Wed, Feb 5, 12:10pm by William Brown
Last Updated Tue, Jul 14, 11:26pm
There is no casino game more basic than Casino War. Chances are you’ve played it without even knowing.
The concept is simple. The dealer deals a card to each of the participants. If the player’s card is higher than the dealer’s, the player wins. If the dealer’s card is higher, the dealer wins. Draw and you’ll go to war. That’s it, simple as that!
The game can trace its roots to the Middle Ages. During the biggest outbreak of the bubonic plague, millions of people were confined to their homes. As entertainment, people started playing various card and board games to pass the time. This game was known simply as War.
War had a resurgence in popularity during the early twentieth century. An enterprising Las Vegas casino mogul had the idea of introducing the game to a casino, giving players the chance to officially gamble on it. The name was changed to Casino War and a true casino classic was born.
The game is easy to play. Like any table game, the first thing you need to do is place your bet. The first bet is straightforward. Your bet must match or exceed the minimum table bet. After all, the players at the table have made their wager, each player will be dealt one card, including one for the dealer. The game is played with six standard decks.
Cards have the same value as they do in online poker, the Ace being the highest card. All the players who have been dealt cards larger than the dealer will win at even money. Players who were dealt lower cards will lose their initial wager.
The game gets interesting when a player’s card ties with the dealer’s card. In this event players have two options; they can surrender their bet and forfeit the initial wager, or they can go to war.
To go to war, the player must first meet their initial bet. After that, the dealer will burn three cards before dealing each qualifying participant (including the dealer) a new card.
If the player’s second card beats the dealer’s card, then the player will win at even money on the raise only, and the original wager will push.
If the dealer’s card is higher than the player’s, the player will lose the full bet.
On the initial card, there is no house edge. So how is this attractive to a casino? The edge is gained from going to war. When going to war you only win your second wager. For example, say your initial bet is for $10, when you go to war you have to match your bet, making the total $20, but you can only win an extra $10.
So, what happens when you tie with the dealer during War? Well, believe it or not, this is your aim. Hit the tie and you’ll win the three units of your bet, plus an additional unit from the Dealer. In the example given above, you will win $20 instead of $10.
There’s no point of trying to use a strategy in any casino game until you understand the game. But as you can see this one is pretty easy. Strategy for Casino War all comes down to betting.
Use a few of these tips and you’ll soon make the best of the Casino War gameplay. The easiest strategy is simply to always go to war. That’s it. After that, you can follow a couple of these rules, but as with all casino games, there is no guarantee that it’s a winning strategy.
Alongside placing your initial bet, you can also make an additional bet on the event of a tie. The payout is massive at 10:1. Before placing the bet, take a moment to consider the likelihood of this happening. At the end of the day, it’s just not worth the risk.
The chances of hitting the tie are too low to make the bet worthwhile.
Statistically, there is only a 7.4% chance of a tie. By placing this bet, you push up the house edge to 18.5%.
There is no advantage in placing huge bets. Unlike some casino games, there is no jackpot. So slow and steady wins the race, as they say.
For this reason, one of your best strategies is to consider placing the minimum bet.
The highest available card in Casino War is the Ace. It’s no surprise that this is the card you want.
Keep a lookout for Aces. If you haven’t received one for a while, you are sure to receive one soon. Get an Ace and you’ll know that you are guaranteed a win or a tie.
Knowing that one is going to most likely pop up soon increases your edge at the table. It’s always a good idea to stay alert at any casino table when playing Casino War, the strategy is easier than most.
No matter where you are playing, in an online or brick and mortar casino, it’s always a good idea to set yourself a limit.
You should also keep an eye on your time. Even if you are on a winning streak, it’s a good idea to step away from the table after a specific amount of time. It’s the best strategy to cash out on your winning streak.
Never gamble with money you don’t have. It’s dangerous and there is no guarantee you’ll have a win.
Once you have a win or two, it’s a great idea to keep your initial wager aside. That way no matter what happens, you won’t walk away from the table any poorer than you started.
As with the above strategy, you can also set time limits where you set your profits aside.
The biggest benefit is simplicity. There is no easier game to understand. All you need to know is the sequence of cards. Running from two to Ace.
Another benefit is that, at least in terms of the first card dealt, the casino has no edge. That means you have even chances of winning.
So far these are advantages of playing Casino War in general but there are some specific ones to playing online. One is that you can receive bonuses not readily available in land casinos, another is that you can play from the comfort of your home, or anywhere else as long as it’s available on mobile. Playing online also means that you don’t have to handle large amounts of actual cash.
There are two types of casino war bonuses. The first is a cashable casino bonus which you can keep after meeting the wagering requirement. The second is a “sticky” bonus where you can keep your winnings, but the bonus becomes null.
Although you can’t win real money on free-to-play Casino War, you can still play for free in several online casinos. This will give you the chance to get the feel for the game before sticking in any cold hard cash.
At almost all online and physical casinos, Casino War is generally played with six standard decks of 52 cards. In total that’s 312 cards.
The best rule of thumb is never to surrender. There is no benefit to surrendering. Whenever a deal results in a tie, you can surrender your wager or go to war. You can only win if you go to war. So that’s the best bet.
Generally speaking, no. Even though the payout is high, the odds of it happening are too low to justify placing the extra side bet.
During a few table and card games, you might see that dealers discard or “burn” cards between hands, or stages in the game. Casino War is no different. After a tie, in most variations of Casino War, the dealer will burn three cards before dealing the war cards.
In most cases, yes. But because Casino War has such a low house edge, it generally won’t contribute much towards wagering requirements.
