How to Play Heads-Up Hold’em™ games

Heads-Up Hold’em™ turns the classic game of poker into a fun Casino game, where you compete against the dealer to see who can make the best five-card hand. Play now across a range of different stakes.

Basic rules and betting

Heads-Up Hold’em™ uses a standard, single, 52-card deck of cards. Players start by placing an equal amount on both the ante bet and the odds bet. In addition, the player can also wager on one or both of two optional side bets, called Trips Plus and Pocket Bonus.

The player is dealt two cards, and the dealer is dealt two cards, face down. Players have the option to make an additional bet, known as the raise, of 3x the ante bet. This is optional, and if the player does not want to make the bet, they can ‘check’ instead.

After the first round of betting is complete, the dealer deals three community cards, known as the flop. If the player checked before the flop was dealt, they can now make a raise of 2x the ante bet, or simply check again if they prefer.

Once the second round of betting is complete, the dealer deals the fourth and fifth community cards, known as the turn and river. This means there are now five community cards revealed on the board. If the player checked on both of the previous two betting rounds, they must now make a raise of 1x the ante bet, or fold their hand. 

If the player doesn’t fold, the dealer reveals their hand. The player and the dealer use any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards, to see who has the best hand.   

Winning raise bets are paid as even money (1:1). In addition, if the dealer opens with a pair or better, the dealer either pays or takes the ante bet. Winning ante bets are paid as 1:1. The ante bet pushes if the dealer has less than a pair.

Winning odds bets are paid according to hand value, as shown below.

Winning odds:

HandPays
Royal Flush 500:1
Straight Flush 50:1
Quads 10:1
Full House 3:1
Flush 1.5:1
Straight 1:1
All other Push

Losing odds:

HandPays
RegularMicro*
Straight Flush 500:1 500:1
Quads 50:1 50:1
Full House 10:1 10:1
Flush 8:1 6:1
Straight 5:1 5:1
All other Loss Loss 

Trips Plus side bet odds:

HandPays
RegularMicro*
Royal Flush 100:1 100:1
Straight Flush 40:1 40:1
Quads 30:1 30:1
Full House 8:1 8:1
Flush 6:1 7:1
Straight 5:1 4:1
Three of a kind 3:1 3:1

Pocket Bonus side bet odds:

HandPays
Pair of aces 30:1
‘Ace and face’ suited 20:1
‘Ace and face’ unsuited 10:1
Pair, 2-K 5:1

Please Note: Heads-Up Hold’em™ is a Casino game, and completely different to our Texas Hold’em poker games. See here for more about our full offering of poker games.

The theoretical return to player (RTP) in Heads-Up Hold’em™ games is as follows:

Ante Bet:

Regular: 99.36%
Micro: 99.17%

Pocket Bonus:

Regular/Micro: 95.46% 

Trips Plus:

Regular: 98.26%
Micro: 96.66%

* Micro refers to tables with micro stakes.