1. We don't expect Golden Dragon Holdem to help us attract more players. Our main goal is to offer a variety of games that satisfy our player's needs. When they get tired of regular Hold'em, they will have another interesting option to play.
2. Live Hold’em Poker Pro is a Poker game for entertainment uses only. The game does not offer an opportunity to win real money. Practice or success at social casino gaming does not imply future success at real money games. Live Hold’em Poker Pro is intended for an adult audience. (E.g Intended for use by those 21 or older.).

Introduction

Evolution Gaming’s Live Ultimate Texas Hold’em is an exciting version of the classic poker game, Texas Hold’em.Released in 2014, it has grown to become one of the company’s more sought after games due to its high-quality streaming, multiple camera angels and professional dealers.

Dragon Poker started as a field trial at the Rio in Las Vegas on September 27, 2018. The game uses a modified deck of cards with Chinese pictures. The structure of the game has elements of Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em.

Rules

1. The game uses a modified 53-card deck, with the following cards:
   
   • 1 Gold Dragon
   • 3 Fire Dragons
   • 3 Water Dragons
   • 7 Phoenixes*
   • 8 Tigers
   • 9 Pandas
   • 10 Monkeys
   • 12 Rabbits
2. The Gold Dragon is wild
3. For purposes of the base game and the 3 Card Bonus (explained below), the Fire Dragons and Water Dragons are exactly the same. They are treated differently for purposes of the Dragon Bonus.
4. The base game starts with the player betting equal amounts on the Ante and Ante Bonus. At this time, the player may make the optional side bets on the 3 Card Bonus and Dragon Bonus.
5. After betting is closed, the player and dealer shall each receive three cards. The dealer cards are dealt face down.
6. The player has two choices — make a raise bet equal to the Ante bet or fold.
7. If the player folds, then he loses the Ante and Ante Bonus bets.
8. After the player acts, the dealer shall reveal his cards.
9. Both hands shall be scored as follows, from highest to lowest:
   
   • Three of a kind
   • Pair
   • Three singletons
10. In the event that both player and dealer have the same type of hand, then the ranks of the cards in rule one shall be used to break the tie, as in conventional poker. The rank order is shown in rule one, except Fire Dragons and Water Dragons are treated equally as just 'Dragons.'
11. If the player has the higher hand, then the Ante and Play bets shall pay one to one and the Ante Bonus according to the pay table below.
12. If the dealer has the higher hand, then Ante, Ante Bonus, and Play shall all lose.
13. If the player and dealer tie, then the Ante, Ante Bonus, and Play shall all push.
14. The 3 Card Bonus shall pay according to the value of the player's hand only.
15. The Dragon Bonus shall pay according to the number and type of dragons in the player's hand.
16. All wins are on a 'to one' basis.

Ante Bonus Pay Table

Points	Pays
Three Dragons	20
Three Phoenixes	7
Other three of a kind	4
Two Pandas or better	1
Other Winner	Push

* For purposes of this page, I struggled with the plural for phoenix. The game maker uses just 'phoenix,' but I prefer 'phoenixes,' as sixes is the plural for six.

Example

In the example above, my three rabbits beat the dealer's pair of monkeys. The game expresses the 'win' on the image as the amount returned, including the original wager. I bet $100 each on the Ante, Ante Bonus, and Play. The Ante and Play each won another $100. The Ante Bonus paid 4 to 1, for $400 in winnings. My $10 bet on the 3 Card Bonus paid 10 to 1 odds for a low three of a kind, or $100. The Dragon Bonus lost because I had no dragons.

Strategy

The player should make the Play bet with Phoenix-Panda-Rabbit or better.

Analysis

Following is my analysis of the game. The lower right cell shows the ratio of the expected loss to the Ante bet is 3.70%.

Base Game Analysis

Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Win with three dragons	22	685,860	0.001494	0.032863
Win with three phoenixes	9	1,095,395	0.002386	0.021471
Win with other three of a kind	6	12,597,063	0.027436	0.164614
With with pair of pandas or better	3	90,652,512	0.197436	0.592307
Other win	2	113,820,564	0.247894	0.495789
Push	0	5,423,068	0.011811	0.000000
Fold	-2	87,494,400	0.190558	-0.381115
Loss	-3	147,380,738	0.320986	-0.962959
Total	459,149,600	1.000000	-0.037030

With two required units to begin with and raising 80.94% of the time, the average final wager is 2.809442 units. That makes the Element of Risk, defined as the expected loss to total amount bet, 3.7030%/2.809442 = 1.3181%.

Following is my analysis of the 3 Card Bonus side bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 5.06%.

3 Card Bonus Analysis

Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Three Dragons	40	35	0.001494	0.059763
Three Phoenixes	30	56	0.002391	0.071715
Three Tigers	15	84	0.003586	0.053786
Other trips	10	571	0.024375	0.243746
Two Dragons	4	966	0.041236	0.164945
Two Phoenixes	2	1,218	0.051994	0.103987
Two Tigers	1	1,480	0.063178	0.063178
Other	-1	19,016	0.811748	-0.811748
Total	23,426	1.000000	-0.050628

Following is my analysis of the Dragon Bonus side bet. The lower right cell shows an expected return of 14.40%.

Dragon Bonus Analysis

Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Three Fire Dragons	1000	1	0.000043	0.042688
Three Water Dragons	1000	1	0.000043	0.042688
Three Dragons with Gold Dragon	200	15	0.000640	0.128063
Three Natural Dragons	60	18	0.000768	0.046103
Two Dragons	7	966	0.041236	0.288654
One Gold Dragon	5	1,035	0.044182	0.220908
All other	-1	21,390	0.913088	-0.913088
Total	23,426	1.000000	-0.143985

External Links

• Demo by the distributor.
• Discussion in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.

Written by:Michael Shackleford

The Asian poker room J88Poker launched a new Texas Hold'em version — Golden Dragon Holdem. Today we are commenting on its main features, the reasons for the launch and the benefits for the players and the room.

J88Poker took the Golden Dragon Holdem idea from Taiwan's live casinos. The close connection of the room with the island is confirmed by the fact that is was decided to hold the first J88Poker live series in Taiwan (Fantastic Poker Tour) from December 12 to 16, 2018.

Everyone knows that Asian poker players love formats that give lots of action and allow you to go all-in in early streets. For example, 6+ Hold'em, popular by Macao poker rooms, is very trending among Chinese players.

J88Poker will also launch Short Deck tables soon. But compared to Golden Dragon Holdem, the new format has an ever greater push-fold option in each hand.

Golden Dragon Holdem rules:

• There are only 20 cards in the deck (T, J, Q, K, A);
• Only 6-max tables are played;
• 20bb buy-in;
• The player has only two options: All-in or fold

The hand ranking is the same as in classic Texas Hold'em. Bottom line, Golden Dragon is hold'em with an ultra-short deck on an all-in or fold table. Tables from NL2 to NL400 are available in the room lobby.

Dragonhold Main Quest

Golden Dragon Holdem perspectives

Dragonholder Todd Mccaffrey

Such a move by J88Poker can have two consequences. The room doesn't have a large number of connections (at the peak time it rarely exceeds 200 connections). Almost all the traffic is concentrated at 6-max tables. The introduction of new formats (Golden Dragon Holdem and 6+) can lead to a good influx of amateur poker players at their tables. The regular players will be forced to play the new formats available too; on the one hand, we can say that it is harder to beat as the variance is higher. The room confirmed in a press release that new products can also be of interest to current players:

'While we were working on 6+ Hold'em, we thought that it would be interesting the change of the popular All-in or fold (AoF) format. We decided to reduce the number of cards in the deck, making the game more exciting and easy to play. We don't expect Golden Dragon Holdem to help us attract more players. Our main goal is to offer a variety of games that satisfy our player's needs. When they get tired of regular Hold'em, they will have another interesting option to play. Providing new unusual poker formats is very trending in Asia.'

We will know how Golden Dragon Holdem and 6+ work for J88Poker in the next months. On October 25, 2018, the room will turn exactly one year and it has demonstrated a traffic growth attracting new players from Asia and other regions with good promotions, and introducing iOS and Android clients. J88Poker sponsored players are visible in the major poker tournaments, even in Europe where Lin Chen finished 131 in the EPT Barcelona Main Event.

You can get a deal at J88Poker with Worldpokerdeals and obtain a minimum 35% of rakeback and the opportunity to play in a very weak room with exotic poker disciplines. The room suits to players looking for multi-table and bumhunt in low-mid stakes. More details can be obtained from our manager Anton.

Dragonhold Magblade

J88Poker

Dragonhold Mhw

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