High Card Flush Game – Play Poker Games Online for Free

High Card Flush is an interesting and engaging poker-based game. It made its debut at Harrah’s Laughlin in 2011. Since then, it has become a popular asset to online and land-based casinos.

Similar to Caribbean Stud Poker and Three Card Poker, High Card Flush follows a fold or raises the structure. Despite some differences in hand rankings, the game itself needs players to make the highest possible flush out of seven cards.

How to Play High Card Flush

High Card Flush is a straightforward game. It is easy to play as no complicated rules are involved.

Ante Bet

To start the game, a player needs to place an ante bet, namely a primary wager. This will determine the next bet value when a player decides to play a hand. There is also a chance to place two optional side bets – a flush bonus and a straight flush bonus.

Flush Bonus Side Bet

A flush bonus is an optional side bet to place when a player holds a flush of four or more cards in his hand. The odds and payouts may differ from one casino to another. Here is an average paytable:

Straight Flush Bonus Side Bet

A straight flush bonus has a potentially high payout. A hand with a straight flush of three or more cards becomes a winning one. The available payout structure will differ from one casino to another. Here is an average paytable:

Assessing a Hand

Once all bets have been placed, every player gets seven cards face down from the dealer. Then, every player has to evaluate his hand based on two factors – the number of cards in the same suit and the value of those cards. Similar to other variations of poker, Aces happen to be the highest-ranking card followed by K, Q, J, and so on. All suits are treated equally.

To form a winning hand, a player should check how many cards happen to be in one suit first. The so-called “maximum flush” helps determine the strength of the player’s hand. The more cards of the same suit build up a stronger hand. For example, a hand with a four-card flush will beat any hand with a three-card flush.

A player has to determine the strength of his hand by checking the highest card(s) in his flush. For example, a hand with a flush of K-Q-J-10 can hit a hand with a flush of Q-J-10-9, but lose to a hand with a maximum four-card flush of A-2-3-4.

Decision Making

A player has to decide whether he wants to fold or raise an ante bet. According to the basic strategy, a player should raise with suited J-9-6 and higher and fold with suited 9-7-4 or lower.

If a player decides to fold, he surrenders and loses his ante bet automatically. If a player decides to raise, he can place a second bet.

Winning Hands

When all players make their decisions, it’s time for the dealer to reveal its cards. Then, the dealer determines the best flush based on the standards from the paytable. If the dealer doesn’t have at least a three-card flush, all players get their ante bets and call bets paid.

If the dealer has at least a three-card flush hand, it is compared to each player’s hand according to the following rules:

• Players having a high-ranking hand win.
• Players having a low-ranking hand lose.
• Players having the same ranking hand so the dealer can push their ante and call wagers.

Strategy Tips

To make the game of High Card Flush more efficient, some strategies must be followed. These include:

Mousseau strategy

A player places the biggest raise bet possible as it lowers the house edge for the game to 0.06% and encourages the high card flush odds. The raise becomes possible when a 4 card flush or higher and 3 cards flush or higher are present.

Advanced Strategy

A player has to look for more detailed information while placing a bet. Ideally, the penalty cards of T, 3, and 2, as well as T, 9, and 8 must be taken into account.

Optimal strategy

A player raises a bet if his hand has a J, 9, and a 6 or a higher poker rank. A player folds a bet if his hand has a 9, 7, and a 4 or a lower poker rank. In other cases, he can make any other independent decision.