[Iceman]

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One of my poker buddies came up with this. He said this was similar to Texas Showdown or whatever that stupid new casino table game is--the one with all the hoopla about the side bet.

I make a minimum bet, get two hole cards, decide if I want to raise my bet (not a fixed raise) or keep it at the minimum, then get two more cards. Then out of the four, I pick two. My buddy then deals himself four and picks two. We then turn them up, deal a five card board and the best hold em hand wins. If I win, he pays even money on whatever my bet (or bet and raise) amount is and if I lose, he gets it.

I figure I have some kind of an edge because I get to raise when I am dealt good two cards to begin with, and I also will pick the two optimal cards based in a chart of heads up starting hands (e.g. KTs is better head up than KQo). He neither gets to raise or say I cannot raise, nor will he always pick the best heads up hand. Since we each start with four cards, I am only raising if I get a high pair or slick to begin with because the average two card hand will be better when we get to pick from four.

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As I see it, you have a huge edge. If you're dealt AA as your first two cards, couldn't you raise $10,000 and he'd have to call?

In the real game Texas Shootout, players aren't allowed to raise and the dealer wins ties, making the house advantage about 3% against perfect play.