By
J. Phillip Vogel
Now that you understand the basics
on how to play Let it Ride, it's time to begin delving into
all of the various strategies that you can employ to increase
your chances of winning. Bear in mind, however, that these strategies
will only reduce the house edge to its lowest amount, 3.5%.
The player can never achieve an edge over the house, and indeed
like Caribbean Stud Poker, it is, in the end, a negative expectation
game.
To begin with, let's take a look at the first, most basic strategy:
the Three Card strategy.
The main strategic considerations associated with Let it Ride
center around the first four cards, and the first two betting
circles. It is with these circles that the player has to decide
whether or not the first four cards are strong enough to let
the bets ride. In other words, there are two decisions to be
made on the first four cards, one for each of the two betting
circles where the wager can be removed.
The first decision takes place after you have received your
cards from the dealer, and see what your first three cards are.
These cards give us a fairly good indication about the strength
of our hand, and what our chance for success actually is.
Since we can see three of the cards
in the hand immediately, we know three fifths, or 60%, of the
possible hand. We can therefore make some pretty good assumptions
about the likely outcome for that hand. With these assumptions,
we make the decisions concerning our bets.
Sometimes we are dealt what are commonly called "no-brainers",
that is, a hand where the decision is already made for us. For
example, if you were dealt three kings, it doesn't take a brain
surgeon to figure out that we should "let it ride".
This is a winning hand, and has a guaranteed payout of at least
three times each bet. With some luck, that hand may even improve
to a full house, or even four of a kind.
Other times, we're given hands that
have enough potential to win, such as three cards to a royal
flush, so we let it ride as well. On the other side of the coin,
we may be dealt complete junk and know that our chances for
success are so limited, that it would be best to take back as
many bets as possible!
Now Lets take a look at the
Correct choices of the Three-Card strategy
