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IQ Ludorum software review

Last update: October 20, 2001

The following information on IQ Ludorum's downloadable software was taken from the London Casino.

Baccarat

? decks are used.

Blackjack

The rules are as follows:

Eight decks
Dealer stands on soft 17
Double on any first two cards
Doubling after splitting allowed
No resplitting
Player may not draw to split aces
No surrender
Dealer checks hole card for blackjack
Betting limits: $5-$50, $100-$2000

These are the same rules as used by Cryptologic and so is the basic strategy.

The house edge under these rules is 0.49%.

Craps

A nice thing about this craps game is all winnings are rounded to the nearest penny.

The pass/come bettor may take 2 times odds on the 5,6,8, and 9; and 3 times odds on the 4 and 10. This results in a combined house edge of 0.57%. The don't pass/don't come bettor may lay 3 times the line bet on the 5,6,8, and 9; and 4 times odds on the 4 and 10. This results in a combined house edge of 0.43%.

For the player who likes to bet for or against the place numbers there are various ways to do it. The following table shows what the place, buy, don't place, and lay bets pay. The buy bets only charge the 5% commission on losing bets. The lay bets always charge the 5% commission relative to the amount won. The following odds are after deducting the commissions.

Winning Odds on Place Number Bets
Point	Place	Buy	Don't Place	Lay
4	9-5	40-21	2-5	19-41
5	7-5	30-21	4-7	19-31
6	7-6	24-21	4-5	19-25
8	7-6	24-21	4-5	19-25
9	7-5	30-21	4-7	19-31
10	9-5	40-21	2-5	19-41

The next table shows the house edge on all the various place number bets. A good rule of thumb is that the buy and lay bets are always better, except on the 6 and 8.

House Edge on Place Number Bets
Point	Place	Buy	Don't Place	Lay
4	6.67%	3.17%	6.67%	2.44%
5	4.00%	2.86%	5.71%	3.23%
6	1.52%	2.60%	1.82%	4.00%
8	1.52%	2.60%	1.82%	4.00%
9	4.00%	2.86%	5.71%	3.23%
10	6.67%	3.17%	6.67%	2.44%

The proposition bets pay the same odds as conventional craps.

Roulette

A single zero wheel is used. The house edge is 2.70%.

Video Poker

There are four video poker games to choose from. The following table shows the expected return of each game, assuming optimal strategy.

IQ Ludorum Video Poker - Expected Returns
Game	Return
Jacks or better	0.995440
Tens or better	0.979598
Joker wild	0.979469
Deuces wild	0.979714

The following tables display the pertinent statistics for IQ Ludomum's video poker games.

Jacks or Better
Hand	Payoff	Number	Probability	Return
Royal flush	800	493512264	0.000025	0.019807
Straight flush	50	2178883296	0.000109	0.005465
4 of a kind	25	47093167764	0.002363	0.059064
Full house	9	229475482596	0.011512	0.103610
Flush	6	219554786160	0.011015	0.066087
Straight	4	223837565784	0.011229	0.044917
3 of a kind	3	1484003070324	0.074449	0.223346
Two pair	2	2576946164148	0.129279	0.258558
Jacks or better	1	4277372890968	0.214585	0.214585
Nothing	0	10872274993896	0.545435	0.000000
Total		19933230517200	1.000000	0.995439

Tens or Better

Hand Payoff Probability Return

Royal flush 800 0.000026 0.020530

Straight flush 50 0.000104 0.005180

Four of a Kind 20 0.002357 0.047145

Full house 6 0.011493 0.068955

Flush 5 0.010670 0.053350

Straight 4 0.012386 0.049544

Three of a Kind 3 0.074218 0.222653

Two Pair 2 0.128936 0.257872

Tens or Better 1 0.254368 0.254368

Nothing 0 0.505443 0.000000

Total 1.000000 0.979598

Joker Wild

Hand Payoff Probability Return

Natural Royal Flush 800 0.000025 0.019773

5 of a kind 200 0.000093 0.018583

Wild Royal Flush 100 0.000104 0.010395

Straight Flush 50 0.000596 0.029788

4 of a Kind 15 0.008505 0.127570

Full House 8 0.015625 0.125001

Flush 5 0.015852 0.079259

Straight 3 0.016871 0.050613

3 of a Kind 2 0.133296 0.266592

2 Pair 1 0.110667 0.110667

Kings or Better 1 0.141228 0.141228

Nothing 0 0.557139 0.000000

Total Return 1.000000 0.979469

Deuces Wild

Hand Payoff Number Probability Return

Natural royal flush 800 451963644 0.000023 0.018139

4 deuces 200 3745487652 0.000188 0.037580

Wild royal flush 20 35864159688 0.001799 0.035984

5 of a kind 15 62385447048 0.003130 0.046946

Straight flush 9 99367373148 0.004985 0.044865

4 of a kind 4 1225731582828 0.061492 0.245967

Full house 4 522145872600 0.026195 0.104779

Flush 3 408462003072 0.020492 0.061475

Straight 2 1152851681184 0.057836 0.115671

3 of a kind 1 5348224877136 0.268307 0.268307

Nothing 0 11074000069200 0.555555 0.000000

Total 19933230517200 1.000000 0.979714

See my casino index for a list of sites that use IQ Ludorem software. The URL for IQ Ludorem is www.oddson.com.

The Wizard's other sites: Wizard of Macau, Sweat the Money, Math Problems
The Wizard's recommends: Casino Meister, Online Casino City, Online Poker Room Reviews, Video Poker Genius (See more of the Wiz's picks)