Three Card Poker
Three card poker (trademark name) or tricard poker is a poker-based game that is played in casinos. It actually consists of two separate games, pairplus and ante-and-play. The players can choose to play either or both of the games.
The History and Strategy of Three Card Poker
3 Card Poker (or tri-card poker as it’s also called) is an American version of a British game called Brag. This game originated over three hundred years ago as a game known as Primero, a fast-moving betting game using only three cards. As the game evolved, it became known as Post-and-Pair and then again as Brag. This game made it to the States as Casino Brag and Brit-Brag, but eventually evolved again into the game we now know as 3 Card Poker.
Pairplus
Pairplus is a simple bet on the cards with a payout for all hands of a pair or better. Below are probabilities and six examples of actual payout tables used by some casinos.
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Probabilities - Three Card Poker
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Ways to draw 3 cards out of 52 = 22100
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Hand |
Combinations |
Percentage |
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| Straight flush | 48 | 0.22% | ||||||
| Three of a kind | 52 | 0.24% | ||||||
| Straight | 720 | 3.26% | ||||||
| Flush | 1096 | 4.96% | ||||||
| Pair | 3744 | 16.94% | ||||||
| High card | 9720 | 43.98% | ||||||
| None | 6720 | 30.41% | ||||||
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Payoff Tables for Pairplus
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Hand |
Table 1 |
Table 2 |
Table 3 |
Table 4 |
Table 5 |
Table 6 |
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| Straight flush | 40 to 1 | 40 to 1 | 35 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 40 to 1 | 40 to 1 | |
| Three of a kind | 30 to 1 | 25 to 1 | 25 to 1 | 30 to 1 | 30 to 1 | 30 to 1 | |
| Straight | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 6 to 1 | |
| Flush | 4 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 3 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 3 to 1 | |
| Pair | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | |
| House advantage | 2.32% | 3.49% | 4.58% | 5.10% | 5.57% | 7.28% | |
Ante-and-play
Normal ante-and-play gameplay
For ante-and-play, the player places an ante bet before receiving his cards. The player is then dealt his cards and after seeing them, the player can fold his cards and lose the ante bet, or raise by placing out a bet of equal money to the ante bet. If he chooses to play, there are three possibilities. The first is that the dealer does not 'qualify'. To qualify, the dealer must have a hand of a queen high or better. If the dealer does not qualify, the ante bet is paid out even money, but the play bet is simply returned. If the dealer does qualify, the player wins if his hand is of higher value than the dealer's, and gets paid out even money on both his ante and play bets. If the dealer's hand is of higher value, the dealer takes the Ante and Play bets. Rules vary on what happens when the hands are of exactly equal value: some say that the player simply gets his money back, but others say that the player is paid even money on his bet.
There is also information regarding three card poker tournament play here: tournament strategy
The ante bonus
In addition to normal ante-and-play gameplay, there is a bonus payout on the ante bet for especially good hands.
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Ante Bonus Payouts |
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Hand |
Table 1 |
Table 2 |
Table 3 |
Table 4 |
| Straight flush | 5 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 3 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | 4 to 1 | 3 to 1 | 3 to 1 | 2 to 1 |
| Straight | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
| House Edge | 3.37% | 3.61% | 3.83% | 4.28% |
These bonus payouts are paid only on the ante bet for any player who chooses to play, regardless of whether the dealer qualifies or whether the player wins or loses.