Est. 1997 | Last Update: 14 May, 2008


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Let it Ride

Last update: Mar. 27, 2008


Play this realistic Let it Ride game at Bodog Online Casino.

No download, no registration, no popups, no B.S., just the game. One click and you're in.

Rules

Play in Let it Ride starts with each player making three bets of equal size. Then the dealer gives every player three cards, and two community cards are placed face down. After seeing their first three cards each player has the choice to take one of their three bets back or to "let it ride" and leave it out. Then the dealer turns over one of the two community cards. Each player then has the option to pull out another bet or "let it ride." The player may leave their bet in or take it out the second time regardless of their first decision. Finally the second community card is flipped and the players are paid according to one of the following five pay tables.

Let it Ride Payoff Table

Hand

 Pay Table 1 Pay Table 2 Pay Table 3 Pay Table 4 Pay Table 5 Pay Table 6
Royal Flush 1000 to 1 200 to 1 500 to 1 250 to 1 500 to 1 999 to 1
Straight Flush 200 to 1 100 to 1 100 to 1 50 to 1 200 to 1 199 to 1
Four of a kind 50 to 1 40 to 1 25 to 1 25 to 1 50 to 1 49 to 1
Full House 11 to 1 15 to 1 15 to 1 12 to 1 11 to 1 11 to 1
Flush 8 to 1 9 to 1 10 to 1 10 to 1 8 to 1 8 to 1
Straight 5 to 1 5 to 1 5 to 1 8 to 1 5 to 1 5 to 1
Three of a kind 3 to 1 3 to 1 3 to 1 3 to 1 3 to 1 3 to 1
Two pair 2 to 1 2 to 1 2 to 1 2 to 1 2 to 1 2 to 1
Pair 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1
Nonpaying hand Loss Loss Loss Loss Loss Loss

Pay Table Comments

Pay Table 1: Standard Pay Table, in use at the vast majority of U.S. casinos.
Pay Table 2: Seen at the Argosy Casino.
Pay Table 3: Seen at Isle of Capri casino in Black Hawk, Colorado.
Pay Table 4: Seen at the Royal Swazi casino in Swaziland, Africa.
Pay Table 5: Reported to be in use in some casinos in Oregon and Washington.
Pay Table 6: Seen in video Let it Ride. In the video version all pays are listed one greater than above, but are on a "for one" basis.

Aggregate Payout Warning:

The table will probably have a maximum payout. At Casino Niagara in Niagara Falls the maximum aggregate payout is $75,000 per round. As a result the player should not bet more than the maximum payout divided by 3000. Any bet above this quotient will not pay the full odds on a royal flush, thus increasing the house edge.

Strategy

The following strategy is for the standard pay table 1, and is also applicable for pay tables 3 and 6.

With three cards you should only "let it ride" if you have:

  • Any paying hand (tens or better, three of a kind)
  • Any three to a royal flush
  • Three suited cards in a row except 2-3-4, and ace-2-3
  • Three to a straight flush, spread 4, with at least one high card (ten or greater)
  • Three to a straight flush, spread 5, with at least two high cards

With four cards you should only "let it ride" if you have:

  • Any paying hand (tens or better, two pair, three of a kind)
  • Any four to a royal flush
  • Any four to a straight flush
  • Any four to a flush
  • Any four to an outside straight with at least one high card
  • Any four to an outside straight with no high cards (zero house edge)
  • Any four to an inside straight with 4 high cards (zero house edge)

A lot of people have asked me what I mean by "inside straight", "outside straight", "spread 4", and "spread 5." An inside straight is one in which an 'inside' card is missing, such as (4,5,7,8). An outside straight is one in which an outside card is missing, such as (4,5,6,7). Outside straights are much better because there are 8 cards that can complete them as opposed to 4 for an inside straight. Spread 4 means that the cards in question span 4 ranks in a row, for example a (5,6,8). Spread 5 means the cards in question span 5 ranks, for example a (5,7,9).

House Edge

The following six return tables show how often the player will get each hand across the amount bet, under optimal strategy, and assuming player chooses to "let it ride" on break-even plays. In each table the lower right cell is the overall return, defined as the ratio of the expected win to a single bet. For example the first return table shows a return of -3.51%, or a house edge of +3.51%. So if the player made three initial bets of $10 each then the player could expect to lose $10*0.0357 = 35.7 cents on average per hand.

Let it Ride Return - Pay Table 1
Hand Pays Bet 1 Bet 2 Bet 3 Return
Royal Flush 1000 to 1 0 0 0.000002 0.004617
Straight Flush 200 to 1 0 0.000007 0.000007 0.006895
Four of a kind 50 to 1 0 0.000089 0.000151 0.031582
Full House 11 to 1 0 0.000798 0.000643 0.038763
Flush 8 to 1 0 0.001773 0.000193 0.032987
Straight 5 to 1 0.002133 0.001706 0.000086 0.02901
Three of a kind 3 to 1 0.007786 0.006329 0.007014 0.124453
Two pair 2 to 1 0.023358 0.013136 0.011045 0.165531
Pair 1 to 1 0.062117 0.050935 0.049474 0.31241
Nonpaying hand Loss 0.742156 0.018042 0.001021 -0.781304
Total 0.837551 0.092814 0.069635 -0.035057

Let it Ride Return - Pay Table 2
Hand Pays Bet 1 Bet 2 Bet 3 Return
Royal Flush 200 to 1 0 0 0.000002 0.000923
Straight Flush 100 to 1 0 0.000009 0.000004 0.003217
Four of a kind 40 to 1 0 0.000089 0.000151 0.025265
Full House 15 to 1 0 0.000798 0.000643 0.052858
Flush 9 to 1 0 0.001805 0.00016 0.036819
Straight 5 to 1 0.002142 0.001722 0.00006 0.028837
Three of a kind 3 to 1 0.007793 0.006322 0.007014 0.124433
Two pair 2 to 1 0.023379 0.013115 0.011045 0.165489
Pair 1 to 1 0.062134 0.050925 0.049468 0.312387
Nonpaying hand Loss 0.742712 0.017715 0.000792 -0.780519
Total 0.83816 0.0925 0.06934 -0.030291

Let it Ride Return - Pay Table 3
Hand Pays Bet 1 Bet 2 Bet 3 Return
Royal Flush 500 to 1 0 0 0.000002 0.002309
Straight Flush 100 to 1 0 0.000007 0.000007 0.003448
Four of a kind 25 to 1 0 0.000089 0.000151 0.015791
Full House 15 to 1 0 0.000798 0.000643 0.052858
Flush 10 to 1 0 0.001773 0.000193 0.041233
Straight 5 to 1 0.002133 0.001706 0.000086 0.02901
Three of a kind 3 to 1 0.007786 0.006329 0.007014 0.124453
Two pair 2 to 1 0.023358 0.013136 0.011045 0.165531
Pair 1 to 1 0.062117 0.050935 0.049474 0.31241
Nonpaying hand Loss 0.742156 0.018042 0.001021 -0.781304
Total 0.837551 0.092814 0.069635 -0.034262

Let it Ride Return - Pay Table 4
Hand Pays Bet 1 Bet 2 Bet 3 Return
Royal Flush 250 to 1 0 0 0.000002 0.001154
Straight Flush 50 to 1 0 0.000007 0.000007 0.001724
Four of a kind 25 to 1 0 0.000089 0.000151 0.015791
Full House 12 to 1 0 0.000798 0.000643 0.042286
Flush 10 to 1 0 0.001773 0.000193 0.041233
Straight 8 to 1 0.001538 0.002164 0.000223 0.052267
Three of a kind 3 to 1 0.007786 0.006308 0.007034 0.124516
Two pair 2 to 1 0.023358 0.013073 0.011108 0.165655
Pair 1 to 1 0.060754 0.051639 0.050134 0.314433
Nonpaying hand Loss 0.735648 0.023734 0.001837 -0.788629
Total 0.829085 0.099584 0.071331 -0.02957

Let it Ride Return - Pay Table 5
Hand Pays Bet 1 Bet 2 Bet 3 Return
Royal Flush 500 to 1 0 0 0.000002 0.002309
Straight Flush 200 to 1 0 0.000007 0.000007 0.006895
Four of a kind 50 to 1 0 0.000089 0.000151 0.031582
Full House 11 to 1 0 0.000798 0.000643 0.038763
Flush 8 to 1 0 0.001773 0.000193 0.032987
Straight 5 to 1 0.002133 0.001706 0.000086 0.02901
Three of a kind 3 to 1 0.007786 0.006329 0.007014 0.124453
Two pair 2 to 1 0.023358 0.013136 0.011045 0.165531
Pair 1 to 1 0.062117 0.050935 0.049474 0.31241
Nonpaying hand Loss 0.742156 0.018042 0.001021 -0.781304
Total 0.837551 0.092814 0.069635 -0.037365

Let it Ride Return - Pay Table 6
Hand Pays Bet 1 Bet 2 Bet 3 Return
Royal Flush 999 to 1 0 0 0.000002 0.004613
Straight Flush 199 to 1 0 0.000007 0.000007 0.006861
Four of a kind 49 to 1 0 0.000089 0.000151 0.03095
Full House 11 to 1 0 0.000798 0.000643 0.038763
Flush 8 to 1 0 0.001773 0.000193 0.032987
Straight 5 to 1 0.002133 0.001706 0.000086 0.02901
Three of a kind 3 to 1 0.007786 0.006329 0.007014 0.124453
Two pair 2 to 1 0.023358 0.013136 0.011045 0.165531
Pair 1 to 1 0.062117 0.050935 0.049474 0.31241
Nonpaying hand Loss 0.742156 0.018042 0.001021 -0.781304
Total 0.837551 0.092814 0.069635 -0.035728

Seeing Extra Cards

Although players are not supposed to share information you can often accidentally see other player cards, or this rule is ignored and players voluntarily show each other their cards. Seeing other cards can make the difference in borderline plays, namely the zero house edge straights listed under the 4-card strategy above. In his book Mastering the Game of Let it Ride author Stanley Ko offers a strategy just this situation. He doesn't state how much it lowers the house edge, but I tend to think it is not very much.

The Side Bet

Some, but not all, casinos allow a side bet of $1 for which you will receive an additional payoff with certain paying hands. This is a sucker bet that should be avoided. Based on a small sampling of casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin the house edge varies from 13.77% (Lady Luck) to 36.52% (New York, New York). Below are some casinos, their payoff table, and their house edge, in order from best to worst.

Let it Ride Side Bet

Hand

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5

Table 6

Table 7

Table 8

Royal flush

20000

20000

20000

20000

20000

10000

20000

20000

Straight flush

2000

1000

2000

2000

1000

2000

2000

1000

Four of a kind

100

100

100

400

400

100

300

300

Full house

75

75

75

200

200

75

150

150

Flush

50

50

50

50

50

50

50

50

Straight

25

25

25

25

25

25

25

25

Three of a kind

9

4

8

5

5

8

5

5

Two pair

6

3

4

0

0

4

0

0

High pair

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

House edge

13.77%

23.73%

25.39%

25.53%

26.92%

26.93%

35.14%

36.52%

The following is a list of which casinos have which pay tables based on my small sampling. Unless otherwise stated all casinos are in Las Vegas:

  • Table 1: Lady Luck
  • Table 2: Las Vegas Club, Freemont, Californian, Plaza, Main Street Station, Ballys, Circus Circus, Hilton, Grand (Biloxi), Beau Rivage (Biloxi), Horseshoe (Tunica), Grand (Tunica)
  • Table 3: Golden Gate
  • Table 4: Bellagio, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, Harrah's, Imperial Palace, Paris, Venetian
  • Table 5: MGM Grand, Golden Nugget
  • Table 6: Colorado Belle (Laughlin), Sky City (New Mexico)
  • Table 7: Four Queens, Flamingo Hilton
  • Table 8: New York New York

3-Card Bonus Bet

Some of the Mississippi casinos offer a side bet based on the value of the three cards on the board, similar to the Pairplus bet in Three Card Poker. The main difference is in Let it Ride the bet has a separate win for a "Mini Royal", defined as a suited ace, king, and queen. The following table table shows the only pay table I have seen for this bet.

3-Card Bonus Bet
Hand Pays Combinations Probability Return
Mini Royal 50 4 0.000181 0.00905
Straight flush 40 44 0.001991 0.079638
Three of a kind 30 52 0.002353 0.070588
Straight 6 720 0.032579 0.195475
Flush 3 1096 0.049593 0.148778
Pair 1 3744 0.169412 0.169412
Nothing -1 16440 0.743891 -0.743891
House Edge 22100 1 -0.07095

Paying an additional 10 for a mini-royal reduces the house edge by 0.181%.

Appendices

  • Appendix 1: Details on how the strategy and expected return were determined.
  • Appendix 2: Details on the Isle of Capri (Black Hawk, Colorado) rules.
  • Appendix 3: Details on the Royal Swazi (Swaziland, Africa) rules.

Links

German translation of this page.

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