Wild Hold 'em Fold 'em Poker

Forward

This is the same game as Deuces Wild. Wild Hold 'em Fold 'em Poker was purchased and renamed by Galaxy Gaming. I did not remember analyzing this game at the time I analyzed Deuces Wild, so I did the same work twice. My page on Deuces Wild I think is a little better, so I would recommend referring to that page instead of this one.

Introduction

Wild Hold 'Em Fold 'Em Poker is yet another new poker variation table game. This is evidently the first wild card table game to achieve any degree of success. As of February, 2001, it is at about half the Las Vegas casinos. Casinos that I know have it are Fitzgeralds, the Sahara, the Fiesta, and the Texas Station. The closest game to compare this to is Let it Ride. However in this game the player must keep raising to stay in or fold, and the deuces are wild. The house edge and element of risk are rather high, so play at your own risk.

The Rules

1. The game is played with a single deck of cards, which is shuffled after every hand.
2. The player begins by placing an ante bet in the "ante" square.
3. Player receives three cards face down.
4. After looking at cards player must decide to either bet or fold. If the player folds he forfeits his ante. If player bets he must put an amount equal to the ante in the "bet" square.
5. All players who bet receive a fourth card.
6. After examining the four-card hand all players still in must decide to raise or fold. If player folds he forfeits both the ante and bet. If player raises he must place an amount equal to double the ante in the "raise" square.
7. All players still in the game receive a fifth and final card, which pays according to the pay table below.

Strategy

With three cards bet with any of the following hands, otherwise fold.

1. Any hand with a deuce
2. Any pair, three of a kind
3. Three to a flush, including an ace
4. Three to a straight flush

With four cards raise with any of the following hands, otherwise fold.

1. Any hand with a deuce
2. Any pair, two pair, three of a kind
3. Four to a straight, flush, or straight flush

House Edge

The house edge is 6.86%. To be exact it is 3,566,964/51,979,200. The average bet size is 2.13 units which makes the element of risk 3.23%.

Statistics

The following table shows the number of times in each combination 51979200 hands that each event is expected to happen, the probability, and the contribution to the player's return.

Written by: Michael Shackleford