In this game, you are playing against the dealer and against a house edge of a little over 5 percent on the ante bet and about half that on the hand bet which, as explained in a moment, is double that of the ante bet.

Step 1. You place a bet in the ante square and, optionally, you can make a side bet of $1 in the jackpot slot. Each game has a jackpot meter that shows the value of the progressive jackpot. This is a side bet and has nothing to do with the play of the hand against the dealer. The hands necessary to win the progressive jackpot are shown in Table 4. This table is representative of most casinos. If more than one player hits the royal flush, each shares equally in the progressive payout.

Royal flush: 100 percent of progressive payout
Straight flush: 10 percent of progressive payout
Four-of-a-kind: $500
Full house: $100
flush: $50

Usually no payout for hands lower than flush.

Step 2. The dealer deals five cards face down, to each player and himself, except his last card is dealt face up.

Step 3. The players check their cards and make one of two decisions: (1) They stay in the game if they think they can beat the dealer; (2) they surrender their hand and lose the ante bet if they do not believe they can beat the dealer. If they surrender, that is the end of their action for this round of play.

Step 4. The remaining players place a bet that is double their ante in the bet square. Then they place their cards face down on the table.