Let it Ride Strategy

Even though the game is structured as if you are making three bets with the chance of taking two back, most experienced players think of the game as having one mandatory bet and two possible chances to make a raise. The decision to “Let it Ride” after three cards have been dealt but no board cards are visible is the same thing as “raising.”

If a player optimizes earnings by not raising when the expectation is worst and by maximizing the bet when the expectation is best, then the house edge is reduced to a small, but appreciable margin.

Mistakes in strategy can be costly, as the house margin can then rise well into double digits.

Thus, even with perfect play, you will eventually go broke if you play for long enough, but you will go broke much more quickly by raising when you should take the bet back. The following strategy will make the bankroll last as long as possible.

The Three Card Decision

Only “Let it Ride” if in your hand there is:

• a paying combination;
• three to a royal flush;
• three suited cards in sequence with the starting card no lower than three;
• three to a straight flush with only one gap, but with one or more high cards;
• three to a straight flush, with as many as two gaps, but with two or more high cards.

The Four Card Decision

Only “Let it Ride” if in your hand there is:

• a paying combination;
• four to a flush, straight flush or royal flush;
• four to an outside straight;
• four to an inside straight, all high cards.

With one or more high cards in the outside straight, or with the inside straight and four high cards, the expectation is just about zero for the house and only slightly positive for the player. This is when knowing the contents of the other players’ hands might make a difference in deciding whether to let the bets ride.

The chances of having playable hands at each juncture are as follows. The probability of receiving three cards answering to the description of those described above are the sum of 52 possible three of a kind, 1440 possible high pairs, 40 count as beginning hands towards a royal flush, 28 as beginning hands towards a straight flush, 24 as suited with a gap and a high card, and 16 as suited with two gaps and two high cards. This totals 1,600 different combinations. No one should “Let it Ride” if he or she is not holding one of these 1600 hands. The probability of that is 1,600 divided by 22,100 or 7.24%. This is about one out of every 14 hands on the average.

On the second round, a similar calculation would show that a careful player would be leaving the second bet out there about 16% of the time, or one in about every 6 hands.