Casino War Table Game

Casino War is the casino version of the classic game of War and can be played with any number of decks. Aces are always high, and card suits don’t matter.

Learning to play Casino War may be the easiest task you will ever have, especially if you remember playing the card game War as a kid. The highest card always wins, and that is just about it. Of course this game is easier to play than Blackjack, 3 Card Poker, and Let it Ride, where you deal with multiple cards.

How to Play Casino War

This game is played on a casino table that is similar to the Blackjack table. The dealer is on one side is, and the players sit across from the dealer. The dealer will draw cards for each player, and then take a card for himself. The card ranks are then compared, and all players with higher ranking cards than the dealer win even money on their bets. However, if the dealer has a higher ranking card than any of the players, they all lose, and the dealer wins. Online Casino War is played identically to brick-and-mortar Casino War. A key benefit to the simplistic Casino War game is that the game can be offered usually through a browser, allowing the game to usually remain without the need for downloading software.

Ties in Casino War

Many casino games such as Blackjack will require a “Push” if there is a tie. This means the player neither loses or wins any money. However, in Casino War, a tie means the player must put up another wager equal to his original wager in order to “go to war” or forego half of his bet.

If the player decides to go to war, the dealer will also put up the same bet, though his bet is theoretically just for show. He then burns three cards and deals both himself and the player one card each. If this card beats the dealer, the player wins even money on the raise only and pushes the original bet. If the dealer’s card is higher, the player loses all bets.

Betting on the Tie

You can also place a side bet at the beginning of a hand predicting that the result will be a tie. If in fact the hand results in a tie, you will win 10:1. These odds might sound really good, but if you do the math you’ll realize the house has more than 18% edge when playing on a five-deck machine. This is an outrageous edge, and you have to be crazy to place such a bet (you would be better off playing Roulette).

Casino War Strategy

The gambling strategy in this game is rather simple and involves whether a player should surrender or go to war in the event of a tie. Since the house edge is about 3.7% if you surrender and about 2.8% if you go to war, the strategy is simple—never surrender!

Should you Play Casino War?

Of course you should if you want a simple and easy to understand game. The house edge, which is used to determine your odds of winning, is relatively low compared to most slot machines, so it is not a mathematically awful game. Nonetheless, this game is so straightforward and simple without much strategy or technique required, it’s hard to find it compelling for any length of time outside of just the novelty of playing one of your favorite childhood card games for money in a land-based or online casino.