The objective of the game is to see how good a poker hand is made from the player’s three cards and the dealer’s two cards, which act as community cards. The players see their cards and then can withdraw one of their bets or “let it ride”. The signal that the player wants to withdraw one of his bets is to scrape his cards on the table. The dealer then returns the bet to the player.
After all players make their move the dealer turns one of his cards face up. The players now know four of the five cards that will make up their hand and can reassess their situation. They can withdraw one of their bets, whether they have earlier withdrawn a bet or not, or can let it ride again. At the end of this round players will have one, two or all their bets on the table. The dealer exposes his second card and all the players also expose their hands. The minimum ranking required for a payout is a pair of tens or better. The players who do not match up to this level lose the bets that are still on the table. The remaining players are paid out at the following odds. Royal flush is paid out at 1000:1; straight flush is paid out at 200:1; four of a kind is paid out at 50:1; full house is paid out at 11:1; flush is paid out at 8:1; straight is paid out at 5:1; three of a kind is paid out at 3:1; two pairs is paid out at 2:1 and one pair (tens or better) is paid out at 1:1. For a dollar side bet some casinos pay the entry fee to million dollar tournaments for those players that draw a royal flush.
The strategy of Let it ride is very simple. At the first stage the player should let the bets ride if he already has a winning hand or if he has a three card royal flush or a three card straight flush. At the second stage he should let the bets ride if he already has a winning hand, a four card royal flush, a four card straight flush, a four card flush, four high cards or a four card open ended straight.