Online Casino—Showdown Poker Rules

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Showdown Poker is a variation of a popular poker game, Texas Hold'em, where the object of the game is for the player to obtain a higher-ranking poker hand than the dealer.

Bet Types | Game Rules | Payout Information | House Way | Hand Rankings | Betting Strategy

Bet Types

• Ante Bet: Mandatory initial bet, which is placed prior to the dealing of the hand; amount equal to at least the minimum bet amount, which is stated on the table
• Showdown Bonus Bet: Optional bet, allowing the player to bet that there will be, depending on the Casino's pay table, a Three of a Kind (or Flush) or higher within some combination of the 5 community cards and the player's 2 cards

Game Rules

• Game uses a six-deck shoe.
• Cards are re-shuffled after each round.
• Cards are dealt in the following way:
  • Alternating between player and dealer, starting with the player.
  • Four player cards are dealt face down, then exposed to begin play.
  • Four dealer cards are dealt face down, then exposed once the player card selections are made.
  • Once the dealer is finished selecting the house's two cards, five face up cards are dealt as community cards.
• Ante bet required.
• Showdown Bonus bet optional.
• From the four cards they're dealt, players can do one of the following:
  • Select the two cards they wish to play, discarding the other two.
  • Split their four cards into two hands.
• If players split their four cards into two 2-card hands:
  • A bet equal to their Ante bet is placed on the second hand.
  • If they had originally placed the optional Showdown Bonus bet, the Showdown Bonus bet shall also be placed on the split hand.

Payout Information

• If players have a hand higher than the dealer, players are paid 1 to 1 (even money).
• If the dealer has a higher hand than the player, the player loses.
• If dealer and player hands tie, the player loses, as pushes go to the dealer.
• Players can win the Showdown Bonus bet even if their poker hand loses against the dealer's.

House Way

The dealer shall play the two-card hand appearing highest on the following list. In the event that two hands of the same rank are possible, then the dealer will play the cards with the higher individual rank. In the event the dealer's initial hand consists of Four of a Kind involving two suited pairs, (e.g. 8H, 8H & 8C, 8C) the decision on which suited pair to play shall be based on the alphabetical ranking of the suit (e.g. Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades). In the preceding example, the 8C, 8C would be selected and the 8H, 8H discarded.

Rule	Hand Example
A pair of 8's or higher
High card is an Ace and low card is Jack or higher
Any suited pair 2's thru 7's
Any unsuited pair 2's to 7's
Ace high and suited
Both cards ten or higher and suited
Both cards ten or higher and unsuited
Ace high unsuited
Face card high suited
Face card high unsuited
Connected cards suited
Connected cards unsuited
Two highest cards suited
Two highest cards unsuited

Showdown Poker Hand Rankings

Each player still in the game at the end will determine the highest poker value among his own two cards and the five community cards. Players are not requireed to both, or any, of their own cards.

Hand	Card Examples	Description
Five of a Kind, suited		Five cards of the same rank in the same suit
Royal Flush		A 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace in the same suit
Straight Flush		Five consecutive cards of the same suit in a sequence
Five of a Kind		Five cards of the same rank
Four of a Kind		Any hand of four like cards and any fifth card
Full House		Three of a kind with a pair
Flush		Any five cards of one suit
Straight		Five cards in sequence of any suit
Three of a Kind		Any hand of three like cards and two unmatched cards
Two Pair		Two pairs of different rank and any fifth card
One Pair		Any hand of two cards of the same denomination and one unmatched cards
High Card		Any hand of five cards of different rank and a variety of suits

Betting Strategy

The player should play the 2-card hand which appears highest on the following list. If the remaining two cards form a hand with expected value greater than zero (rank 26 or higher) then the player should split and play it as well.

Ranking of Two-Card Hands
Rank	Hand	Card Examples
1	Suited A's
2	Unsuited A's
3	Suited K's
4	Unsuited K's
5	Suited Q's
6	Unsuited Q's
7	Suited J's
8	Unsuited J's
9	Suited 10's
10	Unsuited 10's
11	Suited 9's
12	Unsuited 9's
13	Suited 8's
14	Suited A,K
15	Unsuited 8's
16	Suited 7's
17	Suited A,Q
18	Suited 6's
19	Unsuited 7's
20	Unsuited A,K
21	Suited A,J
22	Suited 5's
23	Suited K,Q
24	Suited A,10
25	Unsuited A,Q
26	Unsuited 6's
27	Suited K,J
28	Unsuited A,J
29	Suited 4's
30	Suited A,9
31	Unsuited 5's
32	Suited K,10
33	Unsuited K,Q
34	Unsuited A,10
35	Suited A,8
36	Suited Q,J
37	Suited 3's
38	Suited A,7
39	Unsuited K,J
40	Suited Q,10
41	Suited K,9
42	Unsuited 4's
43	Suited A,6
44	Suited A,5
45	Unsuited A,9
46	Unsuited K,10
47	Suited A,4
48	Suited J,10
49	Suited 2's
50	Suited K,8
51	Unsuited Q,J
52	Suited Q,9
53	Suited A,3
54	Unsuited A,8
55	Suited K,7
56	Unsuited 3's
57	Suited A,2
58	Unsuited A,7
59	Unsuited Q,10
60	Suited K,6
61	Suited J,9
62	Unsuited K,9
63	Suited Q,8
64	Suited K,5
65	Unsuited A,6
66	Unsuited A,5
67	Suited 10,9
68	Suited K,4
69	Unsuited J,10
70	Unsuited 2's
71	Suited J,8
72	Unsuited A,4
73	Suited Q,7
74	Unsuited K,8
75	Suited K,3
76	Unsuited Q,9
77	Suited Q,6
78	Unsuited A,3
79	Suited 10,8
80	Suited K,2
81	Unsuited K,7
82	Suited 9,8
83	Suited Q,5
84	Suited J,7
85	Unsuited A,2
86	Unsuited J,9
87	Unsuited K,6
88	Suited Q,4
89	Unsuited Q,8
90	Suited 9,7
91	Suited 10,7
92	Suited 8,7
93	Unsuited K,5
94	Suited Q,3
95	Unsuited 10,9
96	Suited J,6
97	Suited Q,2
98	Suited J,5
99	Unsuited K,4
100	Unsuited J,8
101	Suited 8,6
102	Suited 9,6
103	Suited 7,6
104	Suited 10,6
105	Unsuited Q,7
106	Suited J,4
107	Unsuited K,3
108	Unsuited Q,6
109	Unsuited 10,8
110	Unsuited 9,8
111	Suited J,3
112	Suited 7,5
113	Suited 6,5
114	Suited 9,5
115	Suited 8,5
116	Unsuited K,2
117	Suited 10,5
118	Unsuited Q,5
119	Unsuited J,7
120	Suited J,2
121	Suited 10,4
122	Suited 5,4
123	Unsuited 9,7
124	Unsuited Q,4
125	Unsuited 10,7
126	Suited 6,4
127	Unsuited 8,7
128	Suited 7,4
129	Suited 8,4
130	Suited 9,4
131	Suited 10,3
132	Suited 9,3
133	Unsuited Q,3
134	Unsuited J,6
135	Suited 10,2
136	Suited 5,3
137	Suited 9,2
138	Unsuited 9,6
139	Unsuited 8,6
140	Unsuited J,5
141	Unsuited 7,6
142	Unsuited Q,2
143	Suited 6,3
144	Unsuited 10,6
145	Suited 7,3
146	Suited 8,3
147	Unsuited J,4
148	Suited 4,3
149	Suited 8,2
150	Suited 5,2
151	Unsuited 7,5
152	Unsuited 6,5
153	Unsuited 9,5
154	Unsuited 8,5
155	Unsuited J,3
156	Suited 6,2
157	Suited 7,2
158	Unsuited 10,5
159	Suited 4,2
160	Unsuited J,2
161	Unsuited 10,4
162	Unsuited 5,4
163	Unsuited 6,4
164	Unsuited 7,4
165	Suited 3,2
166	Unsuited 9,4
167	Unsuited 8,4
168	Unsuited 10,3
169	Unsuited 9,3
170	Unsuited 10,2
171	Unsuited 5,3
172	Unsuited 9,2
173	Unsuited 6,3
174	Unsuited 7,3
175	Unsuited 8,3
176	Unsuited 4,3
177	Unsuited 8,2
178	Unsuited 5,2
179	Unsuited 6,2
180	Unsuited 7,2
181	Unsuited 4,2
182	Unsuited 3,2

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