Introduction
Heads-Up Hold’em is a Table-Poker card game with similar rules to Ultimate Hold’em. Most of the gameplay in Heads-Up is actually borrowed from Ultimate Hold’em, except for two mechanics in the game: The allowed Play Bet and the Losing Odds Bonus.
Heads-Up as a variation is much less popular than Ultimate Hold’em, though its house edge is slightly better in favor of the Player when compared the two.
How to Play Heads-Up Hold’em?
Heads-Up Hold’em, like most Table-Poker games is played using a standard Anglo-American 52-card deck. The game can be played by up to 8 Players, with each individual Player having their own specific seat to take at the table.
The Play Zones (“Boxes”)
In front of each seat are each of the Play zones, or “Boxes.” In these boxes, Players will place various wagers as appropriate throughout the course of the game.
These boxes are:
- The Ante
- The Odds
- Trip Plus
- Pocket Bonus
- Losing Odds Bonus
- Play Box
Placing Initial Wagers
Before cards can be dealt, each Player must place equal wagers into the Ante and Odds boxes. These initial wagers will usually be restricted by posted Maximums and Minimums nearby the chosen table.
Once the equal wagers have been made into the Ante and Odds boxes, Players may choose to wager on one of the two optional bonuses.
Optional Bonus Wagers
- The Pocket Bonus is a wager that offers a payout for cards in the “Pocket”, or the two personal cards dealt to each Player.
- The other is the Trips Bonus, in which Players are wagering on their ability to form at least a three-kind meld or better in their final five-card poker hand during the Showdown.
Dealing the Initial Cards
Once Players have made their required and bonus wagers, the Dealer will deal two cards face-down to each Player, including themselves.
The Pre-Flop Betting Round
Once the above has been done, players will each be given the chance to make a wager during this Pre-flop phase, based on their cards.
This wager will go into the Play Box and must be 3x the initial Ante. If Players do not wish to bet at this point in the game, they may check instead.
Once each Player takes their turn, checking or playing as desired, the Dealer will deal the Flop.
The Flop
The Flop is three community cards, dealt face-up.
- After the Flop has been dealt, Players will once again take a turn to decide whether they will Play or Check.
- However, if betting after the Flop has been dealt, players must make their wager exactly equal to 2x their initial Ante.
Once again, once all Players have taken their turn, the Dealer will turn over the final two community cards from the deck.
The Turn and River
This is the Turn/River. If a Player has not yet made a bet, they are welcome to make a wager equal in value to their initial Ante into the Play box.
Otherwise, if Players feel they would be better off folding, they may do so now.
Folding and the Losing Odds Bonus
Folding surrenders all wagers in the boxes, but Players are not forced to make an additional wager. However, even if a Player would have won, they forfeit all rights to win payouts.
In addition, there is a “Losing” payout of sorts. Players do not need to make any additional wager to make this payout come into effect.
If a Player loses against the Dealer, despite having a very good hand, this payout will be triggered. The higher the losing hand, the higher the payout. This acts as a form of insurance, in a sense. This is the Losing Odds payout.
The Showdown
Once Each Player has had their showdown with the Dealer, using their two personal cards and the five community cards to form the best possible five-card Poker hand, they are paid appropriately or surrender their wagers as requisite.
End of Round
Once all money has successfully changed the proper hands, the cards are collected, reshuffled, and a new game of Heads-Up Hold’em can begin.
Rules
A short overview of the essential Heads-Up Hold’em rules by Galaxy Gaming can be found below.
- The Dealer must have at least a pair in order to qualify. If the Dealer does not qualify, wagers are pushed automatically. Any bonuses that would have paid out still pay out.
- If making a bet during the Pre-Flop, it must be 3x the Ante. During the Flop, it must be 2x, and during the Turn/River, it must be equal to the Ante.
- If a Player loses against the Dealer even though they had a strong hand, they still win the losing odds bonus.
- The Pocket and Trips bonuses will still pay out, even if the betting Player loses the Showdown with the Dealer.
Heads-Up Hold’em Payouts and Odds
While the normal Ante and the Play boxes pay out 1:1 on their earnings, the myriad of special bonuses in Heads-Up Hold’em, each follow their own special payout tables. These will be listed here, starting with the “Winning Odds” Bonus, the required bonus represented by the Odds box paid into at the start of the game:
Meld | Payout |
---|---|
Royal Flush | 500x |
Straight Flush | 50x |
Four-Kind | 10x |
Full House | 3x |
Flush | 1.5x |
Straight | 1x |
This paytable is only used when a Player has successfully beaten the Dealer. Anything less than a straight will result in a push on the Odds wager. If a Player was unable to beat the Dealer, but had a high hand, that is when the “Losing odds” insurance bonus kicks in. The Losing Odds table looks like the following:
Meld | Payout |
---|---|
Straight Flush | 500x |
Four-Kind | 50x |
Full House | 10x |
Flush | 8x |
Straight | 5x |
This paytable is used when a Player achieved the appropriate meld, but still lost against the Dealer. In this case, a Player is still able to recoup their losses, or possibly even make a profit despite losing.
There are also two other bonuses available: Pocket, and Trips.
Pocket Bonus
The Pocket table is based on the cards dealt to the Player personally, with the following payouts available for the following combinations:
Combination | Payout |
---|---|
Pair of Aces | 30x |
Ace Royale (Ace and King, Queen, or Jack) with matching suit | 20x |
Ace Royale without matching suit | 10x |
Pair of Non-Aces | 5x |
All other combinations of the pocket cards are losing hands that surrender their wagers to the Dealer.
90% of hands dealt at the start of the game are going to fail the Pocket bonus. Hence, it is normally not worth paying into at all. The payouts are so small considering that a 20x payout has only a 1% chance of occurrence.
The house edge for the Pocket bonus is about 4.5%.
Trips Bonus
The Trips bonus, like the Pocket bonus, pays out regardless of the Showdown’s conclusion.
Meld | Payout |
---|---|
Royal Flush | 100x |
Straight Flush | 40x |
Four-Kind | 30x |
Full House | 8x |
Flush | 7x |
Straight | 4x |
Three-Kind | 3x |
As its name suggests, the Trips bonus only pays out on Trips or better. All other hands lose. However, the Trips Bonus has about a 16% chance of payout and actually has a lesser house edge than the Pocket Bonus at 3%.
If you are going to play a bonus consistently every game, the Trips bonus is far and away the better of the two bonuses to pay into.
Example Hand
Imagine the following is your hand at the start of the Deal:
5♠ Q♥
If you made a pocket wager, consider it surrendered. This hand is not strong enough to wager 3x, so simply check. The flop reveals:
7♦ A♦ 2♥
Being unable to form a flush or even a pair during the flop is a bad omen. Although you should check, consider folding during the Turn/River.
2♣ 4♠
As expected, the Turn/River did not turn up anything in your favor. The best thing to do would be to fold.
All Table-Poker games are games of patience. Do not wager on hands that are likely to lose. Even with the Losing Odds bonus, you must still be able to form the meld to receive a payout from it.
Strategy Tips
Tip 1
As difficult as it is, ignore the sunken cost fallacy. Although it may seem to you that you’ve already waged so much money that one more wager into the play box is pointless, this is mathematically incorrect.
Any money that you place into the play box, in a game where you are likely to lose, is just throwing even more money away than you have to.
If you aren’t going to win the showdown with anything but a miracle, just fold. Save your money for the chance to win a later game.
Tip 2
Heads-Up Hold’em, with its many bonuses and paytables, should be played trying to win multiple small wagers during the same hand, rather than one large wager on one box or bonus.
By betting small and consistently, the odds of making money increase significantly.
Although it would be optimal to never play the bonuses, the Trips Bonus is low risk for a moderate payout. If you feel lucky, stick with Trips