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Raise 'em Poker

Raise 'Em Poker



Raise 'Em Poker is a poker variant popular in Africa. The game is basically the same as Let it Ride, except the player adds bets instead of pulling them back. The pay table used is the same as that used in Let it Ride at the Royal Swazi.

Rules



  1. The game is played with a single 52-card deck.
  2. Player starts by making an Ante wager and an optional "Plus" side bet.
  3. Three cards are dealt to each player and two community cards will be dealt face down.
  4. After examining his cards, the player may check or make a Raise wager equal to the Ante wager in the spot marked "1."
  5. The dealer will reveal the first community card.
  6. The player may check or make a Raise wager equal to the Ante wager in the spot marked "2."
  7. The dealer will reveal the second community card.
  8. The dealer will pay each player according to the poker value of his hand and the pay table below, which shall apply to the Ante and all Raise wagers.

    Ante and Raise Bets Pay Table

    Hand Pays
    Royal Flush 250 to 1
    Straight Flush 50 to 1
    Four of a kind 25 to 1
    Full House 12 to 1
    Flush 10 to 1
    Straight 8 to 1
    Three of a kind 3 to 1
    Two pair 2 to 1
    Tens or better 1 to 1


  9. The Plus bet is paid according the Plus pay table below.

    The following is the pay table for the Plus side bet. The three progressives are all independent of each other. When one jackpot hits, the others do not go down.

    Plus Bet Pay Table

    Hand Pays
    Royal Flush Top Progressive
    Straight Flush Top Progressive
    Four of a kind Second Progressive
    Full House Third Progressive
    Flush 50 to 1
    Straight 10 to 1




Strategy



With three cards you should make a raise bet with any of the following, otherwise check.

  • 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.
  • 10-J-Q unsuited.

With four cards you should make a raise bet with any of the following, otherwise check.

  • Any paying hand (tens or better, two pair, three of a kind).
  • Four to a flush.
  • Any four to an outside straight.
  • Any four to an inside straight with at least three high cards.


Four to an inside straight with two high cards is a break-even raise situation.

Analysis



The following tables show the probability and return of all possible outcomes. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.96%.

Return Table

Hand Bet Pays Combinations Probability Return
Royal Flush 3 750 80 0.000002 0.001154
Straight Flush 3 150 352 0.000007 0.001016
Four of a kind 3 75 7,872 0.000151 0.011358
Full House 3 36 33,408 0.000643 0.023138
Flush 3 30 10,008 0.000193 0.005776
Straight 3 24 11,568 0.000223 0.005341
Three of a kind 3 9 365,640 0.007034 0.063309
Two pair 3 6 577,368 0.011108 0.066646
Tens or better 3 3 2,605,908 0.050134 0.150401
Nonpaying hand 3 -3 95,508 0.001837 -0.005512
Royal Flush 2 500 - 0.000000 0.000000
Straight Flush 2 100 368 0.000007 0.000708
Four of a kind 2 50 4,608 0.000089 0.004433
Full House 2 24 41,472 0.000798 0.019149
Flush 2 20 92,152 0.001773 0.035457
Straight 2 16 112,464 0.002164 0.034618
Three of a kind 2 6 327,888 0.006308 0.037848
Two pair 2 4 679,536 0.013073 0.052293
Tens or better 2 2 2,684,136 0.051639 0.103277
Nonpaying hand 2 -2 1,233,696 0.023734 -0.047469
Royal Flush 1 250 - 0.000000 0.000000
Straight Flush 1 50 - 0.000000 0.000000
Four of a kind 1 25 - 0.000000 0.000000
Full House 1 12 - 0.000000 0.000000
Flush 1 10 - 0.000000 0.000000
Straight 1 8 79,968 0.001538 0.012308
Three of a kind 1 3 404,712 0.007786 0.023358
Two pair 1 2 1,214,136 0.023358 0.046716
Tens or better 1 1 3,157,956 0.060754 0.060754
Nonpaying hand 1 -1 38,238,396 0.735648 -0.735648
Total 51,979,200 1.000000 -0.029570


As a reminder, the house edge is traditionally defined as the ratio of the expected loss to the initial wager, which is 2.96% in this case. The player will make one raise 9.96% of the time and two raises 7.13%, for an average total bet of 1.24 units. The Element of Risk, which is the ratio of the expected loss to total bet, is thus 2.38%.

Plus Bet



With three independent progressives, you'll have to get out a calculator to determine the value of the Plus bet at any given time. The general formula for the return per dollar bet is:

(40×(Top Progressive) + 624×(Second Progressive) + 37244×(Third Progressive) + 357,400×(bet amount))/(2,598,960 × (bet amount))

When this value exceeds 1, the odds are in the player's favor. With three different progressives, it would not surprise me if this side bet almost never goes positive.

Written by: Michael Shackleford