October 15th, 2013 at 12:38:36 AM
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My local casino runs a Texas Shootout table and they have a sidebet that I do not see listed on the wizardofodds.com breakdown of the game. It's called quickfire and essentially turns your dealt cards into a 4 card poker hand. You do not need to play all 4 cards in the main game to get a pay out as long as you show the dealer your winning hand before you discard the 2 cards you aren't using. The pay table is as follows:
1 pair - 1:1
2 pair - 2:1
3 of a kind - 3:1
Flush - 4:1
Straight - 5:1
4 of a kind - 20:1
Straight Flush - 50:1
Royal Flush- 100:1
4 of a kind (suited) - 200:1
Now as with most sidebets, I'm assuming this carries a heavy house advantage, however my casino has something that improves the odds a little. If you bet the same amount on the QuickFire as you do on the main bet, the dealer does not win pushes in the main game and is instead a push. For instance, if you bet $5 on the QuickFire and $5 on the main game, if you have the same hand as the dealer your $5 main bet pushes instead of losing as it normally would.
I'm guessing this makes the main bet actually in the advantage of the player (able to split a great hand into 2 hands plus slightly more advantageous hand setting strategy than the House Way). Of course there's still the side bet with the house edge. I'm curious what the combined house edge is on playing in this fashion. I'm somewhat partial to this since it results in a lot of net pushes (have a pair but lose the main bet or vice versa) thus stretching my gambling dollar a little more (plus the chance of hitting one of the larger payouts). However if exposing myself to a massive house advantage playing this way then perhaps I will go back to just playing the main bet.
1 pair - 1:1
2 pair - 2:1
3 of a kind - 3:1
Flush - 4:1
Straight - 5:1
4 of a kind - 20:1
Straight Flush - 50:1
Royal Flush- 100:1
4 of a kind (suited) - 200:1
Now as with most sidebets, I'm assuming this carries a heavy house advantage, however my casino has something that improves the odds a little. If you bet the same amount on the QuickFire as you do on the main bet, the dealer does not win pushes in the main game and is instead a push. For instance, if you bet $5 on the QuickFire and $5 on the main game, if you have the same hand as the dealer your $5 main bet pushes instead of losing as it normally would.
I'm guessing this makes the main bet actually in the advantage of the player (able to split a great hand into 2 hands plus slightly more advantageous hand setting strategy than the House Way). Of course there's still the side bet with the house edge. I'm curious what the combined house edge is on playing in this fashion. I'm somewhat partial to this since it results in a lot of net pushes (have a pair but lose the main bet or vice versa) thus stretching my gambling dollar a little more (plus the chance of hitting one of the larger payouts). However if exposing myself to a massive house advantage playing this way then perhaps I will go back to just playing the main bet.
October 15th, 2013 at 1:18:04 AM
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The Quick Draw side bet has a house edge of 3.761% with that paytable.
Edit: oops flipped the 2 pair and trips pays.
Hand | Combos | Pays | Return |
---|---|---|---|
Suited Quads | 720 | 200 | 0.000371824992201 |
Royal Flush | 5184 | 100 | 0.001338569971925 |
Straight Flush | 51840 | 50 | 0.006692849859624 |
Quads | 137358 | 20 | 0.007093491288721 |
Flush | 5647956 | 4 | 0.058334755434823 |
Straight | 3592512 | 5 | 0.046381449527197 |
2 Pairs | 5871528 | 2 | 0.030321956289029 |
Trips | 7502976 | 3 | 0.058120708180979 |
Pair | 134548128 | 1 | 0.347419143363245 |
Loser | 229920768 | -1 | -0.593682553948127 |
Total | 387278970 | -0.037607805040382 |
Edit: oops flipped the 2 pair and trips pays.
“Man Babes” #AxelFabulous
October 15th, 2013 at 1:51:36 AM
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Quote: mipletThe Quick Draw side bet has a house edge of 4.182% with that paytable.
Hand Combos Pays Return Suited Quads 720 200 0.000371824992201 Royal Flush 5184 100 0.001338569971925 Straight Flush 51840 50 0.006692849859624 Quads 137358 20 0.007093491288721 Flush 5647956 4 0.058334755434823 Straight 3592512 5 0.046381449527197 2 Pairs 5871528 3 0.045482934433543 Trips 7502976 2 0.038747138787319 Pair 134548128 1 0.347419143363245 Loser 229920768 -1 -0.593682553948127 Total 387278970 -0.041820396289527
Hmmm that's actually lower than I thought. I now wonder if betting the quickdraw for the same amount as the main bet is actually a better play edge wise...
The Wizard has the main game at a house edge of 2.39% so a $10 bet expects to return (I think I used the right terminology) $9.71.
With same hands now pushing, I am going to assume it is even odds for the main bet (I suspect it's actually a player advantage since a player can split hands and play a more optimal strategy than House Way).
So for the sake of simplicity, I will say the $5 main bet has an expected return of $5, with the $5 Quick Draw bet having an expected return of $4.79. Add the two together and the $10 total bet expects to return $9.79.
If my reasoning is correct, it seems playing both bets to get the push on the main bet is the better play than simply playing the main bet.
I am quite curious what the actual edge is for the player on the main bet with same hands being pushes. However that math is beyond me, especially this late. But it seems this might be the lowest edge game at the casinos near me outside of the Blackjack and Spanish 21 tables.
October 15th, 2013 at 2:36:55 AM
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Oops, had to edit my first post as I flipped the trips and 2 pair pays. 2.5675 % is the house edge on the main game with ties loosing. 2.39% is the element of risk. Figuringthe house edge with ties pushing is on my list, just not on the top of my list.
“Man Babes” #AxelFabulous