How To Play Casino War

Casino War is a one-on-one contest between the dealer and a player. Casino war is a game where you the player, play with a single card against the dealer. Come inside and find all the rules you need to know to play online. Your complete guide to Casino War, the two-card, military-themed casino game. Gambling News Magazine has all the strategies and tips you need to win. A tutorial about how to play casino war, either online or in a traditional casino. Includes an analysis of the house edge, odds, and probability for the game.

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Played with one or more standard decks of 52 playing cards, Casino War is a variation of a popular children’s game called “War.” As such, it is among the easiest of table games to learn and play. The main difference is the addition of wagering.

Most casino tables and online versions of the game use six decks of cards so that up to seven players can be seated to compete against the dealer. For multi-deck forms of the game, a dealing “shoe” holds the cards and a discard tray is used to collect cards as they are taken out of play.

Players wager on the turn of the cards. The goal is to win by receiving a card ranked higher than the dealer’s card. For Casino War, the Ace outranks the King and the King outranks the Queen, which in turn out ranks the Jack. The rest of the cards follow in order from ten down to two.

As soon as each player has wagered, one card is dealt face up to each player in turn, clockwise from the dealer’s left. The dealer’s card is dealt last, also face up. The players’ cards are then compared with the dealer’s one by one. If a player’s card outranks the dealer’s, even money is paid. If the dealer’s card is higher than the player’s, the wager is lost. After all of the players’ cards have been compared, the hand ends and a new deal begins.

A special situation arises whenever a player’s card and the dealer’s card are ranked the same. In this event, the player must take one of two choices: surrender or “go to war.” A decision to surrender means giving up half the wager and no more cards are dealt. Going to war, however, requires that the original bet be doubled.

When “war” is declared, the dealer burns three cards from the deck and then deals one more card face up to the warring player and one more face up for the dealer. These new cards are compared, and the higher ranking of the two wins. If the dealer’s card is higher, the player loses the raise as well as the original bet. If the player’s card is higher or the same as the dealer’s card, the player wins even money on the original bet and the raise is returned.

Some casinos use a slightly different payout system when the two “warring” cards also tie. The player is paid 3-to-1 on the raise but loses the original bet. Mathematically, this is equivalent to the standard payout, but it adds a bit of excitement to the chip exchange.

As an even-money game, Casino War can be played with progressive betting systems, such as Labouchere or Martingale. However, despite the appearance of 50-50 odds of winning, ties occur on about 7.4% of all deals. Because the raise bets have no payout and can only be lost or returned, the House edge overall is a bit over 2%.

How To Play Casino War

How To Play War Casino Game

When fewer than six decks are used in Casino War, the odds improve slightly for the player. Conversely, each additional deck added increases the margin for the House. Keep in mind that tables offering a surrender option have an even higher House edge than those which do not; surrender is never a good choice for the player.

One other variation becoming quite common is an optional side bet for “Ties.” It typically pays 10-to-1, which makes it a bad gamble. The margin for the House is between 18% and 35% on this particular bet.

Published on: 13/02/2012

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Casino War is a casino game based on the popular kids card game, “War”. The version players will find in casinos is modified than the one you played as a child, but you’ll recognize the format immediately. While casual players enjoy the nostalgia aspect of casino war, serious gamblers can appreciate that this game offers one of the best payout percentages among games that don’t require strategy. New casino visitors should know this means they’ll be as good as the 20-year veteran playing at the next table. Less experienced players might get the impression this game has no house edge, but it does exist, based on what happens when a tie occurs.

How to Play Casino War

The rules of Casino War are amazingly simple. Like blackjack, the game pits the player against the house (dealer). In most gambling establishments, the game is played with 6 decks. The hand ranks are the same as they would be in poker, though aces are always considered to be “11” and never “1”, though. Like in the original home-brew game, the suit of the card does not matter.

To start each hand, the player makes a wager. Once this happens, both the player and the dealer are dealt one card. The side which has the highest card rank wins. So if you’re showing a higher card than the dealer, you win the bet. If the dealer is showing a higher card, you lose the bet.

Ties

Peter Sellers Looks Ready to Play Casino War Online for Real Money

Ties are handled somewhat differently than they are in the classic game. You might remember in the classic game, the players “go to war”. The tied cards are a push and become the pot in an additional winner-take-all hand. For instance, if you and your opponent each draw a “10”, the two tens go in a pile together on the side. You each receive another card. If you received an “8” and your opponent received a “7”, then you would win both the 8, 7, and two 10’s. In the casino version, nobody wins cards, but the bet would be a push and an additional card would be dealt to the two opponents. The winning hand would win the original bet, but with one major stipulation.

How the House Gets Its Edge

How To Play Casino War

In the casino variant, the player must make an additional wager to continue in the hand and “go to war”, in this case an equal wager to the original bet. Let’s say you wagered $10 on the original hand and both you and the dealer received a “10”. You would have to make an additional $10 wager to continue in the hand. If you won, you would win even money (1:1) on the additional wager, though the original bet still would be a push. Therefore, you would wager $20 to win back $10 in return. The ties in casino war thus produces the house edge.

Second Deal

When you choose to play out the hand, the dealer burns three cards and then deals one card to you and one card to their hand.

Surrendering

Casino

How To Play Casino War Card Game

The option to going to war is to surrender after a tie. In this case, you only lose half your original wager. If you wagered $10, then you would lose $5 and surrender the hand immediately, with no chance of winning.

Special Rules

How Do You Play Casino War

In a handful of Las Vegas casinos, you’ll find special rules in case a second tie happens in one hand. Going back to the original scenario, if you each received “10” and chose to go to war, you might once again tie. Let’s say you and the dealer each receive an “8”. In this case, casino rules might pay out a special bonus to the player. In most cases, the bonus would be the amount of your original wager.

Tie Side Bet

Many gaming venues offer a side bet on the tie, too. In most cases, you would receive a 10:1 payout in the case of a tie. This sounds like a nice payout, but keep in mind there are 13 card ranks in a standard deck, so the odds are only 1 in 13 of being dealt a tie. As in most casino games, the side bet offers distinctly worse odds.

Odds, Probability, and the House Edge

The house edge on casino war sits between 2.28% and 2.33%, depending on the rules being used. You can expect to lose between $2.28 and $2.33 of every $100 you wager playing this game. While casino war has a lower expected return than blackjack or video poker, both of those games require strategy knowledge to optimize those low odds.

Casino War is more like roulette, craps, or slot machines, because the results are totally out of your hands. In comparison to those games, the odds of casino war are better than European roulette, much better than American roulette, and (typically) better than the slots. Only traditional baccarat, European roulette played with “la partage” rules, and the best craps bets have a better house edge among the games with no strategy component.

Play Online Casino War for Real Money

How To Play Casino War Game

Most online casinos offer the game in their basic software package. Though casino war is considered a kid’s game, it’s enjoyable enough for adult gamblers that a significant number enjoy playing it on the Internet. The online version is played in much the same way as the live version. In most cases, the software variants have the same house edge. Be warned that the game is played quickly, so you face the house edge many times per hour, if you play at top speeds. Don’t use the auto-play feature, because this burns your money quicker.

How To Play Casino War In Las Vegas

For those interested in trying out an electronic version of the game, several prominent sites offer casino war simulations. Also, several of the Facebook casino programs offer their version of casino war, so plenty of opportunities exist online to learn the game being playing for real money. Of course, anyone visiting a real money online casino can register for an account, download the software, and play for entertainment before making a money deposit. If any part of the instructions above are confusing, I suggest you do that before gambling on casino war.

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