4 card poker...playing ante

What's the proper strategy to playing the ante IF I were to play it? I know it's a tough win, going against dealer's 6 cards. Should I have the bet same as Aces Up...half...? What is the house edge on the ante play? Thank you all in advance.

Yes, but is it just terrible to even play the ante?

Quote: en11871

Yes, but is it just terrible to even play the ante?

Rule #1 from cited web page: "Two initial bets are available: The Ante and the Aces Up." The only option is don't play.

If you play the simple strategy on Ante/Play of raising 3x on pair of 10s or better, and 1x on 2s through 9s and folding all non pairs, the house edge is about 3.4%. The house edge on the most common Aces Up pay table, 50-40-8-5-4-3-1, is about 3.9%. What you see most commonly are players who don't want to risk 4 or 5 units per hand playing Ante/Play (and maybe Aces Up), so they give up the .5% and play just the Aces Up.

The whole reason anyone plays games like these is for the big hand, so that makes sense. It gives more chances per bankroll if the cards are running cold. 4 Card is one of those games where you can lose every hand and all your stake before your drink comes.

Mosca,

So you're saying by playing the ante and the basic strategy of 1x-3x, that actually lowers the house edge from just playing aces up?

The smart move, assuming you've already overcome the knowledge of the 3%+ house edge, is to take whatever you would have bet on Aces Up and distribute it on your ante/play bet.

However, consider the reason you're playing the game in the first place. If you are like most players of 4 Card, you are a low limit bettor courting the high variance. Decide if you would rather put $40 up at 3.4%, or $10 up four separate times at 3.9%. Both of those bets are going to chew you up pretty effectively, but it will take the Aces Up bet four times as long to do it, and give you four times the chances to hit a good hand, 3 of a kind or better. Plus you aren't playing against the dealer. Nothing sucks more than getting your J high flush beaten by a Q high flush, or 2 pair beaten by a straight.

Quote: Mosca

Nothing sucks more than getting your J high flush beaten by a Q high flush, or 2 pair beaten by a straight.

Unless you're playing the bad beat bonus. :)

Unfortuneately, what we don't know at the WoO site is the "Element of Risk". Since one has to Raise, that 3.4% gets divided by the average number of units wagered. The EoR is substantially the House Advantage per unit bet, which is much lower than a plain Side-Bet with an average of 1 unit. For example if the average number of units wagered is 3 and the total H.A. is 3.39%, that means each unit has a 1.13% H.A. Compare that to a 1 unit Side-Bet at 3.9%, obviously the former is a better bet PER UNIT.

Does anyone have a break down of the win probability by specific player hand? I would love to know the advantage on the really borderline 3x hands like two nines against a dealer 5, etc. Or player 10s against a dealer 10 etc. This is available for blackjack, and would be awesome to have for four card poker.

thanks