Rivers Casino Let It Ride
Wizard Recommends
- Three Rivers Casino Resort in Florence, Oregon is one of two casinos owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw Indians. The other casino is the Three Rivers Casino in Coos Bay, Oregon. In 2007 Three Rivers Casino added a 93-room hotel, an events center, more casino space, and five new dining venues.
- Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady, located in the heart of Schenectady and the heart of the Capital Region, is the area’s only premier destination offering 67 LIVE table games. Players can choose from a wide variety of casino table games such as player favorites like Blackjack, Craps and Roulette as well as other specialty games!
- €1500 Welcome Bonus
- 100% Welcome Bonus
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Seven of the riverboat casinos in Illinois are either on boats or on docked barges. These Illinois casinos remain dockside and do not cruise. The other three casinos: Rivers in Des Plaines, Jumer's in Rock Island, and the Casino Queen in East. Louis, are all land-based casinos.
On This Page
Introduction
Let it Ride is among the first of the wave of new casino games, starting in the late nineties. It is a simple poker-based game where the player is paid based on his five card hand only. No dealer hand to worry about. The twist is that as the cards are revealed the player has the opportunity to decrease his bet if he doesn't like his cards. As of 2013 Let it Ride is still out there, but its numbers are decreasing.
Rules
- Player makes three bets of equal size.
- Dealer gives player three cards.
- Player may pull his first bet back or 'let it ride.'
- Dealer deals the first community card, to be used by all players.
- Player may pull his second back or 'let it ride.'
- Dealer deals the second community card, to be used by all players.
- Player is paid according to the poker value of his five cards, remaining bets, and the posted pay table.
- Side bets are usually available, which are explained below.
The following is the standard pay table most casinos follow. All wins are on a 'to one' basis.
Let it Ride — Standard Pay Table
| Hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 1000 |
| Straight Flush | 200 |
| Four of a kind | 50 |
| Full House | 11 |
| Flush | 8 |
| Straight | 5 |
| Three of a kind | 3 |
| Two pair | 2 |
| Tens or better | 1 |
| Loser | Loss |
The pay table for this and 15 other known Let it Ride pay tables can be found in my Let it Ride appendix 3.
Strategy
The following strategy is for the standard pay table.
With three cards you should only 'let it ride' if you have:
- Any paying hand (tens or better, three of a kind)
- Any three to a royal flush
- Three suited cards in a row except 2-3-4, and ace-2-3
- Three to a straight flush, spread 4, with at least one high card (ten or greater)
- Three to a straight flush, spread 5, with at least two high cards
With four cards you should only 'let it ride' if you have:
- Any paying hand (tens or better, two pair, three of a kind)
- Any four cards of the same suit
- Any four to an outside straight with at least one high card
- Any four to an outside straight with no high cards (zero house edge)
- Any four to an inside straight with 4 high cards (zero house edge)
A lot of people have asked me what I mean by 'inside straight', 'outside straight', 'spread 4', and 'spread 5.'An inside straight is one in which an 'inside' card is missing, such as (4,5,7,8). An outside straight is one in which an outside card is missing, such as (4,5,6,7). Outside straights are much better because there are 8 cards that can complete them as opposed to 4 for an inside straight. Spread4 means that the cards in question span 4 ranks in a row,for example a (5,6,8). Spread 5 means the cards in question span 5 ranks, for example a (5,7,9).
Play Let It Ride for free while learning the strategy.
Aggregate Payout Warning:
The table will probably have a maximum payout. At Casino Niagara in Niagara Falls the maximum aggregate payout is $75,000 per round. As a result the player should not bet more than the maximum payout divided by 3000. Any bet above this quotient will not pay the full odds on a royal flush, thus increasing the house edge.
Analysis
Let it Ride — Standard Pay Table
| Hand | Pays | Bet | Win | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 1000 | 3 | 3,000 | 80 | 0.000002 | 0.004617 |
| Royal Flush | 1000 | 2 | 2,000 | 0 | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Royal Flush | 1000 | 1 | 1,000 | 0 | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Straight Flush | 200 | 3 | 600 | 352 | 0.000007 | 0.004063 |
| Straight Flush | 200 | 2 | 400 | 368 | 0.000007 | 0.002832 |
| Straight Flush | 200 | 1 | 200 | 0 | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Four of a kind | 50 | 3 | 150 | 7,872 | 0.000151 | 0.022717 |
| Four of a kind | 50 | 2 | 100 | 4,608 | 0.000089 | 0.008865 |
| Four of a kind | 50 | 1 | 50 | 0 | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Full House | 11 | 3 | 33 | 33,408 | 0.000643 | 0.021210 |
| Full House | 11 | 2 | 22 | 41,472 | 0.000798 | 0.017553 |
| Full House | 11 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Flush | 8 | 3 | 24 | 10,008 | 0.000193 | 0.004621 |
| Flush | 8 | 2 | 16 | 92,152 | 0.001773 | 0.028366 |
| Flush | 8 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Straight | 5 | 3 | 15 | 4,464 | 0.000086 | 0.001288 |
| Straight | 5 | 2 | 10 | 88,656 | 0.001706 | 0.017056 |
| Straight | 5 | 1 | 5 | 110,880 | 0.002133 | 0.010666 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 3 | 9 | 364,560 | 0.007014 | 0.063122 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 2 | 6 | 328,968 | 0.006329 | 0.037973 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 1 | 3 | 404,712 | 0.007786 | 0.023358 |
| Two pair | 2 | 3 | 6 | 574,128 | 0.011045 | 0.066272 |
| Two pair | 2 | 2 | 4 | 682,776 | 0.013136 | 0.052542 |
| Two pair | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1,214,136 | 0.023358 | 0.046716 |
| Tens or better | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2,571,636 | 0.049474 | 0.148423 |
| Tens or better | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2,647,560 | 0.050935 | 0.101870 |
| Tens or better | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3,228,804 | 0.062117 | 0.062117 |
| Loser | -1 | 3 | -3 | 53,076 | 0.001021 | -0.003063 |
| Loser | -1 | 2 | -2 | 937,824 | 0.018042 | -0.036085 |
| Loser | -1 | 1 | -1 | 38,576,700 | 0.742156 | -0.742156 |
| Total | 51,979,200 | 1.000000 | -0.035057 |
5-Card Bonus Bet
I don't know if this bet even has a name, so I am titling it the '5-Card Bonus Bet.' It is a $1 side bet, which pays based on the poker value of the final five-card hand. This is a sucker bet, that should be avoided. Based on a small sampling of casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin, the house edge varies from 13.77% (Lady Luck) to 36.52% (New York, New York). Below are some casinos, their payoff table, and their house edge, in order from best to worst. Wins are on a 'for one' basis, meaning the player does not get his original bet back, even on a win.
Let it Ride Side Bet Pay Tables
| Hand | Table 1 | Table 2 | Table 3 | Table 4 | Table 5 | Table 6 | Table 7 | Table 8 | Table 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 20000 | 20000 | 20000 | 20000 | 20000 | 10000 | 20000 | 20000 | 25000 |
| Straight flush | 2000 | 1000 | 2000 | 2000 | 1000 | 2000 | 2000 | 1000 | 2500 |
| Four of a kind | 100 | 100 | 100 | 400 | 400 | 100 | 300 | 300 | 400 |
| Full house | 75 | 75 | 75 | 200 | 200 | 75 | 150 | 150 | 200 |
| Flush | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Straight | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Three of a kind | 9 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Two pair | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tens or better | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| House edge | 13.77% | 23.73% | 25.39% | 25.53% | 26.92% | 26.93% | 35.14% | 36.52% | 24.07% |
The following is a list of which casinos have which pay tables based on my small sampling. Unless otherwise stated all casinos are in Las Vegas:
- Table 1: Lady Luck
- Table 2: Las Vegas Club, Freemont, Californian,Plaza, Main Street Station, Ballys, Circus Circus,Hilton, Grand (Biloxi), Beau Rivage (Biloxi), Horseshoe(Tunica), Grand (Tunica)
- Table 3: Golden Gate
- Table 4: Bellagio, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, Harrah's,Imperial Palace, Paris, Venetian
- Table 5: MGM Grand, Golden Nugget
- Table 6: Colorado Belle (Laughlin), Sky City (New Mexico)
- Table 7: Four Queens, Flamingo Hilton
- Table 8: New York New York
- Table 9: Rivers casino in Pittsburgh, PA
The next table shows the probability and return for every hand under pay table 2 above. The return of 76.27% reflects a house edge of 100.00% - 76.27% = 23.73%. Again, all pays are on a 'for one' basis.
5-Card Bonus
| Hand | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 20,000 | 4 | 0.000002 | 0.030782 |
| Straight flush | 1,000 | 36 | 0.000014 | 0.013852 |
| Four of a kind | 100 | 624 | 0.000240 | 0.024010 |
| Full house | 75 | 3,744 | 0.001441 | 0.108043 |
| Flush | 50 | 5,108 | 0.001965 | 0.098270 |
| Straight | 25 | 10,200 | 0.003925 | 0.098116 |
| Three of a kind | 4 | 54,912 | 0.021128 | 0.084514 |
| Two pair | 3 | 123,552 | 0.047539 | 0.142617 |
| Tens or better | 1 | 422,400 | 0.162527 | 0.162527 |
| Loser | 0 | 1,978,380 | 0.761220 | 0.000000 |
| Total | 2,598,960 | 1.000000 | 0.762730 |
3-Card Bonus Bet
Some casinos offer a side bet based on the value of the player's three cards, similar to the Pair plus bet in Three Card Poker. The main difference is in Let It Ride the bet has a separate win for a 'Mini Royal', defined as a suited ace, king, and queen. The following table table shows the most common pay table for this bet.
3-Card Bonus
| Hand | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini Royal | 50 | 4 | 0.000181 | 0.00905 |
| Straight flush | 40 | 44 | 0.001991 | 0.079638 |
| Three of a kind | 30 | 52 | 0.002353 | 0.070588 |
| Straight | 6 | 720 | 0.032579 | 0.195475 |
| Flush | 3 | 1096 | 0.049593 | 0.148778 |
| Pair | 1 | 3744 | 0.169412 | 0.169412 |
| Nothing | -1 | 16440 | 0.743891 | -0.743891 |
| House Edge | 22100 | 1 | -0.070950 |
The next pay table shows other possible variants of the Three Card Bonus bet.
3-Card Bonus
| Hand | Table 1 | Table 2 | Table 3 | Table 4 | Table 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini Royal | 50 | 50 | 200 | 100 | 50 |
| Straight flush | 40 | 40 | 40 | 50 | 40 |
| Three of a kind | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Straight | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Flush | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Pair | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Nothing | -1 | -1 | -1 | -1 | -1 |
| House edge | 7.10% | 5.39% | 4.38% | 4.20% | 2.14% |
The only casino I am aware of that offers pay table 5 is the Borgata in Atlantic City (source).
6-Card Bonus
Some casinos add on a side bet known as the 6-Card Bonus. This side bet is found on multiple poker-derivative games, so I created a special page for it. For more information, please see my page on the 6-Card Bonus.
Millionaire Progressive
This is a $5 'red light' progressive side bet that pays $1,000,000 for a royal flush in spades, using the player's five-card hand. For all the rules and analysis, please see my page on the Millionaire Progressive.
Seeing Extra Cards
Let It Ride Casino Game
Although players are not supposed to share information, you can often accidentally see other player cards, or this rule is ignored and players voluntarily show each other their cards. Seeing other cards can make the difference in borderline plays, namely the zero house edge straights listed under the 4-card strategy above. In his book Mastering the Game of Let It Ride, author Stanley Ko offers a strategy for these situations. He doesn't state how much it lowers the house edge, but James Grosjean does in his book Beyond Counting (Exhibit CAA). According to Grosjean, if you can see every player card in a 7-player game, and made perfect use of the information, it would lower the house advantage from 3.51% to 2.34% only.
Inside Links
- Appendix 1: Details on how the strategy and expected return were determined.
- Appendix 2: Details on the Isle of Capri (Black Hawk, Colorado) rules.
- Appendix 3: Analysis of 16 different Let it Ride pay tables.
Outside Links
German translation of this page.
When the Shuffle Master company released a new hybrid table game known as Let It Ride in 1993, even the famed gambling equipment manufacturer likely had no clue as to the impact their creationwould have on the casino industry.
24 years later, Shuffle Master is known as SHFL Entertainment. As part of the Scientific Games gambling conglomerate, the company is still producing innovative new gaming concepts.
But even given another two decades or more, game inventors there would have trouble coming up with another design quite like the now ubiquitous Let It Ride.
Today it can be easy to think games like Let It Ride – which combines central elements of both poker and blackjack to create an entirely new gameplay experience – are natural extensions of thecasino game family. Hybrid table games like Three Card Poker and Caribbean Holdem are a dime a dozen, but until Let It Ride provided the always important proof of concept, combining two or moregames to devise another was not an accepted practice within the casino gambling world.
Players like me who have been around the block once or twice can remember those days, and despite the nostalgic yearning for the “Old Las Vegas,” I for one am glad to have entered a new era. Backthen, before upstarts like Let It Ride set the standard for hybrid table games, players were offered a standard lineup of tables to choose from.
Blackjack, baccarat, craps, and roulette formed the “Big Four,” and aside fromsucker games like keno and the Big Six wheel, casinos didn’t offer much else in the variety aside from the machine based games like slots and video poker.
For table game fans, players who prefer the personal touch provided by a dealer, cards, chips, and the other tools of the trade, those four major games were pretty much it. Now, those are greatgames to play, and I’m happy to say I’ve spent countless hours in casinos around the country doing just that. But as the years go by, even the most grizzled of gamblers can appreciate a littlevariety from time to time.
Enter the Let It Ride tables coined by Shuffle Master. For the first time, players who loved to play the classic card games of poker and blackjack could put their hands together, so to speak.Using the traditional player versus dealer format found in blackjack, Let It Ride inserts basic poker gameplay to the equation. The result is a truly unique hybrid table game, one thatestablished a tried and true template for how new additions to the casino floor should be modeled.
Players begin a hand by placing three mandatory Ante bets, before receiving three random cards from a 52 card deck. From there, the objective is to assess the relative strength, or drawingpotential, of your first three cards, before deciding to take one of your Ante bets back – or let it ride. A community card used by all players at the table is dealt out, the Let It Ride processrepeats one last time, and a final community card is revealed.
With five cards now in hand, between the three starting cards and two community cards, players then score their best five card poker hand against an escalating pay table. With the chance to bag amassive 1,000 to 1 payout for forming the mother of all poker hands, the royal flush, Let It Ride manages to offer that crucial jackpot element most quality casino games thrive on.
Throw in a pair of common side bets, one based on your first three cards and another on the final five card poker hand, and Let It Ride lends itself to action and swings. What makes the game sospecial, however, is how easy it is to learn and play.
At one point back in the proverbial day, casinos weren’t the welcoming adult wonderlands they’ve transformed into, and new players had trouble navigating the waters. Without possessing a certainsense of expert knowledge on a game like craps, casino rookies would invariably watch along the rail, wanting to play, but choosing to walk away for fear of looking like a fool. After all, it’snot much fun betting money if you don’t know the strategic import of the wagers on the board.
Games like Let It Ride nipped that issue in the bud by creating extremely simple rule setups. New players need only watch a hand or two play out before sitting down to try things out forthemselves. And when it comes time to play the game correctly, Let It Ride’s optimal strategy is nothing more than a hard and fast system of hand strength guidelines used to decide when to pullback Ante bets or let them ride.
All told, the easily accessible gameplay and quickly mastered strategy – combined with the potential to turn $15 into $15,000 on a single hand – made Let It Ride one of the casino industry’s bonafide classics. The game spread to casinos far and wide, become a staple offering alongside the Big Four mentioned above. Today, the game’s popularity is waning a bit based on the crowdedcompetition within the hybrid table game market, but even so, you’re still bound to find a Let It Ride table running at most major casinos.
Play Let It Ride Online
If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about the game before trying your hand, this page is the place for you, because below I’ll run through my three best Let It Ride tips.
Free Casino Let It Ride
I’ll assume you’re already familiar with the basic rules and gameplay, so my tips will cover essential aspects ofplaying well, such as shopping for the best pay tables, avoiding the side bets added to entice suckers, and understanding the odds and probabilities underpinning Let It Ride’s uniquestructure. Finally, because Let It Ride has spread throughout the realm of online casinos just as rapidly, my tips will cover both the brick and mortar and online versions.