What are your thoughts on Ultimate Texas Hold'em?

Dear Frank,

I cruised on the NCL Majesty last week and was taking a beating on craps and blackjack so I took a shot at their Ultimate Texas Hold'em game. You play against the dealer and have "bonus" plays in addition to the basic ante/bet.

You play $15 per hand minimum (with the one mandatory bonus/$5, bet/$5 and ante/$5) and have the optional bonus that pays on 3 of a kind or higher. You can raise 4x your bet before the flop and 2x after the flop, 1x after the river before the dealer shows his hand.

I won all three sessions I played but felt it was luck rather than a low house vig. It was pretty entertaining because when you hit on a boat, straight or flush the payoff was around $100 or better on the $20 layout. What are your thoughts on the game?

Sincerely,
Jack

Hi Jack:

It seems to me that of all the new games, this one might not be so bad. Check out the Wizard of Odds site (http://wizardofodds.com/ultimatetexasholdem) where he does an exhaustive mathematical analysis of the game and takes a look at some of the best strategies for playing the various hands. According to him this is a difficult game to analyze but he seems to have done a wonderful job.

For your letter I am giving you a free 10-day subscription to my private members-only website at www.goldentouchcraps.com. We have over 5,000 members on this members-only site and the conversations are lively, interesting and fun.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete