3 Card Video Poker

Three Card Poker is one of the earliest and most successful new table games. The concept is simple, the player and dealer each get three cards, the higher hand wins. The player must make a raise or fold decision before the dealer acts. The game is easy to learn and master. Wild Jack is a full-service online casino offering hundreds of great online casino games including slot machines, roulette, 3-card poker, and a whole lot more. Wild Jack Casino also offers a big $600 Welcome Package, fantastic monthly promotions, courteous and professional customer service, and state-of-the-art security features. Most gamblers have a love-hate relationship with three-card poker. The table game, which can be found at casinos and cardrooms around Northern California, has a house edge of about 3.4 percent and an edge of about 7.2 percent on the most common side bet, dubbed pair plus. This means winning money at the three-card table can be tough.

What is a 3 Card Video Poker?

The 3 Card Video Poker is a mixture of two games, presenting the player with a unique chance of playing against the machine and trying to form the best possible combination of cards on one side and placing a separate wager on an odd that a hand of Pair or better will be dealt, on the other.

3 Card Video Poker Rules

The rules are quite simple and both the player and the “house” will receive 3 cards each. The players will have three betting options in front of them – Ante, Play and Pair Plus. Once the bet is placed on Ante, the players will proceed by either folding or staying in the game, which will of course depend on their hand.

Folding means that the Ante wager is lost, whereas placing a new bet on the Play betting area will keep the players in the game. The amount of the bet is the same as the original, Ante bet, and the Dealer must now draw a Queen or a higher ranked card to stay in the game. If the Dealer is not able to compete, the players will take the winnings on Ante and get the Play bet back.

If the Dealer happens to draw the Queen and thus forming a combination of cards which will outweigh the player’s hand, both the Ante and the Play bets will be lost. In some rare cases, a Tie may occur – when that happens, the player’s hand will always outweigh the Dealer’s.

The ranking of hands and payouts in 3 Card Video Poker

Payout will of course depend on how the hand is ranked, as shown below:

HandPair Plus Bet Payout

Straight Flush 40:1

Three of a Kind 30:1

Straight 6:1

Flush 4:1

Pair 1:1

Ante Bonus Payout

Straight Flush 5:1

Three of a Kind 4:1

Straight 1:1

The Pair Plus is completely independent from other bets and the players are paid as soon as they land the necessary combination. The same will happen with the Ante Bonus payout – the player will receive the payout awarded for Straight, Three of a Kind or Straight Flush even if the Dealer’s hand is higher.

Where to play 3 Card Video Poker?

Pretty much along the entire Strip, but most people would recommend Caesars Palace and Downtown Vegas casinos, since the limits are much more favourable there.

If you are looking for a more challenging alternative, make sure to visit Golden Nugget and for those of you who are on a budget, online casino with Video Poker games are the best possible option as they offer variants with a wide range of betting limits, suitable for every pocket.

Three Card Poker, also known as Tri Card Poker, is one of the simplest table games that is offered at both online casinos and land-based casinos across the world. There is basically just one decision for a player to make, and the rules which influence this decision do not change from one hand to the next. This makes it one of the easiest table games to learn.

If you already know how to play any form of poker, you can likely learn Three Card Poker in just a few minutes. Read on to learn more about payouts and how to play.

Three Card Poker Articles

How to Play Three Card Poker

Players start out the game by choosing between placing two types of bets. There is an ante bet and also a Pair Plus side bet which is optional. Three Card Poker is one of the few games where you can place a side bet without making the bet pertaining to the hand, which in this case is the ante. A player that makes the Pair Plus bet without putting any money on the ante will have no decision to make once receiving his three cards. If this is the case, the player will win only if they make a pair or better, which we’ll go over in further detail below.

Once all bets and side bets have been placed, all players are then dealt three cards face up. The dealer also receives three cards, all of which are dealt face down. Players look at their cards to determine whether they will play the remainder of the hand or fold their hand and surrender their ante bet (and pair plus bet if they did not qualify). Players should raise on any hand of queen, six, four or better. This means any hand that does not include an ace, king, queen, pair, straight, flush, or straight flush should be folded.

Folding Your Hand

A fold gives the ante to the house and the hand ends for the player. A player that raises then matches the ante bet and tucks the cards under the chips on the felt.

Once all players have made their decision, the dealer will show his three cards. The dealer’s hand is then compared to the player’s hand. Players are only up against the dealer and not each other.

Dealer Qualifying Hands

The dealer must have at least a queen high to qualify. If the dealer does not qualify, the ante is paid 1:1 and the raise pushes. If the dealer qualifies, the best hand wins. If the player prevails, his ante and raise bet will be matched. One item to point out is that straights beat flushes in Three Card Poker. It is mathematically easier to make a flush than a straight when only three cards are dealt.

Ante Bonus Wins

There are three bonus hands that receive an additional payout when the ante bet is wagered. The bonus is paid regardless of whether the hand wins or loses. The video version of Three Card Poker in live casinos does not offer the ante bonus.

– Straight flush: 5-1
– Three of a kind: 4-1
– Straight: 1-1

Pair Plus Bet

The Pair Plus side bet wins on any hand of a pair or better. The bet wins, even if the hand loses to the dealer. There are also special payouts based on the strength of the hand which are outlined below.

Pair Plus Payouts

– Straight flush: 40-1
– Three of a kind: 30-1
– Straight: 6-1
– Flush: 3-1
– Any pair: 1-1

Three Card Poker Rules

– The foremost rule of 3CP to grasp is the fact that you are dealt three cards like the name implies. The factor to determine if you win or loss is how the three cards dealt are ranked.

– After placing the bets, each player gets three cards and the dealer also gets three cards. The cards can be dealt face up or face down but the former is more common.

– 3CP uses the standard 52-card deck—without the Jokers.

– The house edge of 3CP is 2.01% with the help of optimal strategy (which I will discuss later).

– There are three bet options: Ante, Pair Plus, or both.

– The Ante bet is placed against the dealer’s hand but it competes with the player’s hand.

– The Pair Plus bet pays if the player’s hand is a pair or ranked higher.

After the cards have been dealt, you must decide to either Play or Fold if you place an Ante bet. By folding, you will lose your wager. By playing, you must place another bet of equal value to your Ante bet and place it on Play.

After each player has made his decisions, the dealer also has to “qualify.” This is done by having his cards revealed with a Queen or a card of higher ranking. If not, each player wins their Ante bet at even money (1 to 1) while the bet placed on Play is returned… this is more of a draw.

To win both Ante bet and the bet placed on Play, the dealer’s cards must include a Queen card or higher and you must beat the hand. If your hand cannot beat the dealer’s, you are down to a loss.

Unlike the Ante bet, the Pair Plus bet is not affected by the dealer’s hand; instead, you having a pair or higher determines if you lose or win… as simple as that. If you have a pair or higher, you win; if otherwise, you lose. Coupled with the optimal strategy, the house edge is 2.32%.

Some casinos (both online and offline) also feature a side wager called the Six Card Bonus bet. The bet is based on the best five card hand out of your three cards combined with the dealer’s three cards. Meanwhile, we settle the bet after t

Three Card Poker Strategy