Winning Casino War strategies

There are a few different ways you can decrease house edge at the game of Casino War. These mainly depend on how you approach the game and the key decisions you make while playing.  Never play the side bet There are a few different casino games with side bets that aren't worth the hassle and Casino War is one of them. 

The side bet in Casino War is a wager that rewards you with a 10:1 payout in the case of a tie; this can be quite tempting, especially when the rest of the game tends to pay out 1:1. 

However, as both the player and the dealer have a 46.3% chance to win each round, the chance of a tie bet coming in is only 7.4%. 

If you place a wager on the side bet, the house edge goes up to a total of 18%! This is simply too big to risk and could potentially see you lose a large amount of side bet wagers in the long run.

Never surrender, never give in! Casino War is a very simple card game to play. Both the dealer and the player get dealt a card and whoever has the highest card wins! The game is fast-paced and easy to learn. But we're overlooking one simple factor here: what happens when there's a draw? Well, that's easy, you go to war!

You have the chance to go to war anyway. If you choose to do so, then you double your wager and deal another card to both the dealer and the player. Then whoever wins the war round wins the wagers! 

There is the option to surrender, though, which means you automatically lose half of your wager, but you don't have to risk anything more. 

So, what should you do in the case of a tie? Let's have a look at the statistics. 

If you choose to surrender, you automatically lose. War, however, affords you another 46.3% chance to win. This puts you at great odds and the house edge falls to as low as 2.8%. 

This means no matter what happens, you should always consider taking your opponent to war! 

Variations

This might surprise you, but Casino War is not the original game. The history of Casino War extends all the way back to the 1800s in Germany, when Bettelmann (Beggar Man) and Tod und Leben (Life and Death) were played. 

Casino War

This is the version that is played most often in casinos for real money wagers. This version was originally patented and distributed by Shuffle Master.

Three Card War

During the war phase of the tie bet, you can be dealt three cards face down. You pick one to turn over at a time, meaning the tie is decided by a best-of-three cards, rather than just one. 

Multiplayer

If the game of War is played with more than two people, the cards must be dealt out equally to all players before play begins. In a three-player game, all players receive 17 cards. In a four-player game, each player will receive 13 cards. The game then continues until normal, with each player revealing their cards at the same time. 

The tie rounds work slightly differently, however. When a War is called, all the players will go to War, regardless of whether they were in the initial scuffle or not. When a player runs out of cards, they are then eliminated and the remaining players continue until one person has collected all the cards.

Bettelman and Tod und Leben

As the original game of War, both of these variations play the game slightly differently. Rather than the entire deck being played equally, one player will play with the red suits and the other plays with black suits. After this, the game continues as usual. 

Automatic War

If either player lays down a Two, no matter what suit, a War is declared. 

Peace

This is the opposite of War, in that the lowest card wins each round. This also extends to the tie rounds.