Texas
Holdem Bonus Poker
is a casino table game that replicates the experience of (standard)
Texas Holdem. I'm an avid Holdem player and was prepared to be disappointed
in Texas Holdem Bonus Poker. Much to my surprise, I found the
game to be very satisfying.
Texas Holdem
Bonus Poker is a newcomer to gambling industry. You'll find Texas
Holdem Bonus Poker offered in many brick and mortar casinos, but
there are very few online casinos that offer the game. If you're looking
for an online casino that has Texas Holdem Bonus Poker, InterCasino
gets our recommendation. Note: like most online casinos, you're able
to download and try the games for free.
Texas Holdem Bonus Poker - Game play
As
with most casino table games, you play against the dealer/house instead
of gambling/betting against other players. Each player makes an ante bet
and may make an optional bonus bet. The player and dealer are both dealt
2 face-down cards. After checking your hole cards, your must decide whether
to play or fold. If you fold, you lose your initial ante. If you like
your hand and want to continue, you must make a pre-flop bet
of equal value to your initial wager.
3
community cards are then dealt to the board. At this point, you must decide
to check or make a bet. Another card is dealt to the board (making
4 cards in total on the board) and again, you decide to check or to make
a bet. One more card is dealt to the board(making 5 in total). The player
and dealer make their best 5 card poker hand from their own hand and 5
board cards.
If
the dealer's hand is better than the player's hand the player loses all
bets. If the dealer's hand is equal to the player's hand, all bets are
a push. If the player's hand is better than the dealer's hand, the player
wins even money on the flop, turn and river bets. The player also wins
even money on the ante bet if his best hand is a straight or better, otherwise
the ante bet pushes.
Bonus
Bets
If
you've placed a bonus bet and your hole cards are: a pair, A-K,
A-Q, or A-J you win a bonus amount according to the casino pay
table. This bet pays even if the player does not beat the dealers hand.
Texas
Holdem Bonus Poker - Tournaments
(InterCasino)
Intercasino
also has Texas Holdem Bonus Poker tourneys. In the tournament,
the object for the player is to accumulate the most chips possible during
90 minutes of play (starting out with 1,000 chips.) The tournament is
open to all players during a given month. At the end of the month, the
prize pool is distributed among the top placed players. $3,000 goes to
the winner.
Bonus!
Preflop Strategy for Texas Holdem Bonus Poker
Before
anteing up on the Texas Holdem Bonus tables I searched the internet for
a strategy guide. Alas, my search was fruitless (one of the few times
Google has failed me) and I was left to my own devices. Fortunately, I
had just the device in mind: I have quite a library of Holdem books and
one of those books is “Harrington on Holdem #2” (one of three
volumes in Harrington on Holdem series.) On pages 365-368 Dan Harrington
discusses “Hand Rankings in Heads up Play.” In particular,
he charts the strengths of all the starting hands (top 10%, top 20% etc.)
I decided to use Harrington’s “chart” to choose which
preflop hands I would play versus the casino dealer. I only played hands
that ranked in the top 50 percentile. If my hole cards were weak, I folded
my ante and went onto the next hand. I have a good win rate using this
preflop strategy (and if you choose to give it a try, I hope you do too!)
For those that don’t have Action Dan’s book, I’ve listed
the hands that fall in the 50% range… you want to play these hands
and/or anything stronger:
Hole
Card Rankings in Heads Up play
p.366, Harrington on Holdem Volume #2
Top
%50 (in an all-in preflop confrontation against a random hand)
Any
Pocket Pair: 22 or higher
Suited Non-Pairs: Q4-Q2, J7-J5, T8, T7, 98 (and higher)
Un Suited Non-Pairs: K3, K2, Q7-Q5, J8, T9 (and higher)
We
hope you've found this "Texas Holdem Bonus Poker" article useful
and interesting. Good luck on the tables!
|
