Even though 3 Card Poker tends to be a simpler version of traditional poker, the game still poses its challenges. Mastering the odds and making the right call still requires skill and understanding just like it would in any regular game of poker. In our 3 Card Poker strategy, we will tell you more about the frequency of winning hands, help you come up with a working ante-play combination strategy and generally assist you with pay tables and odds.

1. Optimal Strategy. The optimal strategy for 3 Card Poker is remarkably straight forward. In the first instance the player should not play the Pair Plus and should only take the Play bet if they hold a hand of unsuited Queen, 6, 4 or better.
2. The strategy for Ante portion of Three Card Poker is very simple. You should fold if you have a hand lower than Queen – 6 -4 and you should continue and make the Play bet if you hand is higher. To determine if your hand is better than Q-6-4 start with your first highest card and compare it to the Queen, if it is higher you play.

The Pair Plus Odds and Payouts – Tell the Difference

The 6 Card Bonus is an optional side bet in Three Card poker. This bonus involves taking the best five card poker hand that can be made by combining the player’s hand and the dealers.

Like with any strategy for poker variants, it is crucial to understand the math behind the game. The first step to devising any successful 3 Card Poker strategy is to familiarize yourself with the Pair Plus odds. There are 22,100 winning hands, or around 25.6% of the total possible combinations. In 3 Card Poker you win if you successfully produce a pair, flush, straight, three of a kind or straight flush. And of course, the payout will depend on the strength of your hand.

Best Three Card Poker Strategy Game

Some casinos get tempted to introduce another, conciliatory reward, which is actually pretty decent. Known as mini-royals, this hand consists of Queen, King and Ace of the same suit, but are only added to the gameplay at the discretion of the casino.

Now, you may be wondering. Why would you play any game that only pays one in four times when there are others that arguably pay better? The key lies in the payout ratio. While most other games have a 1:1 payout for most bets, 3 Card Poker doesn’t mind offering you a bit more if you happen to be just a bit lucky.

A straight flush will usually grant you 40:1 and mini-royals, if applicable, could distribute a 50:1, 100:1 or even a whopping 200:1 payout. Now, the chances of turning a mini-royal are 1 in 5,252 according to the hand frequency. Most pairs will start at a 1:1 payout, and then a flush will usually offer 4:1, and a straight 5:1.

If we had to sum up this chapter, we would mention that games that pay 5:4 on straights and 4:1 on flushes usually have a smaller house edge than games that offer 6:1 on straights and 3:1 on flushes. It’s a mild difference, but still one to help you make the correct choice for yourself. Naturally you want the more frequent payers and lower house edges as no matter how lucky or psychic you’re feeling on the night, house edges are real and built into every game.

The house edge will vary between 4.49% and 7.28% for most versions of 3 Card Poker, which definitely gives the house a pretty big advantage.

Ante Play – Do or Do Not

Another 3 Card Poker strategy to look into is how you read and play the Ante Play odds and payouts. Each game begins with the ante, which you either bet to match up or fold if you don’t feel too sure. Now, remember that the dealer will only play if they are holding a Queen or better. If they don’t, they will fold, which will secure you a quick 1:1 payout on both your ante and bet pushes.

The payout doesn’t depend on the strength of your hand, so long as the dealer has decided to fold. Now, if the dealer decides to play, you will have to beat him or her with a stronger hand, naturally. Remember that any ties are broken by the second highest card you both have. If all three cards are the same, all bets are off and you start from the beginning.

So, what 3 Card Poker strategy is there for ante-play? A popular community wisdom is to only bet when you have Queen-6-4 or better. Now, you will probably argue, that you sometimes get a Queen, but then again, your second and third cards aren’t really as good.

Well, while this can be a reason for hesitation at first, most experienced players will know when to play and when to fold. Generally, Queen is a good start, but if your second card is 5, you should fold. The same goes if your second card is 6 but the third one is 2 or 3.

The Ante Play Bonus – Way to Top Your Bankroll Up

Now, one thing that everyone factors in their 3 Card Poker strategy for ante play is the ante bonus, which will be paid to you every time you get three of a kind, a straight or a straight flush. The ante bonus will be paid out to you directly, no matter whether you end up beating the dealer or otherwise.

Owing to the ante bonus the house edge will usually fall a little. It’s almost as thinking about the game as French Roulette. Thanks to the ante bonus, you can slash the house edge to 2.01% from 3.37% previously.

Before we move on to the final notes, if you already feel armed with the information and odds you need to practice a few hands of real money poker, we’ve recently come across MoneyPokerSites.com which actually have fairly good selection of poker sites to play on and they’re separated into poker for US players, Canadian, New Zealand, etc. so just make sure not to jump into a poker room that isn’t available in your country.

Is Ante Play and 3 Card Poker Really Worth It?

Now, looking at the odds and payouts, one thing that stands out is that 3 Card Poker is definitely a bit more challenging than any of the other table games out there. Players who opt for popular gems as roulette or blackjack often have to deal with pretty small house edges, and a payout frequency that can be controlled with the help of a strategy, such as Martingale, Fibonacci or any of their variants.

However, in 3 Card Poker, the house edge is usually a bit steeper than, say, blackjack, and winning combinations happen 1 in 4 times. Yet, the game has its appeal and it’s definitely a worthwhile choice owing specifically to the big payouts you can turn off a single bet. The ante-play bonus makes it possible to hedge your bets a bit and offset any potential loss whereas a payout on anything bigger than a pair already offers a pretty good return.

If you are one of the lucky players to hit a mini-royal, assuming this type of bet is available, you will make up for your last 100 hands, especially if they turned out somewhat unsuccessful. It’s easy to stay on top of the game so long as you design and stick to the best 3 Card Poker strategy based on the odds and payout values.

A hybrid table game popularized in 1994, Three Card Poker incorporates elements of poker and blackjack to form an exciting, fast paced contest between players and a house dealer.

The mechanics of Three Card Poker are simple and easy to pick up for anybody who has ever dabbled in either poker or blackjack. With two tiers of betting – the main ante and play bets along with the Pair Plus and other bonuses – Three Card Poker offers multiple forms of action on every hand. Even better, the big bonus payouts awarded for qualifying high hands like three of a kind or a straight flush can turn a casual game into an unforgettable score.

Best Three Card Poker Strategy For Real

Every experienced gambler has that friend who winds up winning big on their first trip to Las Vegas or the local casino. And more often than not, those stories usually take place at a Three Card Poker table, where a few small side bets on the bonus and three perfect cards can combine for huge payouts.

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Three Card Poker Basics

The first action in a Three Card Poker hand is a mandatory bet known as the Ante. This wager must be made for a player to take a hand. After making the ante bet (along with the Pair Plus and other side bets, which will be explained below) players receive three cards, as does the dealer. The player’s cards may be exposed at this point, but the dealer’s hand remains face down.

Three Card Poker relies on the traditional poker hand hierarchy to determine winners, but rather than five cards only three are needed. This means high-card (A-3-2) is the lowest qualifying hand, followed by one pair (9-9-2), flush (any three cards of the same suit), straight (6-7-8), three of a kind (9-9-9), straight flush (6-7-8 of the same suit), and in some casinos, the mini-Royal (A-K-Q of the same suit).

Remember, in traditional five card poker a flush beats a straight because the hand is slightly easier to make, and both hands beat three of a kind for the same reason. But things change in Three Card Poker, and the hand values are turned upside down.

With 52 combinations available to make three of a kind, this hand is actually nearly as difficult to make as a straight flush (48 combinations). The odds of making either hand stand at less than 1 percent, while a straight (3.2 percent) and flush (4.9 percent) are far easier to make.

Based on the strength of your hand, you can decide whether to match your Ante with an equal Play bet. If you have a weak hand and decline to play, you can fold and forfeit your ante and bonus bets. When you decide to post the Play bet the dealer will then expose their cards to determine a winner.

The dealer hand must be queen-high or better to qualify. When the dealer fails to produce a qualifying hand, your Ante bet is paid out at even money, while the Play bet is automatically returned as a push. When the dealer produces a qualifying hand it’s compared to each player hand and the highest hand is declared the winner. If your hand is better than the dealer’s, both your Ante and Play bets will be paid out at even money. Identical hands are deemed a push.

The game’s flair comes from the bonuses of course, and even if you don’t wager on the Pair Plus bonus, you can still enjoy a little extra juice on your money from time to time. Whenever a player hand makes a straight or better, it qualifies for an Ante Bonus, or an additional payout on top of the even money you get on the Ante and Play bets.

To top it off, even if the dealer somehow produces a superior hand, causing you to lose the Ante and Play bets, you recoup some of those losses because the Ante Bonus is awarded no matter what when you make a straight or better. There are a few Ante Bonus payout tables out there, but for the most part you’ll see 1 to 1 payouts on straights, 4 to 1 on flushes, and 5 to 1 on straight flushes. The house edge on this standard 5-4-1 pay table is 3.37 percent.

Bonus Side Bets in Three Card Poker

The other primary bet you can make in Three Card Poker is known as the Pair Plus bet. This can be anywhere from $1 on up, and making the bet entitles you to a sizable extra payout when you happen to make big hands.

The name Pair Plus comes from the fact that you need at least a pair to qualify, and while this pays out at even money, the real excitement comes from hitting a straight flush and its 40 to 1 payout. Three of a kind hands also pay out pretty nicely at 30 to 1, and many players enjoy grinding Three Card Poker with the express intent of spiking a big hand with a Pair Plus bet on the line.

The standard pay table used for Pair Plus bonus bets (40-30-6-4-1) offers a 2.32 percent house edge, but alternative Pair Plus pay tables like the 40-30-6-3-1 can be deceptive, while also increasing the house edge to 7.28 percent.

In some cases you’ll find Three Card Poker tables that include the mini-Royal (A-K-Q of the same suit) on the Pair Plus pay table, and these pay out at 80 to one. The standard Pair Plus pay table with mini-Royals included (80-40-25-6-3-1) offers a 7.73 percent house edge.

Additionally, many casinos offer tables featuring progressive bonuses that pay out escalating jackpots that can run into the six- and even seven-figures. In order to hit these jackpots, players must make the additional side wager and make specific high hand; usually a mini-Royal in spades.

Finally, you may notice Three Card Poker tables advertising a Six Card Bonus, and this simply refers to the practice of combining your three cards with the dealer’s three cards, while making the best five-card poker hand possible. Five-card Royal Flushes trigger the jackpot on this special bonus bet.

The Strategy of Three Card Poker

Best Three Card Poker Strategy For Beginners

Optimal strategy for Three Card Poker can be distilled into the simplest of formulas: when your hand strength equals queen-six-four or higher, you should always post the additional Play bet. When your hand strength equals anything lower than queen-six-four, you should fold and surrender your Ante and bonus bets. The reason for this is based on mathematical certainty, as queen-six-four represents the minimum hand you need to rate better than the dealer’s random three cards.

Best Three Card Poker Strategy Cheat

One thing about Three Card Poker to keep in mind is that your hand will beat the dealer’s hand 44.91 percent of the time, you’ll lose 55.03 percent of the time, and the rest of the hands will result in a chop. But by sticking to the queen-six-three threshold for matching the Ante bet, you’ll stand to lose 8.26 percent of your Ante bet, but your win rate on the Play bet will jump to 5.29 percent.

Best 3 Card Poker Strategy

Some players advocate a strategy based on replicating the dealer’s action, or in other words, raising on any hand queen-high or better. Gambling experts have determined that this is a serviceable strategy overall, lowering the house edge to 3.45 percent as opposed to 7.65 percent when playing by instinct alone. Overall though, the queen-six-four strategy lowers the house edge more than any other, and using this as a minimum hand with which to raise will save you money over the long run.