 100-to-1 if it ranks Flush or higher.
Triple Pocket Hold’em Poker
This is one of my favorites. Triple Pocket is a unique Hold’em variant where there are three sets of hole card hands competing; two for the dealer and one for the player. It sounds bad, but wait. To start, the player gets 2 hole cards, and can keep them or pass them to the dealer. If you pass them, you get another set of hole cards, and again can keep or pass them to the dealer. The third set of hole cards must be kept if you passed all others. All 5 community cards are dealt after.
The advantage here is obvious. The player gets control over his/her own hole cards, and the dealer’s. But you will have to beat both dealer hands. And since you may already know what the dealer is holding, there are no additional betting rounds, just one bet to start. The payouts are 1-to-1 for a straight or below, but scale larger for a Flush (2-to-1) through Royal Flush (50-to-1).
Caribbean Stud Poker
Caribbean Stud is a basic 5 card poker game with no draw phase. Players start with an Ante bet. All 5 of their cards, and one of the dealer’s cards, turn face up. From here, you can place a Bet (equal to Ante), or Fold.
The dealer must have an Ace+King or better to Qualify. If not, the player can only win the Ante bet, and the Call is a push. If the dealer does qualify, the hands are compared, winner takes all. The Ante pays 1-to-1, with the Bet paying anywhere from 1-to-1 for High Card or Pair, up to 100-to-1 for a Royal Flush.
