Crazy 4 Poker (C4P) is one of the more popular poker variants. As I discussed in this post, it is extraordinarily tough for a hole-card player to get an edge. That doesn't mean an edge is impossible.

Yesterday I received a request to analyze Ultimate Texas Hold'em (UTH). This isn't the first time I've had this particular request. I wrote the code to analyze UTH a couple of years ago when an online casino company asked me to independently verify the house edge. To say that this is a big game is an understatement. For practical use, running a cycle is only the first step.

Caribbean Stud (CS) is virtually extinct in Nevada. Likewise throughout the U.S. it is rapidly disappearing, giving way to a wealth of alternative poker-style games. The main problems with CS are its very high house edge (5.224% with perfect strategy) and high fold percentage (47.77%).

Without bothering about questions of legality, the world’s greatest baccarat player uses a computer. He dutifully enters cards into the program as they are dealt from the shoe. At the start of each round, the computer determines the exact edge for the Player and Banker bets based on the exact composition of the cards that remain in the shoe.

Promotions are a necessary part of running all casinos. They help bring players into the casino during slow times. Filling seats at the slots and tables is the first step to profitability. However, the mathematics of promotions is not well understood in the industry.

Baccarat and blackjack have one important commonality: the house edge for each changes as cards are played from the shoe. The advertised house edge is based on the initial composition of the shoe, but that value is not fixed throughout the game.