5 Aces In Poker
On This Page
- 5 Aces Video Poker
- What Beats 5 Aces In Poker
- What Are Aces In Poker
- 5 Aces In Poker Hand
- What Are 4 Aces In Poker
Introduction
Four Poker is a new poker variation invented by Roger Snow and marketed by Shufflemaster. The game is similar to Three Card Poker but as the title suggests, four cards are used instead of three. Also, there is no dealer qualifying hand and the player can raise up to three times his ante. However, the dealer gets one extra card to form his best hand.
Play between 2 and 5 poker hands at a time in our multi hand Aces Faces Video Poker. There are no wild cards and max payout is 4,000 per hand. May 01, 2015 Another bet is available (similar to the Pairplus in Three Card Poker), based only on the player's four card hand, called the Aces Up. Seven pay tables are available as indicated below. The only one I know of to be actually used is pay table 5. 5 card poker probabilities if there are no wild cards (Computer program and data by Bill Butler) Poker Hand Nbr. 5 Aces 1 0.00000035 Royal straight flush 24 0.00000836 Other straight flush 180 0.00006272 4 of a kind 828 0.00028853.
Rules
- Two initial bets are available: The Ante and the Aces Up.
- All players get five cards each and the dealer gets six cards. One of the dealer cards is placed face up, and five face down.
- Players making the Ante bet must decide to fold or raise.
- If the player folds he forfeits his Ante bet. He may or may not forfeit his Aces Up bet, depending on casino rules. It shouldn't matter because if the player has a paying Aces Up bet, he shouldn't be folding anyway.
- If player raises, then he must raise at least the amount of the Ante and at most, three times the Ante.
- The player keeps his best four cards and discards one.
- Following is the ranking of hands from lowest to highest: high card, pair, two pair, straight, flush, three of a kind, straight flush, four of a kind.
- After all decisions have been made, the dealer will turn over his cards and select the best four out of six.
- The player's hand shall be compared to the dealer's hand, the higher hand winning.
- If the dealer's hand is higher, then the player shall lose the Ante and Raise.
- If the player's hand is higher or equal then the Ante and Raise shall pay one to one.
- If the player has at least a three of a kind, then he shall also be paid a Bonus, regardless of the value of the dealer's hand. Two different pay tables are available for the Bonus, as displayed below, and are based on the ante bet. Pay Table 1 is the only one I know of to be actually used.
- Another bet is available (similar to the Pairplus in Three Card Poker), based only on the player's four card hand, called the Aces Up. Seven pay tables are available as indicated below. The only one I know of to be actually used is pay table 5.
Bonus Pay Table
Hand | Table 1 | Table 2 |
---|---|---|
Four of a kind | 25 | 30 |
Straight flush | 20 | 15 |
Three of a kind | 2 | 2 |
Aces Up Pay Table
Hand | Table 1 | Table 2 | Table 3 | Table 4 | Table 5 | Table 6 | Table 7 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Four of a kind | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 |
Straight flush | 40 to 1 | 40 to 1 | 30 to 1 | 30 to 1 | 40 to 1 | 40 to 1 | 40 to 1 |
Three of a kind | 9 to 1 | 7 to 1 | 9 to 1 | 7 to 1 | 8 to 1 | 8 to 1 | 7 to 1 |
Flush | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 5 to 1 |
Straight | 4 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 4 to 1 |
Two pair | 2 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 3 to 1 | 2 to 1 | 3 to 1 |
Pair of aces or better | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
Of these pay tables for the Aces Up side bet, number five is the most popular. The only exceptions that I'm aware of are an unconfirmed report that that Tulalip in Washington uses pay table 4 and the Grand Casino Hinckley in Minnesota uses pay table 1.
Analysis
The following return table is based on optimal player strategy under the 2-20-25 Ante Bonus pay table. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.79%.
Return Table Based on Optimal Strategy
Player Hand | Raise/Fold | Win/Loss | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Four of a Kind | 3 | Win | 40,182,878,736 | 0.000240 | +29 | 0.006960 |
Four of a Kind | 3 | Lose | 18,594,576 | 0.000000 | +21 | 0.000002 |
Straight Flush | 3 | Win | 133,224,330,456 | 0.000796 | +24 | 0.019096 |
Straight Flush | 3 | Lose | 265,177,080 | 0.000002 | +16 | 0.000025 |
Three of a Kind | 3 | Win | 3,675,379,352,400 | 0.021951 | +6 | 0.131703 |
Three of a Kind | 3 | Lose | 103,559,138,928 | 0.000618 | -2 | -0.001237 |
Flush | 3 | Win | 6,599,621,152,728 | 0.039415 | +4 | 0.157660 |
Flush | 3 | Lose | 784,564,849,080 | 0.004686 | -4 | -0.018743 |
Straight | 3 | Win | 5,257,469,039,688 | 0.031399 | +4 | 0.125597 |
Straight | 3 | Lose | 1,301,555,952,216 | 0.007773 | -4 | -0.031093 |
Two Pair | 3 | Win | 5,539,444,298,496 | 0.033083 | +4 | 0.132333 |
Two Pair | 3 | Lose | 2,420,447,417,280 | 0.014456 | -4 | -0.057823 |
One Pair | 3 | Win | 14,764,551,298,548 | 0.088179 | +4 | 0.352714 |
One Pair | 3 | Lose | 10,806,299,820,804 | 0.064539 | -4 | -0.258155 |
One Pair | 1 | Win | 13,535,004,289,296 | 0.080835 | +2 | 0.161671 |
One Pair | 1 | Lose | 22,887,448,286,136 | 0.136691 | -2 | -0.273382 |
One Pair | Fold | Fold | 5,495,692,732,992 | 0.032822 | -1 | -0.032822 |
High Card | 1 | Win | 148,058,445,132 | 0.000884 | +2 | 0.001769 |
High Card | 1 | Lose | 422,493,233,796 | 0.002523 | -2 | -0.005047 |
High Card | Fold | Fold | 73,523,856,056,112 | 0.439108 | -1 | -0.439108 |
Totals | 167,439,136,344,480 | 1.000000 | -0.027879 |
The average final bet under optimal strategy is 2.142342 units, making the element of risk, -0.027879/2.142342 = 1.30%. The standard deviation, relative to the original bet, is 2.71.
Beginner Strategy
A simple strategy to this game, first proposed by Stanley Ko, is as follows.
- Raise 3X with a pair of tens or higher.
- Raise 1X with a pair of twos to nines.
- Fold all other.
According to the second edition of 'Beyond Counting' by James Grosjean, this 'simple strategy' results in a house edge of 3.396%.
5 Aces Video Poker
Intermediate Strategy
The following intermediate strategy was created to balance power and simplicity by our own JB.
- Pair of Aces or better: Bet 3X
- Pair of Js, Qs, Ks: Bet 3X if dealer's upcard is lower than your pair or matches a rank in your hand, otherwise bet 1X
- Pair of 9s, 10s: Bet 1X if dealer's upcard outranks your pair, otherwise bet 3X
- Pair of 8s: Bet 3X if dealer's upcard is a 2, otherwise bet 1X
- Pair of 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s: Bet 1X
- Pair of 2s or AKQ: Bet 1X if dealer's upcard matches a rank in your hand, otherwise fold
- All other: Fold
Against the 2-20-25 Ante Bonus pay table, the house edge is 2.8526% and the element of risk is 1.3233%.
Advanced Strategy
I'm proud to present the following advanced strategy, also created by my sidekick JB.
- Pair of Aces or better: Bet 3X
- Pair of Ks: Bet 3X, except bet 1X against an Ace and you don't have an Ace nor 4.
- Pair of Js or Qs: Bet 3X, except bet 1X if the dealer's card outranks pair your pair rank and does not match a singleton in your hand.
- Pair of 9s or 10s: Bet 3X, except bet 1X if dealer card outranks your pair rank.
- Pair of 8s: Bet 1X, except bet 3X against a 2
- Pair of 4s thru 7s: Bet 1X
- Pair of 3s: Bet 1X, except fold against a Jack if your highest kicker is a 10 or lower
- Pair of 2s or AKQ: Fold, except bet 1X if dealer card matches a rank in your hand
- AKJT: Fold, except bet 1X against a Jack
- AKJ9 or lower: Fold
Against the 2-20-25 Ante Bonus pay table, the house edge is 2.8498% and the element of risk is 1.3216%. Here is a house edge comparison of various known strategies.
- Simple: 3.396%
- Intermediate: 2.853%
- Advanced: 2.850%
- Optimal: 2.788%
To put it another way, here are the cost of errors:
- Simple: 0.606%
- Intermediate: 0.065%
- Advanced: 0.062%
- Optimal: 0.000%
Aces Up Analysis
The next table shows the probability of each hand and the return under pay table five of the Aces Up side bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 3.89%.
Return for Aces Up Pay Table 5
Hand | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
---|---|---|---|---|
Four of a kind | 624 | 0.00024 | 50 | 0.012005 |
Straight flush | 2072 | 0.000797 | 40 | 0.03189 |
Three of a kind | 58656 | 0.022569 | 8 | 0.180552 |
Flush | 114616 | 0.044101 | 5 | 0.220504 |
Straight | 101808 | 0.039173 | 4 | 0.15669 |
Two pair | 123552 | 0.047539 | 3 | 0.142617 |
Pair of aces | 81096 | 0.031203 | 1 | 0.031203 |
Nothing | 2116536 | 0.814378 | -1 | -0.814378 |
Total | 2598960 | 1 | -0.038917 |
The next table shows the house edge according to all four Aces Up pay tables.
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% |
Note: There is also a similar game called Crazy Four Poker.
Acknowledgments
I would like to recognize:
- JB for the analysis of the optimal strategy.
- Stanley Ko for the simplified strategy.
- James Grosjean for the unpublished advanced strategy.
What Beats 5 Aces In Poker
Written by:Michael Shackleford
In the poker game of Texas hold 'em, a starting hand consists of two hole cards, which belong solely to the player and remain hidden from the other players. Five community cards are also dealt into play. Betting begins before any of the community cards are exposed, and continues throughout the hand. The player's 'playing hand', which will be compared against that of each competing player, is the best 5-card poker hand available from his two hole cards and the five community cards. Unless otherwise specified, here the term hand applies to the player's two hole cards, or starting hand.
Essentials[edit]
There are 1326 distinct possible combinations of two hole cards from a standard 52-card deck in hold 'em, but since suits have no relative value in this poker variant, many of these hands are identical in value before the flop. For example, A♥J♥ and A♠J♠ are identical in value, because each is a hand consisting of an ace and a jack of the same suit.
Therefore, there are 169 non-equivalent starting hands in hold 'em, which is the sum total of : 13 pocket pairs, 13 × 12 / 2 = 78 suited hands and 78 unsuited hands (13 + 78 + 78 = 169).
These 169 hands are not equally likely. Hold 'em hands are sometimes classified as having one of three 'shapes':
- Pairs, (or 'pocket pairs'), which consist of two cards of the same rank (e.g. 9♠9♣). One hand in 17 will be a pair, each occurring with individual probability 1/221 (P(pair) = 3/51 = 1/17).
- Alternative means of making this calculation
- First Step
- As confirmed above.
- There are 1326 possible combination of opening hand.
- Second Step
- There are 6 different combos of each pair. 9h9c, 9h9s, 9h9d, 9c9s, 9c9d, 9d9s. Therefore, there are 78 possible combinations of pocket pairs (6 multiplied by 13 i.e. 22-AA)
- To calculate the odds of being dealt a pair
- 78 (the number of any particular pair being dealt. As above) divided by 1326 (possible opening hands)
- 78/1326 = 0.058 or 5.8%
- Suited hands, which contain two cards of the same suit (e.g. A♣6♣). 23.5% of all starting hands are suited.
Probability of first card is 1.0 (any of the 52 cards)Probability of second hand suit matching the first:There are 13 cards per suit, and one is in your hand leaving 12 remaining of the 51 cards remaining in the deck. 12/51=.2353 or 23.5%
- Offsuit hands, which contain two cards of a different suit and rank (e.g. K♠J♥). 70.6% of all hands are offsuit hands
What Are Aces In Poker
Offsuit pairs = 78Other offsuit hands = 936
It is typical to abbreviate suited hands in hold 'em by affixing an 's' to the hand, as well as to abbreviate non-suited hands with an 'o' (for offsuit). That is,
- QQ represents any pair of queens,
- KQ represents any king and queen,
- AKo represents any ace and king of different suits, and
- JTs represents any jack and ten of the same suit.
Limit hand rankings[edit]
Some notable theorists and players have created systems to rank the value of starting hands in limit Texas hold'em. These rankings do not apply to no limit play.
Sklansky hand groups[edit]
David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth[1] assigned in 1999 each hand to a group, and proposed all hands in the group could normally be played similarly. Stronger starting hands are identified by a lower number. Hands without a number are the weakest starting hands. As a general rule, books on Texas hold'em present hand strengths starting with the assumption of a nine or ten person table. The table below illustrates the concept:
Chen formula[edit]
The 'Chen Formula' is a way to compute the 'power ratings' of starting hands that was originally developed by Bill Chen.[2]
- Highest Card
- Based on the highest card, assign points as follows:
- Ace = 10 points, K = 8 points, Q = 7 points, J = 6 points.
- 10 through 2, half of face value (10 = 5 points, 9 = 4.5 points, etc.)
- Pairs
- For pairs, multiply the points by 2 (AA=20, KK=16, etc.), with a minimum of 5 points for any pair. 55 is given an extra point (i.e., 6).
- Suited
- Add 2 points for suited cards.
- Closeness
- Subtract 1 point for 1 gappers (AQ, J9)
- 2 points for 2 gappers (J8, AJ).
- 4 points for 3 gappers (J7, 73).
- 5 points for larger gappers, including A2 A3 A4
5 Aces In Poker Hand
- Add an extra point if connected or 1-gap and your highest card is lower than Q (since you then can make all higher straights)
Phil Hellmuth's: 'Play Poker Like the Pros'[edit]
Phil Hellmuth's 'Play Poker Like the Pros' book published in 2003.
Tier | Hands | Category |
---|---|---|
1 | AA, KK, AKs, QQ, AK | Top 12 Hands |
2 | JJ, TT, 99 | |
3 | 88, 77, AQs, AQ | |
4 | 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AJs, ATs, A9s, A8s | Majority Play Hands |
5 | A7s, A6s, A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s, KQs, KQ | |
6 | QJs, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s, 65s | Suited Connectors |
Statistics based on real online play[edit]
Statistics based on real play with their associated actual value in real bets.[3]
Tier | Hands | Expected Value |
---|---|---|
1 | AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs | 2.32 - 0.78 |
2 | AQs, TT, AK, AJs, KQs, 99 | 0.59 - 0.38 |
3 | ATs, AQ, KJs, 88, KTs, QJs | 0.32 - 0.20 |
4 | A9s, AJ, QTs, KQ, 77, JTs | 0.19 - 0.15 |
5 | A8s, K9s, AT, A5s, A7s | 0.10 - 0.08 |
6 | KJ, 66, T9s, A4s, Q9s | 0.08 - 0.05 |
7 | J9s, QJ, A6s, 55, A3s, K8s, KT | 0.04 - 0.01 |
8 | 98s, T8s, K7s, A2s | 0.00 |
9 | 87s, QT, Q8s, 44, A9, J8s, 76s, JT | (-) 0.02 - 0.03 |
Nicknames for starting hands[edit]
In poker communities, it is common for hole cards to be given nicknames. While most combinations have a nickname, stronger handed nicknames are generally more recognized, the most notable probably being the 'Big Slick' - Ace and King of the same suit, although an Ace-King of any suit combination is less occasionally referred to as an Anna Kournikova, derived from the initials AK and because it 'looks really good but rarely wins.'[4][5] Hands can be named according to their shapes (e.g., paired aces look like 'rockets', paired jacks look like 'fish hooks'); a historic event (e.g., A's and 8's - dead man's hand, representing the hand held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was fatally shot in the back by Jack McCall in 1876); many other reasons like animal names, alliteration and rhyming are also used in nicknames.
Notes[edit]
- ^David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth (1999). Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-22-1
- ^Hold'em Excellence: From Beginner to Winner by Lou Krieger, Chapter 5, pages 39 - 43, Second Edition
- ^http://www.pokerroom.com/poker/poker-school/ev-stats/total-stats-by-card/[dead link]
- ^Aspden, Peter (2007-05-19). 'FT Weekend Magazine - Non-fiction: Stakes and chips Las Vegas and the internet have helped poker become the biggest game in town'. Financial Times. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ^Martain, Tim (2007-07-15). 'A little luck helps out'. Sunday Tasmanian. Retrieved 2010-01-10.