Ultimately, casino war boils down to a game of high-card draw between the player and the dealer. Unless specified otherwise, casino war is played with a shoe consisting of six decks of cards. Both the player and the dealer must place a bet before a hand of casino war can commence.

Social Experience

In a land-based casino, war can be played between the dealer and multiple players. This can also be true for the online casino sites where live casino war is played. Please note that casino war can also be played without live dealers, with a virtual dealer competing with just one player.

High Card Wins

When the hand begins, the player and the dealer will receive one card each. To clarify, aces will always be ranked high while the remaining cards will be rated based on poker. Quite simply, the player needs to receive a higher card than the dealer to win with an even-money payout. Notably, the suit will have no bearing on the outcome of the hand.

The Tie Decision

The one wrinkle to casino war is that tie between the dealer and the player will complicate matters. In fact, this is the only significant decision in the game, and it isn’t guaranteed to happen on every hand. As such, the player must be ready to decide if they want to surrender and receive half of their bet back or else go to war with the dealer.

Going to War

When choosing to go to war, the player has to double their initial bet or else the hand cannot continue. The rules then dictate that the dealer will burn three cards before providing the player with a second card and taking one for themselves. The player can then equal or beat the dealer for an even-money payout on the war bet, while the original bet will push to the next hand.