Live Dealer Poker Strategy: What Actually Works and What Most Guides Get Wrong

Many live poker guides borrow advice from poker rooms: read your opponents, vary your bluffs, use a HUD. At a live casino table there are no opponents. Other players at the table each play their own hand against the dealer, and the dealer's moves are fixed by the rules. The only decisions that matter are whether to play or fold and how much to raise, and each game has a mathematically correct answer.

You get two cards, the flop is dealt, and you either call (2x the ante) or fold. The dealer needs a pair of 4s to qualify. Optimal play calls about 82% of the time, so the default is to call. Fold only weak hands that missed the flop completely: two low, unconnected cards with no pair and no realistic straight or flush draw. The AA Bonus side bet pays for a pair of aces or better and costs more than the main game.

You bet an Ante and an equal Blind, then may raise 4x before the flop, 2x after the flop, or 1x on the river. The earlier you raise, the more you can bet, so strong hands should raise 4x pre-flop:

• Pre-flop, raise 4x with any pair of 3s or better, any ace, and strong kings, queens and jacks (for example K-5 suited or better, Q-8 offsuit or better).
• After the flop, raise 2x with two pair or better, or a pair that uses one of your hole cards (except a pair of 2s).
• On the river, raise 1x with any pair using your cards, otherwise fold unless the dealer has few cards that beat you.

Played this way the house edge is about 2.19% of the ante, or about 0.53% of all the money you put on the table, because raises add to your total stake.

Play (match your ante) with Queen-6-4 or better and fold anything lower. The dealer needs Queen high to qualify. That single rule gives a 3.37% house edge on Ante and Play. More detail in our Three Card Poker guide.

Raise with any pair or better and fold anything below ace-king. With exactly ace-king the decision depends on your other cards and the dealer's upcard, and folding is often close to raising. The dealer needs ace-king to qualify; if not, you win even money on the ante only. At 5.22% of the ante, Caribbean Stud is the most expensive of the four main games.

• Side bets such as Pair Plus, AA Bonus, Six Card Bonus and the Caribbean Stud bonus pay big for rare hands and carry much higher house edges than the main game.
• Your stake per hand is more than the ante: in Ultimate Texas Hold'em a 4x raise means six units on the table. Size the ante to your budget with that in mind.
• Live tables run on a timer. If you do not act in time, the default is usually fold, so learn the chart before you play.
• Set a session loss limit; strategy lowers the cost per hand but does not remove it.