Let It Ride 3 Card bet to hedge?
Thread Rating:
My question is: Am I right in thinking that the 3 Card Bet is a good hedge for a player playing tight or did I just get lucky?
Quote: winkman14After playing Let It Ride online for a while, I finally got my 1st opp to play in a casino. (Seminole, Coconut Creek, FL) 15 units across. Played tight. No chasing. Unless I had 10's or better to open, I pulled back. Also played 10 units on the 3 Card Bonus. Did not put out the dollar for the other bonus. It appeared to me that the 3 Card Bonus acted as a decent hedge to cover a portion of my losses. Had enough small pairs come up to minimize a 15 unit loss down to a 5 unit loss. Then of course there was the occasional straight thrown in. Bought me a lot of playing time on my initial 200 unit outlay. After about 45 minutes of play I was dealt a 2-3-4 spades. Straight Flush 3 Card payout is 50:1 in that casino. Still pulled back on the 1st bet. But when the dealer turned another spade I Let it Ride for the finish. Hit the 5th spade. :)
My question is: Am I right in thinking that the 3 Card Bet is a good hedge for a player playing tight or did I just get lucky?
YUCK!!!
1.) Playing Let it Ride pursuant to Optimal Strategy is not, "Chasing," it's playing the game properly. Could you imagine hitting that Royal having pulled back your first and second betting spots, or even on a sequential three to SF? How about pulling the second bet back on four-to-a-flush?
Instead of even worrying about hedging, you should focus on playing the game properly.
Interestingly enough, pulling back the first bet on suited 2-3-4 is actually the proper play.
2.) Keep in mind to look for the Maximum Aggregate Payout, if applicable, it's possible (betting the way you are) that you would not get paid in full on a Royal playing Optimal Strategy. Always keep your bets low enough to ensure full payment pursuant to the Odds, or what I call the, "Effective House Edge," is greater.
Actually, if you're playing 45 total units, that'd be a SF to pay 9,000 units, so if the Maximum aggregate is 25K, you're getting hit with a greater effective House Edge on that, as well.
3.) The Three Card bonus bet probably sucks and probably has a higher House Edge than the base game, though there are exceptions. I believe that you know that you experienced Positive Variance, "Got lucky," to hit that Three Card Straight Flush which is a 1 in 502.26 shot.
Either way, the bet probably sucks, post both paytables and I would know for sure.
Conclusion
In any case, congratulations on your nice wins, of course, but the way you were playing Let it Ride sucks and you were making a side bet that probably sucks, in general, and compared to the House Edge of the base game. I am glad you won, though, remember to tip your dealers...they don't see it much on Let it Ride!
Quote: winkman14After playing Let It Ride online for a while, I finally got my 1st opp to play in a casino. (Seminole, Coconut Creek, FL) 15 units across. Played tight. No chasing. Unless I had 10's or better to open, I pulled back. Also played 10 units on the 3 Card Bonus. Did not put out the dollar for the other bonus. It appeared to me that the 3 Card Bonus acted as a decent hedge to cover a portion of my losses. Had enough small pairs come up to minimize a 15 unit loss down to a 5 unit loss. Then of course there was the occasional straight thrown in. Bought me a lot of playing time on my initial 200 unit outlay. After about 45 minutes of play I was dealt a 2-3-4 spades. Straight Flush 3 Card payout is 50:1 in that casino. Still pulled back on the 1st bet. But when the dealer turned another spade I Let it Ride for the finish. Hit the 5th spade. :)
My question is: Am I right in thinking that the 3 Card Bet is a good hedge for a player playing tight or did I just get lucky?
hi, winkman, and welcome to the forum! As I understand it, a unit is one ante bet; you played for 25 units/hand or at least $125 at $5 minimum your first time live? That's pretty daring! If by units, you mean dollars, that seems more realistic to me at $5/spot and $10 on the pairs plus, but still a good amount of money.
In my opinion, you hit extremely good variance to last long enough on 200 units bankroll when betting 25 per hand, even pulling back 10 every/most hand, to get to the straight flush 45 minutes in. Exceptionally so if you were staying in on small pairs and having them 2pair/trips enough not to lose "a 15 unit loss down to a 5 unit loss" implies you're letting small pairs ride, trying to improve them. In the long run, this will ruin you (speaking both from experience and with reference to basic strategy on this game). A better play is to win the 10, pull back on the others unless you catch on the 4th card, and net a 5 unit win.
The 3 card bet is not really a hedge bet; it operates completely independently of the spot bets, which is how it can be optional. That said, if the cards are running well for you, a 3 card win more often leads to a 5 card win than a non-3card winner for obvious reasons. The 3 card bet has a house edge of between approx 2 and 7%, depending on which paytable Coconut Creek is using. The most common paytable for Let It Ride has a HE of about 3.5%; they are not related.
The Wizard of Odds website has the above information and basic strategy recommendations: click Let It Ride for that, and happy gaming!
Quote: Ibeatyouraces1 in 460.416...
What's that number? The three-card SF is 1/0.001991 = 502.26
You're thinking of:
1/0.002172 = 460.416
But that's because you're not considering the Mini-Royal as a separate pay for Three-Card LiR Bonus, you're doing Pairs Plus Math for 3CP.
Quote: Ibeatyouraces22100 possible hands/48 straight flushes=1 in 460.416...
See post above, separate pay for Mini-Royal on LiR Three-Card Bonus bet.
I like Straight-Flushes that pay more! I like SF's that pay more than 4OaK's, especially, I'm not even playing the monthly contest on VP.com this time because I am sick of all of this Double-Double Bonus BS, hopefully, they'll have some reasonable games next month. I'll probably play the last day of the month just to make sure I get eight entries into the contest on the first day of next month's monthly contest, if the game doesn't suck.
By the way, I'd like to talk to you about something if you wouldn't mind turning PM's on, if you don't care to discuss it, that's fine, though.
Also, on the hands where I either held a single card of 10 or higher or the dealer showed a single card of 10 or higher, the amount of times we "paired" a winner were minimal. Same with my small pairs. The amount of times we caught the 2nd pair was also negligible. (no trips at all) I believe the amount of times I would have hit with the 2nd bet "riding" would not have covered the losses of all the times it didn't. I watched the people around me chasing pictures or small pairs & tapping out, thus re-buying. It seems to me this game is similar to Black Jack in that you have to put a streak of "wins in a row" together to make any money. (assuming you played properly, doubling & splitting when supposed to, & maybe had a slight progressive betting structure in place etc.) That's why my initial question about the 3 Card Bet (aka: Pair Plus) was asked. It just seemed to buy time until you caught a decent run or a big hit.
Quote: winkman14Clarification: I would let it ride on 4 cards to a flush or 4 cards to open ended straight draws. Probably not inside straight draws unless a 10 or better was showing. The situation only came up once during this session, not including the straight flush fluke.
https://wizardofodds.com/games/let-it-ride/
You are playing close to optimally, so please peruse that link because Optimal Strategy is very easy to learn.
Four Cards to an open-ended straight draw is a neutral play without a high card. You increase Variance by Letting it Ride in that situation, I choose not to, due to the low (1 in 6) probability of actually winning on that one, but that's personal preference.
The gutshot straight draw is a very bad play unless you have all high cards, in that event, it is neutral. With all high cards, you increase Variance by Letting it Ride, which I choose to do because the overall probability of a winning hand is 1 in 3, so that's fine with me. Again, personal preference.
In terms of winning, depending on your, "Win goal," if you have one, you either need to hit something good or have a bunch of small wins in a short time frame, one or the other. Dealt 10's+ can often be valuable if you catch them within a few hands of one another, so that can improve the stack in pretty short order.
If you like the Three-Card bet, play it! I have no authority to tell you what to do with your money, just wanted to let you know you are bucking a higher edge than the base game. Although, if you are playing the Three Card paytable of which I am thinking, then that is actually the second-best Three-Card Bonus paytable. If you like it, bet it, the most important thing is just to make an informed bet which entails knowing the game and knowing the edge you are bucking.
Finally, look at that Maximum Aggregate Payout, that is essential playing Optimal Strategy. With the RF pay on the base game, if you win with $45 out and the proper win is $45,000, you will not be paid in full if the Maximum Aggregate Payout is $25,000, so you are eating it on HE. With a Maximum Aggregate of $25,000, you get the full value on a total bet of $25,000, which can't happen, so you'd want to go $24 which is $8 per spot.
If the minimum bet is $10 and the Max Aggregate is $25,000, then they can go screw themselves. It HAS happened, and such houses are automatically dealing a game with a higher House Edge than the posted odds represent, so they can F right off.
With Let it Ride, almost all of it is in the first bet: let it ride on any made hand, any 3 to a royal, any straight flush higher than 2-3-4, any 3 to a straight flush spread 4 with 1 pay card (7-8-10, 7-9-10), and any 3 to a straight flush spread 5 with 2 pay cards (7-10-J, 8-J-Q, 8-10-Q, 9-Q-K, 9-J-K, stuff like that). To simplify: any made hand, any chance at a royal, and any straight flush draw that has 1 or 2 other possibilities depending on spread. On the second bet, let it ride with any made hand, any flush, any open ended straight, and any inside straight draw with 4 high cards.
Having played a lot of Let it Ride, I can tell you that the Pairs Plus bet is NOT an effective hedge. You will lose both bets far more often than "one saves the other" and "both pay" added together.
Play your carnival games because they are fun, sociable, and you have a chance to buck the edge. That's why I play them.
As for my Win Goal, I don't think I really set one. I just wanted to get out of the house & didn't want to go play poker. So I bit the bullet & went to the casino I usually avoid because it's so smokey. I knew I'd only last about an hour. I watched the Let It Ride game for a good 10 minutes as I had never played live & I wanted to make sure I understood the etiquette. (hold cards with one hand only, how to pull back or let it ride, do I touch the chips or does the dealer?) I know it sounds silly but I wanted to do it right. I walked away after that big hit. At least that's one thing I've always been able to do after many years of casino play. And yes, ALWAYS tip the dealers, even on a little win. A good, personable dealer makes for an enjoyable evening & has more than earned it.
Very pleased I've found this website & thanks again for your patience with this LIR newbie.
Quote: winkman14I watched the Let It Ride game for a good 10 minutes as I had never played live & I wanted to make sure I understood the etiquette. (hold cards with one hand only, how to pull back or let it ride, do I touch the chips or does the dealer?) I know it sounds silly but I wanted to do it right. I walked away after that big hit. At least that's one thing I've always been able to do after many years of casino play. And yes, ALWAYS tip the dealers, even on a little win. A good, personable dealer makes for an enjoyable evening & has more than earned it.
Very pleased I've found this website & thanks again for your patience with this LIR newbie.
I don't think it's silly AT ALL to watch a game specifically for the table etiquette; I commend you for doing so. It's pretty irritating when people sit down for the first time at a game that's new to them and has been moving at a nice pace and they haven't taken the time to do that if they don't have the basic card skills to pick it up in a hand or two. It sucks to be any player at a game where the dealer is constantly having to stop the game to prompt or correct a player that doesn't get it and doesn't care, let alone having to be the dealer as kindergarten teacher. Yes, I know it's their money, and they can ask questions, but it's a pet peeve of mine that the whole table has to cater to a player whose card-skills don't reach even a bare proficiency level on a good game after a few hands.
Saw that this past Thursday on UTH; a gentleman sat down who seemed barely conscious, bought in for $200, bet minimums (so he lasted a while) and NOT ONCE bet his raise area correctly (not talking strategy, talking bet amounts before/after/flop/river or fold. He had to be prompted for every check, corrected on every amount he bet, (the same correction every time), and lasted about 30-35 hands before he busted out. So that's somewhere in the area of 100 game stoppages at 3x/hand (even if he bet before the river, he kept reaching for his hand or fooling with his chips) and took well over an hour to play those hands, at 1/2 speed because of him. After about 5 hands, it was a real drag.
Quote: winkman14Thanks, Mosca. I think, for the most part, I followed the strategy you laid out above. Ironically, the situations that required decision making rarely came up during this session. It was pretty cut & dry. Pull, pull. Maybe once or twice a 3 card flush came up but I'm pretty sure they didn't have any straight flush potential because I pulled the first bet. On 3 card rainbow straights I pulled the first bet as well. Those are where the 3 Card Bonus bets were nice, though. Also, enough small pairs came out to get me thinking about the 3 Card Bonus as a decent play, while pulling back my LIR bets. But you all are probably correct: I just had a good run of luck with that which gave the appearance of a play with better odds than it really has.
The worst thing that ever happened to me was when I started playing LiR and 3C, I won. I hit a full house the first time I played LiR, I hit a straight flush the next day when I played 3C for the first time. It felt like sitting down to an ATM.
I've played LiR and 3C where every other hand is an ante/pairs plus winner, and I've played LiR and 3C where I've lost everything without hitting a hand at all. In the long run, for every story I have about hitting a big hand (including back-to-back 3 of a kinds at 3C and back to back full houses at LiR), I have fifty where I lost all my stake. (Of course there are also lots of stories about winning/losing without any big hands, and without losing it all.)
From the tone of your writing, I can tell that we're sharing common ground. The games are fun, but that is all, there's nothing here requiring further study. Know what to expect, and be happy if your variance overcomes the edge. And of course remember to tip!
Quote: winkman14Thank you so very much for your excellent advice & insight. I will certainly continue my studies as this game continues to intrigue me. I find myself thinking in "Texas Hold 'em" terms so I'm always counting how many "outs" I have. I think we're on the same page, here. I've looked at that link before and will again. Very informative. I've also looked at the tables posted for the 3 Card Bonus & I think the casino I played had a mixture of a few of them. I never thought to look for the Max Agg Payout so thank you again for that. Good to know.
No problem, and thanks for the compliment.
It's an excellent game, in my opinion, and is my second favorite game to play live only to Craps. Again, there's really not that much to know about Let it Ride aside from the Optimal Strategy, which is very easy to learn. Also, negative progression betting systems can get ugly in a big time hurry due to the low hit rate, but it doesn't sound like you'd attempt to play any kind of system against Let it Ride, anyway.
The maximum aggregate payout is very important for reasons stated. It's true that a dealt RF is very unlikely, but in such an event, you want to make sure you are getting paid in full on your bet.
Quote:As for my Win Goal, I don't think I really set one. I just wanted to get out of the house & didn't want to go play poker. So I bit the bullet & went to the casino I usually avoid because it's so smokey. I knew I'd only last about an hour. I watched the Let It Ride game for a good 10 minutes as I had never played live & I wanted to make sure I understood the etiquette. (hold cards with one hand only, how to pull back or let it ride, do I touch the chips or does the dealer?) I know it sounds silly but I wanted to do it right. I walked away after that big hit. At least that's one thing I've always been able to do after many years of casino play. And yes, ALWAYS tip the dealers, even on a little win. A good, personable dealer makes for an enjoyable evening & has more than earned it.
Very pleased I've found this website & thanks again for your patience with this LIR newbie.
Win/Loss goals don't change the expectation of the game, from a standpoint of Expected Value, which is always going to be the total amount bet multiplied by the House Edge, unless you can catch the occasional hole card and play appropriately accordingly. However, simulations can be performed to give you an approximate probability of a successful session based upon a certain win goal, so that can often be useful.
No problem, like I said, it's one of my favorite games, but to be blunt, it's dying pretty quickly and could use all of the new players it can get.
Once you have mastered Let it Ride, you might check out Mississippi Stud which is like Let it Ride in reverse, with respect to betting. The strategy is a little bit different because you can either bet 1x or 3x on three additional individual bets, so it's more complicated, but a fun game. I hope you like Variance, though, because you are going to get a crapload in Mississippi Stud. The most probable result is an immediate fold, and the second most probable result is to Raise 1x the original bet three times for 4x the original bet in total...and lose....between those two results, that's going to be over 59% of all hands...and tbere are still other losses to account for.
Other thing is MS has a higher HE, the best way to play it is free on the WoO game. Unfortunately, I lost the only hand of that game I will ever play live. Not playing it anymore because of the 4.91% HE, just wanted to be able to add a game to the list of those I have played live is the only reason I played it.
You might like it, though, who knows?
I believe that the only (table) game I will play with an HE greater than that of LiR is Roulette. Loss per hour isn't terrible in Roulette, though, slow-moving game and relaxing, in my opinion.
As for winning, the only thing that ever worked for me somewhat consistently was to bet the dark side & NOT lay the odds. If I wanted to make $100 I'd bet $100. I used the hardways to gain a slight edge. (or actually slightly reduce the HE) If I survived the come-out & the point was 4,6,8 or 10 I'd make a $10 hardway bet on the point. That at least eliminated one way to get zapped if the shooter hit his point. Sometimes I'd bypass the come out completely & just lay either the 4 or 10 plus the hardway bet once a point was established. Can make the game quite boring, though. But I'm sure these are thoughts for another thread. Brought back fun memories, though, so I thank you for that.
YUCK!!! Personally I cant bring myself to NOT tip unless they give me a specific reason not to. however I will never push it on a NON AP. From reading some of the dealers comments on this forum, I say TIP less until dealers change their attitudes. They somehow think they are deserving and its expected no matter what.Quote: Mission146
remember to tip your dealers...they don't see it much on Let it Ride!
The other day My GF hit a jackpot for just over 1200, floor comes to pay us and they say, "WOW your doing good". I say," Not really We are in for over 4k, so we are down like 3k " floors exact words were, "That's good" I realized they weren't even listening, they just wanted a tip. The idiot that I am, I still gave them 10 bucks.
Quote: MoscaA quarter is fine, IMO.
Thanks. I feel better.
Quote: AxelWolfPersonally I cant bring myself to NOT tip unless they give me a specific reason not to.
I'm the same way. On Blackjack I usually let the dealer ride with me. (3 Card Poker I give them the option) If they're fun, I'll do this win or lose. Sometimes I'll joke that it's time to change the luck. We'd better team up & turn this boat around. Dealers that are cold fish I'll still toke after a decent win. But if they don't loosen up, their odds of a non-winning tip are nil.
On Let It Ride, I didn't see an upside for them to Ride Along as opposed to just giving it to them outright.
Quote: AxelWolfYUCK!!! Personally I cant bring myself to NOT tip unless they give me a specific reason not to. however I will never push it on a NON AP. From reading some of the dealers comments on this forum, I say TIP less until dealers change their attitudes. They somehow think they are deserving and its expected no matter what.
The other day My GF hit a jackpot for just over 1200, floor comes to pay us and they say, "WOW your doing good". I say," Not really We are in for over 4k, so we are down like 3k " floors exact words were, "That's good" I realized they weren't even listening, they just wanted a tip. The idiot that I am, I still gave them 10 bucks.
And in return, I understand why an AP wouldn't tip, and I agree with it 100%. The reason I ignored that in this instance is that an AP wouldn't be playing Let it Ride!
There is absolutely no reason an AP should be tipping from what is considered income. The other side of the coin is that non-APs are playing for entertainment, and therefore should see tipping as part of the deal.
I'm kind of ass backward on tipping from most peoples point of view. I think the OP misunderstood me as well. I DO think AP's should tip more, and NON AP's should tip LESS. My reason for AP's to tip, is because not tipping makes all AP's look bad and they become hated by the casino employees, all AP's catch heat because of this. I have made far more money from tipping then I have given (and I'm not a cheap casino tipper, I have given 20% or more on jackpots, obviously that's not the norm). Due to generous extras, Longevity on plays, Having a floor person in your corner can help when it comes complicated situations.Quote: MoscaAnd in return, I understand why an AP wouldn't tip, and I agree with it 100%. The reason I ignored that in this instance is that an AP wouldn't be playing Let it Ride!
There is absolutely no reason an AP should be tipping from what is considered income. The other side of the coin is that non-APs are playing for entertainment, and therefore should see tipping as part of the deal.
My reason for encouraging the average Joe not to tip DEALERS is because the dealers expect it and think they deserve it. I'm not saying to stiff a nice dealer you like or anything. I'm saying give what you really WANT to give, don't do it because you think you have to.
Quote: winkman14One more quick question on my Straight Flush hit, please: I like to consider myself a good tipper. Depending on the game, I'll tip after a win or just because I like the dealer's interaction & personality. Definitely make multiple tips per hour, win or lose. My concern is, did I UNDER tip the dealer on my 3C straight flush plus LIR regular flush win? Bet $15 on each LIR spot of which I let 2 ride so the flush paid out $240 plus $10 bet on the 3C of which the Straight Flush paid out $500. I threw the dealer $25 as he colored me up & I headed out. Had already tipped him around $8 for a total of about 45 minutes of play. I've looked online & can't seem to find any definitive Tip % Tables. Did I under tip? It's been bothering me.
I'm in the "tip what you want to tip" camp as far as telling you what to do. What I do, and I don't see much of it, is I tip 10% of any big pot; when I'm winning, I tip $5 per hundred; when I'm losing, I'll tip the dealer for service when they're getting rotated out if they were doing a good job but I'm losing anyway.
I got a SF last week on UTH, and won 465, after I had just won a flush. I tipped 2 green, and the whole table looked at me like I was crazy. It was ridiculous. The dealer also put quads ON THE BOARD with a little kicker, and most people got both pays because the dealer had low cards as well; I was the ONLY one who tipped. To me, that's ridiculous. But guess what? The pit supe credited me for 2x my bets for the entire session (5 hours @ 90/hand rather than 45/hand.) That's just one thing they will do to take care of tippers who take care of them.
Session # 2: More of a grind this time but left w/ a $75 profit after about an hour. The 3C small pairs, straights & flushes kept the bad swings to a minimum.
Session # 3: Better session. Only played for about 40 minutes. Gradual steady small profits until the craziness began. Pocket Trip 3's. Nothing else came up on the LIR board. Still a nice hit on the 30-1 3C $10 spot. 3-1 on all 3 $15 LIR spots. Didn't feel like leaving right away but was not planning on staying much longer.
Next hand pocket 4's. Guy to my left had my other 4. (LoL) Nothing on the LIR hit to win but limited the loss to $5 with the 3C small pair hit.
Very next hand: 2-3-4 Diamonds! Played by the book. Pulled twice as nothing came up on the LIR board. 50-1 hit on the 3C $10 spot. I LEFT after that. :)
Tipped my dealer well as I had been throughout the sessions. $925 profit after tips. Wow.
I know that the percentages show that this should not be panning out the way it has been but since it's working for me, I'll keep going this way. When I hit that inevitable dry run, it will be limited to a $200 - $300 session loss. But for now ... this has been a lot of fun & kind of nuts! :)
Quote: winkman14Test Sessions 2 & 3 complete: $15 p/ spot + $10 on 3C (no $1 bonus)
Session # 2: More of a grind this time but left w/ a $75 profit after about an hour. The 3C small pairs, straights & flushes kept the bad swings to a minimum.
Session # 3: Better session. Only played for about 40 minutes. Gradual steady small profits until the craziness began. Pocket Trip 3's. Nothing else came up on the LIR board. Still a nice hit on the 30-1 3C $10 spot. 3-1 on all 3 $15 LIR spots. Didn't feel like leaving right away but was not planning on staying much longer.
Next hand pocket 4's. Guy to my left had my other 4. (LoL) Nothing on the LIR hit to win but limited the loss to $5 with the 3C small pair hit.
Very next hand: 2-3-4 Diamonds! Played by the book. Pulled twice as nothing came up on the LIR board. 50-1 hit on the 3C $10 spot. I LEFT after that. :)
Tipped my dealer well as I had been throughout the sessions. $925 profit after tips. Wow.
I know that the percentages show that this should not be panning out the way it has been but since it's working for me, I'll keep going this way. When I hit that inevitable dry run, it will be limited to a $200 - $300 session loss. But for now ... this has been a lot of fun & kind of nuts! :)
Nice hits, both session 2 in getting up plus, and 3 with the great hands. Enjoy!
Quote: beachbumbabsNice hits, both session 2 in getting up plus, and 3 with the great hands. Enjoy!
Thanks! It's been quite surreal.
Quote: winkman14I know that the percentages show that this should not be panning out the way it has been but since it's working for me, I'll keep going this way. When I hit that inevitable dry run, it will be limited to a $200 - $300 session loss. But for now ... this has been a lot of fun & kind of nuts! :)
Play because it's fun! I'm glad for you. Often overlooked is that LiR is a great social game, because no one plays against anyone. Everyone can win. If you get a table full of good people, and decent cards, it is a fun time.
A couple months ago, I had the LiR session to end all. It wasn't so much that I got big payouts, although there was one 3 of a kind in hand; it was that I seemed to suck out a win on about 70% of the hands. If i held J-x-x, I got a J on the board. If I had 8-8-x, I'd match the x for 2 pair, or pull the third 8. I bought in for $300, cashed out when I lost down to $1300 for a $1000 win. Betting $10s.
Understand, for every story I have like that I have 50 that I didn't tell, where I lost it all. But those don't make fun stories!
Quote: MoscaPlay because it's fun! I'm glad for you. Often overlooked is that LiR is a great social game, because no one plays against anyone. Everyone can win. If you get a table full of good people, and decent cards, it is a fun time.
I totally agree. The last table was with a group of fun, positive people. Everybody truly happy for each other's good fortune. I like when people interact. Plus the dealers tend to loosen up, as well. Especially if you let them "ride" with you from time to time. (win or lose)
I have a favorite new saying when I'm about to tip a dealer $5 on a little hit or just because it's time. I ask, "You wanna ride with me or the guarantee?".
I've only had one dealer take the guaranteed $5 tip. Most want the action. If the hit is a little larger, I might give them both. $5 w/ me & $5 guaranteed.
With the big wins we don't mess around. I tip them well & don't offer them the option to gamble. A $25 - $50 tip goes right in the tip jar. (LoL)
RE: Your "suck out" win session ... those rock!!!!
