Crazy 4 Poker is a casino table game where you play five cards, keep the best four and go head to head against the dealer. You make two equal starting bets, then fold or raise, and you can raise up to three times your ante when you hold a pair of aces or better. With the standard strategy below, the house edge is 3.42% of the ante, or about 1.09% of the total amount you put in play.
Crazy 4 Poker at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Inventor | Roger Snow |
| Current supplier | Light & Wonder (formerly Shuffle Master / SG) |
| Deck | One standard 52-card deck |
| Required bets | Ante and Super Bonus, equal amounts |
| Optional bets | Queens Up; some casinos add a Bad Beat bonus or a progressive |
| Dealer qualifies with | King high or better |
| House edge (ante, Super Bonus and Play combined) | 3.42% of the ante with best strategy |
How to play Crazy 4 Poker
- Place an Ante bet and a Super Bonus bet of the same size. You can also place a Queens Up side bet, which has its own limits and can be larger than the ante.
- You and the dealer each get five cards. Only your best four cards count.
- Look at your hand and either fold or make a Play bet. Folding loses the Ante and the Super Bonus.
- The Play bet must equal your ante, unless you hold a pair of aces or better. With aces or better you may bet up to three times the ante.
- The dealer turns over and makes the best four-card hand. The dealer needs king high or better to qualify.
How the main bets are settled
| Result | Ante | Play |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer does not qualify | Push | Wins 1 to 1 |
| You beat a qualifying dealer | Wins 1 to 1 | Wins 1 to 1 |
| Dealer beats you | Loses | Loses |
| Tie with a qualifying dealer | Push | Push |
Four-card hand rankings
Because you only use four cards, the order differs from regular poker. Three of a kind ranks above a flush and a straight, because it is harder to make with four cards.
- Four of a kind
- Straight flush (four suited cards in sequence)
- Three of a kind
- Flush (four cards of one suit)
- Straight (four cards in sequence)
- Two pair
- One pair
- High card
Aces are high, except in the straight A-2-3-4.
Super Bonus bet
The Super Bonus is mandatory and pays when your four-card hand is a straight or better, whether or not you beat the dealer. With less than a straight, it pushes if you beat or tie the dealer and loses if the dealer wins. If you fold, it loses.
| Hand | Super Bonus pays |
|---|---|
| Four aces | 200 to 1 |
| Four of a kind (2s through kings) | 30 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 15 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | 2 to 1 |
| Flush | 3 to 2 |
| Straight | 1 to 1 |
Queens Up side bet
Queens Up is optional and pays on your own hand only, so the dealer’s cards do not matter. Several pay tables exist. The one below is the version used by most Las Vegas casinos, according to the Wizard of Odds, and it carries a house edge of about 6.8%. The most generous version pays 30 to 1 on a straight flush and 9 to 1 on three of a kind, which drops the house edge to about 3.1%.
| Hand | Queens Up pays |
|---|---|
| Four of a kind | 50 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 40 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | 7 to 1 |
| Flush | 4 to 1 |
| Straight | 3 to 1 |
| Two pair | 2 to 1 |
| Pair of queens or better | 1 to 1 |
Check the felt or the rack card before you bet, since the three of a kind payout is the line that changes most between tables.
Crazy 4 Poker strategy
The basic strategy is short. Apply the first rule that fits your hand:
- With a pair of aces or better, raise the maximum, three times your ante.
- With K-Q-8-4 or better, raise one times your ante.
- Fold everything else.
“K-Q-8-4 or better” means any hand that beats king, queen, eight, four as a high-card hand, plus any pair below aces. A hand such as K-Q-9-2 qualifies; K-Q-7-6 does not.
Following these rules gives a combined house edge of 3.42% of the ante. Since the average total bet with this strategy is about 3.14 units per hand (ante, Super Bonus and the average raise), the element of risk is about 1.09%. The Super Bonus on its own is a poor bet with a house edge of roughly 35%, but you cannot skip it, which is why the game is judged on all three bets together.
How Crazy 4 Poker compares
Crazy 4 Poker sits in the same family as Four Card Poker and Three Card Poker, where you play a short hand against the dealer and decide once whether to raise. If you like bigger raise decisions spread over several streets, Ultimate Texas Hold’em and Mississippi Stud are the closest alternatives, and Caribbean Stud Poker is the older five-card game these designs grew from.
Crazy 4 Poker FAQ
Can you skip the Super Bonus bet?
No. The Ante and Super Bonus are both required and must be the same size. Only Queens Up and any bad beat or progressive bets are optional.
What happens if the dealer does not qualify?
The dealer needs king high or better. If the dealer does not qualify, your Ante pushes and your Play bet wins even money, as long as you did not fold.
When should you raise 3x?
Raise three times your ante whenever you hold a pair of aces or better. That is the only time a raise above 1x is allowed.
Is Queens Up a good bet?
It depends on the pay table. The common Las Vegas version has a house edge of about 6.8%, higher than the main game. Tables that pay 9 to 1 on three of a kind are better, at about 3.1%.
Gamble only with money you can afford to lose. If gambling stops being fun, call or text the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-MY-RESET.