Bet on Poker is a poker-based online casino game whose goal is to predict the outcome of a 5-player round of poker. It’s a live casino game made by Playtech, which means it’s presented by a real dealer. The game has 96% RTP with a minimum bet of $1 and a $1,000 maximum wager and is available on both desktop and mobile.
In 2023, leading casino software provider Playtech seems to have taken another look at its back catalogue of games. Although this provider is one of the most well-rounded companies around, their offers of games like casino poker left a lot to be desired compared to the competition. Bet on Poker is one way of remedying that, though it’s certainly not your classic live casino poker table. In this Bet on Poker review, we’ll walk you through how Playtech’s game works, how to play it, and whether it’s a good choice in the current live gaming landscape.
Game Specifications | |
---|---|
Game name | Bet on Poker Playtech |
Game provider | Playtech |
Game type | Casino Hold'em |
Streaming from | Latvia |
RTP | 95% |
Bet range | €1 - €1,000 |
Max win | Dynamic |
Side bets | Yes |
Supported platforms | |
Supported OS | |
Languages |
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
French
German
+12
All supported languages
|
Those looking to play poker online often have to compromise between live dealer tables and organized player-versus-player tournaments and competitions. Being LiveCasinos.com, we focus on the former – casino poker variants such as Caribbean Stud or Three Card Poker. In fact, there are multiple variants of live dealer poker available nowadays, but very few have the strategic depth of the original game.
Thankfully, live casino game providers figured out another alternative. What if they were to simulate a classic 5-player poker game and have players observe it from a neutral, third person? Then, players are able to predict which of the five hands will win the round, and in which way.
That’s essentially the gist of Bet on Poker. Think of it almost like a sports betting game, except the “sport” is a round of Texas Hold’em. Although this kind of approach decreases your feeling of engagement, it certainly offers a lot more interesting betting options compared to Three-Card Poker and similar titles.
Of course, Playtech wasn’t the first to think of this. A Betgames-powered Bet on Poker stream has been around for quite a few years now, and Betconstruct Bet on Poker was arguably the best implementation of this concept we’ve seen in live casinos until now. An industry leader like Playtech throwing their hat into the ring is likely to push Bet on Poker games into the mainstream, so let’s take a look at how it all fits together in practice.
Before we walk you through how Bet on Poker works, we should point out a few things.
While Bet on Poker is unique in the sense that you’re not playing poker in the classic sense, knowing the rules will help you immensely. Specifically, you’ll want to know how every hand in poker works and their relative strength.
Secondly, payouts in Bet on Poker are not fixed and depend on a dynamically-changing set of betting odds. Basically, the reward for a winning bet depends on how likely it was to win at the moment you placed it. The more likely your predicted outcome is to happen, the smaller the payout – and vice versa.
If you have any experience with sports betting, it can help a lot here. If not, scroll down to the Payouts section of this review for a more detailed explanation of how betting odds work in Bet on Poker.
Let’s go though all of the available betting options in Bet on Poker from Playtech.
The main game has six betting positions, numbered from 1 to 6. These are the six hands that you will be betting on. Your goal is to predict which of these six positions will win a round of Hold’em-style poker.
You can start betting before the cards are dealt. At this point, it’s all about luck, and every position offers odds of 5.29.
At the beginning of every round, a single standard deck of 52 cards is shuffled. Each of the six hands is dealt two cards face-up.
The game will then adjust the betting odds for each of the six hands. The odds are based on the relative strength of these cards – stronger hands get smaller odds and pay less if they win. Conversely, seemingly weaker hands award higher prizes.
Click on any bet to add it to the betting slip on your right. The main bets simply predict which of the six hands will win when the round ends, though there are additional betting options. You can add any number of bets in every round. You get multiple chances to bet in every round, and you can place new or additional bets every time. In fact, you can bet “against” yourself as new information is revealed or you simply want to hedge your bets.
After a short betting period, the first three community cards will be dealt. This is called the flop.
Community cards are placed at the table’s centre and used by all six hands. At this point, you should start noticing poker hands being formed – pairs, flushes, and so on.
After the flop, the odds for every possible bet will be re-calculated. Essentially, we have more information about the current round, so each bet has new probabilities and payouts. If you were to add any new bets at this moment, you would have to use the new, altered odds.
After a short betting period, the next community card is revealed. This is followed by new odds, a new betting period, and then the last card.
After all five community cards have been revealed the round ends. The hand with the highest-ranking poker hand wins, and all main bets associated with it win.
As we already mentioned, Bet on Poker does not have a fixed paytable. All payouts are inversely proportional to their likelihood of winning at the time you placed them. We’ll illustrate through an example.
At the start of the game, all six main hands have odds of 5.29. Since no cards are dealt, all six hands have an identical chance to win. However, let’s sat one of the hands gets a pair as its two pocket cards. At that point, that hand is by far the strongest. Betting on it would give you a smaller payout, while all other hands would have increased odds.
Let’s then say that the first three community cards give another hand a Three of a Kind hand. At this point, it would be the strongest hand, offering lower odds than any other hand. However, if you were lucky enough to bet on that hand before the advantage was revealed, your initial bet would still be active with the odds you accepted when you placed it. The odds continue to adjust with each new card.
That sums up the basics of strategy for Bet on Poker. The goal is to get the best prediction possible with the least information available. If you can do that, you’ll do great with Bet on Poker.
All bets in this game essentially have a 4% margin. Basically, the house has an advantage on every bet placed, which shifts the expected value. To translate – Bet on Poker has an RTP of 96% overall.
Make sure to choose the game that suits your taste and budget. For more extensive guides on live casino poker basics, read this article.
Bet on Poker is presented in the standard Playtech lobby with its usual interface. This means that you can adjust audio/video settings, language options, and much more in the panel to the right. Moreover, the game keeps track of results for the previous 100 rounds, as well as basic statistical analysis.
All bets are made through a simple betting slip, like in online sportsbooks. This part of the interface keeps track of all of the bets you have active in the current round. It also keeps track of the odds used to make them, giving you a predicted payout in case you win.
Playtech’s Bet on Poker also features an interesting option called Multibet. Basically, it allows you to combine several types of wagers into one and receive increased odds. For instance, you can roll a main bet, a combination, and a color/suit into one wager. To win a multibet, all three selections have to win. You’ll receive better odds than if you were to place them individually. However, if even one selection fails, the whole Multibet loses as well.