• Caribbean Stud

In many ways similar to three-card poker, this game challenges you to match your five-card poker hand to the dealer’s five-card poker hand. Even if you somehow mastered the rather complicated optimal strategy, you’re still looking at a house edge of 5.224 percent.
But wait, there’s more. The real reason people play this game is for the sucker side bet that promises to pay out an ever-increasing progressive jackpot if you’re lucky enough to get a royal flush. The house edge on this bet (which is actually the driving force behind its popularity) averages 26.46 percent. If you’re going to gamble like that, you might as well spend your money on slot machines.

• Big Six Wheel

This giant wheel of misfortune is one of the casino’s biggest moneymakers. Much like those oversized upright carnival wheels you see at the fair, this one sports a countertop inlaid with bills of various denominations. Take your dollar bill and place it on the note you think the wheel will stop. Guess right and you get paid that amount: $1 for guessing the $1 bill, $20 (or 20 to 1) if you guessed the $20 bill. If you pick Joker or Logo, you get paid 40 to 1. Easy, right? Well, even the best bet ($1) has a house edge of 11.11 percent. If you want to guess the $20 bill, you’re staring at a house edge of 22.22 percent! And it only gets worse. Stay away!

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HOW TO PLAY

First you place three equal bets in the three spaces marked $, 2, and 1. So if you’re betting $5, you’d place a total of $15 altogether, $5 on each spot. Each player then receives three cards face down while the dealer gets two cards face down. The dealer’s cards function as “community cards” for the entire table; all the players will use them to try to make the best five-card hand.
You then look at your three cards, hoping to get at least a pair of Tens (the minimum hand that results in a payout) or better.

If you don’t like what you see, you can pull back one of your bets (the unit placed on the 1). The dealer then turns over the first community card. At this point, the players can analyze their hands and, if they like, take off another unit (the bet on the 2). The dealer turns over the second community card, and the player knows his total five cards. Anything from a pair of Tens up to a royal flush results in a win; payouts vary from casino to casino, but below is a sample pay table:

Hand

Royal Flush
Straight Flush
Four of a Kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
Three of a Kind
Two Pairs
Pair of Tens or Better

Payout

lOOO-l
200-1
50-1

If you are playing with optimum strategy, the house edge with the above table is 3.5 percent.
Naturally, let it ride has a bonus bet to get you to fork over just a little bit more money. And like most bonus bets, it’s one of the worst opportunities in the game. This bonus usually pays off if you have two pair or better, again depending on the pay table at that particular online casino. The house edge starts at more than 13 percent and can go as high as 35 percent if you’re unfortunate enough to be playing at a real cutthroat casino. As usual, my advice is to avoid bonus bets like the plague.

PLAN OF ATTACK

If you must play this game, you need to avoid the temptation to let it ride whenever you’re trying to get lucky. And follow my advice to cut the odds against you to the barest minimum:
You should pull back your first bet (1) unless you have one of the following:

• A winning hand (a pair of Tens or better)
• Three cards to a royal flush
• A three-card straight flush in which the lowest card is a Three or better

Notice that you do not let it ride if you simply have a three-card flush, such as Three-Six-Eight of Spades. The chances of getting a five-card flush are too small at this point to afford to gamble.

Once the dealer turns over his first community card, you should pull back your second bet (2) unless you have the following:

• Any paying hand (a pair of Tens or better)
• Four to a flush
• Four to an open-ended straight. For example, you have 4-5-6-7. There are eight cards that can make your straight, Threes and Eights, so it’s worth the gamble.
• Four to an inside straight, if the four cards are Ten or higher. For example, you have Ten-Jack-Queen-Ace of mixed suits. You need a King to complete the straight, but you have four other cards that, if you pair them up, you still get paid, so it’s worth the risk.