How to Play Casino War and Handle a Tie

In the selected six-deck Casino War™ US-PA (Pennsylvania) online version, reshuffled before every game round, choosing Go to War after the first tie has a better expected result than surrendering. You must add a wager equal to your initial bet, and both choices have a negative expected value. These rules and payouts do not apply to every Casino War table.

This guide follows the selected version’s help page, checked on October 16, 2026. The source file was last modified on August 6, 2024.

How cards are compared and ties are settled

You and the dealer, called the House in the selected rules, each receive one card. A higher player card pays 1:1, a higher House card loses the main bet, and a tie gives you a choice between surrender and War.

Card ranks run from highest to lowest: A, K, Q, J, 10 ... 2. Aces are high, and suits do not affect the outcome.

After the first tie, the available actions are:

• Surrender: Select Surrender to receive half your main bet back and lose the other half. The round ends.
• Go to War: Select Go to War to add a second wager exactly equal to your initial bet. With an initial bet of 10 units, you now have two 10-unit bets at risk, totaling 20. The dealer burns three cards, then deals one new comparison card to you and one to the House.

War is then settled as follows:

• Your new card is higher: The main bet pushes—it is returned without profit—and the added War wager pays 1:1.
• The House’s new card is higher: Both bets lose.
• The cards tie again: The main bet pushes, and the added War wager pays 2:1 profit. No further War begins.

Casino War outcomes for a 10-unit starting bet

Original diagram of the selected six-deck ruleset, not a casino screenshot.

What a 10-unit starting bet returns

A normal win and a win after going to War both produce a net profit of 10 units, but losing after War costs 20 units.

The table assumes an initial main bet of exactly 10 units and, when choosing War, an additional wager of exactly 10 units. “Returned” includes any returned stakes; “Net result” is the amount returned minus the total committed.

A payout of 1:1 or 2:1 means profit on the winning wager; that wager’s stake is returned separately. On a second tie, for example, you receive the 10-unit main bet, the 10-unit War wager, and 20 units of profit on the War wager: 20 committed → 40 returned → +20 net.

A push on the main bet does not mean the whole round breaks even. The added War wager still determines whether the round produces a profit or loss.

Why War is better than surrender after the first tie

War has the better mathematical expectation after the first tie: its expected net result is −0.315064 times the initial bet, compared with −0.5 times the initial bet for surrender.

For an initial bet of 10 units under the selected six-deck rules:

The unit figures are rounded to four decimal places. This calculation is conditional on the first tie having already occurred; it is not the average result of every round started. It includes the main bet and the added War wager but excludes any Tie bet.

If your goal is to reduce expected losses under these rules, choose War after the first tie. That improves expectation by 1.8494 units on a 10-unit initial bet, but it remains negative and puts another full bet at risk. It does not guarantee a better result in any individual round.

Why 2.3301% house edge and 97.8304% return both apply

The figures use different denominators: 2.3301% is the house edge measured against initial bets, while 97.8304% is the theoretical return measured against total action, including added War wagers.

The full combinatorial calculation for the selected version, assuming you always choose War after the first tie, gives:

The initial tie probability is P(tie) = 23/311 ≈ 7.3955%; the probability of a second tie in War is P(second tie) = (22·21 + 12·24·23)/(310·309) ≈ 7.3974%. With T = P(second tie), the expected value of War after a tie is −(1 − T)/2 + 2T ≈ −0.315064 initial bets; the house edge is 23/311 × 0.315064 ≈ 2.3301%. Adding an equal wager after each initial tie makes average total action 1.073955 initial bets.

The same expected loss can therefore be expressed as:

• 2.3301% of initial bets: the house edge when always choosing War.
• 2.1696% of total action: the loss rate including added War wagers, corresponding to a 97.8304% theoretical return.

The selected help page states a 97.83% expected return; this figure is reproduced using total action, including War raises, as the denominator, though the help page itself does not name the denominator. You cannot subtract 2.33% from 100% and call the result 97.83%: those figures use different bases. See the house edge guide for more on why the denominator matters.

An independent six-deck mathematical comparison distinguishes the Liberal version with a second-tie bonus, at 2.33% when always choosing War, from the no-bonus version at 2.88%. Always surrendering in the selected version gives a 3.70% house edge. These percentages must not be transferred between different payout tables or strategies.

How to use the ToolsGambling calculator for these rules

For this version, use Enter a custom house edge in the ToolsGambling house edge calculator and enter 2.33%, rather than using the Casino War preset.

The Casino War preset uses 2.88%, which applies to the version without the second-tie bonus. It does not match this article’s payout table.

In the “Bet Size per Round” field, enter the initial bet without adding the War wager, because 2.33% is measured against initial bets, not total action.

The calculator estimates expected loss from the house edge and wagering volume you enter. It does not model the individual surrender and War branches. Its result is a long-run average, not a prediction for your session.

What to check before playing a different table

Use this article’s figures only if the other table’s rules match, especially its payout on a second tie.

Check the table’s help page for:

• The number of decks and when they are reshuffled.
• Whether the initial bet remains in play after the first tie or is lost.
• How much you must add to go to War.
• How a win after War is paid.
• How a second tie is settled.
• Whether a separate Tie bet is available and what conditions apply.
• Whether an X:1 payout means profit or the total return including the stake.

In the selected version, the optional Tie bet on the initial tie pays 10:1: profit equal to ten times the winning stake, plus that stake’s return. If you choose War, you can also place a separate bet on a second tie. These optional bets are separate from the main-bet cashflow table above, and their expected values are not calculated here.