How to play
Hold’em Duel is Texas Hold’em played heads-up against the dealer, with a single deck shuffled before every hand.
- Place an Ante and press Deal. You and the dealer get two cards each; yours are face up, the dealer’s face down. Three community cards (the flop) are dealt face up.
- Decide:
- Call: add a bet of twice your Ante. The last two community cards (the turn and the river) are dealt and the dealer shows their cards.
- Fold: give up the Ante.
- You and the dealer each make the best five-card hand from your two cards plus the five community cards. The dealer needs a pair of 4s or better to qualify.
- Dealer doesn’t qualify: your Ante pays by the table below and your Call bet is returned.
- Dealer qualifies and you win: your Ante pays by the table and your Call pays 1:1.
- Dealer qualifies and wins: you lose both bets.
- Tie (best five-card hands of equal rank): both bets are returned.
Ante pay table (paid when you win or the dealer doesn’t qualify):
| Your hand | Ante pays |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 100:1 |
| Straight flush | 20:1 |
| Four of a kind | 10:1 |
| Full house | 3:1 |
| Flush | 2:1 |
| Straight or less | 1:1 |
When you deal, you need enough credits left to cover the Call bet (twice the Ante). After you call, the cards that make your best five are highlighted.
Strategy
The only decision is on the flop, and folding costs one Ante while calling risks three. That’s why calling is right much more often than it looks: you only need to do better than losing the Ante outright. Our simple strategy, tuned by simulation:
- Call with any pair or better, unless the only pair is on the board (see the last rule).
- Call with four cards to a flush or four cards to a straight (open-ended or inside).
- Call with a Jack or higher in your hand.
- If the only pair is on the board, call with a 9 or higher in your hand.
- Fold everything else.
With this strategy you fold about one hand in five. In our simulation of 3 million hands it loses about 3.1% of the Ante per hand on average (give or take 0.3%), or about 1.2% of everything you bet. The big Ante payouts are rare, so short sessions swing a lot either way.
More poker against the dealer. Three-Card Challenge is quicker, with three cards each. Video Poker lets you draw to improve your hand.
If you enjoy Hold’em Duel, try Hold’em Raise or Hold’em Sit & Go next.
