Gambling terms, explained straight

Casino & Table Games

Casino war rules

Casino war rules govern a table game where the player and dealer each receive one card, the higher rank wins, and a tie offers a choice to surrender or go to war.

Decks
Six decks are standard.23
Tie bet payout
10 to 1.12
Surrender penalty
Lose half the bet.12

Key points

  • On a tie, the player may surrender for half-loss or double the stake to go to war.12
  • In the war round, three cards are burned, then a second card is dealt; if it beats the dealer's, the added wager wins and the original pushes.2

Common questions

What is a parlay in War?

A parlay in War is not a standard term in Casino War rules. It may refer to letting a tie-bet win ride, but the game's official options are surrender or go to war, not parlay.

Where this term is used

Sources

  1. Casino War en.wikipedia.org Provides the basic rules, tie bet payout, and surrender/go-to-war mechanics for Casino War.
  2. Casino War wizardofodds.com Supports the standard six-deck setup, tie bet payout, and the war round procedure.
  3. Play Casino War Online for Real Money or Free wizardofodds.com Confirms the six-deck standard and the 10-to-1 tie bet payout.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.