3 CARD POKER RULES:
Hot table game Three Card Poker has gained popularity not only because it’s fun, but because it’s also easy to learn. Three Card Poker is like getting two Las Vegas casino games in one. Not only can you play against the dealer, you can also win based on how good your cards are.
The object of the game is to make the best poker hand possible with only three cards.
HOW TO PLAY 3 CARD POKER
To start, the player places an ante wager and/or a pair plus wager, betting that they will have a hand of at least a pair or better.
Three cards are then dealt face down to each player and to the dealer. You are only playing the dealer and not other players at the table.
The player will then look at his hand and determine to place a play wager (equal to the amount they put as the ante wager) to pit his hand against the dealer’s hand or not.
Optimum strategy says the player should “play” all hands greater than Queen, Six and Four and fold all hands worse.
If a player folds, the hand is over and the dealer will collect the player's ante wager and pair plus wager. If the player places a play wager, the cards will be turned over to determine if the player has a better hand than the dealer.
If the dealer has a hand of Jack-high or worse, the play wager is returned to the player. If the dealer has a hand of Queen-high or better, both the play wager and the ante are paid out at 1 to 1 if the player has a better hand than the dealer.
If the dealer’s hand is superior, both the ante and play bets are collected. The pair plus bet is determined completely independent to what the dealer has.
3 CARD POKER PAYOUTS:
Pair plus payouts:
Straight Flush 40 to 1
Three of a Kind 30 to 1
Straight 6 to 1
Flush 3 to 1
Pair 1 to 1
Ante bonus payouts:
Straight Flush 5 to 1
Three of a Kind 4 to 1
Straight 1 to 1
The best thing about playing Three Card Poker? The chance to win a £100,000 through the six card bonus paytable, which hits if the dealer’s and player’s cards combine nine through Ace in a royal suit of diamonds.
This game is certified by the UK Gambling Commission as having been independently tested and up to the required standards for players in the UK. If you experience any difficulties with this game or any other game you should follow our Complaints procedure and contact us.
Three Card Poker is played with a single deck of cards, shuffled for every hand. That’s true regardless of whether you’re playing in a live casino or online casino. In live casinos, the shuffling usually is done with an automatic shuffling machine. Standard blackjack-sized, seven-player tables are used in live casinos.
3 Card Poker Table Layout
The table layout includes:
The Three Card Poker logo
Three card-shaped spaces in front of the dealer to place his cards.
A circular betting spot marked “Pair Plus.”
A diamond-shaped betting spot marked “Ante”
A card-shaped betting spot marked “Play.”
Pay tables for the Pair Plus bet and for ante bonus payoffs
A brief explanation of three card poker rules.
One corner of the table next to the dealer will have a placard that tells you the minimum and maximum bet. If it says “Minimum ante: £5. Minimum Pair Plus bet: £5. Maximum £100,” for instance, your initial wagers may not be less than £5 or more than £100 on either option.
RANKING OF HANDS
Three Card Poker is based on stud poker, but odds are different when hands consist of three cards. Because the odds are different, the hand rankings are slightly different. In Three Card Poker, straights are rarer than flushes and outrank them. In five-card games, flushes outrank straights.
That leaves the following ranking of hands in Three Card Poker:
Straight flush
Three of a kind
Straight
Flush
Pair
High card
There is no such thing as a full house in Three Card Poker, nor, of course, can you get four of a kind.
PROCEDURES
All Three Card Poker tables offer two basic ways to play: Ante-play and Pair Plus. Some tables also offer optional side bets. This guide will explore those in Chapter Four: Three Card Poker Options. You may choose whether to play ante-play, Pair Plus or both.
To play ante-play, you must start by placing a wager in the triangular ante space. To play Pair Plus, you must start by placing a wager in the circular Pair Plus space. The dealer then deals each player and himself three cards, face down. After all cards have been dealt, you may look at your cards.
If you are only playing Pair Plus, you need do nothing else. There is no additional wager or decision to make. If you are playing ante-play, you must decide whether to play or fold. If you play, you must make a play bet equal to your ante. The bet cannot be either larger or smaller than the ante.
They must be equal size. If you make the bet, or if you are playing Pair Plus and have a winner, place the cards face down next to your bet. If you do not make the play bet and you do not have a Pair Plus winner, place the cards in front of your bets to signal the dealer you are folding.
Procedures-Pair Plus
SETTLING ANTE-PLAY WAGERS
If you’ve seen your cards and fold, the dealer takes your ante and clears away your cards. Once all players have decided whether to play or fold, the dealer turns his cards face up. If the dealer’s hand is Queen-high or better, the dealer plays. That means ante and play bets all are in action. In order to win, your hand must outrank the dealers. If you win, you are paid even money on both ante and play wagers. If you lose, the dealer takes both bets. If the dealer’s hand is Jack-high or lower, the dealer does not play. In that situation, your hand does not have to beat the dealer. Antes are paid at even money. Play bets are not in action, and the players keep them. If the hands are exact ties, the hand is a push. No payoffs are made, but the player keeps ante and play bets.
THE ANTE BONUS
Those who make the ante-play combination also have a chance at an ante bonus. You do not have to beat the dealer to win the ante bonus. It is paid anytime your three-card hand is on a pay table. The most common ante bonus payoffs are 5-1 on straight flushes, 4-1 on three of a kind and 1-1 on straights. There are other ante bonus pay tables, and those affect the house edge on the game.
SETTLING PAIR PLUS WAGERS
You do not have to beat the dealer to win a Pair Plus bet. Any hand of a pair or better wins – that’s where the Pair Plus name comes from. There are many different Pair Plus pay tables.
For other pay tables and a discussion of the house edge, see Chapter 3-1. Pair Plus Odds If you have a Pair Plus winner, place the cards face down next to your bet. When the dealer turns cards face up after all players see their cards and ante-play players have bet or folded, he will pay you if you have a winner.
A bet is placed only when it has been received by our server from your handset using our software. Once a bet has been placed it is final and binding and cannot be cancelled or changed. For the avoidance of doubt, a bet remains valid even if the result cannot for any reason be displayed back to your handset (due, for example, to a network failure, interruption of communication, or if you receive a phone call). In the event of a game termination, any relevant jackpot will be paid out on a random draw authorised by the regulator.
The theoretical average return to player (RTP) is up to 97.99%. This RTP represents the long-term expected payback of the game which has been calculated by an independent testing company and monitored monthly.
Malfunction voids all plays and pay outs.