Rules of Play

The game shall be played using an automatic card shuffling device with two standard 52-card decks and no jokers. Each deck shall alternate after each round of play. Furthermore, each deck of cards shall have a different color on the back to differentiate the two decks being used. One deck shall be shuffled by the automatic card shuffling device while the other deck is being dealt or used to play the game. Both decks shall be continuously alternated during each round of play. Alternatively, the game may be dealt from a card shoe. The game shall be played on a table that accommodates up to seven players and a player-dealer position for a total of eight seated positions. Within each betting area for each seated position, there shall be five separate betting spaces specifically designated for five wagers; the Ante, the Blind, the Play, the Trips Bonus, and the Bad Beat Bonus. Each wager shall have clearly defined minimum and maximum limits that may be wagered. In order to place a wager, a player must wager at least the table minimum. Back-line betting is permitted for all wagers at the table.

The game does not utilize an "action" button or any other marker to determine which player receives first action on their wager. Wagers shall be settled starting with the player to the left of the player-dealer and shall continue in a clockwise manner around the table until all wagers have received action to the extent of the player-dealer's wager, according to the rules of when the player-dealer hand qualifies or not, as shown below.

Object of the Game, Card Rankings, and Hand Rankings

The object of the game is for players to form a five-card poker hand that ranks higher than the player-dealer's five-card poker hand. The players and the player-dealer may use any combination of the two cards initially dealt to them at the beginning of the game, referred to as "hole" cards, and the five cards dealt on the table throughout the course of the game, referred to as "community" cards or "the board" cards, or they may play the board by using no hole cards and just using the five community cards, to make the highest ranking five-card poker hand, according to the rankings as shown below.

The rank of each card used in Ultimate Texas Hold'em Bad Beat Bonus, in order of highest to lowest rank, shall be: ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2. All suits shall be considered equal in rank. The ranking of hands for Ultimate Texas Hold'em Bad Beat Bonus, in order from the highest to lowest rank, shall be:

Round of Play

At the start of a game, a player is offered the player-dealer position. Once a player-dealer position has been established for that game, the house dealer shall wait for each player to make their wager in accordance with the table limits.

Each player must place the following wagers. Furthermore, each wager must be of equal amounts:

• Place an Ante wager which pays 1 to 1;

• Place a Blind wager which pays according to the pay table as shown below.

Each player then has the option to place the following wager:

• Place a trips Bonus wager which pays according to the pay table, as shown below.

• Place a Bad Beat Bonus wager which pays according to the pay table, as shown below.

Once the player-dealer has been established and all players have posted their wagers by placing gaming chips on the appropriate betting areas of the table layout, keeping in mind the table minimum and maximum wagering limits, the house dealer shall remove cards from the automatic card shuffling device in stacks of two, which shall be dealt face-down to each player, starting with the player to the left of the player-dealer and continuing clockwise around the table until all players that placed both the Ante wager and the Blind wager have two cards. The player-dealer shall then receive two cards face-down. The player-dealer is the last position to receive their cards. Once each player has received their two-hole cards, each player will be given the following two options, starting with the player to the left of the player-dealer and continuing clockwise around the table:

• Place a Play wager which, at the player's discretion, shall be either three or four times the amount of their Ante wager;

• Check their hand and place no additional wager at this time.

After all players have acted in turn, the house dealer shall remove five consecutive cards from the automatic card shuffling device and place them face-down on the table. These are community cards and shall be made available to all players and the player-dealer. The remaining cards in the automatic card shuffling device shall be unloaded and placed in the discard rack without being exposed. The house dealer shall then take the first three community cards from the five-card pile and place them face-up on the table simultaneously. Once the first three community cards have been placed face-up on the table, players that did not place a Play wager prior to the community cards being exposed shall be given the following two options, starting with the player to the left of the player-dealer and continuing clockwise around the table.

• Place a Play wager which shall be two times the amount of their Ante wager;

• Check their hand and place no additional wager at this time.

After all players have acted in turn, the house dealer shall then expose the remaining two community cards by placing them face-up on the table simultaneously. There are now a total of five community cards face-up on the table, which is referred to as the board. Once the two additional community cards have been turned face-up on the table, players that did not place a Play wager up to this point shall be given the following two options, starting with the player to the left of the player-dealer and continuing clockwise around the table:

• Place a Play wager which shall be equal to the amount of their Ante wager;

• Fold their hand. A player folds their hand shall keep their cards face-down. Their Ante wager, Blind wager, and Bad Beat Bonus wager (if placed), shall automatically lose and be collected. However, if a Trip Bonus wager was placed, it shall receive action. The player's initial two-card hand shall not be considered. If there is a Three of a Kind or better on the board, the Trips Bonus wager shall win. If the board does not contain at least a Three of a Kind or better, the Trip Bonus wager shall lose. The hand shall be kept face-down and shall be collected by the house dealer, who shall then place them in the discard pile.

After all players have acted in turn, the house dealer shall expose the player-dealer's two-hole cards by placing them face-up on the table. Each player and the player-dealer may use any combination of the two hole cards initially dealt to them at the beginning of the game and the five community cards or the board cards, or they may play the board by using no hole cards and just using the five community cards to make the highest ranking five-card poker hand, according to the rankings as shown below.

How Wagers are Paid, Collected and Pushed

Once each player has set their hand and the house dealer has set the player-dealer's hand, a series of showdown begins, with each player comparing their hand against the player-dealer's hand. When reconciling wagers, the following two criteria shall be used for the player-dealer's hand.

Player-Dealer Hand Does Not Qualify

The player-dealer's hand must contain at least one Pair or higher, otherwise the player-dealer's hand does not qualify, and wagers shall be handled accordingly:

• The Ante wager shall not receive action and it shall be returned to the player.

• The Blind wager shall receive action. It shall win and be paid by the player-dealer, according to the pay table below, if the player has a hand that ranks higher than the player-dealer's hand and is at least a Straight or higher. It shall lose and be collected by the player-dealer if the player-dealer's hand ranks higher than the player's hand. If the player's hand ranks higher than the player-dealer's hand but is less than a Straight, the Blind wager shall tie, referred to as a "push", and the wager shall be returned to the player.

• The Play wager shall receive action. It shall win and be paid 1 to 1 by the player-dealer if the player's hand ranks higher than the player-dealer's hand. It shall lose and be collected by the player-dealer if the player-dealer's hand ranks higher than the player's hand. It shall push if the player and the player-dealer's hands are equally ranked.

• The Trips Bonus wager shall receive action. It shall win and be paid by the player-dealer, according to the pay table below, if the player's hand has at least a Three of a Kind or better. It shall lose and be collected by the player-dealer if the player's hand does not contain at least a Three of a Kind or better. This wager cannot push as it is reconciled based on the hand held by the player.

• The Bad Beat Bonus wager shall automatically lose and be collected by the player-dealer.

Player-Dealer Hand Qualifies

If the player-dealer's hand contains at least one Pair or higher, the player-dealer's hand qualifies, and wagers shall be handled accordingly:

• The Ante wager shall receive action. It shall win and be paid 1 to 1 by the player-dealer if the player's hand ranks higher than the player-dealer's hand. It shall lose and be collected by the player-dealer if the player-dealer's hand ranks higher than the player's hand. It shall push if the player and the player-dealer's hand are equally ranked.

• The Blind wager shall receive action. It shall win and be paid by the player-dealer, according to the pay table below, if the player has a hand that ranks higher than the player-dealer's hand and is at least as Straight or higher. It shall lose and be collected by the player-dealer if the player-dealer's hand ranks higher than the player's hand. If the player's hand ranks higher than the player-dealer's hand but is less than a Straight, the Blind wager shall push, and the wager shall be returned to the player.

• The Play wager shall receive action. It shall win and be paid 1 to 1 by the player-dealer if the player's hand ranks higher than the player-dealer's hand. It shall lose and be collected by the player-dealer if the player-dealer's hand ranks higher than the player's hand. It shall push if the player and the player-dealer's hands are equally ranked.

• The Trips Bonus wager shall receive action. It shall win and be paid by the player-dealer, according to the pay table below, if the player's hand has at least a Three of a Kind or better. It shall lose and be collected by the player-dealer if the player's hand does not contain at least a Three of a Kind or better. This wager cannot push as it is reconciled based on the hand held by the player.

• The Bad Beat Bonus wager shall receive action. It shall win if the player has as Three of a Kind or better and loses to the player-dealer's hand or if the player-dealer has a Three of a Kind or better and loses to the player's hand. It shall lose if the player or the player-dealer's hand is less than a Three of a Kind. This wager cannot push as it is reconciled based on the hand held by the player and the player-dealer.

Blind Pay Table

Trips Bonus

• For each seated position, there shall be one separate and specifically designated area for the placement of a Trips Bonus wager. A player may only place a Trips Bonus wager if they have also placed an Ante wager and a Blind wager prior to the initial deal.

• Seated players as well as back-line bettors are eligible to place a Trips Bonus wager.

• The Trips Bonus wager may be less than, equal to, but may not exceed the Ante wager and the Blind wager. The Trips Bonus wager must be within the minimum and maximum table limits.

• The Trips Bonus wager takes into account the player's five-card poker hand using any combination of the two hole cards initially dealt to them at the beginning of the game, and the five cards dealt on the table throughout the course of the game, referred to as community cards or the board cards, or they may play the boards by using no hole cards and just using the five community cards, to make the highest ranking five card poker hand. In the event that the player's five-card poker hand is pre-determined and designated qualifying hand, according to the pay table below, the Trips Bonus wager shall win. The player shall receive a monetary payout based on the hand that the player has received and the pay table, as shown below. Any other combination of the player's five-card poker hand, other than the hands described below, shall lose. There is no opportunity for the Trips Bonus wager to push.

• If a player does not place a Play wager and folds their hand, the Trips Bonus wager shall still receive action. However, the player's two-hole cards shall not be considered. Only the cards on the board shall be considered to reconcile the Trips Bonus wager. If the board does not contain at least a Three of a Kind or better, the Trips Bonus wager shall lose.

• The Trips Bonus wager may win regardless of whether the player's five-card poker hand ranks higher or lower than the player-dealer's five-card poker hand.

• The player-dealer shall pay all winning Trips Bonus wagers and shall collect all losing Trips Bonus wagers. Once the player-dealer's wager has been exhausted, the wagers not covered by the player-dealer shall be returned to the players.

• Winning Trips Bonus wagers shall be paid according to the table, as shown below.

Trips Bonus Pay Table

Bad Beat Bonus

• For each seated position, there shall be one separate and specifically designated area for the placement of a Bad Beat Bonus wager. A player may only place a Bad Beat Bonus wager if they have also placed an Ante wager and a Blind wager prior to the initial deal.

• Seated players as well as back-line bettors are eligible to place a Bad Bed Bonus wager.

• The Bad Beat Bonus wager may be less than, equal to, but may not exceed the Ante wager and the Blind wager. The Bad Beat Bonus wager must be within the minimum and maximum limits, as shown below.

• The Bad Beat Bonus wager takes into account the player and the player-dealer's five-card poker hand using any combination of the two cards initially dealt to them at the beginning of the game, and the five cards dealt on the table throughout the course of the game, or they may play the board by using no hole cards and just using the five community cards, to make the highest ranking five-card poker hand. If the player has a Three of a Kind or better and the player-dealer wins with a higher ranked hand, or if the player-dealer has a Three of a Kind or better and the player wins with a higher ranked hand, then the Bad Beat Bonus wager shall win. The pay-out shall be based on the lowest hand that is beaten, regardless of whether it is the player of the player-dealer's hand. If neither hand qualifies, or if the player and the player-dealer's hands push, the Bad Beat Bonus wagers shall lose. There is no opportunity for the Bad Beat Bonus wager to push.

• The player-dealer shall pay all winning Bad Beat Bonus wagers and shall collect all losing Bad Beat Bonus wagers. Once the player-dealer's wager has been exhausted, the wagers not covered by the player-dealer shall be returned to the players.

• Winning Bad Beat Bonus wagers shall be paid according to the table, as shown below.

Bad Beat Bonus Pay Table

California Game

The game of Ultimate Texas Hold'em Bad Beat Bonus utilizes a player-dealer position and is a California game. The position shall be offered systematically and continuously in a clockwise manner around the table after every two hands. The player-dealer shall collect all losing wagers, pay all winning wagers, and may not win or lose more than the original amount wagered. Once the player-dealer's wager has been exhausted, the wagers not covered by the player-dealer shall be returned to the respective players. The gambling establishments does not participate in the actual play of the game and has no interest in the outcome of the play.

Ultimate Texas Hold'em is the property of Shuffle Master, Inc. All rights reserved.