How to Play Ultimate Texas Hold'em Poker
March 22, 2022
Are you looking for new ways of playing poker? If so, an Ultimate Texas Hold'em game might be what you are looking for. It is one of the more recent poker games, having grown very popular for high stakes and amateur poker players.
But what is Ultimate Texas Hold'em, and what makes the game so popular? Don't worry; we have taken the liberty to learn the basics of the game and will share our insight in this article.
How does Ultimate Differ from Ordinary Texas Hold'em Poker?
Ultimate Texas Hold'em has many similarities to the original Texas Hold'em, with one significant difference.
Unlike Texas Hold'em, where you play against other poker players, you play against the dealer in ultimate Texas Holdem. Several players can play against the dealer at the same time.
There is also a difference in the way the poker table lays out.
There are five community cards and two hole cards in Texas Hold 'em. It is also the same in Ultimate Texas Hold'em, but there is a difference in how the payout works. The player has areas marked trips, blind, ante, and play, which determine the payout for the player.
Roger Snow of Bally Gaming Inc. developed this poker game, previously known as Shuffle Master. He created it with multiplayer electronic machines in mind for casinos.
But Ultimate Texas Hold'em has also grown in popularity as a table game. You can play exciting free online ultimate Texas Holdem games for practice and eventually high stakes as you become an expert.
Most legal online casinos on the US market, such as BetMGM Casino and Unibet Casino, offer Ultimate Texas Hold'em as in-app games.
For more information about the BetMGM App or registering an account, click the button below, and it will take you to the online casino registration page.
How to Play Ultimate Texas Hold'em Poker
The game starts with a player and a dealer. The dealer is also known as the house since this was originally a casino game. The table can accommodate six players plus the dealer.
The game uses an ordinary 52-card deck. The 52-card deck applies to both Ultimate Texas Hold 'em online games and land-based casinos.
Each player has four circles marked Ante, Blinds, Play, and Trips in front of him. The mandatory bets are the ante and the blind.
The player must place these bets before the dealer deals out the first two (hole) cards. In addition, players have an optional trip bet to boost winnings or keep as insurance.
In each betting round, the player will play up the ante. The ante bet is raised 3x or 4x after the hole cards, 2x in the second round, and a mandatory 1x in the final round.
The player wins by beating the dealer’s hand. The blind bet pays according to the player's hand ranking.
How to Deal Ultimate Texas Hold'em
- Each player starts by placing two bets; an Ante and a Blind. There are minimums and maximums for each game, depending on the house rules. These two bets are equal in the first betting round but will vary in subsequent betting rounds.
- Each player and the dealer get two cards after the first ante and blind bets. The hand rankings in ultimate Texas Holdem are the same as Texas Holdem. At this stage, the player can decide to bet 3x or 4x the ante depending on the strength of his hand. The bets are placed in the Play circle. The player can also opt to check, letting the ante bet stand as it is. If the dealer has less than a pair, the game comes to a push and starts.
- The game proceeds to the Flop round, where the dealer deals with three community cards. The player can bet 2x the ante or check again. The bets depend on the ultimate Texas Holdem strategy the player is using.
- The dealer deals with two community cards; the turn and the river, one after the other. Any player who checked twice must place a bet 1x the ante or fold.
- All players plus the dealer turn over their cards. Player hands that are stronger than the dealer’s hand win.
Comparing Hands in Ultimate Texas Hold'em Poker
- Any player who folded loses both the ante and blind bets.
- Any player with a hand better than the dealer wins the play bet.
- Any weaker hand than the dealer’s hand loses ante, blind, and play bets
- If the dealer fails to open, the player gets a refund of the ante bet
- If the player and dealer’s hands tie, the game is a push, and the player keeps the ante bet regardless of whether the hand was better than the dealer.
Blind Bet Payouts in Ultimate Texas Hold'em
You can only win the blind bet after beating the dealer’s hand. Different casinos have different payouts, but the most common Ultimate Texas Hold'em blind bet payouts are:
- Royal flush – 500 to 1
- Straight flush – 50 to 1
- Four of a kind – 10 to 1
- Full house – 3 to 1
- Flush – 3 to 2 or 1.5 to 1
- Straight – 1 to 1
- All other hands are considered a tie and have no blind bet payout
Ultimate Texas Hold'em Trip Bets
The Trip bet is placed as a side bet. It can boost your winnings. It is also something of an insurance policy because it pays whether your hand was better than the dealer’s or not. Standard payouts for Ultimate Texas Hold'em trip bets are:
- Royal Flush – 50 to 1
- Straight Flush – 40 to 1
- Four of a Kind – 30 to 1
- Full House – 9 to 1
- Flush – 7 to 1
- Straight – 4 to 1
- Three of a Kind – 3 to 1
- All Other -1
In Ultimate Texas Holdem poker, the house has a slight edge over the player, unlike dice or slot games. You can quickly build a tidy sum in a bankroll with some practice in this game.
