Let It Ride Guide · Part 2Rules: How the Game Is Played

Every hand begins with three bets of exactly the same size. In front of each player are three betting positions, usually marked 1, 2 and $. You place one equal wager in each circle before the cards are dealt.

At first, committing that much money to a single hand may sound like a lot. It is not quite as bad as it looks. You will have opportunities to take back the first two bets after seeing more information. The third bet, the one placed on the $ circle, must remain in action until the hand is finished.

Think about the betting slightly differently from a normal poker game. You are not deciding whether to add more money after every card. Instead, the money is already sitting on the table, and your decisions are about whether some of it should stay there.

If your cards are promising, you leave the bets alone. If the hand is poor, you may take back the bets that the rules allow you to withdraw.

If your hand is strong enough, all three bets can remain in play. The important part is that you make those decisions after seeing cards.

Many Let It Ride tables also offer a separate bonus wager. Traditionally this was often presented as a small side bet, although the exact minimum and maximum can vary from one casino to another.

The bonus wager pays according to the strength of the final five-card poker hand, and very strong hands can produce much larger payouts than the main game. That sounds attractive. The problem is that many bonus pay tables also carry a considerably higher house advantage than the regular Let It Ride wagers.

So do not assume that a large jackpot automatically makes the bonus bet a good wager. We will deal with the bonus separately later. For now, remember that it is optional and independent from the three main bets.

Suppose your first three cards are the 10♠, J♠ and Q♠, with both community cards still face down. You begin with only the information contained in your three cards.

Let It Ride uses a normal 52-card deck. There are no jokers. The winning hands are standard five-card poker hands, beginning with a pair of tens or better and moving all the way up to a royal flush. Anyone who already knows basic poker hand rankings will recognise the payout structure immediately.

You are not trying to make a better hand than the dealer. You are not trying to make a better hand than the player sitting beside you either. Your only job is to make a qualifying five-card hand.

A traditional Let It Ride pay table looks like this. Individual casinos can use different pay tables, so check the table before playing.

One part of Let It Ride sometimes feels strange to new players. A pair of tens is already a winning hand. You do not need jacks, queens, kings or aces.

Now return to those three betting circles. You have received your three private cards, and the first decision concerns the wager in Circle 1. After looking at your cards you have exactly two choices: leave Bet 1 in play, or pull Bet 1 back.

Do not simply reach across the layout and grab chips that are still considered active. Casino table games use physical signals so that the dealer and the surveillance cameras can clearly see what decision was made.

Some tables and casinos use slightly different procedures, so follow the dealer's instructions.

Sometimes your first three cards already tell you that you will finish with a winning hand. Suppose you are dealt Q♣ Q♦ 6♠. You already have a pair of queens, and nothing the two community cards can do will take that pair away.

Once everybody has made a decision about Bet 1, the dealer turns over the first community card. You now have four visible cards to consider: your original three, plus the newly exposed card that belongs to everybody.

This is where the second betting decision happens, and it concerns the wager in Circle 2. Again there are only two possibilities — leave Bet 2 on the table, or have Bet 2 returned.

After you decide whether Bet 2 stays or goes, your betting decisions are finished. The $ wager cannot be withdrawn. The dealer then turns over the second and final community card, and you have your complete five-card hand.

That means you can reach the final card in one of three positions.

The dealer compares your five-card hand with the table's pay schedule. Suppose you finish with 10♥ 10♣ 5♠ 7♦ K♥. That is a pair of tens, paying 1:1. If three $10 bets remain, each $10 wager wins $10. If only two bets remain, two wagers are paid. If only the compulsory $ bet remains, only that final wager receives the payout.

Now take a bigger hand.

This deserves repeating, because it changes the entire feel of the game.

Let It Ride is not blackjack — the dealer does not have a hand that you must beat. It is not traditional poker either: another player's straight flush does not defeat your two pair. Each player's result is settled separately against the pay table.

If your hand qualifies, you win according to the listed payout. If it does not qualify, the casino collects whatever main bets are still in action. Everything comes down to your five cards and the decisions you made before the final community card appeared.

A full Let It Ride hand therefore runs like this, from the first chips on the layout to the last chips collected.