Contents
Three Card Poker Basics
Three Card Poker Cards and Hand Ranks
How to Play Three Card Poker
Basic Strategies for Three Card Poker
Advanced Strategies for Three Card Poker
Money Management in Three Card Poker
Three Card Poker Etiquette
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Basic Strategies for Three Card Poker
If want to maximize your winnings and minimize your losses in Three Card Poker (as
opposed to just playing the game for fun), then you should play according to three basic rules of strategy:
- Find the Three Card Poker game that offers the lowest house edge.
- Make the right bets.
- Play the right hands.
Find the Three Card Poker Game with the Lowest House Edge
All Three Card Poker games are not created equal. They vary in their payouts for both the Ante Bonus and the Pair Plus bet, which can significantly affect the house edge—the percentage of your wagers that you can expect to lose over many hands even if you play with perfect strategy. For instance, a house edge of 2.01% means that for every $100 you wager, you can expect to lose $2.01. (For more on what perfect strategy means, see “Play the Right Hands,” below.)
A payout schedule lists what a winning bet pays for various hands. Finding the best game of Three Card Poker means finding a casino that offers payout schedules for the Ante Bonus and Pair Plus bet that result in the lowest house edge.
Ante Bonus Payout Schedules
The following table lists the most common payout schedules for the Ante Bonus, organized from best payout schedule to worst. For example, if you’re playing at a table with the best Ante Bonus payout schedule and are dealt a three of a kind, you’re paid 4 to 1. This means that you win 4 units for every 1 unit bet—for instance, a $10 bet would win $40.
Hand |
Best |
Good |
Fair |
Worst |
||||
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 |
2.01% / 3.37% |
2.16% / 3.61% |
2.28% / 3.83% |
2.56% / 4.28% |
Two house edges appear for each payout schedule because there are two ways to calculate the house edge in Three Card Poker: as a percentage of the Ante and Play bets combined, or as percentage of the initial Ante bet alone. In the table above, the first house edge is in terms of your total bet; the second is in terms of your Ante bet. (Experts disagree as to which method is best, so both figures are provided.)
Regardless of whether you use the first or second number for the house edge, the “best” payout schedule is most desirable. Fortunately, most casinos offer the “best” Ante
Bonus payout schedule. You shouldn’t play Three Card Poker in a casino that offers one of the lesser payout schedules.
Pair Plus Payout Schedules
There’s a much wider range in the payout schedules that different casinos offer for Pair Plus bets than for the Ante Bonus. Depending on where you play, you may encounter any of the payout schedules listed below.
Hand |
Best |
Good |
Fair |
Mediocre |
Poor |
Worst |
||||||
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 edge |
2.32% |
3.49% |
4.58% |
5.10% |
5.57% |
7.28% |
Unfortunately, most casinos offer the worst of these Pair Plus payout schedules, with a staggering house edge of 7.28%—which means that you’re likely to lose your money quickly by making the Pair Plus bet. In any case, it’s generally bad strategy to make the Pair Plus bet no matter what payout schedule is being offered (see “Make the Right Bets,” below). So when you’re choosing a casino, base your choice only on the Ante Bonus payout schedule, not on the Pair Plus bet schedule.
Make the Right Bets
Making the right bets in Three Card Poker means making only those bets with the lowest house edge. The best strategy in Three Card Poker is simple:
- Stick to the Ante and Play bets, and never make the Pair Plus bet.
Why is this true? As you can see in the payout schedules above, even if you find a rare casino with the best Pair Plus payout schedule, the house edge for the Pair Plus bet is still higher than the total house edge for the Ante and Play bets. So the Pair Plus bet is never a good choice.
When you’re playing Three Card Poker, you may feel pressure from the dealer or other players to make the Pair Plus bet. But ignore them—the dealer probably doesn’t have your best interests at heart, and though the other players may be on your side, they probably are unaware of the steep house edge for most Pair Plus payout schedules.
Play the Right Hands
The best strategy for when to play versus fold a Three Card Poker hand is also very simple:
- Play any hand Q64 or higher, and fold everything else.
That’s it—regardless of what the other players do, what they tell you to do, or what hunches you may have, the best strategy is to play only those hands that are Q64 or higher. Note that any pair, flush, straight, three of a kind, or straight flush is higher than Q64, so whenever you have one of those hands, you should always play it.
If your hand is only high card and you aren’t sure whether it’s higher or lower than Q64, just remember that the Q is more important than the 6, which is in turn more important than the 4. To understand this point, consider the following example hands:
- Q72: Q72 is higher than Q64—the fact that 7 is higher than 6 outweighs the fact that 2 is lower than 4. So you should play a hand of Q72.
- K32: K32 is higher than Q64—the fact that K is higher than Q outweighs the fact that 3 is lower than 6 and 2 is lower than 4. So you should play a hand of K32.
- J75: J75 is lower than Q64—the fact that 7 is higher than 6 and 5 is higher than 4 does not outweigh the fact that J is lower than Q. So you should fold a hand of J75.
| Acknowledgments & Disclaimer |
