Origin:

Let it Ride poker was first introduced in 1993 in Nevada casinos. Nowadays, Let It Ride poker is among the most popular casino games and can be found in more than 200 casinos around the world. Let it Ride poker was invented and copyrighted by Shuffle Master company and is aimed to older audience because of slow pace of the game.

Special Feature:

The special feature of Let It Ride is the ability to take back up to 2/3 of the initial bet. Players place three equal stakes in front of them and in two first rounds can remove two of these stakes leaving only one in the game.

Let It Ride poker is not played against the dealer as most other casino poker games, but against the odds. Players win if their final hands contain a pair of 10s or a higher poker hand and are paid according to the strength of the hand.

When stakes are placed, the dealer deals three face-down cards to each player and two additional face-down cards in the center of the table. These two cards are community cards, which means that they will be used by all players in order to complete their five card poker hands.

How Let It Ride Poker is Played:

In the first round players see their three cards, while both community cards are kept face-down. If a player does not like his cads, he may take back one of his stakes. If he does like them or hopes that community cards will improve his hand, he may Let It Ride, which means keeping the stake in the game.

In the second round the dealer reveals one of the community cards and the players can remove another stake or Let It Ride, after which the dealer flips the second community card and players can see their entire hands. The third stake can not be removed, and even if the player does not like his hand at all, he must leave at least one stake in the game.

If the final hand of a player is a pair of 9s or a lower poker hand, such player loses the bet left in the game (whether it is one, two or three stakes). If a player has a pair of 10s or a higher hand, he wins and is paid according to the following scheme (all pay-outs are in proportion to the bet in play):

• A pair of 10s or a higher pair: 1:1
• Two Pair: 2:1
• Three of a Kind: 3:1
• Straight: 5:1
• Flush: 8:1
• Full House: 11:1
• Four of a Kind: 50:1
• Straight Flush: 200:1
• Royal Flush: 1,000:1

House Edge:

The average house edge of Lat It Ride is 3.5%, which together with the slow pace of the game makes it one of the less profitable games for the casino. Apart from this, applying a basic strategy decreases the house edge even more.

Strategy:

The basic strategy for Let It Ride poker says to keep your first stake in play only if you have a pair of 10s among your three cars or three cards that can be combined into a straight or a flush. The second round involves the same strategy, but taking into the account the community card. Applying such strategy, you will sometimes win less money than if you kept more stakes in play, but, on the other hand, you will lose much less and will increase your overall wining rate.