3 Card Poker is a fast-paced cross between blackjack and table poker. It quickly became one of the most popular casino games for its large payouts and easy to understand rules. Depending on the online casino, you might see the same game under different titles like Tri Card Poker, 3 Card Poker, 3 Card Brag, or Poker Three. A relatively recent advent, online 3 card poker is a modern table game based on traditional poker. While there aren’t 3 card poker variations, you may see the game listed as tri-card poker at some online casinos.
The goal is to make the best poker hand possible with three cards. Simple and quick, this game is one that can be played online and at a land-based casinos. Three Card Poker online is available at most trusted casino sites. If you find yourself at home and want to play, simply log in to a top-rated online casino site to get started. This online poker casino lets you play poker online for real money. It’s consistently rated as one of the best online poker sites for US players. The reason why it’s rated as one of the best online poker sites US players is due to its various features. Some of the features it has included a 100% casino match bonus that goes up to $1000.
The Complete Guide to Playing Real Money 3 Card Poker Games Online
3 Card Poker is an entertaining and relatively straightforward card game which is very popular at both brick and mortar and online casinos. Each hand plays quickly and the optimal strategy of the game is quick and easy to understand. In this article I start by looking at the rules of the game, detailing both of the opening bets you can place, as well as the additional raise on offer. I then explain exactly how you’ll win and describe what a ‘dealer qualified hand is’. I move onto look at the perfect strategy you can employ when playing 3 card poker, finishing up with a look at how you’ll be able to play the game in a live casino environment.
How 3 Card Poker Works - The Rules
On the card table, you’ll find three betting options available at the start of the game. Firstly, there is the ante, which is the opening bet you’ll place to start a hand. Secondly there is the Pair+ bet, which works as a side bet – you’ll also place this at the start of a hand. Finally there is the raise bet, which can only be placed during the hand after your cards are dealt.
Having placed the ante and/or the Pair+ bet (I say and/or because the pair+ side bet can be played in isolation) you will be dealt 3 cards face upwards, while the dealer will be dealt 3 cards face down. You’ll now have a decision to make – in fact the only decision you’ll make at the game. You can now fold or raise. A fold sees you lose the ante bet, as well as the pair+ side bet if you have placed it. If you raise, you’ll place another bet the same size as the ante. Now the dealer’s cards will be turned over.
Now the dealer’s hand is compared to the players, and if the dealer’s hand is better, both the ante and the raise bets will lose. If the player’s hand is better, the player will win the ante bet 100% of the time, but will only win the raise portion of the bet if the dealer’s hand is qualified. A qualified hand is any which has a Queen or better in it. If the player wins and the dealer’s hand isn’t qualified, then the raise portion of the bet will be a push. Alongside any winning hand you will receive an even money bonus win in relation to the ante bet if hitting a straight, a 4 to 1 bonus win if hitting 3 of a kind and a 5 to 1 bonus win when hitting a straight flush.
The pair+ side bet has a different payout chart. By the name of the side bet, you might have worked out that you’ll need a pair or better to win here. You’ll get even money if you do indeed land a pair, 4 to 1 for flush and 6 to 1 for a straight. The real big money comes for the two biggest hands with a 30 to 1 payout for 3 of a kind and 40 to 1 for a straight flush. Having made the pair+ side bet, this will only pay out if you continue in the hand by raising (although as detailed below in the strategy section, if you have a pair or better, you certainly shouldn’t be folding!).
3 Card Poker Strategy
Some casino games such as blackjack or video poker require a little bit of brain work when it comes to strategy, as you might have to consult a table or a chart. 3 Card Poker has a much more simple optimum strategy – simply raise if you have been dealt Q, 6, 4 or better and fold if you have worse.
Live Dealer 3 Card Poker
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In addition to the virtual game, you’ll find a number of live dealer casinos which offer the game. When playing at a live dealer site, you’ll place your bets in exactly the same way as you would at a virtual table, but that is the only similarity to the virtual game. The action is streamed from a live casino, so you’ll be betting on the turn of real cards, dealt by real life dealers. These dealers are usually both friendly and attractive, ensuring a pleasurable gaming experience, as the dealer will welcome players and interact with them – the dealer audibly while the player can chat through a chat box.
Generally you’ll find the minimum table limits at the live dealer games slightly larger than at the virtual tables.
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Games involving three cards have been around for a very long time, most notably the game of three card brag, which goes back to the 16th century. Three card games are fairly new to the casino world though, but it does offer the benefit of simplicity which both casinos and casino players tend to love.
Poker has a rich history and is a game that people have really enjoyed playing for a long time, and casinos often will offer it in several forms, although the action does tend to be on the slower side compared to most casino games. In particular, the thought process of players can often result in more deliberation than the casino would prefer, and casinos make money by the hour basically, so the slower the action, the less they tend to make.
This is why, with casino poker, the decisions by the players are simplified, even though there still may be some strategy involved. The art of bluffing is taken out of the game entirely, as is the concern about what hands your opponents may hold, and the goal is to get the games to proceed much like blackjack, where players are simply making decisions whether to stay or fold, much like blackjack has them deciding whether to hit or stand.
So three card poker was invented by poker player Derek Webb in 1994 to come up with a fast paced version that combined the excitement of poker with the speed that casinos desire, and was also easy for players to understand.
Casinos didn’t exactly line up to roll out the new game though and it’s not always easy to promote a new casino game, as while casinos are somewhat open to new ideas, new games compete alongside ones that are already well tried and true and you have to show them that they will really benefit from running a new one.
So after Webb failed to convince casino owners in Las Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City to give three card poker a try, he then tried his luck at a casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he agreed to personally train their dealers and teach players the rules for free.
The game proved to be successful and now we see three card poker being offered at a variety of casinos, both live and online. It certainly does have an appeal of its own and a lot of that appeal is indeed the very fast pace of the game, where you can pack a whole lot of action in per hour.
How Three Card Poker Works
Since the game is called three card poker, players are dealt three cards each, and they look to make the best poker hand with them. Actually this is not even a matter of making the best poker hand, it is simply a matter of seeing what poker hand one is dealt, and then comparing it with the three card poker hand dealt to the dealer, and seeing who wins.
So there are no cards drawn here, the cards are just dealt and then revealed and based upon this result, bets are paid out or not. It’s not hard to see that this game was specifically built for speed and achieves this goal very well.
Prior to the deal, players may place two forms of bets, the ante and the pair plus bet. In some casinos the ante is mandatory, but players of course must place one or the other form of bets, or both, in order to participate.
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After a player gets dealt his or her hand, they may either fold or place a “play” wager equal to the ante. If they fold, they forfeit the bets they already have made. If they play on, and the dealer does not have a qualifying hand of a queen high or better, the ante bet gets paid out 1:1 and the play bet is returned.
If the dealer has a qualifying hand, and the player wins, both the ante and the play wagers get paid out 1:1. If not, the bets are lost. If the player has a pair or better and placed a pair plus wager, they get paid out according to the strength of the hand, with a pair paying 1:1 and stronger hands earning higher payouts.
How To Play Three Card Poker
Unlike some casino games, the strategy with three card poker is very straightforward. Technically, players should fold hands weaker than Q-6-4, which is easy to remember, although playing on with a queen or better hand is very close to optimal and is also one that players can remember even more easily.
Making pair plus bets should actually be avoided, as the house edge with these bets is quite a bit higher than with the ante and play bets, which is often the case with additional optional bets at casino games generally. The ante and play bets have a very acceptable house edge of around 2%, where the pair plus bets tend to have considerably poorer odds for the player.
Overall, three card poker is a very simple and relaxing way to gamble, which is interesting enough to capture the interest of a lot of players and therefore provide a most entertaining way of spending time at a casino.