Three Card Poker Rules and Options

Learn the most popular poker, play roulette, online casino game variations to make sure you win with the correct poker, slots or blackjack strategy every time! Three Card or Tri-Card Poker derived from the English game known as 3-Card Brag and now it is quite popular poker variation in most casinos.

The game of Three Card Poker is played with the standard 52-card deck and the hands are ranked from lowest to highest: Nothing, Pair, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Straight Flush. Note, that in Three Card Poker  the Straight is higher than Flush. The Aces can be both used as the highest and lowest cards in the hand.

Three Card Poker is in fact the competition between the player and dealer. At the beginning of the game the player and the dealer are dealt three card each. According to three card poker rules there are two independent bets in the game: Pair Plus and Ante and Play, and each player has the choice to place one or both these bets before the cards are dealt. Ante bet is in fact the fee charged from the player that allows to take part in the hand. Pair Plus is betting that the player will get a Pair or higher. The player is not required to make both bets but he or she at least must place the Ante in order to play the hand.

When three face down cards are dealt the player and dealer are to decide whether to fold or stay in the hand. In case the player chooses to fold he or she loses the Ante bet automatically. But if the player and dealer stay in the hand they both must make a Play bet equal to the Ante bet. The player receives both Ante and Pair Plus payouts when he or she wins the hand.

Remember, that to qualify for the round the dealer must have Queen or better. If the dealer’s hand doesn’t contain Queen or better in accordance with Three Card poker rules the player receives the payout on the Ante bet which is even money.