Three Card Poker

Three Card Poker (or Tri-Card Poker) is played in a similar way to Caribbean Stud, but with just three cards and dealt from a 52-card deck. It came to the United States as a version of a quick gambling game from England called “Brag.” There are two game dimensions to Three Card Poker: Pairplus (sometimes just called pair play) and Ante-and-Play (or ante play).

The player must first decide whether to participate in Ante-and-Play, Pairplus, or both. The Ante-and-Play is a three card poker hand against the dealer, with the better hand winning. Pairplus is a bet that the hand will have a pair or better in it, irrespective of the dealer’s hand. There are places on the layout to make both the ante for Ante-and-Play and the bet for Pairplus.

Once hands have been dealt, an Ante-and-Play bettor can chose to play by putting a bet equal to or often up to three times greater than the ante in the “Play” portion of the layout. Alternatively, a player can decide to fold and forfeit the ante. Pairplus does not offer this option.

The dealer exposes the house cards. If there is no queen or higher, the Ante-and-Play is ended with a 1:1 payment on the antes, with the Play bets returned. Pairplus can continue. If the dealer does have a queen or higher, bets are settled according to the better hand, paying at 1:1.

Pairplus is settled if the player’s hand has a pair or better in it. The payout schedule will be posted at the table, and usually starts with 2:1 for a pair and goes up from there.

In addition, many casinos offer bonuses on high Ante-and-Play hands as well as on high Pairplus hands. The schedule of payoffs may vary. The strongest hands, obviously, are three of a kind, straights, and flushes.

The following table indicates the probabilities of receiving certain hands in three card poker.