By Henry Tamburin

The object of the game is to hope your three-card poker hand beats the dealer's three-card poker hand (the classic 'you against the dealer').

Or, if you do not want to bet against the dealer, you can bet instead that your three-card hand will be at least a pair or higher.

The game is played on a blackjack size table using a single deck of cards. Prior to the cards being dealt by the dealer you must decide whether you want to bet against the dealer's hand or betthat your hand will be at least a pair or higher. You also have the option of betting both ways - against the dealer and against the pay schedule.

1. 3 Card Poker Payouts As you may have noticed, one way 3 Card Poker varies from traditional poker is the bets you place. It is important to understand the difference between these two bets. The Ante bet is.
2. Each player who wagers in Three Card Poker 6 Card Bonus shall be responsible for his/ her own hand and no person other than the player or the house dealer may touch the cards of that player.
3. Three Card Poker is dealt with a single 52-card deck that is shuffled after each hand. The goal of the game is to have a higher scoring card than the dealer. There are two wagers to be made in the main.

Three Card Poker 6 Card Bonus is an exciting poker game. You may bet against the dealer, bet on the value of your own three-card hand, or bet both. Bonus payouts may be won for certain hands when.

If you want to compete against the dealer's hand you must make a bet on the Ante. If instead you want to bet that your three-card hand will be at least a pair or higher, then you would wager onthe Pair Plus. The betting spots for making these wagers are located directly in front of each player.

Let's assume that you wager on the Ante. Here's what happens next. The dealer will deal each player and himself three cards face down. You pick up your cards, look at them, and decide whetheryou want to stay in the game or fold. If you want to stay, you must make another equal wager in the Play betting spot. If you decide instead to fold, you would place your cards face down on thelayout toward the dealer. If you fold, the dealer will remove your cards and you lose your Ante bet.

After every player has decided whether to fold or Play, the dealer will face his cards and check whether it contains at least a queen or higher. If it does the dealer's hand is said to'qualify' and he will then face each player's hand that decided to stay in the game. If your hand has a higher poker rank than the dealer's hand, you win your Ante and Play wagers at even money(if you bet $5, you will win $5). If instead the dealer's hand beats the player's hand, the player's Ante and Play wagers are lost.

What if the dealer's hand doesn't qualify? This occurs if the dealer's hand does not have at least a queen or higher. When this occurs, the dealer will automatically pay each player who stayedin the game (i.e. wagered on the Play) even money on the Ante wager and return the Play wager to the player (it's a push)

Players who make an Ante wager are also eligible for a bonus payout that will be paid regardless of whether the dealer qualifies or whether your hand beats the dealer's hand. The latter pointis not trivial. Many players are turned off to Caribbean Stud Poker because if the dealer doesn't qualify they get nothing for having a premium hand. This is not the case with Three Card Poker.If you have a straight, three-of-a-kind or a straight flush you will automatically be paid a bonus according to the following schedule:

If you don't want to compete against the dealer's hand, your other betting option is to wager on the Pair Plus. You win if your three-card hand contains at least a pair or higher. The higherthe poker rank, the greater the payout. You lose the Pair Plus bet if you end up with less than a pair. A typical payout schedule for Pair Plus is:

As mentioned earlier you could wager on both the Ante and Pair Plus from the get-go (in fact in some gaming jurisdictions, you must wager on both). If you play both, you can bet differentamounts. However, keep in mind this rule. If you decide to fold your hand, you would not only lose your Ante wager but also your Pair Plus wager if you made it as well. That seems like a bummerbut actually it's not because if you had a pair or higher and thus eligible for the Pair Plus payout you should not fold these hands.

The only playing decision involved in Three Card Poker is whether or not to make the Play wager or to fold. A simple basic playing strategy is to just mimic the dealer, that is make the Playwager if your hand contains a queen or higher, otherwise fold.

How To Win At 3 Card Poker

Stanley Ko in his excellent booklet Mastering the Game of Three Card Poker mathematically computed a more optimum playing strategy. He recommends making the Play wager only if you hold aQueen-6-4 hand or better. Since it's not that difficult to memorize Q-6-4, I'd suggest using Ko's optimized strategy.

The casinos edge for the Pair Plus is 7.27 percent and for the Ante wager it's 3.37 percent based on the initial bet. Note: Some casinos pay 4-1 for the flush on the Pair Plus and the houseedge is lowered to 2.32%). Compared to the similar Caribbean Stud Poker and Let it Ride poker games, Three Card Poker is a better gamble.

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This table game is one of the simplest types of casino poker. Unlike many other types of poker, both the dealer and the player are dealt only three cards. In BetVoyager’s version of this poker game, we have altered the standard rules in order to increase payouts when the player wins (see table 1). Furthermore, the player can play on four boxes at once and view all his cards as soon as they are dealt. The basic rules of casino poker are described in our Guide section.

Three Card Poker Payouts

BetVoyager online casino features our conventional version of 3 Card Poker and a version of this casino game with no house edge.

Main Features of 3 Card Poker

1. The player can play on up to four boxes in three card poker. The player can place an ANTE bet and/or a bet on the bonus (called Pair Plus) on any box.

2. Each box in play is dealt three cards. The cards on all boxes are turned face-up immediately after the deal in 3 Card Poker. The dealer also receives three cards, which are dealt face-down.

3. Poker hands are not ranked in the same order as 5-card poker. 3-card poker hands are ranked in the following order of seniority:

   • Straight Flush
   • Three of a Kind
   • Straight
   • Flush
   • Pair
   • Ace High or Less

   The hand A-K-Q is the highest straight and the hand 3-2-A is the lowest one in three card poker.

4. If the player made his ANTE and has a straight or higher, he receives an ANTE Bonus (table 1). This payout is made regardless of the strength of the dealer’s hand.

5. On each box, the player can either fold and lose his ANTE, or continue the game by making a BET equal to the ANTE.

6. The dealer needs a queen high or better to qualify. If the dealer doesn’t qualify, the ANTE pays out 1:1 while the BET doesn’t pay anything. If the dealer has a qualifying hand but the player’s hand is better, both bets pay out 1:1.

7. If you play more than one box, the ante amounts cannot be 5 times more or less than each other.

Basic Rules of 3 Card Poker

1. Before the cards are dealt, the player chooses which boxes he wants to play on and makes his ANTE. In addition to this basic bet on the box (or instead of it), the player can also make a Pair Plus bet. With this bet, the player is betting on receiving a pair or higher in his original hand.

2. A sign on the table indicates the range of bets permitted (minimum and maximum). The size of a Pair Plus bet is independent of the size of the ANTE, but both of these bets must fall within the table’s range.

3. Each box has the following three figures: a square, an ellipse, and a rectangle. The ANTE is placed on the ellipse and the Pair Plus bet is placed on the square. The rectangle is intended for the BET (see paragraph 7).

4. To make a bet in three card poker, it is first necessary to choose a chip with the desired face-value. At the beginning of the game, this chip is chosen by default, and the chip with the minimum face-value fixes itself onto the cursor. If the player wants a chip with a different face-value, he can select it by clicking on that chip with the cursor. The player can also use the scroll wheel on his mouse to change the chip’s value. After the chip is selected, the player can place a bet by clicking the mouse on the desired part of the game table and his bet will appear there. Each subsequent click adds another chip of the selected face-value to the bet. If the player wants to remove the last chip from his bet, he can remove the chip fixed onto the cursor by clicking the cursor on any empty part of the game window and then clicking on this bet.

5. The 'Clear' button can be pressed to remove all the bets from the table. If the player wishes to repeat his bets from the previous hand, he can press the 'Rebet' button. The 'Deal' button will begin the game after all bets have been made.

6. After the cards have been dealt, successive play on boxes begins. First, the Pair Plus bet is settled. The payouts for this bet are shown in table 1. If the player made his ANTE and has one of the three best hands — a straight flush, three-of-a-kind or a straight — he immediately receives an ANTE Bonus.

7. The player has two options on each box:

   • raise the initial wager by making a BET equal to the ANTE (the Bet button)
   • fold and lose the ANTE (the Fold button)

8. When the player has made a decision on his boxes, the dealer’s cards are turned over and the final results are determined. The dealer qualifies with a queen high or better, and his minimal qualifying hand is Q-3-2 in 3 Card poker. If the dealer doesn’t qualify, the ANTE pays out 1:1 and the BETS are not paid.

9. If the dealer qualifies and his combination is better than the player’s, the player loses his ANTE and his BET. If the player and the dealer have hands of equal value, the game ends in a draw and the ANTE and BET are returned to the player. If the player has the better hand, both his bets pay out 1:1.

Table 1. Bonus payout for the ANTE and the Pair Plus in 3 Card Poker

Three Card Poker Pay Table

3 Card Poker with No House Edge features a slightly different payout scheme. It can be viewed in the game window of this poker game. The casino doesn’t have an advantage on either the ante wager or the Pair Plus bet.