Trips and Blind: the side bets, exactly
The Blind is mandatory; Trips is your choice. Both reward big hands — and both come with a house edge you can measure exactly.
Short answer
The Trips side bet pays on your own final five-card hand regardless of the dealer. Its house edge depends entirely on the pay table, ranging from about 0.90% on the best schedule to 6.18% on the worst; the most common table (50-40-30-8-7-4-3) runs 3.50% (RTP 96.50%, hitting 15.27% of hands). The Blind pays a bonus scale for a straight or better when you win — you make a qualifying hand about 10.44% of the time.
Compare Trips pay tables
Pick a pay table to see its exact house edge, return to player, hit frequency, and the contribution of each hand. Every figure is enumerated over all seven-card hands — no simulation needed.
Should you make the Trips bet?
Purely by the math, no — every Trips table carries a higher edge than the base game’s 2.19% per ante. But Trips is a low-cost shot at a big multiplier, and its edge on the best table (0.90%) is far from the worst bets on a casino floor. Treat it as entertainment spend, and always check which pay table you are facing.
The Blind bonus
The Blind is part of the base game, not an optional extra. It pays a published bonus scale only when you win with a straight or better; otherwise it pushes on a win with a weaker hand and loses when you lose. Its realized value is already baked into the house-edge figure.
Common questions
Does Trips depend on beating the dealer?
No. Trips pays purely on your own five-card hand — you can lose to the dealer and still collect Trips for a straight or better.
Which Trips pay table is best?
The one with the lowest house edge — around 0.90% on the most generous schedule. Use the tool above to identify the table in front of you before you bet; the difference across tables is several percent.
Is the Blind bet optional?
No — the Blind is required and equal to the Ante. Only Trips is optional. The Blind’s bonus for a straight or better is why premium hands are worth so much in this game.