Gaming : Four Card Poker
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RULES:
In Four Card Poker, you receive five (5) cards to make your best four card poker hand, and the dealer received six (6) cards to make a four card poker hand.
Four Card Poker uses a standard 52-card deck. There are three ways to play. The game allows the player to wager against the dealer, to wager only on the value of his own hand against a paytable, or to wager both against the dealer and on the value of his own hand.
Ranking of Hands:
Hands are ranked from highest to lowest as follows.
- Four of a Kind
- Straight Flush
- Three of a Kind
- Flush
- Straight
Two Pair:
- Pair
- High Card
Note: If a hand does not contain a pair or better, the hand that contains the highest ranking card(s) wins. Ace is high except in 4-3-2-Ace sequence.
Three Ways To Play:
- Playing Against the Dealer - ANTE WAGER
The object when playing against the dealer is to beat the dealer's four-card poker hand with your own four-card poker hand. The dealer always qualifies. Players place an ANTE wager. After looking at their hand, players may fold or, if they believe their hand is high enough to beat the dealer's hand, they will make the PLAY wager. This wager must be from one to three times the ANTE wager.
Note: The player wins ties. Consider the entire four-card hand when declaring a tie.
Playing Against the Dealer - Player folds: ANTE LOSES
• When player's hand beats OR TIES dealer's hand: PLAY wins 1 to 1 - ANTE wins 1 to 1
• When dealer's hand beats player's hand: PLAY is a loss - ANTE is a loss
Certain player hands receive an AUTOMATIC BONUS. These payouts are made against the ANTE wager. Consult layout for odds. AUTOMATIC BONUS payouts are always paid, even if the player's hand loses.
- Playing vs. Paytable - ACES UP
The object of betting the ACES UP wager is to receive a pair of Aces or better. If the player's hand contains a pair of Aces or better, the player wins the ACES UP wager.
Players receive ACES UP payouts regardless of the dealer's hand.
- Playing Both - ACES UP and ANTE
When a player bets both the ACES UP and the ANTE (including PLAY), he is playing against two separate paytables with two different criteria for payouts. In playing the ANTE wager, the object is to get a four-card poker hand that beats the dealer's best four-card hand. In playing the ACES UP wager, the object is to receive a pair of Aces or better. The ANTE and ACES UP wagers do not have to be the same amount. Players receive the ACES UP payouts regardless of the dealer's hand. Players can wager anywhere from the table minimum to the maximum allowed bet on either spot. However, the PLAY wager must be from one to three times the ANTE.
Side bets between players are prohibited.
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Dealing Procedures:
Dealing procedures vary by jurisdiction. Please refer to the appropriate gaming agency for regulations specific to your jurisdiction. It is recommended that Four Card Poker be dealt with an automatic card shuffler, such as Shuffle Master's ACE®. Select one of the following modes on the ACE shuffler: Four Card Poker, Bahama Bonus or Caribbean Stud. All are programmed to dispense five-card hands.
- Each player makes a wager as indicated below, according to posted table limits
• To play against the dealer by placing an ANTE wager on the ANTE spot.
• To play the hand value against the paytable by placing an ACES UP wager on the ACES UP spot.
• To play against the dealer and the paytable by placing the ANTE wager on the ANTE spot and an ACES UP wager on the ACES UP spot.
• At the casino's discretion, a player may place wagers at more than one betting position during a round of play. - Each player receives five cards face down. Cards are delivered to the player from the dealer's left to right in rotation. The dealer should give himself five cards face down and one card face up. From an ACE shuffler: The ACE will dispense five-card hands. Place one hand face-down to each player and one face-down in the dealer's area. When the ACE dispenses the next five-card hand, place the top card face up on the dealer's hand. Put all remaining cards in the discard rack and press the green button.
- After examining their cards, players have the option to either make a PLAY wager in the amount between one and three times the player's ANTE wager, or forfeit the ANTE wager by folding. In the unlikely event the player folds with a pair of Aces or better, he forfeits the ANTE, but his ACES UP bet will win.
- After each player has either placed a PLAY wager on the PLAY spot or folded, the dealer collects all forfeited wagers and cards.
- The dealer will arrange his hand from highest card value to the lowest, and announce his best four-card hand. The two cards the dealer doesn't use in his hand should be positioned behind the "live" hand.
- The dealer will then reconcile the hands of those players who have not folded. Starting with the player on the dealer's right, bring the player's hand into the "work area" between the dealer's hand and the ACES UP wager and reveal the player's cards. The dealer will pay and/or take from the back forwards, reconciling the PLAY wager first, the ANTE second, and the ACES UP wager last. The dealer will lay and pay, or pick and pay, depending on casino procedures.
Irregularities in Dealing Procedures:
- Incorrect number of cards in player's/dealer's hand.
- If any player or the dealer is dealt an incorrect number of cards, all hands are void and the cards reshuffled.
Card Shuffler Malfunction:
Refer to the trouble shooting guide on the back of the shuffler, or; If the shuffler has continually malfunctioned, replace it as follows:
- Turn off the shuffler.
- Unplug the power cord.
- Replace the shuffler with the backup shuffler.
- Plug in the power cord and the data cable.
- Turn the shuffler on.
- CALL SHUFFLE MASTER to service the shuffler.
- Resume play.
OR
- Follow specific procedures approved by your local regulatory body.



