Who gets paid: qualifying, the Blind and ties
Ante, Blind and Play each have their own rule.
At showdown, your best five cards are compared with the dealer's. Three bets get settled, each with its own rule.
The Play bet is the simple one. Win and it pays 1 to 1. Lose and it loses. Tie and it pushes.
The Ante has one extra condition: the dealer must qualify, which means the dealer needs a pair or better. If the dealer doesn't qualify, your Ante comes back to you (a push), whether you won or lost the hand. If the dealer does qualify, the Ante wins or loses just like Play.
The Blind is generous on big hands and stingy on small ones. If you win the hand, the Blind pays by this table:
| Your hand | Blind pays |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 500 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 50 to 1 |
| Four of a kind | 10 to 1 |
| Full house | 3 to 1 |
| Flush | 3 to 2 |
| Straight | 1 to 1 |
| Anything less | push |
If you lose the hand, the Blind loses, whatever you held. If you tie, everything pushes.
If you fold, you lose the Ante and the Blind. Any Trips bet is still paid on your cards.
Put together, with a $10 Ante:
| What happened | Ante | Blind | Play (4x) | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You win with a pair, dealer qualifies | +$10 | push | +$40 | +$50 |
| You win with a pair, dealer doesn't qualify | push | push | +$40 | +$40 |
| You win with a flush, dealer qualifies | +$10 | +$15 | +$40 | +$65 |
| Dealer wins with a pair | −$10 | −$10 | −$40 | −$60 |
| Dealer wins with ace high (doesn't qualify) | push | −$10 | −$40 | −$50 |
| Tie | push | push | push | $0 |
The dealer fails to qualify about 1 time in 6 (17.4% of the time). When they don't qualify, you lose the Ante's win, but you also can't lose the Ante.
Show the math: How often each thing happens
Over every possible deal where both hands go to showdown (2,598,960 boards × 1,081 player hands × 990 dealer hands):
- You win 47.97%, you lose 47.97% and you tie 4.07%. The game is symmetric until you make decisions.
- The dealer qualifies 82.59% of the time (789215/955604).
- You win and the dealer doesn't qualify 14.24% of the time. Those are the Ante pushes you'd rather have been paid.
Quiz
The dealer has ace high and you have a pair of sixes. You bet 4×. What happens to your Ante?
- It wins
- It loses
- It pushes
- It pays 3 to 2
Show the answer
C: It pushes. The dealer didn't qualify (no pair), so the Ante pushes. Play still wins.
Quiz
You win with a straight. What does the Blind pay?
- Push
- 1 to 1
- 3 to 2
- 3 to 1
Show the answer
B: 1 to 1. Straight 1 to 1, flush 3 to 2, full house 3 to 1, and up from there.
Quiz
You lose to the dealer's pair while holding a flush draw that missed. What happens to the Blind?
- Push
- It loses
- It pays 1 to 1
- It's returned because you lost
Show the answer
B: It loses. When the dealer beats you, the Blind loses.
Quiz
$10 Ante, you bet 2× on the flop and win with two pair. The dealer has a pair. What do you net?
- +$20
- +$30
- +$40
- +$50
Show the answer
B: +$30. Ante +$10, Play +$20, Blind pushes (two pair is below a straight).