Notes

How to Play Four Card Poker.Biography of Isai Scheinberg, Founder of PokerStars
Four Card Poker isn?t a really poker game at all. It?s a casino game like blackjack, nonetheless it uses poker-based thinking. (Real poker games force one to play against other poker players, not the casino.)

Roger Snow invented Four Card Poker, that is a trademark of Shuffle Master, a company known for manufacturing automatic shuffling machines.

You can play an ante bet, an ?aces up? bet, or a mix of both. You and the dealer each get 5 cards and get to make your best four-card hand from those cards. There?s also a sixth face-up card.

The casino has an advantage as the player must decide whether to fold before seeing the dealer?s cards. If he folds, he loses his bet, even though he has an improved hand. Also, the dealer can use that extra face-up card to perform his four-card hand, giving him a further advantage.

The rest of this post describes at length how to play four-card poker, what the odds of winning are like, and what the best strategy for winning is.

How to Play
You play contrary to the dealer. There could be other players at the table, but how you compare with the other players doesn?t matter. All that matters is how you do contrary to the dealer.

You start by placing an ante bet, which is required. You might also place an ?fork out? bet.

After placing your bets, you obtain five cards, face-down. The dealer gets five face-down cards, too, but she also gets a single face-up card.

In line with the information you have ? the cards in your hand and the face-up card ? you need to opt to raise or fold. If you fold, the casino gets your bet, and that?s it.

The ?aces up? bet, on the other hand, stays in action regardless.

If you opt to stay static in the hand, you must raise at least the same amount as your ante bet. It is possible to raise up to 3x the ante bet.

Afterward you discard a card, leaving you with your best possible four-card poker hand.

Four Card Poker Game With Payout Table And Hands

The hand rankings for Four Card Poker are, from best hand to worst, the following:

Four of a sort
Straight flush
Three of a sort
Flush
Straight
Two pair
One pair
High card
The dealer turns over her cards, too, and chooses her best four-card hand from the six cards she has available.

If you have an improved hand, you win even money on both your ante and raise bets. If the dealer has a better hand, you lose your ante and raise bets.

You get an additional benefit if you have three of a kind or better, whether or not you beat the dealer.

The aces up bet takes care of in line with the pay table, whether or not you beat the dealer.

Four Card Poker Pay Tables
Listed below are the pay tables for the overall game. The foremost is the pay table for the three of a sort bonus; the second reason is for the aces up bet.

Three of a kind bonus:
Four of a kind pays 25 to at least one 1
Straight flush pays 20 to at least one 1
Three of a sort pays 2 to 1 1
Some casinos pay more for four of a sort and less for a straight flush, 30 to at least one 1 and 15 to at least one 1, respectively.

Aces up pay table:
Four of a kind pays 50 to at least one 1
Straight flush pays 40 to 1 1
Three of a kind pays 8 to at least one 1
Flush pays 5 to 1 1
Straight pays 4 to 1 1
Two pair pays 3 to 1 1
A pair of aces pays even money
This is only one example of multiple pay tables that are offered to the game, but this can be the most common one.

All of the pay tables pay 50 to 1 1 for four of a kind, but some of these only pay 30 to 1 1 for a straight flush. The payout for three of a kind can range from 7 to at least one 1 to 9 to 1 1. Some pay tables pay 6 to at least one 1 for a flush rather than 5 to 1 1. The straight takes care of at 5 to 1 1 on some pay tables, too. Two pair sometimes only takes care of at 2 to 1 1.

THE HOME Edge and Strategy for Four Card Poker
The house edge is 2.79%, but that?s predicated on your initial bet. In the event that you?re raising in the correct spots, you?ll put more money into action, which means that the specific house edge is 1.3%. That?s for the ante and raise bets combined.

And that assumes you?re using mathematically optimal decisions.

The simplest technique for the game gives up about 0.5%, making the home edge slightly higher than 3.3%.

It?s an easy strategy to remember. When you have some 10s or better, you should raise the max (3x the ante). When you have a couple of 2s through 9s, you need to raise the minimum (1x the ante). Otherwise, you should fold.

You could find better strategies for intermediate and advanced players that may decrease the house edge further, but I?m not sure it?s worth your time and effort.

Here?s why.

If you?re going to memorize some kind of strategy, you will want to memorize a technique for a game where you could get a suprisingly low house edge?

If the best you can hope for is a house edge of around 3%, wouldn?t you be better off learning the essential technique for a blackjack game where you could get a house edge of 0.5% or less?

You can even learn some video poker strategies which would create a house edge of less than 0.2%.

Video Poker With Four Aces Showing

If you?re willing to give up 1% or 2% because you love Four Card Poker so much, you then probably shouldn?t worry so much about the house edge anyway. Just have fun and don?t play with money you can?t afford to reduce.

The home edge for the aces up bet, incidentally, is 3.89%. It?s a sucker bet, but it?s not the worst sucker bet in the casino. Actually, it?s still an improved bet when compared to a bet on an American roulette table, which has a house edge of 5.26%.

What About Crazy 4 Poker?
Crazy 4 poker can be an invention of Roger Snow, and it?s similar to, but not the same as, Four Card Poker.

Instead of an ?aces up? bet, Crazy 4 Poker offers a ?super bonus? bet. There?s also a side bet called ?queens up.?

The hand rankings will be the same for both games.

The dealer only gets five cards in Crazy 4 Poker, instead of the six cards she gets in Four Card Poker.

But in Crazy 4 Poker, the dealer must open with a king or better. The ante bet pushes if the dealer doesn?t open.

Also, instead of being able to raise, you have a ?play? bet. It wins if the dealer doesn?t qualify.

Otherwise, these bets are resolved predicated on who has the better hand.

The super bonus bet pays off according to the following pay table, irrespective of who won the hand:

Four aces pay back at 200 to at least one 1
Any other four of a sort pays off at 30 to 1 1
A straight flush pays off at 15 to at least one 1
A three of a kind takes care of at 2 to 1 1
A flush pays off at 3 to 2
And a straight pays off at even money
Also, here?s the cool thing about the super bonus bet.

In the event that you win or push (tie) the dealer together with your hand, the super bonus bet isn?t lost. It?s treated as a push. But when you have a straight or better, you still get your big payoff.

The house edge for the overall game is similar to that of Four Card Poker, which game also requires one to play with optimal technique to achieve that. It is possible to assume that you?re not likely to play optimally, and you?ll sacrifice 0.5% to 1% to the home due to that, too.

Here?s the most common pay table for the queens up bet in Crazy 4 Poker:

Four of a kind takes care of at 50 to 1 1
A straight flush takes care of at 40 to 1 1
Three of a sort pays off at 7 to 1 1
A flush takes care of at 4 to 1 1
A straight pays off at 3 to at least one 1
Two pair pays off at 2 to 1 1
A pair of queens or higher takes care of even money
Anything else is really a loss with the queens up bet. (Can you work out how this bet gets its name?)

The house edge for the queens up bet is 6.7%. It?s a terrible bet, and you ought to never ensure it is. You?re better off with the chances at the American roulette table, which has a house edge of 5.26% (and is still among the worst bets in the casino).

Four Card Poker and its close relative Crazy 4 Poker are cases of casino games predicated on real poker. They're NOT poker games, though ? I reserve that category for games where you play against the other players and not the dealer.

The house edge for these games is high enough that it?s probably not worth your trouble memorizing an intermediate or advanced strategy. You can stick with a simple strategy and eliminate some of the house edge, though.

It?s fun to play on a lark, but I don?t recommend a steady diet of Four Card Poker. Instead, play one of the better video poker variations or stick to blackjack, where the house edge is REALLY low.It had been Isai Scheinberg?s love for cards and ingenuity that led him to cofound among the world?s most successful internet poker sites?PokerStars.

Today, PokerStars hosts over 50 million players, single-handedly making it the biggest poker room on the planet. Isai?s innovative ideas and willingness to take risks is what made PokerStars the leader that it's today. A lot of those risks paid tenfold, while others almost cost it all.

To discover more about Isai Scheinberg, his contributions to the ascension of PokerStars, the risky decisions that backfired, and the hand he?s playing today, please feel free to read through this comprehensive biography. We bet you?ll learn something you never knew before.

Early Life
Isai Scheinberg was created in Israel in 1946. His family moved to a little town in Lithuania, where he grew up, when he was just one single years old.

Life in Lithuania
LithuaniaSince his father?a Holocaust survivor?struggled to create ends meet, Scheinberg was forced to clean an area distillery on the weekends to help support his family?s financial needs.

He is the oldest of five children, and naturally, his younger siblings looked around him. Since there was a 10-year age gap between him and his other siblings, they viewed him as more of a father figure when compared to a brother.

Not wanting to let them down, he worked difficult at both his part-time job and school. He'd often pick up extra shifts at the distillery and spend any leisure time studying.
He excelled in school, earning himself a 4.0 GPA. When it came time and energy to choose what college to wait, the solution was easy; he had earned himself a full-ride scholarship to Moscow State University in Russia.

Moscow State University
He originally planned to pursue a small business degree but finished up changing his mind toward the end of his freshman year. After doing exceptionally well in a few different math courses, he thought we would major in mathematics instead. He earned both his Bachelor?s and Master?s degrees in mathematics from Moscow State University.

Israeli Defense Force
Before he entered the workforce, he was drafted into the Israeli Defense Force. He served for three years through the War of Attrition. He was one of the soldiers responsible for the production of Israel?s first custom-made weapons. His background in mathematics enabled him to create weapons that were known for their accuracy.

It had been during his time serving in the military that he first learned how to play poker. He played in the evenings with the other soldiers in his barracks, quickly becoming an excellent player. He developed his own approaches for winning and was known for his aggressive design of play and willingness to take chances.

An Offer From IBM
Once he left the Israeli Defense Force, he accepted a job as a programmer at IBM?s office in Israel. He was so successful at his job they sent him to their offices in Canada to teach the programmers there.

THE HOUSEHOLD Settles in Canada
Isai emerges the role of senior programmer for IBM Canada and he decides to stay and raise his family there. His son, Mark, was 13 at the time of the move overseas. They settled in Richmond Hill, Ontario. At IBM, he made instrumental contributions to the creation of Unicode during the early ?90s.

A Love for the Game
Isai was a passionate poker player, and he was proficient at it. He frequently played cards throughout various clubs in Toronto, eventually deciding to put his skills to the test at the 1996 World Series of Poker Main Event.

He ended up taking 25th place overall. While he didn?t place as high as he hoped, the knowledge sparked his first vision for PokerStars, a user-friendly online poker site that could revolutionize the poker industry.

Founding PokerStars
Poker Stars LogoUpon returning home from WSOP with this particular brilliant new idea in mind, he began the groundwork on his individual poker site. While he was business-savvy and had extensive computer knowledge, he knew he would have to recruit a good team of skilled players because of this to be successful.

He hired talented programmers to join his team, some of them being of his co-workers from IBM. One of the company?s initial employees, Terrance Chan, with whom he met through an internet poker forum, said this of Scheinberg?s resolve:

?Scheinberg was absolutely convinced that with world-class software and a high standard of customer support, he could possibly be successful.?

Chan?s in-depth poker knowledge made him an absolute asset to the first team. His last, & most instrumental recruit was his son, Mark, who would eventually end up being the company?s CEO.

?Mark does not live in the shadow of his father,? says a co-employee. ?On the contrary, father and son learn how to work together. They have a division of labor, also it?s a close-knit family. He could be just a good guy.?

Early Days
In 2000, Scheinberg founded PYR Software (now known as Amaya Software). It later became the software provider for PokerStars. The program company was located in Toronto, and was the location where team members would meet to brainstorm ideas.

Their goal was to create a poker site that offered a personalized experience, advanced software, and vibrant, high-quality graphics. They accomplished all of this and much more through the development of PokerStars.

In 2001, they did a soft launch of the site. They recruited players to try out the site?s features using only play money. It was a huge success. Players remarked on the website?s easy-to-use interface and were impressed by the initial atmosphere the online casino offered. A few months later, the website was ready to start accepting real money wagers.

WSOP: AN IDEAL Marketing Plan
Isai ScheinbergThe company continued to flourish, attracting millions of dollars? worth of revenue. To improve the website?s popularity a lot more, Scheinberg developed an excellent marketing plan. The site would host two poker tournaments.

The winner would receive a paid entry in to the WSOP main event, plus an all-expenses-paid trip for two to travel to Las Vegas. Creating enriching and rewarding experiences for his players was always a top priority, so this idea came to him naturally.

The marketing initiative would prove even more successful than imagined, because of a dark horse from Knoxville, Tennessee. Chris Moneymaker, on a whim, entered a $86 buy-in satellite tournament at PokerStars.

His goal? To earn enough money to pay off his overwhelming personal credit card debt. At first, he was content to reduce on purpose, so that he could leave with the 4th place cash prize of $8,000. That was, until, a friend convinced him to choose 1st place.
Moneymaker, an occasional internet poker player and average person from Tennessee, beat out 838 of the world?s best poker players in the 2003 World Series of Poker. He was offered $2.5 million in cash and the signature gold bracelet. His soon quit his job and pursued a career in poker full-time, becoming among PokerStars main spokespersons.

Thanks to his inspiring success story, thousands of people began showing an interest in internet poker overnight. New accounts were opening on PokerStars left and right. It had been marketing gold.

Commitment to Excellence
Scheinberg remained diligent in his continued efforts to provide unrivaled customer support through PokerStars. He needed that all customer service agents undergo strenuous training before they could join his team.

He wanted to make certain they were not merely knowledgeable about poker and the ins and out from the PokerStars website, but they also knew how exactly to communicate well with the players. PokerStars had a faster customer service response rate than other poker sites that outsourced their customer service to third parties.

There have been even talks of a seven-digit deal that involved hosting actor Ben Affleck and his friends on a boat to play poker. Ultimately, operation ?Celebrity Poker Yacht? couldn?t be mounted, but is really a clear glimpse into Scheinberg?s sheer commitment to marketing his business well.

Former Vice President of Marketing, Dan Goldman, who was given a $600,000 marketing budget within his first year with the company, said this of Isai?s powerful business influence:

?If I had handled someone else, I'd have asked a lot more questions. But there was something about Isai that naturally inspired me. It may sound a bit naive for someone who had been in his 50s at the time, but I tend to trust my instinct with regards to business. I had without doubt concerning the financial ability of PokerStars to implement this type of plan.?

2005- PER YEAR of Big Changes
Scheinberg makes the bold decision to relocate the business?s headquarters to the Isle of Man, saving significantly on tax costs.

In exactly the same year, a blog gets put into the PokerStars site, making them the initial online poker site to possess one, making PokerStars a billion-dollar enterprise by years-end.

Facing Difficulties Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA)
The US Cracked Down Hard Under It's New Gambling LawsIn 2006, america passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), rendering it illegal for gambling transactions to occur. Many online casinos and poker sites thought we would close their doors to US customers consequently. Scheinberg took a different approach.

He made a cope with several small banks which were facing financial difficulties and decided to invest millions of dollars into them should they were ready to process his customer?s gambling transactions.

This is a risky move, but Scheinberg was ready to do whatever it took to help keep serving his US customers.
Black Friday
This worked for quite some time, until April 15th, 2011, your day that would later become known as Black Friday. Here is the day that america seized PokerStars? domain name because they were still catering to US customers. It had been at the moment that Scheinberg was charged on accounts of money laundering and bank fraud.

Hefty Fines
PokerStars was forced to pay the Department of Justice a hefty fine of $765 million in order to get their domain back. Being an additional the main settlement, they agreed to buy out Full Tilt Poker and pay US players the funds that were owed in their mind, as Full Tilt Poker did not have the necessary funds to do so.

Poker Hall of Fame Snub
Due to his charges and business dealings, Scheinberg in addition has unfortunately been repeatedly passed over for inclusion in the Poker Hall of Fame. Some of his public enemies include executives from Caesar?s Palace, who also serve as the gatekeepers for the Poker Hall of Fame.

Scheinberg?s exclusion remains a large disappointment through the entire poker community. The city continues to identify the grand contributions he?s designed to the rise of the online gambling industry.

?He was quite definitely a political person. He knew who his allies were. He knew who individuals were who disagreed with him.? ? an acquaintance talking about Isai Scheinberg

Despite the negative legal implications connected with it, PokerStars started to flourish once more. Scheinberg?s personal charges, however, were never dropped and have yet to be dealt with directly to today.

The Entrance to the Poker Hall of Fame

Provided that Scheinberg avoids entering america, he will not need to handle any jail time or pay the Department of Justice the fees which are owed. Scheinberg has stepped down from the day-to-day operations of PokerStars, but he still influences the board?s decisions in terms of technological advancements.

Scheinberg Today Current Whereabouts
Since stepping down from direct management of PokerStars, Scheinberg spends additional time with his wife. Each of them travel together often, making use of their favorite places to go to being in Europe. While traveling, they have paid to revive several different historical buildings in both Madrid and France, because they believe in the importance of preserving history.

Isai maintains an extremely private life in the public eye. While it?s unclear exactly where he resides today, many speculate he still lives on the Isle of Man, though it?s not confirmed.
Philanthrophy
THE MAIN ONE Acre Fund LogoScheinberg is passionate about helping those less fortunate than him. He donates money to many different charities, including One Acre Fund and Living Goods.

One Acre Fund supplies impoverished farmers with working out and equipment they need to grow food because of their communities. Living Goods trains health advocates to go door to door in third-world countries to teach people on how to stay clean to avoid the spread of common diseases.

As of at this time, Scheinberg is apparently retired. Does that mean he will never make things right with the Department of Justice and return to the US? Or that he won?t take an active role in PokerStars once again?

Only time will tell. But, for the person that was able to turn an idea into a billion-dollar online casino empire, anything is surely possible.
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