Casino War

“Casino War” is based on the familiar card game called “War” that many of us used to play as children. The difference is that “Casino War” is played against the dealer in a casino. This game is probably the simplest casino game you can find and, what’s more, it has a great payoff as the player can beat the game at least 50% of the time.

The game is played with six decks of 52 cards each (without the Jokers). The cards are ranked according to their face value. A Queen outranks a Jack, a King outranks a Queen, and Aces are always the highest. The Suits (hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds) are of no importance here and are ignored.

Game Play

The game begins with each player placing his or her bet. Then, the dealer and the player receive one card each. The player’s card is then compared with the dealer’s card. If the player’s card is higher, then the player wins equal money (2:1). If the dealer’s card is higher then the player loses his bet.

What happens if there is a Tie? That is, when player and dealer both have a card of the same rank? If a Tie happens, the player can choose one of two options. The player can “surrender”, in which case he will lose half his original bet; or the player can “go to war” against the dealer.

If the player choses to go to War, both the player and dealer must place an additional bet, the same amount as the first bet. Next, the dealer will discard three cards and then deal another card each to the player and dealer. This time, if the player’s card is higher, the player wins the War. The player will receive even money on the additional bet (the “War” bet) only, while the original bet is a “Push”, namely, the player keeps the original bet. If the dealer has the higher card, then the player loses both bets. If the player and dealer Tie a second time, the player wins both the bets.

In some casino, if there is a second Tie, the player receives a bonus round, equal to the amount of his original bet.

Going to War is the best strategy and your motto should be “never surrender”. If you enjoyed playing war as a child, then you will definitely enjoy this grown up version, which is much more thrilling.

You can play, Casino War in quite a few European casino, such as the Aspers Casino in London and Manchester 235 in Manchester, to name a few.