Four Card Poker Games

By Will Veda

With the Three Card Poker craze now fulfilled, it was inevitable to add another card; thus the introductions of Four Card Poker and Crazy 4 Poker, both are innovations from Shuffle Master, Inc.   Whenever I play Video Poker, I can’t count how many times I receive four to a Flush or four to a Straight, so I thought these games might be advantageous to play.  What I did not consider, however, is in Video Poker the player has the full deck at his disposal, not so at a table game where a maximum of five other players could dispose of your needed cards, thus lowering the probability of those four-card “near” misses.  And since these are stud (no draw) games, what you’re dealt is what you get, so you must deal with it.                                          

Four Card Poker

Unlike Three Card Poker where the player receives three and only three cards, each player receives an extra card (five) in Four Card Poker to make a four-card poker hand.  Seems like a pretty good bet, eh?  The dealer, however, receives two extra cards and does not have to qualify to go into battle.  That is a major ouch of a house advantage.  But all is not lost because like Three Card Poker there is an additional wager to play with a pay table and not against the dealer’s hand.  A four-card straight is considered a Straight and a four-card flush is considered a Flush. 

To start, the player can make two initial wagers: an Ante bet to play against the dealer, and an optional Aces Up bet that pays based on a pay table similar to Video Poker.  As the name implies, the Aces Up bet pays out starting with a pair of Aces.  After the player is dealt his five cards, he must decide to either fold (losing the Ante bet) or continue playing by placing another bet in the “Play 1x to 3x Ante” spot.  This bet can be equal to or three times the Ante bet.  Only four of the five cards may be used to make the hand.  The fifth card is “discarded” even though it remains on the table when the dealer reveals the player’s hand. 

After the dealer makes his four-card hand (once again from six cards!), he compares his hand to each player with the better hand winning.  If the player’s hand is better or ties (thanks casinos, for this minute leeway) with the dealer’s hand, he is paid even money on both the Ante and the Play bets.  If the dealer’s hand beats the player’s hand, the player loses both the Ante and the Play bets, but not necessarily the Aces Up bet.  The hand rankings are as follows - from best to worst: Four of a Kind, Straight Flush, Three of a Kind, Flush, Straight, Two Pair, One Pair, High Card. 

The Ante bet also has the possibility of being paid a bonus with a Three of a Kind or better.  This bonus is paid only on the Ante bet, not the Play bet.  The usual payouts are:

Four of a Kind: 25 to 1 
Straight Flush: 20 to 1
Three of a Kind: 2 to 1

The bonus win is paid out even if the player loses to the dealer’s hand.  The advantage of being able to wager up to three times the Ante in the Play bet, even though it only pays even money is when you have a strong hand, it’s nice to be able to put more money on the table.  The house advantage of the Ante/Play segment is 3.36%, which to me is surprisingly low simply because of the dealer’s extra card. 

The Aces Up bet has several different pay tables based on how stingy (or not) the casino wants to be.  Following is the best with a nice 1.98% house advantage (payouts in parenthesis are worst with a 6.15% house advantage):

Four of a Kind: 50 to 1 (50 to 1)
Straight Flush: 40 to 1 (40 to 1)
Three of a Kind: 9 to 1 (7 to 1)
Flush: 6 to 1 (5 to 1)
Straight: 4 to 1 (4 to 1)
Two Pair: 2 to 1 (3 to 1)
Pair of Aces: 1 to 1 (1 to 1)

The above pay tables are just two of the seven available according to Shuffle Master’s published pay tables. 

A very simple strategy is involved in Four Card Poker.  Fold with a Pair of Twos or less, bet even money with the Ante on the Play with a Pair of Threes through a Pair of Nines, bet three times the Ante on the Play with a Pair of Tens or higher. 

I have yet to play this game, but have observed several hours of getting their asses raked.  I swear just that damn extra card and the fact that one player does not have access to a full deck, except at a rare heads-up game, seems to make a world of a difference.  The house advantages seem relatively low, but as usual they are based on long-term play.  From what I have seen, you might need a king’s ransom to achieve that long-term achievement. 

Crazy 4 Poker

Similar to Four Card Poker is a game called Crazy 4 Poker where each player receives five cards, BUT the dealer also receives five cards to make a four-card poker hand.  With this game, however, the dealer must qualify with a King-high hand.  Once again, the fifth card is “discarded” even though it remains on the table.  The four-card hand rankings are the same as Four Card Poker and is also played with a six-player table. 

There are three initial bets available: an Ante bet to play against the dealer with a Super Bonus bet that participates with the Ante and must be of equal amount and an optional Queens Up bet that pays based on a pay table similar to Video Poker.  As the name implies, the Queens Up bet pays out starting with a pair of Queens.  The Queens Up bet can be different then the Ante/Super Bonus bets and can be of any amount within the table requirements. 

The player is dealt his five cards and he must decide to either fold (losing the Ante and Super Bonus bets) or continue playing by placing another bet in the “Play” spot.  Like Four Card Poker, this bet can be equal to or three times the Ante/Super Bonus bets, but can only raise the Play bet to three times with a Pair of Aces or better. 

After the dealer makes his four-card hand, he compares his hand to each player with the better hand winning.  If the player’s hand is better than the dealer’s hand, he is paid even money on both Ante and Play bets only if the dealer has at least a King in his hand to qualify.  If the dealer does not qualify, the players win even money only on their Play bet and the Ante is a push.  If the dealer’s hand beats the player’s hand, the player loses both the Ante and the Play bets, but not necessarily the Queens Up bet.  If both the players’ and the dealer’s hands tie, the result is a push.  

The Super Bonus bet also has the possibility of being paid a bonus with a Straight or better.  The usual payouts are:

Four Aces: 200 to 1
Four of a Kind (Twos through Kings): 30 to 1
Straight Flush: 15 to 1
Three of a Kind: 2 to 1
Flush: 3 to 2 (or 1.5 to 1)
Straight: 1 to 1

The Super Bonus win is paid out even if the player loses to the dealer’s hand.  The house advantage of the Ante/Super Bonus segment is 3.42%. 

Like Four Card Poker, the Queens Up bet has several different pay tables based on and once again, how stingy (or not) the casino wants to be.  Following is the best with a 3.07% house advantage (payouts in parenthesis are worst with a 6.79% house advantage):

Four of a Kind: 50 to 1 (50 to 1)
Straight Flush: 30 to 1 (30 to 1)
Three of a Kind: 9 to 1 (7 to 1)
Flush: 4 to 1 (4 to 1)
Straight: 3 to 1 (3 to 1)
Two Pair: 2 to 1 (2 to 1)
Pair of Queens through Aces: 1 to 1 (1 to 1)

The above pay tables are just two of the four available according to Shuffle Master’s published pay tables.   

The optimal strategy for Crazy 4 Poker according to gaming wizard Stanley Ko is: fold with K-Q-8-4-2 or less, bet even money with the Ante on the Play with K-Q-8-4-3 to a Pair of Kings, bet three times the Ante on the Play with a Pair of Aces or higher. 

  Analysis

As with a lot of the novelty games based on poker flying around these
days, it is imperative to remember that these are just that: a novelty. Yes, you can win with a lot of luck, but without proper money management and listening to that voice that says: “Hey moron, get the hell away from here” you can give it all back to the casino’s coffers.  At the time of this writing, I have yet to play either of these four card poker games, but I know I will have to try just for the sheer experience.  Wish me luck. 

08/3/05