Casino Criss Cross

1. Play Criss Cross Poker Online
2. Casino Criss Cross
3. Criss Cross Poker In Vegas
4. Casino Criss Cross Table Game

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Introduction

Photo taken at 2014 Global Gaming Expo.

Criss Cross Poker is poker variation by In Bet Gaming. In 2014, I started to hear reports of the game in several casinos in the eastern United States. The thrust of the game is the player bets on two hands, in part using five community cards placed in a cross pattern.

Rules

1. Play begins with the player making Ante Across and Ante Down bets of equal size. The player may also make an optional Five Card Bonus Bet.
2. The dealer gives the player two hole cards and places five community cards face down in a cross pattern.
3. The player may make an Across Bet, based on the Across Hand, equal to 1x to 3x the Ante Across bet, or fold.
4. The dealer will reveal the two outside cards on the horizontal row of the cross.
5. The player may make a Down bet, based on the Down Hand, equal to 1x to 3x the Ante Down bet, or fold.
6. The dealer will reveal the two outside cards on the vertical column of the cross.
7. The player may make a Middle Bet of 1x to 3x either Ante bet or fold.
8. The dealer will reveal the middle card.
9. The player uses his two hole cards and the three cards on the horizontal row of the cross to form the Across Hand.
10. Likewise, the player uses his two hole cards and the three cards on the vertical column of the cross to form the Down Hand.
11. The Middle Bet pays according to the higher ranking of the Across and Down hands.
12. All bets pay according to the pay table below. Wins are expressed on a 'to one' basis.
    

    Criss Cross Poker Pay Table

    Hand	Ante Bets Pay	Across, Down & Middle Bets Pay
    Royal flush	1	500
    Straight flush	1	100
    Four of a kind	1	40
    Full house	1	12
    Flush	1	8
    Straight	1	5
    Three of a kind	1	3
    Two pair	1	2
    High pair (J-A)	1	1
    Low pair (6-10)	0	0
    All other	-1	-1

    
    
13. The Five Card Bonus bet pays according to the five community cards in the cross pattern and following pay table.
    

    Five Card Bonus Bet Pay Table

    Hand	Pays
    Royal flush	250
    Straight flush	100
    Four of a kind	40
    Full house	15
    Flush	10
    Straight	6
    Three of a kind	4
    Two pair	3
    Sixes or better	1
    Loser	-1

    
    

Analysis

Between two sets of possible hands, four combinations of raise bets, and folding at various stages of the game, there are 975 possible outcomes. I indicate the probability of all of them in my Criss Cross Poker Full Expected Value Table. However, I don't want to scare you off with that gigantic table here. Instead, I summarize the outcome of each hand below.

The following table shows the possible outcome of both the Ante Across and Across bets. The 'pays' column shows the combined win between the two bets. The lower right cell shows that the player can expect to lose 0.600581 units between the two bets.

Ante Across and Across Bets

Hand	Across Bet	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Royal flush	3	1501	12,972	0.000000	0.000231
Royal flush	1	501	116,748	0.000001	0.000694
Straight flush	3	301	25,944	0.000000	0.000093
Straight flush	1	101	1,141,536	0.000014	0.001368
Four of a kind	3	121	12,167,736	0.000144	0.017468
Four of a kind	1	41	7,601,592	0.000090	0.003698
Full house	3	37	48,800,664	0.000579	0.021423
Full house	1	13	68,414,328	0.000812	0.010552
Flush	3	25	2,101,464	0.000025	0.000623
Flush	1	9	163,550,976	0.001940	0.017464
Straight	3	16	2,451,708	0.000029	0.000465
Straight	1	6	288,484,308	0.003423	0.020537
Three of a kind	3	10	538,234,224	0.006386	0.063859
Three of a kind	1	4	1,170,645,168	0.013889	0.055557
Two pair	3	7	811,632,096	0.009630	0.067408
Two pair	1	3	3,010,230,432	0.035715	0.107146
High pair	3	4	1,170,593,280	0.013889	0.055555
High pair	1	2	9,458,722,620	0.112224	0.224448
Medium pair	3	0	1,385,409,600	0.016437	0.000000
Medium pair	1	0	11,610,887,160	0.137759	0.000000
Loser	3	-4	1,240,719,912	0.014721	-0.058883
Loser	1	-2	44,512,795,932	0.528127	-1.056254
Fold one unit	0	-1	4,576,521,600	0.054299	-0.054299
Fold two units	0	-2	4,203,010,800	0.049867	-0.099734
Fold four units	0	-4	0	0.000000	0.000000
Total	84,284,272,800	1.000000	-0.600581

The following table shows the possible outcome of both the Ante Down and Down bets. The 'pays' column shows the combined win between the two bets. The lower right cell shows that the player can expect to lose 0.597666 units on the two bets combined.

Ante Down and Down Bets

Hand	Down Bet	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Royal flush	3	1501	45,792	0.000001	0.000815
Royal flush	1	501	83,928	0.000001	0.000499
Straight flush	3	301	37,116	0.000000	0.000133
Straight flush	1	101	1,118,700	0.000013	0.001341
Four of a kind	3	121	12,233,808	0.000145	0.017563
Four of a kind	1	41	7,485,048	0.000089	0.003641
Full house	3	37	48,603,888	0.000577	0.021337
Full house	1	13	68,156,856	0.000809	0.010513
Flush	3	25	6,951,456	0.000082	0.002062
Flush	1	9	157,641,288	0.001870	0.016833
Straight	3	16	4,780,980	0.000057	0.000908
Straight	1	6	285,297,516	0.003385	0.020310
Three of a kind	3	10	540,593,136	0.006414	0.064139
Three of a kind	1	4	1,160,967,816	0.013774	0.055098
Two pair	3	7	814,576,176	0.009665	0.067652
Two pair	1	3	2,988,662,184	0.035459	0.106378
High pair	3	4	1,336,724,496	0.015860	0.063439
High pair	1	2	9,281,584,656	0.110122	0.220245
Medium pair	3	0	1,417,841,568	0.016822	0.000000
Medium pair	1	0	11,550,329,616	0.137040	0.000000
Loser	3	-4	1,450,469,088	0.017209	-0.068837
Loser	1	-2	44,370,555,288	0.526439	-1.052879
Fold one unit	0	-1	5,013,003,456	0.059477	-0.059477
Fold two units	0	-2	3,766,528,944	0.044688	-0.089377
Fold four units	0	-4	0	0.000000	0.000000
Total	84,284,272,800	1.000000	-0.597666

The following table shows the possible outcome of Middle bet. The lower right cell shows that the player can expect to win 1.111675 units on this bet.

Middle Bet

Hand	Middle Bet	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Royal flush	3	1500	259,440	0.000003	0.004617
Royal flush	1	500	0	0.000000	0.000000
Straight flush	3	300	2,323,104	0.000028	0.008269
Straight flush	1	100	0	0.000000	0.000000
Four of a kind	3	120	39,488,184	0.000469	0.056221
Four of a kind	1	40	0	0.000000	0.000000
Full house	3	36	231,865,848	0.002751	0.099036
Full house	1	12	0	0.000000	0.000000
Flush	3	24	325,921,056	0.003867	0.092806
Flush	1	8	0	0.000000	0.000000
Straight	3	15	375,011,412	0.004449	0.066740
Straight	1	5	199,154,268	0.002363	0.011814
Three of a kind	3	9	2,751,292,188	0.032643	0.293787
Three of a kind	1	3	399,927,564	0.004745	0.014235
Two pair	3	6	5,494,091,328	0.065185	0.391111
Two pair	1	2	1,329,787,368	0.015777	0.031555
High pair	3	3	11,485,872,240	0.136275	0.408826
High pair	1	1	4,170,202,716	0.049478	0.049478
Medium pair	3	0	12,309,204,636	0.146044	0.000000
Medium pair	1	0	4,837,617,228	0.057396	0.000000
Loser	3	-3	1,789,381,740	0.021230	-0.063691
Loser	1	-1	29,763,340,080	0.353130	-0.353130
Fold	0	0	8,779,532,400	0.104166	0.000000
Total	84,284,272,800	1.000000	1.111675

The next table summarizes the expected win of all three groups of bets.

Summary

Bet(s)	Expected Win
Ante Across & Across	-0.600581
Ante Down & Down	-0.597666
Middle	1.111675
Total	-0.086571

The lower right cell shows an expected loss of 0.086571 units. Since the player must wager two units at least, I divided that by two to get a house edge of 4.33%.

Considering the raise bets, the average total bet by the end of the hand is 5.86529 units. Thus the element of risk, which is the ratio of expected loss to the total amount wagered, is 8.6571/5.8629 = 1.48%, which isn't bad for a poker variant game.

The standard deviation, relative to the combined initial wager, is 4.802.

Strategy

With all decision points, the only viable options are fold, minimum 1x raise, or maximum 3x raise. Never raise anything between 1x and 3x.

Play Criss Cross Poker Online

Across Strategy

• If the hole cards are unsuited, unpaired, and the largest one is five or less, then fold.
• If the hole cards are suited J/Q or any pair, then make the large raise.
• With all other hole cards, make the small raise.

Down Strategy

This is a very similar decision to raising on the Across hand. However, the player has the benefit of seeing two extra cards. This can help in borderline situations. I have not implicitly identified these deviations from the Across strategy. However, I can say that knowing them, whatever they are, will increase the expected return by 0.29% the amount of the Ante Down bet, or lower the house edge by 0.15%.

Middle Strategy

With four cards seen, there are thousands of possible situations in terms of a Middle bet strategy. However, a perfect decision can be made by averaging the win over all possible 46 cards left in the deck under both a small and large Middle bet. I can say that if the player made either 3x bet, then he shouldn't fold. I can also say that 4.5% of the time the player will make both a small Across and Down bet and then fold the Middle bet.

Five Card Bonus Bet

The following table presents the possible outcomes of the Five Card Bonus Bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 3.53%, which for a side bet isn't bad.

Five Card Bonus Bet

Hand	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Royal flush	250	4	0.000002	0.000385
Straight flush	100	36	0.000014	0.001385
Four of a kind	40	624	0.000240	0.009604
Full house	15	3,744	0.001441	0.021609
Flush	10	5,108	0.001965	0.019654
Straight	6	10,200	0.003925	0.023548
Three of a kind	4	54,912	0.021128	0.084514
Two pair	3	123,552	0.047539	0.142617
Sixes or better	1	760,320	0.292548	0.292548
Loser	-1	1,640,460	0.631199	-0.631199
Total	2,598,960	1.000000	-0.035336

Methodology

The game was analyzed by me in C++ by looping through all combin(52,2)*combin(50,2)*combin(48,2)*46 = 84,284,272,800 possible combinations. The program is about 600 lines of code and takes about six hours to run.

Internal Links

Full expected value table. This page shows the probability and return from all 974 possible outcomes.

Written by:Michael Shackleford

Criss Cross Poker is an extension of a famous stud based table game known as Mississippi Stud. In that game, gamblers begin with two hole cards and try to develop using 3 community cards, but in Criss Cross Poker, the community card sum increases to five.

The name comes from the particular “cross-like” pattern formed by fitting the five community cards up and down, in addition to right and left.

Like all stud based table game alternatives, Criss Cross Poker competes in a crowded marketplace, but it seems to be gaining widespread traction. With unique casino properties like the Bally’s and Borgata in Atlantic City now offering the game on a full-time basis, odds are Criss Cross Poker will become a great offering on most table game menus.

History of Criss Cross Poker

The U.S. Patent’s purpose to protect a hybrid table game concept known as Criss Cross Poker was filed by game inventor Ronald Deluca in February 2014.

Laduca, who also designed other table games like Super 4 Progressive Blackjack and Double Draw Poker, launched his casino game design firm, In Bet Gaming, to help sell his ideas.

In September 2014, Laduca and In-Bet Gaming decided to license Criss Cross Poker to major casino game manufacturer American Gaming Systems, which debuted the game at that year’s Global Gaming Expo. Since then, Criss Cross Poker has secured a few installations in casinos located across the country, including Nevada, Las Vegas, and New Jersey, Atlantic City, in addition to the state of Washington DC.

How to Play Criss Cross?

As the name says, Criss Cross Poker is a poker-based game, which means the official ranking system used to check poker hands will be changed.

Hold ’em Poker Hand Rankings.

Take a look down to see how poker hands stack up:

Casino Criss Cross

• Royal Flush – Straight (AKQJ10) in the same suit.
• Straight Flush – Five consecutive cards in the same suit.
• Four of a Kind – Four cards of the same rank.
• Full House – Three of a Kind AND One Pair.
• Flush – Five cards of the same suit.
• Straight – Five cards in sequential order.
• Three of a Kind – 3 cards of the same rank.
• Two Pair – Two pairs of the same card.
• One Pair – Two cards of the same rank.
• High Card – No pair; the highest card is the rank of the hand.

Playing Criss Cross Poker

#1 – The game begins when players put up two necessary bets: the Ante Across Bet and the Ante Down Bet. These bets must be an equal amount.

Here, players may choose to put up an optional side bet known as the Five Card Bonus Bet.

#2 – After all players have presented their Ante bets, the dealer will then share two cards face down to each player, with 5 community cards in the so-called cross pattern.

This is nothing more than three cards lined up horizontally, along with 1 card each on the bottom and top of the middle card, forming a straight “line” through the other three cards forming a cross.

#3 – You’ll be joining your two hole cards with the 3 cards horizontal line to form your “Across hand” and the 3 cards vertical line to build your “Down hand.”

#4 – After building up your two hole cards, the first player decision point has arrived: Fold or make the Across Bet.

• When you fold, you quit the hand right then and there, abandoning both of your Ante bets to the house.
• When you choose to make the Across Bet, you’ll need to add Across Bet equal to either 1x, 2x, or 3x your initial Ante Across Bet.

After you have put up the Across bet, the dealer will disclose the two outside cards belonging to the horizontal line.

#5 – Next, you repeat this wagering method for the Down Bet, either putting up or folding an additional wager of 1x, 2x, or 3x your initial Ante Down Bet.

The dealer now will turn over the two outside cards on the vertical line, leaving only the center “hub” card set facing down.

#6 – Next, for the last player decision, you must choose between folding or make one previous Middle Bet (again, equal to 1x, 2x, or 3x the size of your Ante bet).

The dealer will then unveil the middle card to complete the cross of community cards.

Criss Cross Poker In Vegas

Strategy to Win at Criss Cross Poker

Casino Criss Cross Table Game

• First, players should nevermore make the 2x bet, which is made available on the Across, Down, and Middle stakes. Instead, gamblers should always bet either 1x or 3x when proceeding, or they should fold.
• On about 4.5% of hands, you’ll make the 1x minimum Bet for the Across Bet and the Down Bet before deciding to fold the Middle Bet.
• Players should follow the same global guidelines as the Across bet while trying to factor in the Down Bet’s newly exposed cards. When these cards raise your hand or give it the potential to improve, you should increase the maximum.
• With all other hole cards, gamblers should make the 1x least Across Bet.
• For the Middle Bet, gamblers now have access to four of the five community cards. If you have already put up a 3x maximum bet on either the Down Bet or the Across Bet, you should never fold the Middle Bet.
• For the Across bet, gamblers should fold only when their two hole cards are unpaired, unsuited, and the highest card ranks five or lower. Gamblers should only make the 3x maximum Across Bet when holding a suited Q J or any pair.