Ultimate Texas Hold’em is a variation of the classic Texas Hold’em game, which offers a much more fast-paced gameplay as well as the chance for you to play against the house. The beauty of this game is that you don’t really have to call during gameplay and the types of bets that you place directly influence whether there will be a flop and river rounds or simply a direct collection of funds after the first round.
A free online version of Ultimate Texas Holdem. Test out your Ultimate Texas Hold'em strategy here. Practice for the casino. Ultimate Texas Hold’em Online has its tips and tricks, and we’re here to tell you all about them. Learn to beat the odds and where to play best, right here!
Ultimate Texas Hold’em has been a registered trademark for over a decade, as it was developed by Bally Gaming and distributed to some of the world’s best online casinos. The game has reached the peak of its popularity recently, and it’s sure to surpass it in the coming months and years.
We want you to be fully aware of how the game works, both in its digital version as well as on its live dealer version. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of tips and rules of how the game works and how to beat the house while playing it.
We’ve based our guide on some of the best strategies out there, and we’ve also added some exclusive pieces of advice that we’ve discovered while playing the game ourselves. You could call this the Ultimate “Ultimate Texas Hold’em Online” guide, if you may!
The entire concept of Ultimate Texas Hold’em revolves around raising the stakes of regular poker and taking the game to the next level. The only thing that differs from traditional poker, in the sense of how the game works, is that you cannot play it against other players but solely against the house.
The entire concept is based on showdown, which means that it doesn’t allow more than one player to participate at the same time.
Variations of the game do allow other players to participate, but the game’s individualism is much more prominent than other variations of “against the house” poker and even blackjack. The game is currently available to be played in some of the world’s best land-based casinos, as it has harnessed undisputed popularity ever since its invention in the late 2000s.
The game allows you to raise at any given time, which is why many people use the term “Extreme Texas Hold’em” as a name to refer to this game.
The concept of the game is quite simple, as it works like normal poker in every sense except in payments and bets. As such, you will get a couple of cards to start your hand, just like the dealer. There will be a total of 5 cards on the table, too, which means that you’ll be basically playing Texas Hold’em as you know it.
You always need to place bets on the ante and the blind, and they both have to be the same stake. For example, if you wish to place an ante of $3, then you have to place a blind of $3. These are the only mandatory bets on the game.
There’s an additional bet that you can place, which is entirely optional, called “Trips”. Most of the time, you will want to place a bet on trips. This gives you the chance to further multiply your winnings depending on the hands that you manage to get. The better the hand, the more times it will be multiplied by the Trips bet.
These are all bets that you have to place before the hand is on the table, though. Once the hand is fully ready and you’re all good to go to place the bet depending on how good of a hand you have.
Placing your bets before the river is dealt means that you can bet twice the amount of money if you beat the house. If you place your bets as soon as the hand is dealt, you can bet 4 times the amount of your blind.
Placing your bet after the river is dealt (if you check before the river) will mean that your bet isn’t multiplied by anything other than the Trips wager.
The first thing that you’ll notice when playing the Ultimate variation of Texas Hold’em is that you will feel instantly comfortable with the game. If you know how to play poker, then you’re going to get the hang of Ultimate Texas Hold’em quite easily.
The only things that change are the ways in which you can place your bets, so you’ll have to restructure the way you think about the ante, the blind, the flop, and the river if you wish to become a master of Ultimate Texas Hold’em.
Keep in mind that all of the popular poker hands that can get you wins in the traditional game are all the same hands that you can get at Ultimate Texas Hold’em. Flushes, Pairs, Full Houses are all equally as valuable than they are in the card game that we all love.
If you want to win at this game, there are a handful of things that will form an important part of your strategy and that, therefore, you really need to have a strong conception of them. Keep all of these in mind before reading our tips on how to win at the game:
You really need to get soaked with the odds of the game if you want to truly get the best of it. Given that your bet will have a different value depending on when you place it, it might be best for you to get a thorough understanding of the game odds before playing the game.
For example, if you have a really good hand, you will want to make a raise from the start. Place the bet as soon as the game begins, as this will allow you to bet x4 the total amount of your blind (check the table below when to make a 4x raise). If you happen to get an Ace and a J, for example, it would be wise for you to make a raise from the get-go.
However, if you’re not sure of your hand and you’d rather wait for the flop, you can place a bet worth x3 the amount of your blind instead, but you’ll know have seen the three first cards that were dealt.
The best strategy for betting is raising early if you have a good hand or stalling as much as possible if you have a regular hand.
If you happen to get two cards of the same suit, you might want to place the bet after the flop. If you’re playing with trips, your wins could be multiplied by a lot of money and you wouldn’t have to worry about taking the x4 risk.
Much like in traditional Texas Hold’em, betting after the flop makes a world of difference. Now, instead of 2 cards, you’ll have 5 cards to work with. This means that you might now have 4 of a kind, a flush, or even a royal flush (with a whole lot of luck). If you’re going to bet after the flop in Ultimate Texas Hold’em, you’re far more likely to do it with more confidence than during the ante.
If you have two pairs, then the best thing you can do is raise your bet. You’re very likely going to beat the house unless you get really unlucky.
The same thing goes for any rounds in which you have a hidden pair before the final bet is placed (especially if it’s the highest on the table). However, it might be smarter for you to just place an x1 raise in this case, as it’s a much safer bet and it would still give you a good profit if you win.
As complicated as the game sometimes might feel, there are a few hands that you might always want to bet whenever you get them. Unlike traditional poker, since your only opponent is the house, you should place much more priority on what your hand is. Other players don’t play a role, so your main focus will be to beat the house.
The following hands give you the best odds of doing so:
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+ 200 Free SpinsUltimate Texas Hold Em is one of the most popular casino games available today as it brings the action of Texas Hold Em out of the Poker room and on to the main casino floor. Whether you’re a fan of regular Texas Hold Em or a fan of regular casino games such as Blackjack and Pai Gow, you’ll be sure to enjoy the fun of UTH. After reading our guide, you’ll know when to hold em, when to fold em, when to check, when to raise, and how to win!
Ultimate Texas Hold Em is a more complex game when compared to Three Card and Pai Gow Poker; there are multiple betting rounds and outcomes that affect how the player is paid. We’ll break down how betting and payouts work, then get into the betting strategy, but first here is some Poker terminology and an explanation of how final hands are made in Texas Hold Em:
Final hands in Texas Hold Em are made by choosing the best 5 card hand out of the seven cards available between the player’s two hole cards and the five community cards. Players can use both, one, or none of their hole cards. For example:
Hole cards: A♥3♠
Community Cards: A♣K♦J♦9♣7♥
The player’s final five-card hand in this scenario would be a pair of Aces with A♣A♥K♦J♦9♣ as the 3♠ would not be used
In UTH there are three bets, the Ante bet, Blind bet, and Play bet. The first bets the player makes are the ante and blind bets, these bets must always be identical.
The blind bet will be paid out if the player receives a winning hand by the River and has a straight or better. The Blind bet receives special payouts based on the strength of the player’s winning hand:
Royal Flush: 500-1
Straight Flush: 50-1
Four of a Kind: 10-1
Full House: 3-1
Flush: 3-2
Straight: 1-1
If the player wins the hand, but with a hand weaker than a straight, such as one pair, the blind bet will push (Ante bet will pay 1:1)
The Ante bet is paid out if the player has a winning hand and the dealer qualifies. The dealer qualifies if they have a pair or better, even if the pair is on the community cards. For example, if the dealer has 63 with community cards of 44QJ8, the dealer would have a pair of fours and qualify. If the player wins the hand but the dealer does not qualify, the Ante bet results in a push.
The Play bet can be made at different times in the hand or can be passed on by checking. Here is an example:
1. Player makes $50 wager on both Ante and Blind Bets
2. Player is dealt their hole cards
3. Now the player must decide to check, make a 3x Play bet, or make a 4x Play bet based on the strength of their two hole cards. The 3x and 4x Play bet is the multiplier of the Ante/Blind bet. In this example, the Play bets would be 1x-4x multiples of the $50 Ante and Blind bets. We will discuss the strategy regarding when to check and when to make the Play bet later in this guide.
4. The Flop is dealt, the first 3 community cards. If the player has already made a 3x or 4x Play bet, that will remain the Play bet until the River. If the player checked Pre-flop, they now have the option to check again or make a 2x Play bet.
5. After the Flop betting round, the next two cards, the Turn and the River are dealt, and all the community cards at this point are revealed. If the player made a Play bet at any previous time in the hand, the hand goes to a showdown with the dealer and the winner and bet payouts are decided. If the player has not made a Play bet by the River because they have checked every round, the player must now decide to either fold, forfeiting their Ante and Blind bets, or make a 1x play bet and go to a showdown with the dealer.
Here is a cross table for all the possible betting results:
With multiple betting rounds and the overall complexity of Ultimate Texas Hold Em, knowing when to check, when to make a Play bet, and when to fold is quite complicated. For the Pre-flop bet, the player has the option to check, bet 3x or 4x. Our recommendation for optimal strategy is to never make a 3x bet pre-flop and either check or make a 4x bet. This recommendation is due to the fact that based on the player’s current information (Knowing the two hole cards) the player is either likely to be the underdog or the favorite in the hand and thus should either check or make the maximum bet available. However, if you feel like making a 3x bet instead of a 4x that’s up to you and part of the fun of UTH!
Here is a cheat sheet for when to make a 4x Play bet Pre-flop:
The player can only make a 2x Play bet on the flop if they checked in the previous betting round and should make a 2x bet with any of the following:
*Hidden pair: A pair when the player has a hole card that pairs with a community card for example, 9♥7♦ with a flop of K♣7♦3♣
The player can only make a 1x raise if they checked in the previous two betting rounds and all five community cards are revealed. This round is different from the previous rounds as the player must choose between making the 1x Play bet or folding and forfeiting their Ante and Blind bets. The player should make the 1x play bet in these two scenarios:
An out is any card the dealer can have that when combined with the community cards would beat the player. Here is an example:
Community Cards: Q♥9♣3♦J♣6♦
Player cards: 10♥7♥
There are 15 cards the dealer could have to make a pair and win (Any of the three remaining Q, 9, 3, J, or 6) and eight cards that would give the dealer a higher hand, any of the four remaining Aces or Kings. Adding all of these up we have 23 outs for the dealer and thus the player should fold.
Ultimate Texas Hold Em is one of the most popular games found on casino floors all throughout America. With a deep strategy and several possible outcomes, the action in Ultimate Texas Hold Em never stops. We hope after reading our guide you feel you have the skills to hit the tables and know when to hold ’em, when to fold ’em, when to check, and when to bet. Remember that the cheat sheet is your friend and we will see you holding and (hopefully not too often) folding at an Ultimate Texas Hold Em table at Downtown Grand soon!