Let it ride

Let it ride is a type of casino poker. You play against the house (the dealer), not against other players. If you are familiar with basic five card draw poker, learning how to play Let it ride in a casino is very easy.

During a round of Let it ride, you get to chances to withdraw one third of your initial bet. So, if you have a bad hand, you can elect to withdraw a total of two thirds of your initial bet and only risk losing one third of it.

Let it ride is played with three hole cards per player + two community cards. A standard 52 card deck is used, without any jokers or other wild cards. The aim is to get pair of tens or better. There is no dealer hand to compare your own hand against. In this regard, Let it ride is very similar to Tens or Better video poker.

In the United States, Let It Ride is a registered trade mark owned by SHFL Entertainment Inc.

Playing Let it ride

1. You start by making a bet. You place your bet in three different designated spots in front of you at the Let it ride table. Each spot must get the same amount of money. So, you can for instance bet $10 – $10 – $10, but not $15 – $5 – $10.
2. When all players have placed their bets, the dealer will start the round by giving each player one card, starting with the player next to her on the left and then continuing around the table until every player has one card.The cards are dealt face down. You should pick up your card and look at it, but you must keep it a secret from the other players.
3. The dealer will place one community card face down on the table.
4. Each player gets their second second card from the dealer. The cards are dealt face down. You should pick up your card and look at it, but you must keep it a secret from the other players.
5. A second community card is dealt faced down on the table.
6. Each player gets their third second card from the dealer. The cards are dealt face down. You should pick up your card and look at it, but you must keep it a secret from the other players.Each player now has three private cards (hole cards) and there are two face down community cards on the table.
7. At this point, you can elect to take back one third of your intial bet. This is completely voluntary.
8. The dealer turns over the first community cards to show it to everyone.
9. At this point, you can elect to take back one third of your initial bet. This is completely voluntary.
10. The dealer turns over the second community cards to show it to everyone.
11. If you poker hand is pair of tens or better, you get paid. If not, you lose any wager that is still in front of you.

The better your poker hand, the more you win when playing Let it ride. This is a commonly used paytable for Let it ride.

Strategy

As you can see, you have to chances to withdraw a part of your initial wager during a round of Let it ride.

Example: Your initial bet is $150. You will no be able to first withdraw $50 and then withdraw another $50, leaving just $50 at risk.

Of course, if you end up getting a pair of tens or better after withdrawing part of your wager, you will wish that you had left your wager as it was (“let it ride”).

You can’t impact your cards when playing Let it ride, since this is not draw poker. What you can make decisions about is your wager, so that is where you need to focus your strategy and make sure to make wise decisions.

This is one example of a popular strategy for Let it ride

At your first shot at withdrawing, withdraw unless your hand fulfills at least one of these requirements:

– You have a paying hand, i.e. pair of tens or better.

– All three cards are ten or higher and belong to the same suite.

– All three cards are in sequential order and belong to the same suite, and the lowest card is three or higher.

– You have a straight draw where the total gap is no more than four steps, and all cards belong to the same suit, and at least one of the cards are ten or higher.

– You have a straight draw where the total gap is no more than five steps, all cards belong to the same suite, and at least two of the cards are ten or higher.

At your second shot at withdrawing, withdraw unless your hand (with or without the help of community card/cards) fulfills at least one of these requirements:

– You have a paying hand, i.e. pair of tens or better.

– You have four cards of the same suite.

– You have four cards in sequential order, and the lowest card is three or higher.

– You have four cards where the spread is not more than five steps and the lowest card is ten or higher.