Learn to Let It Ride and Maximize Your Expected Value

If you’re a fan of poker or casino table games, then you may have seen Let It Ride available. A lot of players don’t get into it because they don’t realize that it’s a casino poker game, and it actually plays a lot like a video poker game. There is a lot of strategy involved in Let It Ride, and the basic gameplay is easy to learn. You start out by placing three bets of the same size, and three cards are dealt. You get the option to pull back a bet, and after a fourth card is dealt, you again get the option to pull back a bet. Once the last card is dealt, your final hand is compared to a payout table, and your remaining “live” bets are paid out if you were given a pair of tens or better.

The standard payout table pays 1,000x for a royal, 200x for a straight flush, 50x for four of a kind, 11x for a full house, 8x for a flush, 5x for a straight, 3x for three of a kind, 2x for two pair, and 1x for a single pair of tens or better. If you see paytables better (or worse) than this, then you should decide whether or not to play accordingly.

There are two aspects of strategy in this game, and they correspond to playing with three or four cards because those are when you have to decide to take back one of your bets or not. With four cards, the strategy is pretty easy. If you have a hand that will win a payout or a four-card flush draw or a four-card outside straight draw, then you should keep the bet live. If not, then you should pull it back. This is pretty easy to remember.

For three cards, it’s a little trickier. Three to a royal should be kept, as should any three of a kind or single pair of tens or higher. Three to a straight flush with no gap should be kept as long as it’s 5-4-3 or higher. Also, if you have three to a straight flush with a single gap and one card ten or higher, that’s good. Three to a straight flush with two gaps works as well, but it’s only if you have two cards that are ten or higher.