Gambling Tips by
Rob Roy Let it Ride Poker
I deal this game quite
often, I like to deal this game because the players are not playing against the
dealer. I will not review the basic rules here on this webpage. What
I will do here is give you good basic strategy, and outline some common
pitfalls to avoid. I see far too many
players making bad bets. Please read and
understand what I have outlined below:
You are going to pull back
bets 1 and 2 most of the time. You want
to make the mathematically correct plays.
You want to minimize your loses so you get to play at the table long enough
to win a big bonus hand like a full house or better. High Pairs and Three-of-a-Kind hands will not
make you rich, but they just enable you to extend your playing time at the
table. Then you continue to play with
the casino’s money and hope to hit it again before the casino’s money you won
runs out.
Please avoid these common
pitfalls……
The most common error I
see players make is going for the flush and playing “Let-it-Ride” on the first
bet.. I just dealt the player three
cards of the same suit (but no possibilities for a straight flush, lets use Q 8
6 of hearts as an example), and the player gets excited and elects to
“Let-it-Ride” on the first bet, instead of pulling it back (the correct play).
Bad bet. Break it down and you will see why: You have 10 hearts left in the remaining 49
cards. The odds that both of them will
appear in the community hand for you to make your flush is 1/25. (10/49 * 9/48). Therefore any payout less than 24 to 1 is a
bad bet. The casino pays only 8-1 for a flush. If it happens, great. But I would not leave the first $ 10 bet up
there. That $ 10 will win $80 once in
25 tries. That bet is worth only $3.20.
Now I flip over the first
Community card and reveal a heart: Hey
! Now we are talking a horse of a
different color ! Lets analze it: You see four hearts, so there are nine left
in the remaining 48 cards. So 9/48 *
$80 is $15 That $10 sitting on bet #2
is worth $15, so “Let-It-Ride” for bet #2 is the correct play.
Let me emphasize this is
the way to think when playing this game. Of course you are going to leave your bet up if
your hand is already a paying hand (i.e. “no-brainer”). You never leave a bet up if you are trying to
get something less than a straight, its just not worth it.
The criteria for leaving
the first bet up is a “No-Brainer” (i.e. Pair of 10’s or better, or
3-of-a-kind). Or 3 cards to a ROYAL
FLUSH, or three suited cards in a row except 2-3-4, and ace-2-3. If you cards are not “in-a-row”, then you
must factor in high cards to make it worthwhile, see my Poker
Card for details.
Leaving the second bet up,
you must be thinking straights or better.
Unless you already have a no-brainer, or possibilites for a straight or
better, see conditions
I.e. you do not leave your
2nd bet up looking to make three of a kind or two pair, i.e. you
have a low pair (9’s or less). It’s not worth the risk. I see people playing this way. If it happens, that’s great, but don’t risk
your $10 on a bet that’s only worth $ 2.55 in equity. (3/47 * $20 + 2/47 * $ 30). There are three cards in 47 that will get
win you $20, plus two cards in 47 that will match your pair to get you 3 or a
kind to win $30).
Even if your 3rd
card is a high card, it not worth it.
3/47 * $10, yields only another 64 cents in equity. Even when you factor in the chance of pairing
up with your high card (3/49 + 3/48).
The community hand will be a high pair once every 38 hands. What are the odds of this happening after
the first community card is a high card ?
(3/47) or 1/16.
Do not “Let-it-Ride” for
Three-of-a-kinds, or Two-Pair. If they
happen, they happen, good, but do not “Let-it Ride” bet 1 and 2.
Also, be patient. That’s the nature of this game. I will never forget once, it was a Saturday
Morning, and a carload of women all came together sat down to open my
“Let-it-Ride” table with me. We went a
couple hands, nobody was hitting a no-brainer, so everybody was pulling back
their bets and not winning anything yet.
One woman, a newcomer, complained, as if something was supposed to
happen already. Her friends explained to
her the nature of the game of “Let-It-Ride”. You go many hands without ever
winning anything. Go play it for free; Play
Let-it-Ride online, and see what I mean.
Did you
like my advice for playing “Let-it-Ride” ?
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