Played Ultimate Texas Hold Em' for the first time

BJ was killing me last Monday, had a total Griswold run where nothing I did created a win and the dealer was on auto pilot. One of the players at the table was curious about UTHE and so I started asking about it and decided to ditch the BJ table and try it out. There were several elderly ladies playing, several Asian, and one wanted to take me under her wing and show me the ropes. I figured since I know how to play poker, and thus know the hand rankings that I'd learn about how the betting works and then be on my own. Well of course they are all telling me that the trips bet is "where it's at", which to me means they like to throw away their money on hopes of hitting that one big hand. The gal who was showing me how everything worked had already lost $600 that day and was banking on that big one to win it all back. The table limit was $5 so I had that on the trips and didn't increase it. Everyone else was bidding more than there ante/blind on the trips. The guy playing at third base was playing $20-25 a hand and pulling out more $100's to stay in the game than I'd ever witnessed. He hit a straight flush on one hand and won $1050 which probably put him ahead a few hundred bucks. It didn't take him long to lose it all back and walk away. I wasn't read up on the strategy when it comes to betting before the flop, after the flop or on the river, so I was playing the minimum and going up and down, winning some trips/blind bonuses to stay in it and probably played for 4 hours on the same $100 I started with.

Though the cost per hand is a lot higher than what I play with BJ it was still fun, especially given the trips pays off regardless if your hand is a loser. The dealer hit a royal flush with spades on the last hand I played before leaving, lol.

http://discountgambling.net/ultimate-texas-holdem

Welcome to the world of UTH. It can be a fun challenge if you are tired of blackjack-type games. The expected loss, depending on the BJ rules and speed of play, can be less than BJ if played correctly. You can also earn back a lot of your action in comps. Make sure the trips bet pays 5 for the straight -- this is an acceptable 1.9% house edge, not bad for a bonus bet. The ante itself is a little more than 2% edge if played with expert strategy. The element of risk is about .5%. Make sure you have a large bankroll 'cause the variance can really get to you, especially if you lose a lot of the $30 hands. I've seen swings of thousands of dollars even on the $5 bet.

May I ask where you play?

This my one of my favorite card games to play. People do give you funny looks when you bet Queen 9 offsuit preflop. Yep, having a large backroll is a must. Waiting patiantly for Royal number Two......

I play at the 7 Cedars Casino in Sequim, WA. I don't have a large bankroll to play with, as far as being in the thousand dollar swings. $200 is the most I'm willing to lose, and that usually depends on whether or not I'm "ahead" as far as wins vs losses over my entire time playing. Once I get in the hole a couple hundred I step back and take a break for a couple weeks or so until I get paid and take care of bills and all that good stuff.

Quote: miplet

This my one of my favorite card games to play. People do give you funny looks when you bet Queen 9 offsuit preflop. Yep, having a large backroll is a must. Waiting patiantly for Royal number Two......

What was your bet when you hit the royal? The max bet here is $100. Fifty grand isn't too shabby of a pay day for one lucky hand. Minus taxes of course. Damn IRS.

On the website I posted two posts earlier, a guy relates the story of betting $50 on the Ante and $25 on Trips and hitting a royal. Payout was $26,450 (not sure about taxes). Another guy posted a photo of a dealt royal on the board. He was not betting trips, but another guy at the table had $15 up and got a $750 payout.

My biggest hit was getting a straight flush when I had $10 on ante and $10 on trips--$920 payout. I don't play at those high of minimums anymore.

Quote: teddys

On the website I posted two posts earlier, a guy relates the story of betting $50 on the Ante and $25 on Trips and hitting a royal. Payout was $26,450 (not sure about taxes). Another guy posted a photo of a dealt royal on the board. He was not betting trips, but another guy at the table had $15 up and got a $750 payout.

My biggest hit was getting a straight flush when I had $10 on ante and $10 on trips--$900 payout. I don't play at those high of minimums anymore.

Still a nice payout for one hand of cards. :)

Yeah, it was nice :). Still, nothing like a royal flush in Pick 'Em Poker--$1,500 payout on a $1.25 bet. Feels good to hit a 340,000-1 shot :)

Quote: derik999

What was your bet when you hit the royal? The max bet here is $100. Fifty grand isn't too shabby of a pay day for one lucky hand. Minus taxes of course. Damn IRS.

I bet the table min. of $3. $1500. Oddly I didn't get a w2g.

Derik - You will love this game once you learn it. I also highly recommended the discountgambling.net web site to learn the basic strategy for UTH.

The dealers - and other players - will mock you for going in 4x on K-6, or Q-J - but it's the right move. It's the only way to consistently get money from the casino.

$200 at a $5 table is about the least you can bring to withstand the swings in the game and still be able to survive. I've tried $100 a couple of times and have gotten wiped out in 10 minutes if things go bad. The swings are the key here - you've got to be able to withstand a bad streak....because the good and bad streaks are much more violent than in blackjack.

Yeah the simulated game for UTH is great. I like that it has the education function built in like WOO has with the card games so that you can memorize as the UTH table that is on discount gambling is sort of hard to follow with some of the terms, at least for me.

Given it shows other cards that can be seen when playing the UTH on that site, does this mean that you are permitted to glance at the other players cards or that the format is cards facing up?

Quote: derik999

Given it shows other cards that can be seen when playing the UTH on that site, does this mean that you are permitted to glance at the other players cards or that the format is cards facing up?

Face down but if you're with a friend or you have friendly co-players, the house usually won't stop you from showing each other your cards or sharing information.