Three card poker

Three card poker (trademarked 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.

3 Card Poker is very similar to the Indian game Teen Patti with some minor differences. The differences being that the ranking of a straight flush and three of a kind are interchanged, and in teen patti, high card and none are merged together.

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.

Probabilities - Three Card Poker
Ways to draw 3 cards out of 52 = 22100
Hand	Combinations	Percentage
Straight Flush	48	0.22%
Three of a Kind	52	0.24%
Straight	720	3.26%
Flush	1144	5.18%
Pair	3744	16.94%
High Card	9720	43.98%
None	6720	30.41%

Payoff Tables for Pairplus
Hand	Table 1	Table 2	Table 3	Table 4	Table 5	Table 6
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: [http://www.dealadaytracker.com/WildWoolly/ThreeCardPoker.html 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.

Ante Bonus Payouts
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.

ee also

*Teen Patti
*Three card brag
*Four card poker

External links

* [http://wizardofodds.com/threecardpoker Wizard of Odds: Three Card Poker]
* [http://www.acsportsbooks.com/gambling/threecardpoker.htm The Basics of Three Card Poker]