On this page
Florida Variant of Trips Bet
Introduction
At racetracks in Florida, poker-based games are allowed. This includes games like Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em. However, there is a regulation in Florida that to win a bet in poker you must beat your opponent. Normally, in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, the Trips is a side bet that pays based only on the poker value of the player's hand. At the racetracks in Florida, it is also required to beat the dealer. This page address the rules and odds as found at these Florida racetracks.
Rules
Normally, the Trips is a side bet in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em that pays based on the poker value of the best five-card hand that can be created among two player hole cards and five community cards. However, at Florida racetracks, it is also required to beat the dealer. If there is a tie with a hand of Three of a Kind or greater, then the Trips is a push.
Tribal casinos in Florida are not bound by the "must win" rule and thus use the standard Trips pay table.
The following table shows the standard Trips pay table and that used in Florida. As you can see, some pays are increased to adjust for it being harder to win.
Trips Pay Table
| Event | Standard | Florida |
|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 50 | 50 |
| Straight flush | 40 | 40 |
| Four of a kind | 30 | 30 |
| Full house | 8 | 10 |
| Flush | 7 | 8 |
| Straight | 4 | 6 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 3 |
Analysis
The following table shows the probability and contribution to the return of all possible events of the Trips bet under the Florida variant. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 4.88%. By way of comparison, the most common 50-40-30-8-7-4-3 Trips pay table under the conventional rules has a house edge of 3.50%.
Florida Variant Analysis
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 50 | 85,615,200 | 0.000031 | 0.001539 |
| Straight flush | 40 | 734,237,144 | 0.000264 | 0.010559 |
| Four of a kind | 30 | 4,240,864,800 | 0.001525 | 0.045742 |
| Full house | 10 | 62,810,500,464 | 0.022582 | 0.225825 |
| Flush | 8 | 71,523,195,288 | 0.025715 | 0.205720 |
| Straight | 6 | 103,685,076,072 | 0.037278 | 0.223670 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 97,664,829,948 | 0.035114 | 0.105341 |
| Trips or better and push | 0 | 28,636,706,336 | 0.010296 | 0.000000 |
| Two pair or less | -1 | 2,356,664,171,400 | 0.847300 | -0.847300 |
| Trips or better and lose | -1 | 55,335,805,748 | 0.019895 | -0.019895 |
| Total | 2,781,381,002,400 | 1.000000 | -0.048799 |
Internal Links
Florida variant of the Pairplus bet in Three Card Poker.
Extneral Links
Discussion about the Florida variant of the Trips bet in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.