Earlier this week, we told you about 5 alternatives to online poker that you can play at Australian online casinos. One game that we did not to mention in the article is Side Bet City. Side Bet City is a fun Live Dealer table game offered by Evolution Gaming.
If you like games like baccarat, then you’ll enjoy Side Bet City. Let’s take a look at how to play the game and also some simple betting strategies.
How to Play Side Bet City
Side Bet City combines elements of poker and baccarat into a fun and easy to learn online casino table game. The object of the game is simple. You’re trying to bet on whether three separate poker hands will produce a winning result.
There are three potential winning combinations. You have a 3-card poker hand, a 5-card hand, and a 7-card poker hand. It is possible to bet and win on all three hands.
Before the hand, all players will bet on the hands that they think will hit. If you believe a winning hand will be produced in the first three cards, you’ll bet the 3-card hand. The same applies to both the 5-card and the 7-card hand. Adversely, if you believe none of the hands will win, you may bet All Lose.
New to poker and don’t understand hand rankings? No problem! The game will determine winners automatically. All you have to do is bet on whether you think a hand will win. This is similar to betting on the Banker or Dealer in Baccarat.
Game Payouts
Side Bet City game payouts are determined based on the strength of hands made. For example, a pair for a 3-card hand pays even money. With a five-card hand, you have to make a pair of jacks or better. For seven-card hands, you have to make three of a kind before you’ll receive a payout. The exception to this is the All Lose bet. For this bet, you’ll only get 0.7 to 1 on your money. If you bet $1, a winning All Lose bet returns $1.70.
Your best odds are going to be for five-card hands. The exception is going to be for three of kind on 3-card hand bets.
Side Bet City Strategy
We will go over two basic strategies to use for Side Bet City. The first is the easiest and based on the RTP for the different bets. The 3-Card hand has the best RTP at 96.69%, followed by the All Lose bet at 96.29%. The RTP then drops down to 95.21% for five-card hands and 94.34% for seven-card hands.
The safest strategy in this game is to stick with the 3-card and All Lose bets. Since all you need is a simple pair of deuces to win, the 3-card hand ends up paying out a bit better than the All Lose Bet.
An alternative strategy to play is to play both the 3-Card and 5-card bets at the same time. The reasoning is that whenever you make a pair of jacks or better, you will win both bets automatically. In many cases, you will break even on your bets.
It is seldom a good idea to play the 7-card bet by itself. The RTP is the lowest and you have to make a stronger hand to receive a payout. Only play this with the other two bets. Of course, the variance for this game will be a lot higher.
If you want to give this game a try, it is available at many online casinos in Australia, including PlayAmo and Raging Bull Casino. By using one of the simple strategies above, you’ll give yourself a great shot of winning at the game.