Three Card Poker bonus.

[UK-21]

Have just been received an e-mail from a mate of mine telling me of a Gala online casino promo bonus for three card poker. Basically wagering £100 will qualifiy for a £10 bonus each Monday.

With an equal bet on both the ante/play and pairs plus option, the HE is around 5.2%, so wagering £100 the expectation is losing £5.20. Am I right in thinking that this bonus effectively gives the game a positive expectation of 4.8%. I've been told that you can lay bets of a quid, so with a £1+£1, and an additional £1 to play, it would seem that you'd only have to sit through less than 50 hands to qualify? Playing at £2/£3 per hand would also iron out the variance when compared to playing £10/£15 per hand?

Or have I got all of this wrong ?

 

[Sonny]

Am I right in thinking that this bonus effectively gives the game a positive expectation of 4.8%.

That's one way to think about it. Another way is to think of it as £5 per week, or £260 per year. A 5% advantage is nice but the stakes are very small. Looking at the overall value of the opportunity will give you a better idea of its relative worth. Don't look at the advantage, look at the win rate.

Playing at £2/£3 per hand would also iron out the variance when compared to playing £10/£15 per hand?

It would iron out some of the variance. You could iron out more, and increase your advantage, by not playing the pair plus side bet. In this case you might consider increasing the variance as much as possible in order to have a better chance of having a bigger win and a shorter playing session. It may increase the value of the opportunity slightly.

-Sonny-

 

[aka23]

Have just been received an e-mail from a mate of mine telling me of a Gala online casino promo bonus for three card poker. Basically wagering £100 will qualifiy for a £10 bonus each Monday.

With an equal bet on both the ante/play and pairs plus option, the HE is around 5.2%, so wagering £100 the expectation is losing £5.20. Am I right in thinking that this bonus effectively gives the game a positive expectation of 4.8%. I've been told that you can lay bets of a quid, so with a £1+£1, and an additional £1 to play, it would seem that you'd only have to sit through less than 50 hands to qualify? Playing at £2/£3 per hand would also iron out the variance when compared to playing £10/£15 per hand?

Or have I got all of this wrong ?

With a fixed wagering requirement, house edge per wager is relevant, rather than house edge per initial bet. For 3CP ante & play with Gala rules, this is 2.01%, so the average loss during wagering is £100*2.01%. I would suggest skipping the pair plus entirely (no combined bet) due to the higher house edge per wager and higher variance. Note that Gala has some other reloads that are superior to this one.