Guide · Table games
Boule and the French casino games
How boule works, why the 5 matters, how its house edge compares with roulette, plus a short introduction to chemin de fer and trente-et-quarante.
Read the guide · 8 minMost of the casinos in this guide offer two very different kinds of poker. In the poker room, you play against other people and the casino takes a fee, called the rake, from each pot or a charge for each tournament entry. On the main floor, at tables marked Caribbean Stud, Three Card Poker, Ultimate or Texas Hold’em Bonus, you play against the casino itself, and the casino has a built-in edge on every hand.
This guide explains the house-banked games: how each is dealt, what dealer qualification means, and how their house edges compare. It is not a strategy manual or a promise of profit. These games are designed so the casino wins over time, and no betting pattern changes that.
House-banked poker versus live poker
In live poker, the cards you are dealt matter less than your decisions relative to other players: when to bet, fold or bluff. The casino is indifferent to who wins; it simply earns the rake. A skilled player can have an edge over weaker opponents, although most players lose once the rake is counted.
In house-banked poker, the other players at the table are irrelevant to your result. Each person plays their own hand against the dealer’s hand, bluffing is impossible and the rules for what the dealer does are fixed. Your only choices are how much to bet at set moments and whether to fold, and the pay tables are calibrated so that even perfect decisions leave the house ahead.
Caribbean Stud
You place an ante and receive five cards face down; the dealer receives five cards with one face up. After looking at your hand, you either fold and lose the ante, or raise, adding a bet usually worth twice the ante. The dealer then reveals their hand.
The dealer must qualify with ace-king or better. If the dealer does not qualify, your ante is paid at even money and the raise is returned, whatever you hold. If the dealer qualifies and beats you, you lose both bets; if you beat the dealer, the ante pays even money and the raise pays according to a bonus table that rises with the strength of your hand. Many tables add an optional side bet linked to a progressive jackpot, which typically carries a much higher house edge.
With optimal decisions, the house edge on Caribbean Stud is about 5.2 per cent of the ante. Because you often raise, the loss as a share of everything you put on the table (known as the element of risk) is lower, at around 2.6 per cent. Both figures depend on the exact pay table, which varies between casinos.
Three Card Poker
Three Card Poker is quicker and simpler. You can play two separate games at once. In ante and play, you place an ante, see three cards and either fold or place a play bet equal to the ante. The dealer qualifies with queen-high or better; if not, the ante pays even money and the play bet is returned. If the dealer qualifies, the better hand wins both bets. An ante bonus usually pays extra for a straight, three of a kind or straight flush, regardless of the dealer’s hand.
Pair Plus is a separate bet on whether your three cards contain a pair or better. It ignores the dealer entirely and pays from a table of fixed odds. With the most common ante-bonus schedule, ante and play carries a house edge of around 3.4 per cent of the ante. Pair Plus varies much more: depending on the pay table, its edge can range from low single figures to over 7 per cent, so always read the table card.
Texas Hold’em Bonus and Ultimate Texas Hold’em
Hold’em versions put the familiar community-card game against the dealer. In Ultimate Texas Hold’em, widely offered in Europe as ultimate poker, you post equal ante and blind bets, and you have one chance to make a single play bet: up to four times the ante before the flop, twice the ante after it, or once the ante after the river. If you have not bet by the river, you must bet or fold. The dealer qualifies with a pair or better; if not, the ante is returned rather than paid. The blind pays extra only for strong hands such as a straight or better.
Texas Hold’em Bonus is similar but uses separate bets at each stage and often includes a bonus side bet on your first two cards. With optimal play, Ultimate Texas Hold’em’s house edge is roughly 2.2 per cent of the ante, or about 0.5 per cent of total action because you typically bet several units per hand. Rules, qualification and pay tables differ between casinos and even between tables.
Reading house edge and element of risk
House edge is usually expressed as a percentage of the first bet you place, the ante. In games where you add further bets, your average total stake per hand is higher than the ante, so the loss as a share of everything wagered is smaller. Neither figure is wrong; they answer different questions. The first tells you what a hand costs relative to your ante; the second compares games on a like-for-like basis.
What matters in practice is expected loss per hour: edge multiplied by the amount you wager multiplied by the number of hands. House-banked poker is dealt fast, often 50 or more hands an hour at a quiet table, and larger raises mean more money in play. A modest-looking percentage can therefore produce a meaningful hourly cost.
Etiquette at the table
Most casinos require that players do not share information about their cards at house-banked poker tables, because knowledge of other hands changes the odds. Keep your cards on the table and in view, do not use a phone at the table, and follow the dealer’s instructions on when to act. Chips go in the marked circles only. If you are unsure of the rules, ask before you sit: dealers are happy to explain during a quiet moment.
Where these games appear in our five casinos
The French Barrière casinos in Deauville and Cannes list ultimate poker alongside roulette and blackjack; Cannes also runs Texas Hold’em in its poker room. Casino Velden is licensed for Ultimate Texas Hold’em and hosts a major poker festival. Casino Estoril has a busy poker room and offers house-banked variants from time to time, and Baden-Baden focuses on live Texas Hold’em. Line-ups change, so check with the casino before you go.
At a glance
| Game and bet | Dealer qualifies with | House edge (of ante) | Element of risk (of total action) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caribbean Stud — ante and raise | Ace-king or better | ≈ 5.2% | ≈ 2.6% |
| Three Card Poker — ante and play | Queen-high or better | ≈ 3.4% | ≈ 2.0% |
| Three Card Poker — Pair Plus | Not applicable | Varies by pay table (≈ 2–7%+) | Same as house edge |
| Ultimate Texas Hold’em — base game | Pair or better | ≈ 2.2% | ≈ 0.5% |
| Progressive jackpot side bets | Not applicable | Often high; varies | Same as house edge |
Figures assume standard rules and optimal decisions; casinos may use different pay tables. Figures are mathematical averages, not predictions of any session.