# Four Card Poker: How Hands Play Out and Bets Pay

> Learn how Four Card Poker hands play out, what Ante, Play and Aces Up pay, and how pay tables and the ace-low rule affect the house edge.

- Source: https://toolsgambling.com/blog/four-card-poker-rules
- Publisher: ToolsGambling
- Published: 2026-10-26
- Updated: 2026-10-26
- Cite as: "Four Card Poker: Rules and Aces Up Pay Tables", ToolsGambling, https://toolsgambling.com/blog/four-card-poker-rules

Four Card Poker is a casino game against the dealer in which you get five cards, keep the best four, and either fold or make a Play bet of one to three times your ante. Under optimal play the house edge is 2.79% ([Wizard of Odds](https://wizardofodds.com/games/four-card-poker/)), and the Aces Up side bet on pay table V has a house edge of 3.89% (our check of all 2,598,960 five-card deals).

The key assumption behind 3.89% is that the ace may be low in a straight; if it can only be high, the figure is 5.88%. Ante and Play pay when you beat or tie the dealer, Aces Up pays according to its own pay table, and Ante Bonus pays for three of a kind or better.

## What is Four Card Poker?

Four Card Poker is a game of four-card hands, although you receive five cards and the dealer receives six. Each side uses the best four cards available.

The dealing, ace-low, Aces Up and Ante Bonus rules below come from the [Massachusetts Gaming Commission Four Card Poker rules](https://massgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/RULES-Four-Card-Poker-2-24-20.pdf). These are game rules, not a source for optimal-strategy calculations.

Crazy 4 Poker has a similar name but is a different game.

## Why read the bets separately?

The bets pay for different outcomes, so one house-edge figure cannot describe them all.

- **Ante and Play:** both pay 1 to 1 when your hand beats or ties the dealer’s hand.
- **Ante Bonus:** pays for a qualifying hand regardless of whether you beat the dealer.
- **Aces Up:** wins with a pair of aces or better, independently of the dealer’s hand.

Aces Up pays from a table, not against the dealer. The [21+3 blackjack side bet](https://toolsgambling.com/blog/21-plus-3-blackjack-side-bet) is another example of a hand-based side bet, but its qualifying hands and payouts do not apply here.

## How does a hand play out?

Place Ante and any optional Aces Up wager before the deal, then choose whether to fold or make a Play wager after seeing your cards.

1. **Place Ante.** Add Aces Up if you want the separate side bet.
2. **Receive five cards.** The dealer receives six.
3. **Select your best four-card hand.**
4. **Fold or make Play.** Play must be one to three times Ante. Folding forfeits Ante, but an existing Aces Up wager remains in play.
5. **Compare hands.** The dealer selects the best four cards from six. If you win or tie, Ante and Play both pay 1 to 1; if you lose, both wagers lose.
6. **Settle the separate payouts.** Check Ante Bonus and Aces Up under their own conditions.

With **\$10 Ante and \$30 Play**: a win gives +\$10 + \$30 = **+\$40**; a loss gives −\$10 − \$30 = **−\$40**.

With \$10 Ante and \$30 Play, a win yields \$40 in net profit on the two main wagers only, excluding Aces Up and Ante Bonus, and returns \$80 in total, including the \$40 staked.

Because Play grows to three times the ante, use the [casino bankroll calculator](https://toolsgambling.com/casino/bankroll-calculator) to plan around your potential commitment, not just the initial wager.

## Hand rankings and the ace-low straight

Hands are ranked using four cards, with four of a kind highest and high card lowest.

From strongest to weakest:

1. Four of a kind.
2. Straight flush.
3. Three of a kind.
4. Flush.
5. Straight.
6. Two pair.
7. Pair.
8. High card.

Three of a kind beats a flush, and four of a kind beats a straight flush. Do not apply the usual five-card poker ranking order.

Under the Massachusetts Gaming Commission rules, an ace can complete a straight or straight flush with a two, three and four. Our main enumeration therefore counts A–2–3–4. Other tables and jurisdictions can use different pay tables and ace rules.

## Ante Bonus: tables 1 and 2

Ante Bonus pays for three of a kind or better, regardless of the result against the dealer, provided a Play wager was made.

The confirmed table 1 payouts, relative to Ante, are:

- **Four of a kind:** 25 to 1.
- **Straight flush:** 20 to 1.
- **Three of a kind:** 2 to 1.

Our enumeration gives an expected bonus payout per unit of Ante of **6.71% for table 1** and **6.43% for table 2**. These figures measure the bonus contribution, not a player advantage for the whole game: they exclude the wins and losses on Ante and Play.

According to Wizard of Odds, table 2 pays 30 to 1 for four of a kind, 15 to 1 for a straight flush and 2 to 1 for three of a kind. If your table uses it, check every payout before playing; its expected percentage alone cannot tell you what an individual hand pays.

## Aces Up: seven pay tables and our enumeration check

Aces Up wins with a pair of aces or better, but its cost depends on the pay table. Under table V, the house edge is **3.89% of the Aces Up wager**; the [house edge calculator](https://toolsgambling.com/casino/house-edge-calculator) can help convert that percentage into an expected monetary cost.

Below are the payouts of all seven Aces Up tables from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission rules, with the house edge for each table from our enumeration.

| Hand type | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Four of a kind | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Straight flush | 40 | 40 | 30 | 30 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| Three of a kind | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| Flush | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| Straight | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Two pair | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Pair of aces | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| **House edge** | **1.98%** | **2.58%** | **2.78%** | **3.37%** | **3.89%** | **4.24%** | **6.15%** |

![Study diagram: share of five-card deals and Aces Up payout on table V](https://toolsgambling.com/media/article/2026/10/6b4e0d13cde6d14ccd3c1007bdbed141.webp)

*Share of hands from all 2,598,960 five-card deals (our enumeration). Payout from table V.*

### What did the enumeration check?

Our enumeration checked all **2,598,960 five-card deals from a 52-card deck**, selecting the best four-card hand from each. This is not the number of hands played in a casino.

| Hand type | Number of hands | Share | Table V payout |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| Four of a kind | 624 | 0.024% | 50 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 2,072 | 0.080% | 40 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | 58,656 | 2.257% | 8 to 1 |
| Flush | 114,616 | 4.410% | 5 to 1 |
| Straight | 101,808 | 3.917% | 4 to 1 |
| Two pair | 123,552 | 4.754% | 3 to 1 |
| Pair of aces | 81,096 | 3.120% | 1 to 1 |
| Pair other than aces | 966,456 | 37.186% | Wager loses |
| High card | 1,150,080 | 44.252% | Wager loses |

A pair of aces or better occurs in **18.56% of deals, or 482,424 cases**. Three of a kind or better, qualifying for Ante Bonus, occurs in **2.36%, or 61,352 cases**. The table’s shares are rounded to three decimal places.

For **\$10 on Aces Up with table V**:

- Pair of aces: \$10 × 1 = **+\$10 net profit**.
- Four of a kind: \$10 × 50 = **+\$500 net profit**.

The original wager is also returned in both cases. “50 to 1” describes profit relative to the wager, not the total return including the stake. The examples assume table V.

### What follows from the different percentages?

You need to check the actual pay table and ace rule rather than judge Aces Up by its name alone.

Mark Pilarski’s Post-Bulletin column of 15 December 2005 gives a different pay table: four of a kind 50 to 1, straight flush 40 to 1, three of a kind 8 to 1, flush 6 to 1, straight 5 to 1, two pair 2 to 1, and a pair of aces 1 to 1. Our calculation for that table gives a **0.32% house edge** with an ace-low straight allowed, or **2.65%** with the ace only high.

That historical column does not establish the rules at a current table. A lower house edge means a lower theoretical expected cost under the stated rules; it does not mean positive player expectation or a guaranteed winning session.

## Strategy: Wizard of Odds figures and the cost of errors

Optimal play gives a **2.79% house edge of the Ante**, while simpler decisions increase the expected cost. These are independent calculations reported by Wizard of Odds, not regulator rules or results we recalculated.

The optimal-play figure uses Ante Bonus payouts of 2 to 1 for three of a kind, 20 to 1 for a straight flush and 25 to 1 for four of a kind.

| Strategy | House edge |
|---|---:|
| Optimal play | 2.79% — more precisely 2.788% |
| Simple Ko strategy | 3.396% |
| Intermediate strategy (JB) | 2.853% |
| Advanced strategy (James Grosjean) | 2.850% |

The simple strategy that Wizard of Odds attributes to Stanley Ko has three decisions:

- With a pair of tens or higher, make Play for three times Ante.
- With a pair of twos through nines, make Play equal to Ante.
- Fold all other hands.

Compared with optimal play, the additional house edge is **0.606 percentage points** according to Wizard of Odds (the rounded table values differ by 0.608) for the simple strategy, **0.065** for the intermediate strategy and **0.062** for the advanced strategy. These differences measure expected cost, not the likely result of the next few hands.

## What should you do before playing?

Check the table’s pay table first, then convert the applicable percentage into money using the correct wager as the base.

1. **Check every Aces Up payout.** Compare all winning categories, not just four of a kind.
2. **Confirm the ace rule.** It affects which hands qualify.
3. **Check Ante Bonus.** The main-game strategy figure must match the bonus schedule in use.
4. **Separate your wagers.** The Aces Up percentage applies to Aces Up, not everything you have on the table.
5. **Convert the percentage.** To estimate the theoretical expected cost of the main game, multiply the Ante by 2.79%; for Aces Up table V, multiply the Aces Up wager by 3.89%. The result is not a loss you must incur in any one session.

A general percentage calculation cannot replace checking the pay table.

## Calculation limits

Our enumeration checks the distribution of the best four-card hands selected from five cards and their associated payouts. It does not recalculate optimal decisions against the dealer.

The main-game figure is **2.79% of the Ante**, while the Aces Up figure is **3.89% of the Aces Up wager**, so you cannot simply add them. House edge means theoretical expected player net loss under specified rules divided by the stake the percentage refers to.

Neither enumeration nor strategy predicts the next hand or turns negative expectation into a winning system.

## FAQ

### Can I place Aces Up and then fold?

Yes. Folding forfeits Ante, but your Aces Up wager is still settled.

### Does the dealer need a qualifying hand?

No. The dealer does not need a minimum hand for the comparison to take place.

### What happens when the hands tie?

Ante and Play both win and pay 1 to 1. A tie is not merely a return of those wagers without profit.

### Is Aces Up compulsory?

No. It is an optional wager placed before the deal and is not required to play against the dealer.