Four Card Poker - (Poker Variant)
| Licence type - | Licence required |
| Trial originated at - | Grosvenor Casinos Ltd |
| Licensee / proprietor - | Shuffle Master Inc |
| Date placed on trial | 15th July 2011 |
| Licensee contact details | 1106 Palms Airport Las Vegas NV 89119-3730 – USA |
Basic Outline of sidebet rules / how to play
1. The game is played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards shuffled before each hand. There are three possible options, a Player may either:-
• just wager against the Dealer (“Ante”),
• just wager on the value of their hand against a pay-table (“Aces Up”) or
• place both an Ante and an Aces Up wagers.
2. Poker hand rankings apply in the following order, from highest to lowest:-
• Four of a Kind
• Straight Flush
• Three of a Kind
• Flush
• Straight
• Two Pair
• Pair
• High Card
3. If a hand does not contain a pair or better, the hand that contains the highest ranking card(s) wins. Ace is high, other than for a low straight of A,2,3,4.
4. Players may place either an Ante wager, and Aces Up wager or both.
5. The Dealer deals five cards, face down, to each Player and six cards to themselves, five face down and the last one face up.
6. If the Player has made an Ante wager, they must then choose whether or not to place a “Play” wager, in order to continue in the game. This may be for an amount between one or three times the value of their Ante wager. If they do not wish to place a Play wager, their Ante wager will lose. The Aces Up wager will normally lose as well (NB other than in the highly unlikely circumstances where a player has at least a pair of Aces but elects not to Play. Whilst unlikely, it is therefore possible for Aces Up to win without a Play wager. However, it is the Player’s responsibility to alert the Dealer in such circumstances).
7. The Dealer will then reveal their own hand, arranging the six cards from highest to lowest in front of them, being their best four card hand from the six. The Dealer’s lowest two cards will not count and will be moved back from the best four. In the event of a contest between High cards, only the best four cards will count.
8. The Dealer always qualifies. In the event of an exact tie between the best four cards, the Player always wins.
9. The Dealer will arrange the Player’s cards to form the best four card hand, to determine whether it beats the Dealer’s. Winning Ante and Play wagers are paid odds, as below.
10. The Aces Up wager is paid according to a pay table (as below). The most commonly used pay table is Table 6.
11. The Player wins on the Aces Up wager with a pair of aces or better, regardless of whether their hand beats the Dealer.
12. Certain hands earn a bonus on the Ante wager, according a pay table (see below) regardless of whether the hand beats the Dealer. If the Dealer hand otherwise beats the Player, the bonus still pays out.
13. If the Dealer’s hand wins, and the Player’s hand does not qualify for an Ante bonus nor is it a winning Aces Up hand, the Player will lose all three wagers.
Usual Odds Payable
Winning Ante and Play wagers are both paid even money.
Winning Poker Wagers on final Game
| Aces Up Pay Table | |||||||
| Hand | Table 1 | Table 2 | Table 3 | Table 4 | Table 5 | Table 6 | Table 7 |
| Four of a Kind | 50-1 | 50-1 | 50-1 | 50-1 | 50-1 | 50-1 | 50-1 |
| Straight Flush | 40-1 | 40-1 | 30-1 | 30-1 | 40-1 | 40-1 | 40-1 |
| Three of a Kind | 9-1 | 7-1 | 9-1 | 7-1 | 8-1 | 8-1 | 7-1 |
| Flush | 6-1 | 6-1 | 6-1 | 6-1 | 5-1 | 6-1 | 5-1 |
| Straight | 4-1 | 5-1 | 4-1 | 5-1 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 4-1 |
| Two Pair | 2-1 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 3-1 | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Pair of Aces | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Automatic Bonus | |
| Hand | Pay Table 1 |
| Four of a Kind | 25-1 |
| Straight Flush | 20-1 |
| Three of a Kind | 2-1 |
House Edge details
Ante - 3.3971% (based on a “simplified strategy” of raising 3x on a pair of tens or higher, 1x on a pair of 3’s to 9’s and folding all other hands).
Automatic bonus -1.58%.
Aces Up depends on the Pay Table used (see below).
| ACES UP HOUSE EDGE | |
| Pay Table | House Edge |
| 1 | 1.98% |
| 2 | 2.58% |
| 3 | 2.78% |
| 4 | 3.37% |
| 5 | 3.89% |
| 6 | 4.24% |
| 7 | 6.15% |