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Last updated: January 15, 2024
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Oasis Poker
Introduction
Oasis
Poker 🤶 is a variation of Caribbean Stud Poker. The rules of Oasis Poker are the same as
Caribbean Stud, except the 🤶 player is allowed to exchange cards before the raise/fold
decision, for a price of course. The game can be found 🤶 mostly in eastern Europe,
northern Africa, and Internet casinos using Galewind Software. Following are the
complete rules.
Rules
The player makes an 🤶 ante wager plus optional side bonus side bet.
Player and the dealer get five cards each. All cards are dealt 🤶 face down, except one
dealer card is exposed. The player may examine his own cards but sharing of information
is 🤶 not allowed. The player has the option to switch one card of his choice for the next
card in the 🤶 deck. There is a fee to do this, equal to the ante wager. This fee is
non-refundable. The player may 🤶 switch one of more cards. The price for switching
depends on the number of cards switched, as follows: One card: 🤶 1x the Ante.
Two cards:
2x the Ante.
Three cards: 3x the Ante.
Four cards: 2x the Ante.
Five cards: 1x the
Ante.
If the 🤶 player switches all five cards, then he must raise. The player may either
fold or raise. If player folds, then 🤶 he forfeits his cards, ante bet, and side bet (if
made). If player raises, then he must make a raise 🤶 wager exactly equal to twice the
ante. The dealer will turn over his other four cards. The dealer must have 🤶 an ace/king
or higher to qualify. In other words, the lowest qualifying hand would be
ace,king,4,3,2. If the dealer does 🤶 not qualify then the player will win even money on
his ante wager and the raise will push. If the 🤶 dealer qualifies and beats the player
both ante and raise will lose. If the dealer qualifies and loses to the 🤶 player then the
ante will pay even money and the raise according to the Raise Pay Table below. Other
pay 🤶 tables have been known to exist. If the player and dealer tie then both the ante
and raise will push. 🤶 The bonus bet win will be entirely based on the poker value of the
player's original hand.
Standard Raise Pay Table 🤶 Hand Pays Royal flush 100 to 1
Straight flush 50 to 1 Four of a kind 20 to 1 Full 🤶 house 7 to 1 Flush 5 to 1 Straight 4
to 1 Three of a kind 3 to 1 Two 🤶 pair 2 to 1 All other 1 to 1
Strategy
I have never
quantified a perfect card switching strategy. My program makes 🤶 a perfect decision every
time by analyzing all possible combinations of the replacement card and all four dealer
cards. However, 🤶 from running through some test hands I believe the following strategy
is close to optimal.
The player should switch one card 🤶 with any of the following:
Four
to a straight flush and royal flush, even breaking up a pair Four to a 🤶 flush with no
pair. Four to an outside straight with no pair.
The player will sometimes switch with
any of the 🤶 following:
Four to a flush with a low pair (depends on the pair and dealer's
up card). Four to an inside 🤶 straight with no pair (depends on the inside straight and
dealer's up card).
My apologies for not being more specific. In 🤶 my view there, is not
enough demand for the information to warrant doing a more detailed strategy.
Do not
switch with 🤶 two pair or three of a kind.
If the casino allows switching two or more
cards that option should never be 🤶 taken.
Once the switch decision has been made the
player can follow Caribbean Stud Poker strategy when deciding to raise or
🤶 fold.
Odds
The following return table is based on the pay table above. Other pay tables
are known to exist, which would 🤶 change the odds.
Return Table Event Switch Pays
Combinations Probability Return Player wins with royal flush No 201 703909080 0.000001
0.000169 🤶 Player wins with straight flush No 101 6591048240 0.000008 0.000795 Player
wins with four of a kind No 41 118962303600 🤶 0.000142 0.005826 Player wins with full
house No 15 698227961760 0.000834 0.01251 Player wins with flush No 11 917993591760
0.001097 🤶 0.012062 Player wins with straight No 9 1839831676200 0.002198 0.019779 Player
wins with three of a kind No 7 9838202449440 🤶 0.011751 0.08226 Player wins with two pair
No 5 20496509853120 0.024482 0.122412 Player wins with pair or less No 3 🤶 97623586047960
0.116608 0.349824 Dealer doesn't qualify No 1 185955255229464 0.222117 0.222117 Tie No
0 12240105192 0.000015 0 Player folds No 🤶 -1 339591911883840 0.40563 -0.40563 Player
loses No -3 109793339508384 0.131144 -0.393433 Player wins with royal flush Yes 200
2650657380 0.000003 🤶 0.000633 Player wins with straight flush Yes 100 24129845136
0.000029 0.002882 Player wins with four of a kind Yes 40 🤶 0 0 0 Player wins with full
house Yes 14 0 0 0 Player wins with flush Yes 10 3022953154968 🤶 0.003611 0.036108 Player
wins with straight Yes 8 3012064741860 0.003598 0.028782 Player wins with three of a
kind Yes 6 🤶 0 0 0 Player wins with two pair Yes 4 0 0 0 Player wins with pair or less
Yes 🤶 2 5747378958780 0.006865 0.01373 Dealer doesn't qualify Yes 0 14509998995172
0.017332 0 Tie Yes -1 1981751652 0.000002 -0.000002 Player folds 🤶 Yes -2 37230605388900
0.044471 -0.088941 Player loses Yes -4 6750562960512 0.008063 -0.032253 Total
837195681722400 1 -0.010372
The lower right cell shows 🤶 a house edge of 1.04%.
After
possibly switching and raising, the average final bet, including the switching fee,
will be 2.183772 🤶 units. The element of risk is thus 0.475%. On average the player will
switch 8.4% of the time.
At Internet casinos 🤶 using Galewind Software there are some
rule changes. There the player may switch one to five cards, for the price 🤶 of one ante
per card, and a full house pays 6 instead of 7. Under those rules the house edge 🤶 is
1.204%, the average final wager is 2.184 units, and the element of risk is 0.55%.
Side
Bet
I indicate the odds 🤶 of the side bet in my Caribbean Stud Poker section. Some
casinos have been known to base the side bet 🤶 on the hand after switching. This can be a
very good rule for the player. However, if you see it, 🤶 you're on your own.
Belgium
Variant
In Belgium the player is allowed to switch a card, but if he does, he forfeits
🤶 his option to fold. That version of the rules is addressed in my section on Belgium
Variant of Oasis Poker.
Nicaragua 🤶 Variant
Oasis Poker is very popular in Nicaragua. It
seems to have more placements than any other game. However, they call 🤶 it Caribbean Stud
Poker. The pay table is the standard one for the original hand. However, it is
depressed if 🤶 the player switches a card, which still costs the price of the Ante
bet.
This variant has never been analyzed, as 🤶 far as I know.
Nicaragua Variant Pay
Table Hand Original
Hand After
Discard Royal flush 100 50 Straight flush 50 20 Four of
🤶 a kind 20 10 Full house 7 5 Flush 5 4 Straight 4 3 Three of a kind 3 3 🤶 Two pair 2 2 All
other 1 1
As a variant of the Nicaragua variant, the Palms casino in Managua lets 🤶 the
player buy a sixth card for the price of the Ante, as opposed to discarding. This, too,
has not 🤶 been analyzed (sorry).
Finland Variant
At the Casino Helsinki the following
rule changes are followed:
The player may exchange only one card from 🤶 his hand with
cost of 1 x ante.
If the dealer doesn't qualify player may exchange one card from the
dealers 🤶 hand (see Russian Poker above) to make the dealer to qualify.
Jackpot Bonus
side bet available.
Jackpot Bonus payout
Royal Flush: Jackpot (minimum 🤶 amount
€20,000)
Straight Flush: 20% of the jackpot
Four of a kind: 250 for 1
Full House: 150
for 1
Flush: 100 for 1
Straight: 🤶 50 for 1
Written by: Michael Shackleford
