Let It Ride

Introduction

 

Let it Ride is among the first of the wave of new casino games, starting in the late nineties. It is a simple poker-based game where the player is paid based on his five card hand only. No dealer hand to worry about. The twist is that as the cards are revealed the player has the opportunity to decrease his bet if he doesn't like his cards. As of 2013 Let it Ride is still out there, but its numbers are decreasing.

Rules

 

1. Player makes three bets of equal size.
2. Dealer gives player three cards.
3. Player may pull his first bet back or "let it ride."
4. Dealer deals the first community card, to be used by all players.
5. Player may pull his second back or "let it ride."
6. Dealer deals the second community card, to be used by all players.
7. Player is paid according to the poker value of his five cards, remaining bets, and the posted pay table.
8. Side bets are usually available, which are explained below.

 

The following is the standard pay table most casinos follow. All wins are on a "to one" basis.

The pay table for this and 15 other known Let it Ride pay tables can be found in my Let it Ride appendix 3.

Strategy

The following strategy is for the standard pay table.

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 cards of the same suit
• 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. Spread4 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).

Play Let It Ride for free while learning the strategy.

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.

Analysis

The following table shows the number of combinations, probability, and contribution to the return of all possible outcomes under optimal strategy. The lower right cell shows an expected loss of 3.51% of the minimum bet size. By the end of the hand, the player will have pulled back 1.768 bets, leaving 1.232 on the table. This makes the element of risk, defined as the ratio of expected loss to total amount bet 3.51%/1.232 = 2.85%.

The standard deviation, relative to a single bet, is 5.17.

5-Card Bonus Bet

I don't know if this bet even has a name, so I am titling it the "5-Card Bonus Bet." It is a $1 side bet, which pays based on the poker value of the final five-card hand. 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. Wins are on a "for one" basis, meaning the player does not get his original bet back, even on a win.

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
• Table 9: Rivers casino in Pittsburgh, PA

 

The next table shows the probability and return for every hand under pay table 2 above. The return of 76.27% reflects a house edge of 100.00% - 76.27% = 23.73%. Again, all pays are on a "for one" basis.

3-Card Bonus Bet

Some casinos offer a side bet based on the value of the player's three cards, similar to the Pair plus 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 most common pay table for this bet.

The next pay table shows other possible variants of the Three Card Bonus bet.

 

3-Card Bonus

Hand	Table 1	Table 2	Table 3	Table 4	Table 5
Mini Royal	50	50	200	100	50
Straight flush	40	40	40	50	40
Three of a kind	30	30	30	30	30
Straight	6	5	6	6	6
Flush	3	4	3	3	4
Pair	1	1	1	1	1
Nothing	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
House edge	7.10%	5.39%	4.38%	4.20%	2.14%

 

The only casino I am aware of that offers pay table 5 is the Borgata in Atlantic City (source).

6-Card Bonus

Some casinos add on a side bet known as the 6-Card Bonus. This side bet is found on multiple poker-derivative games, so I created a special page for it. For more information, please see my page on the 6-Card Bonus.

Millionaire Progressive

This is a $5 "red light" progressive side bet that pays $1,000,000 for a royal flush in spades, using the player's five-card hand. For all the rules and analysis, please see my page on the Millionaire Progressive.

Golden Nugget Progressive

I saw another progressive jackpot bet at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas on June 13, 2023. The bet amount is $5 and it pays based on the player's five card hand. It is a linked progressive with other poker-based games using five cards. Wins for a full house or less pay on a "for one" basis.

The following table shows my analysis of the Golden Nugget Progressive. The bottom right cell shows the expected value of the three of a kind to full house is 45.85%.

Following are the values of the three progressive jackpots.

• Royal flush: 0.030782 per $100,000 in Mega jackpot
• Straight flush: 0.027703 per $10,000 in Major jackpot
• Four of a kind: 0.048019 per $1,000 in Minor jackpot

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 for these situations. He doesn't state how much it lowers the house edge, but James Grosjean does in his book Beyond Counting (Exhibit CAA). According to Grosjean, if you can see every player card in a 7-player game, and made perfect use of the information, it would lower the house advantage from 3.51% to 2.34% only.

Inside Links

• 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: Analysis of 16 different Let it Ride pay tables.

Outside Links

German translation of this page.

Written by: Michael Shackleford