$1,000
Bankroll
Place your bet
Pick a chip, then deal.
Ray · seat 1
Nadia · seat 3
Dealer
VS
You
Dealer’s War Card
VS
Your War Card
--
Ante--
Tie Bet--
Raise
Ante size
--
Tie Decision Accuracy
0
Hands
$0
Net
Recent Hands
Played hands show up here with the cards, the result, and any tie decision you made.
Casino War runs on the same rules as the card game most people learned as kids. There is no hand to build and no chart to memorize, only two choices in the whole game: how much to ante, and what to do on a tie. Here is exactly how it works and what the math says about every decision.
The basic hand
- Step 1Place an ante. You can also add an optional side bet that your first card and the dealer's will tie.
- Step 2You and the dealer are each dealt one card. Aces are always high, suits never matter.
- HigherYour card outranks the dealer's. Ante pays even money, 1 to 1.
- LowerThe dealer's card outranks yours. You lose the ante.
- TieSame rank. You choose to surrender or go to war.
The tie decision
- SurrenderForfeit half your ante immediately and move to the next hand.
- Go to warRaise by an amount equal to your ante. The dealer burns three cards, then deals one more card to you and one to the dealer.
- War winYour new card ties or beats the dealer's new card. The raise pays even money and your original ante pushes (comes back with no win or loss).
- War lossThe dealer's new card is higher. You lose both the ante and the raise.
A tie on the war card counts as a player win under the standard rules used here. This trainer never runs a second war.
Why the edge comes from the war, not the first card
| Win outright or win the war | +1 unit |
| Lose the first card | −1 unit |
| Lose after going to war | −2 units |
House edge (always war) 2.88% of the ante
Element of risk 2.70%
Surrender house edge 3.70%
On the first card your win and lose chances are identical, about 46.3% each, with the rest, about 7.4%, landing on a tie. The house edge exists because a war win only pays your raise while a war loss costs both bets, win one, lose two.
Tie bet analysis
| Pays | 10 to 1 |
| Chance to win (6 decks) | 7.40% |
| House edge | 18.65% |
The tie bet only looks at your very first card against the dealer's, before any war. It is one of the worst side bets on the floor. The trainer lets you turn it on to see how it behaves, but the math never favors adding it.
Common mistakes
- Surrendering on a tie. It feels safe to take half your money back, but going to war is always the better play. Surrender pushes the house edge from 2.88% up to 3.70%.
- Treating a tie as bad luck. A tie only means the hand is not over yet. Going to war is a coin-flip-ish continuation of the same hand, not a new risk you are choosing to take on.
- Betting the tie side bet every hand. At 18.65% house edge it is one of the costliest bets in the building. Occasional fun money only.
- Expecting the raise and the ante to both pay on a war win. Only the raise pays even money. The original ante just comes back. This is exactly where the house edge lives.
Rules, probabilities, and house edge figures from Michael Shackleford, Wizard of Odds — Casino War, six-deck stingy rules (no tie-after-tie bonus). The trainer matches his published return table.