Chicago Sun-Times: Cut your teeth on Texas Hold 'em at new table game

If you've got the itch to play Texas Hold 'em in a casino but aren't quite ready to don your shades and sit down in the poker room, a new table game called Texas Hold 'em Bonus Poker strikes a happy medium.

Texas Hold 'em Bonus Poker, owned by Progressive Gaming International Corporation, is approved in Indiana but currently available only at the Majestic Star Casino in Gary, although other properties have applied and will soon be bringing it on board.

It's played at a blackjack-style table with a 52-card deck. The object is just like it is in the "real thing": Make the best five- card poker hand using any combination of the two cards that you are dealt and the five community (board) cards. Each player compares his hand to the dealer's. The best hand wins.

The betting "spot" at each player position is an outline of the state of Texas in which there are five wagering opportunities: Ante, Flop, Turn, River and Bonus (more about this bet later). Play begins with each player making an Ante bet. Each player plus the dealer receives two cards face down, one at a time in a clockwise manner.

After looking at your two-card hand, you have the option of folding and surrendering your Ante, or staying in the game by making a bet on the Flop twice the amount of your Ante.

Next, the dealer burns a card and turns over the next three cards in the deck in the center of the table for all to see. These first three community cards are known as the Flop. Players now have the option to check (not place a bet) or make a bet on the Turn equal to their Ante.

The dealer burns another card and turns up the next community card, the Turn, in the center of the table. Players once again have the option to place another bet on the River equal to their Ante or to check.

The final stage of play is when the dealer turns up the fifth and final community card, the River, after which he turns up his original two cards in order to compare and settle the hands.

Players whose best five-card hand beats the dealer are paid even money on their Flop, Turn and River wagers. The Ante wager is not paid unless the player's winning hand is a flush or better or straight or better, depending on the house rule. Otherwise the bet is a push (here's where the house edge comes into play).

There's an optional side bet called "Bonus Jackpot" with payoffs based on the player's two-card hand to a posted pay table: A-A pays 30-1; A-K (suited) pays 25-1; A-Q or A-J (suited) pays 20-1; A-K (unsuited) pays 15-1; K-K, Q-Q or J-J pays 10-1; A-Q or A-J (unsuited) pays 5-1, and 10-10 through 2-2 (pairs) pays 3-1. This bet carries a fat 8.91 percent house advantage.

Another version of the "Bonus Jackpot" pay table offers 1,000-1 for an A-A at the same time there's A-A in the dealer's hand. This one has an 8.54 percent house edge. Both tables have a hit frequency of 1 in 10.5.

Bottom line? Try it for the fun, but as soon as you're ready for a low-stakes game in a live room, go for it. The "real thing" is a much better bet.

John G. Brokopp is a free-lance gaming writer. E-mail jbrokopp@sbcglobal.net.