Side bet city live is Evolution’s 1980s-themed poker game played against a paytable, not a dealer. Seven cards are dealt from one deck, and players bet on whether the first 3, the first 5 or all 7 cards make a winning poker hand, or on All Lose if none do. For the wider market picture, start at our online casino Canada hub.
The table below sets out how the game behaves. Read it first, then work through the detail beneath.
| Trait | Detail |
|---|---|
| Provider | Evolution |
| Deck | One 52-card deck, shuffled after every hand |
| Bets | 3 Card Hand, 5 Card Hand, 7 Card Hand, All Lose |
| Top payout | 1,000:1 for a Royal Flush on the 5 Card Hand |
| RTP | 96.69, 95.21, 94.34 and 96.29 percent, per PokerStars |
| Decisions | None after the bets are placed |
What is side bet city live?
A live poker game from Evolution played against a paytable. Players bet on the poker value of a 3-card, 5-card or 7-card hand dealt from one deck, or on all three losing, and make no decisions once the bets are placed.
Evolution calls side bet city live poker made easy.
The seven cards feed all four bets at once, so a single deal can settle a 3 Card win, a 5 Card loss and a 7 Card win together.
Who makes side bet city live?
Evolution. Its launch release described the game as a unique 1980s-themed poker room that extends the studio’s line-up of live dealer poker variants.
SlotCatalog lists a release date of 8 June for side bet city live and files it under Evolution’s live casino games.
Evolution’s release called it a fast-paced poker game designed for an unlimited number of online players.
What does the studio look like?
A Las Vegas poker room from the mid-eighties. Evolution’s release promised to transport players back to nineteen eighty-five with bright neon lights and an authentic late night, big city buzz.
PokerStars describes the same neon, 1980s-style Las Vegas setting for side bet city live.
Side bet city live keeps the neon look for the whole round, since the game has no separate bonus stage.
Where does the idea come from?
Blackjack side bets. PokerStars explains that the game takes typical blackjack side bets and makes them the focus of the action in a standalone casino poker variant.
The Wizard of Odds compares side bet city live to 3-5-7 Poker with different pay tables, plus the extra All Lose bet.
Both games deal three, then five, then seven cards and pay on each stage.
Who do players play against?
The paytable. Evolution says the game is played not against the dealer but against a pay table, for an unlimited number of online players at once.
Side bet city live players therefore never compete with each other or with the dealer’s hand.
Every player at the table sees the same seven cards and the same results.
Which bets can players make?
Four bets: the 3 Card Hand, the 5 Card Hand, the 7 Card Hand and All Lose. Evolution and PokerStars say players can bet on any combination of them in the same round.
Side bet city live pays each bet separately against its own section of the paytable.
A player can back one hand only, all three hands, or any hand together with All Lose.
How is a round dealt?
The dealer deals seven cards in total. PokerStars says three cards come first for the 3 Card Hand, two more make the 5 Card Hand, and two more complete the 7 Card Hand.
Genting adds that side bet city live cards are dealt face up, and the winning hands are highlighted on screen.
The 3 Card result is known after three cards, the 5 Card result after five and the 7 Card result after all seven.
What does the 3 Card Hand need to win?
One pair or better from the first three cards. PokerStars says any pair pays, and the hand is judged under three-card poker rankings.
Side bet city live pays the 3 Card Hand on the earliest cards of the round, before the rest are dealt.
A pair of any rank qualifies, from twos up to Aces.
How are three-card hands ranked?
Differently from five-card poker. PokerStars notes that in the 3 Card Hand a Straight beats a Flush, both lose to Three of a Kind, and a Royal Flush is a suited A-K-Q.
Side bet city live players who know five-card rankings need this adjustment for the first bet only.
A Straight appears 720 times in 22,100 three-card hands and a Flush 1,096 times, which is why the Straight ranks higher there.
What does the 3 Card Hand pay?
PokerStars lists Royal Flush at 100:1, Straight Flush at 40:1, Three of a Kind at 35:1, Straight at 5:1, Flush at 4:1 and any Pair at 1:1.
Side bet city live pays Three of a Kind more than a Straight or Flush on this bet, because it is rarer with three cards.
A one dollar Straight returns six dollars and a one dollar Flush returns five, each including the stake.
What does the 5 Card Hand need to win?
A pair of Jacks or better from the first five cards. PokerStars says the five cards must make at least that hand, and Genting confirms that only the 5 Card Hand pays pairs of Jacks to Aces and two pairs.
Side bet city live pays nothing on the 5 Card Hand for a pair of Tens or lower.
Two Pair pays 4:1 on this bet and appears about 4.75 percent of the time, per the Wizard of Odds.
What does the 5 Card Hand pay?
PokerStars lists Royal Flush at 1,000:1, Straight Flush at 250:1, Four of a Kind at 100:1, Full House at 50:1, Flush at 40:1, Straight at 25:1, Three of a Kind at 7:1, Two Pair at 4:1 and Jacks or better at 1:1.
Side bet city live’s 1,000:1 top payout sits on this bet.
A one dollar Full House returns 51 dollars and a one dollar Flush returns 41, each including the stake.
What does the 7 Card Hand need to win?
Three of a Kind or better, using the best five-card hand from all seven cards. PokerStars sets that minimum, and Stake describes the hand as the best five cards from the seven dealt.
Side bet city live pays no pairs or two pairs on the 7 Card Hand.
A Straight on the 7 Card Hand appears about 4.62 percent of the time and pays 4:1.
What does the 7 Card Hand pay?
PokerStars lists Royal Flush at 500:1, Straight Flush at 100:1, Four of a Kind at 50:1, Full House at 7:1, Flush at 5:1, Straight at 4:1 and Three of a Kind at 3:1.
Side bet city live pays less for each hand here than on the 5 Card Hand, because seven cards make those hands easier.
A one dollar Straight Flush returns 101 dollars and a one dollar Flush returns six, each including the stake.
What is the All Lose bet?
A bet that all three hands lose. The Wizard of Odds lists it as No Win and says it pays 0.7 to 1 when none of the three hands qualifies. Stake describes it as an insurance style bet.
Side bet city live All Lose returns 96.29 percent, per PokerStars.
A one dollar All Lose win returns 1.70 dollars including the stake.
What is the top payout?
1,000 to 1. Evolution’s Todd Haushalter pointed to big payouts of up to 1,000 to 1, which PokerStars lists for a Royal Flush on the 5 Card Hand.
Side bet city live pays that top prize on a one dollar bet as one thousand dollars.
Side bet city live pays a ten dollar 5 Card Royal Flush bet ten thousand dollars plus the stake.
How many cards are in the deck?
One standard 52-card deck. PokerStars and Genting both say it is shuffled after each hand, so every round starts from a full deck.
Side bet city live results therefore never depend on cards seen in earlier rounds.
Seven cards from 52 leave 45 unseen each round.
Are there any decisions to make?
No. Evolution says no decisions are needed after the bets are placed, and if a bet wins, a winning message appears on screen.
Side bet city live rounds therefore run from bets to result without player input.
Side bet city live suits players who want poker hands without poker decisions.
How often does the 3 Card Hand win?
About 25.6 percent of the time. The Wizard of Odds counts 22,100 possible three-card hands, and 5,660 of them pay, which leaves 74.4 percent losing.
Side bet city live players see a 3 Card win in about one round in four.
Over 100 rounds, the 3 Card Hand wins about 26 times on average.
How often does each 3-card hand appear?
Per the Wizard of Odds: a Pair about 16.94 percent, a Flush 4.96 percent, a Straight 3.26 percent, Three of a Kind 0.235 percent, a Straight Flush 0.199 percent and a Royal Flush 0.018 percent.
Side bet city live’s 3-card Royal Flush comes up in 4 of 22,100 hands, about one in 5,525.
Side bet city live 3-card Flushes appear about once every 20 hands on average.
How often does the 5 Card Hand win?
About 20.6 percent of the time. The Wizard of Odds counts 2,598,960 possible five-card hands, and 79.37 percent of them hold less than a pair of Jacks and lose.
Side bet city live players see a 5 Card win in about one round in five.
Over 100 rounds, the 5 Card Hand wins about 21 times on average.
How often does each 5-card hand appear?
Per the Wizard of Odds: Jacks or better about 13.0 percent, Two Pair 4.75 percent, Three of a Kind 2.11 percent, a Straight 0.39 percent, a Flush 0.20 percent and a Full House 0.14 percent.
Side bet city live’s 5-card Royal Flush appears in 4 of 2,598,960 hands, about one in 649,740.
Side bet city live 5-card Two Pair appears about once every 21 hands on average.
How often does the 7 Card Hand win?
About 15.3 percent of the time. The Wizard of Odds counts 133,784,560 seven-card combinations, with 84.73 percent losing because they hold less than Three of a Kind.
Side bet city live players see a 7 Card win in about one round in seven.
Over 100 rounds, the 7 Card Hand wins about 15 times on average.
How often does each 7-card hand appear?
Per the Wizard of Odds: Three of a Kind about 4.83 percent, a Straight 4.62 percent, a Flush 3.03 percent, a Full House 2.60 percent, Four of a Kind 0.17 percent and a Straight Flush 0.028 percent.
Side bet city live’s 7-card Royal Flush shows up about 0.0032 percent of the time.
Side bet city live 7-card Flushes appear about once every 33 hands on average.
How often does All Lose win?
About 56.6 percent of rounds. The Wizard of Odds found that all three hands lose in 56.64 percent of deals, while at least one hand wins in 43.36 percent.
Side bet city live All Lose therefore wins more often than any other bet, at the lowest payout.
Over 100 rounds, All Lose wins about 57 times on average.
What is the RTP?
PokerStars lists 96.69 percent on the 3 Card Hand, 95.21 percent on the 5 Card Hand, 94.34 percent on the 7 Card Hand and 96.29 percent on All Lose. Genting shows the same 94.34 to 96.69 percent range.
Side bet city live returns match the Wizard of Odds house edges of 3.31, 4.79, 5.66 and 3.71 percent.
The published returns are long run averages over a very large number of hands, not session results.
Which bet costs the least?
The 3 Card Hand, at 96.69 percent. It costs about 3.31 dollars per hundred wagered on average, against 3.71 on All Lose, 4.79 on the 5 Card Hand and 5.66 on the 7 Card Hand.
Side bet city live’s 7 Card Hand costs about 70 percent more per hundred than the 3 Card Hand.
The gap between the cheapest and dearest bet is 2.35 dollars per hundred wagered.
What does a thousand dollars in bets cost?
About 33.10 dollars on the 3 Card Hand, 37.10 on All Lose, 47.90 on the 5 Card Hand and 56.60 on the 7 Card Hand, using the Wizard of Odds house edges.
Side bet city live bet choice therefore changes the long run cost by 23.50 dollars per thousand.
Those figures are averages over a very large number of hands, not a forecast for any single session.
What does a one dollar bet return on each hand?
A 3-card Pair returns two dollars including the stake, a 5-card Straight 26 dollars, a 7-card Full House eight dollars, and an All Lose win 1.70 dollars.
Side bet city live pays every winning bet plus its original stake.
What does covering all four bets cost?
One dollar on each of the four bets costs four dollars per round. When All Lose wins, the other three bets lose, and the round returns 1.70 dollars.
Side bet city live full coverage always loses at least part of the stake in that case.
When the 5 Card Hand hits Jacks or better and the other hands miss, the round returns two dollars for the four staked.
Can All Lose and a hand bet both win?
No. All Lose wins only when none of the three hands qualifies, so any winning hand bet means the All Lose bet has lost.
Side bet city live players who pair All Lose with a hand bet always lose one of the two.
Two or three hand bets can win in the same round, since the hands overlap card by card.
Why does the 3 Card Hand pay 35:1 for Three of a Kind?
Because it is rare with three cards. The Wizard of Odds counts 52 ways to make Three of a Kind from 22,100 hands, about 0.235 percent, while a Straight has 720 ways.
Side bet city live pays Three of a Kind just 3:1 on the 7 Card Hand, where it appears about 4.83 percent of the time.
The 3 Card Hand’s 35:1 payout on Three of a Kind is more than seven times the 7:1 paid on the 5 Card Hand.
What is the chance of at least one winning hand?
About 43.4 percent. The Wizard of Odds found at least one of the three hands wins in 43.36 percent of deals, which is the flip side of the 56.64 percent All Lose figure.
Side bet city live players backing all three hands see at least one win in roughly two rounds out of five.
Side bet city live All Lose players win in every round where none of those three hands qualifies.
How often is a 3-card Pair the result?
About 16.94 percent of the time, or 3,744 of 22,100 three-card hands per the Wizard of Odds. It is the most common winning 3-card result by a wide margin.
Side bet city live pays that Pair at 1:1, so a one dollar bet returns two dollars.
How often does the 5-card Jacks or better win?
About 13.0 percent of five-card hands, 337,920 of 2,598,960, according to the Wizard of Odds. It is the most frequent winning 5-card result.
Side bet city live pays Jacks or better at 1:1, the lowest rate on the 5 Card Hand.
How rare is a 5-card Four of a Kind?
Four of a Kind shows up in 624 of 2,598,960 five-card hands, about 0.024 percent, per the Wizard of Odds. That is roughly one hand in 4,165.
Side bet city live pays it at 100:1 on the 5 Card Hand.
How rare is a 7-card Four of a Kind?
About 0.17 percent of seven-card deals, or 224,848 of 133,784,560, according to the Wizard of Odds. Seven cards make it about seven times as likely as five.
Side bet city live pays it at 50:1 on the 7 Card Hand, half the 5-card rate.
Why does the 7 Card Hand pay 7:1 for a Full House?
Because a Full House is far more common with seven cards. The Wizard of Odds puts it at about 2.60 percent of seven-card deals against 0.14 percent of five-card hands.
Side bet city live pays 50:1 for the same hand on the 5 Card Hand.
How rare is a 3-card Straight Flush?
The Wizard of Odds counts 44 three-card Straight Flushes out of 22,100 hands, about 0.199 percent, or one in 502. A suited A-K-Q counts separately as the Royal Flush.
Side bet city live pays the 3-card Straight Flush at 40:1.
What does a 100-round session look like on the 3 Card Hand?
At one dollar per round, 100 rounds put 100 dollars in play. The 3 Card Hand wins about 26 of them on average, and the long run cost at 96.69 percent is about 3.31 dollars.
Side bet city live results over 100 rounds can still land far from those averages.
About 17 of those wins would be Pairs at 1:1, per the Wizard of Odds frequencies.
What does a 100-round session look like on All Lose?
At one dollar per round, All Lose wins about 57 of 100 rounds on average, each paying 70 cents plus the stake. The long run cost at 96.29 percent is about 3.71 dollars.
Side bet city live All Lose trades frequent small wins for a slightly higher cost than the 3 Card Hand.
Is side bet city live a high volatility game?
It depends on the bet. All Lose wins more than half the time at 0.7:1, while the 5 Card Hand’s 1,000:1 Royal Flush appears about once in 649,740 hands, per the Wizard of Odds.
Side bet city live players choose their own swing by choosing which bets to back.
What are the betting limits?
They vary by casino. Genting lists 0.50 to 5 pounds, and Stake lists a minimum of 1.00 and a maximum of 2,000. PokerStars says the game can be played for a range of stakes.
Side bet city live stakes add up across bets, so four one dollar bets cost four dollars a round.
At Genting’s 5 pound maximum, four bets cost 20 pounds a round.
Is there a strategy?
No bet changes the cards. The only choices are which bets to place and how much to stake, since the game asks for no decisions after betting.
Side bet city live players who want the lowest cost per round favour the 3 Card Hand, per the published returns.
The Wizard of Odds house edges show that no bet has an edge for the player.
Who is side bet city live for?
Evolution’s Haushalter said players new to poker will love it as an easy introduction, while experienced players will enjoy a different kind of poker challenge and the big payouts.
Genting adds that no prior poker knowledge is needed, though knowing hand rankings makes side bet city live more fun.
Haushalter described it as an easy and entertaining introduction to poker for new players.
What did Evolution say at launch?
Haushalter called it a fast, simple live poker game with big payouts wrapped in a 1980s theme, adding something very different to Evolution’s choice of poker variants.
He also said side bet city live is designed to attract the widest range of players.
Haushalter said the game adds something very different and distinctive to Evolution’s poker variants.
Are statistics shown?
Yes. Genting lists statistics among the features of the game, alongside the live dealer, the special bets and a return range of 94.34 to 96.69 percent.
Side bet city live statistics describe past rounds only, since each hand is dealt from a freshly shuffled deck.
Genting also lists special bets among the game’s features.
Is there a time limit to bet?
Yes. Stake reminds players that live casino games have a time limit to place bets, and a bet placed too late misses the hand.
Side bet city live then deals the seven cards for everyone at once.
Side bet city live players who miss the window simply wait for the next deal.
Can side bet city live be played on mobile?
Yes. PokerStars says the game can be played on iOS or Android phones and tablets, as well as in a web browser where available. SlotCatalog lists mobile support and HTML5.
Side bet city live keeps the same four bets on every screen.
PokerStars lists the web browser alongside the apps, where available.
Where is side bet city live available?
SlotCatalog found it in 39 countries, with Canada among the markets carrying it most: 91 of 479 scanned Canadian casinos listed the game, about 19 percent.
Side bet city live availability depends on each operator’s live casino lobby.
Side bet city live availability in each province depends on the operators licensed there.
How does the 3 Card Hand relate to three card poker?
It uses three-card rankings, where a Straight beats a Flush and both lose to Three of a Kind, per PokerStars. In this game that hand is one of four paytable bets, and Evolution says the game is not played against the dealer.
Side bet city live’s 3 Card Hand pays any pair at 1:1 and a suited A-K-Q at 100:1.
How does it compare with casino hold’em?
Genting points to the side bets found in live Casino Hold’em and Ultimate Texas Hold’em as the idea behind this game. Those games add side bets to a main hand, while this game is made of side bets only.
Side bet city live asks for no call, raise or fold decisions.
Side bet city live bets settle on the paytable alone, per Evolution.
Can side bet city live be played for free?
No. As a live dealer game it runs on real money bets at a casino. Taking part needs a funded account.
Side bet city live bets start at the table minimum shown by each casino.
Side bet city live bets start at the table minimum shown by each casino, 0.50 pounds at Genting.
Is side bet city live available in Ontario?
Ontario players can check whether the operator offering the game appears on the regulator public register before depositing. The register lists every operator allowed to offer online casino games in the province.
Side bet city live at an Ontario site runs under that operator’s registration.
Registered Ontario operators provide deposit limits inside the account menu.
What does a Canadian check before playing side bet city live?
Four lines decide the session. The bet limits, the return on each of the four bets, the total stake across bets and the operator registration all appear before any money moves.
Players in Ontario who want support can call ConnexOntario at 1-866-531-2600.
Which game pages are worth reading next?
Four pages sit closest to this one. Each covers a game or a rule that touches the subject above, and each stands on its own.
Side bet city live pays often on the 3 Card Hand and All Lose and rarely on the big hands. Set a budget first, and the paytable plays close to its published return.