Casino War — Learn the Game and Where To Play

Best Sites To Play Casino War Online for Real Money

Let’s get straight into it. Here are the top Casino War online gambling sites:

• BetUS  – Best Casino War Games Variety
• Wild Casino  – Best Bonuses for Casino War Table Games
• Super Slots  – Best Live Casino War Site

How We Choose the Top Casino War Sites To Recommend

We’ve assessed these online Casino War gambling sites from top to bottom. We use these criteria to make sure you land at a safe online casino that lets you focus on enjoying the game.

Not only that, we analyze Casino War sites using the Jackpot Meter, our proprietary casino rating system that deploys AI to automatically scan the internet for gambling sites reviews; both from industry experts and actual players. Doing so enables us to name online casinos with more positive than negative reviews as Jackpot Certified — and to name it Bust when the site doesn’t live up to player expectations and industry standards.

Here’s a look at some of the things we focus on when reviewing Casino War sites:

• Casino War Game Selection: We scope out a site’s game library to see what Casino War options are available. We prefer online casinos offering side bets, multi-hand options, and live dealer versions. 
• Favorable Rules: We check the specific rules for each Casino War game a site offers to see which gives you the best chances of winning. More specifically, we look at the decks it uses, the payout rates, and what happens when there’s a tie.
• User Interface and Gameplay: We test the site’s user experience for ourselves by playing its games on desktop and mobile apps. We look for an intuitive interface, smooth gameplay, and quick load times. We even test sites under weaker internet conditions to see how they perform with less stable Wi-Fi.
• Site Security: Security is always a huge priority. We verify each casino’s licensing and regulatory compliance to ensure they operate legitimately. We also check for advanced security protocols, like TLS encryption, to protect user information.
• Bonus Value: War Casino tends to have a low house edge and a pretty good chance of a push. It usually doesn’t get as many bonuses and promotions as other casino games like slots. Still, we read the site’s fine print to see which welcome offers, deposit matches, cashback, and other ongoing bonuses mention war games in their contribution rates.

Casino War Rules

Casino War is a simple, fast-paced card game where it’s just you against the dealer, duking it out with six standard decks of 52 cards each. Both of you receive one card each round, with the goal of drawing a higher card than the other.

If you draw a higher card than the dealer, you win and get an even payout on your bet. If it’s lower than the dealer’s, you lose your bet. In the case of a tie—you and the dealer have cards of the same rank—you have two options: surrender or go to war:

• Surrendering means you forfeit half of your original bet and get back the other half.
• Going to war means placing an additional bet equal to your original wager.

Card rankings follow the classic order: aces are high, and twos are low. 

Tie Bets

If you hit a tie (which has a 7.4% chance of happening), you can either surrender or go to war. If you tossed some chips on the tie bet at the beginning, this could bring a much bigger smile to your face. This side bet is available in most online Casino War games and pays out nicely, usually at odds like 10 to 1.

Going to War

Going to war involves doubling your original bet. You also get another shot to bet on the tie, which consists of tripling your initial bet. Then, the dealer burns (discards) three cards and deals one more to you and themselves. If the dealer’s card is higher, you lose both bets. But if your new card beats or matches the dealer’s, you win even money on your original bet plus the extra you placed for going to war. No gain, no loss.

How To Play Casino War Online at Gambling Sites  

Now that you’ve got the rules down, it’s time to play a few rounds. Start by creating an account with a US gambling site from the list above, logging in, and looking for Casino War using the search function.

The game’s layout resembles a real casino table, with you sitting across from the dealer. At the bottom of your screen, you’ll find a stack of virtual chips in different denominations—$1, $5, $25, $100, and so on.

Let’s walk through what a typical round of Casino War looks like:

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1

Place the Ante

Decide how much you want to wager. Just click on chips to select them, then tap on the designated betting spot on the table labeled “Main Bet” or just “Bet.” There’s also a spot for any optional tie bets you might want to make if you’re feeling lucky.

2

Dealing the Cards

Look for the “Deal” or “Play” button near the bottom center of the screen and click it to kick off the round. The dealer will then deal one card to you and one to themselves, both face-up.

3

Checking for Wins, Losses, and Ties

If your card tops the dealer’s, a message pops up saying, “You Win!” and double your bet gets added to your balance. Otherwise, you’ll see a message like “Dealer Wins” or “No Wins.”

4

Playing Tie Hands

In the event of a tie, the game prompts you to Surrender or Go to War. Surrendering ends the round right there. But if you go to war, the game automatically doubles your original bet by adding extra chips to the betting area. Going for the tie bet triples that amount.

5

Going to War

If you go to war, the dealer burns three cards and deals two more to both of you. If your new card is higher than theirs, a message says, “You Win the War!” and you’ll get even money on your initial bet. But if the dealer’s card is higher, you lose both original and war bets. If the second set of cards also matches, most variants hand out a bonus payment at 2:1. If you place that extra tie bet, you’ll get 10:1.

Casino War Odds

Classic Casino War uses six decks of cards, which gives us a solid base to calculate the odds. When you and the dealer each receive a card, you’ve got about a 46.3% chance of winning. There’s also roughly a 7.4% chance that both cards will be the same rank, leading to a tie.

At first glance, it might seem like you’ve got an equal chance of winning or losing, which would suggest there’s no house edge. But the key factor lies in how ties are resolved.

House Edge for Casino War Explanation

The house edge in Casino War represents the built-in mathematical edge that the casino has over you within the game.

Let’s consider your bet as 1 unit. 

• Winning a Hand: When you win, you get an even money payout—so you win a unit.

• Losing a Hand: When you lose, your bet is taken away. You’ve lost a unit. 

So far, it’s a fair game.

Ties are where the house gains its edge in Casino War. No matter what option you choose—surrendering or going to war—the expected return is slightly less favorable.

• If you surrender: You lose half your original bet. This means you will lose half a unit.

• If you go to war, you must double your original bet (so now you’ve bet 2 units in total).

• Winning the war gets you even money on your war bet + a push of the original one. That’s 3 units in total. Net gain is one unit.
• If you lose the war, you lose both your original and additional bets. That’s a net loss of two units.

Calculating the House Edge of Casino War

• Always Going to War on Ties: This is generally considered the optimal strategy. You’ve got a slightly better than 50% chance to win because getting a tie now would end in your favor. With this, the house edge is around 2.88%.
• Always Surrendering on Ties: If you surrender every time there’s a tie, the house edge increases to about 3.70%.

Winning Casino War Strategy and Tips

Having a strategy can help improve your odds when you play Casino War online for real money. Here are five expert tips to consider:

Prepare for Battle! Will You Win the War?

Casino War is a straightforward game that leaves little chance for error. This can be perfect if you’re looking for a relaxed gambling session where you only need to make a few key decisions to affect the outcome.

When looking for the best place to play, BetUS is a solid choice for variety. On the other hand, Wild Casino lets 5% of all Casino War bets contribute toward meeting promotion wagering requirements. Once you’re ready to play, make sure to set a budget, focus on multi-hand games, and never surrender the ties.

Set up an account now to find some solid demos to try out.

Charlon

Muscat

Content Specialist

Articles

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All the way from the renowned iGaming hub of Malta, Charlon has been contributing to the gambling industry since 2019. He began his career at Paddy Power™, but the onset of the pandemic led him to swap his nine-to-five for a life of full-time travel.Throughout his journey, Charlon developed a successful freelance career, leveraging his prior industry knowledge and focusing on analyzing online casinos, sportsbooks, slots, payment methods, and current trends and strategies through the lens of an actual player.

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