Three Card Poker

Three Card Poker is a live dealer game from Evolution and one of the most widely played house-banked poker games in the world. Both you and the dealer receive three cards, and the better three-card hand wins.

How It Works

You start with an Ante. After seeing your three cards you decide whether to fold, or to back them with a Play bet equal to the Ante.

The dealer needs Queen high or better to qualify. If they do not, your Ante pays and the Play bet is returned. If they do qualify, the hands are compared and the better one wins both bets.

That qualification rule is what makes the game readable. There is only one decision per hand – play or fold – and the threshold that matters is well known: hands of Queen-Six-Four or better are worth playing, and anything below it is not.

The Three-Card Hand Ranking

The rankings differ from five-card poker, and it catches people out. With only three cards, a straight beats a flush, and a three of a kind beats both. There are simply fewer ways to make a straight than a flush when you are holding three cards, so the order inverts.

Side Bets

Two optional bets sit alongside the main game. Pair Plus pays on your own hand being a pair or better, regardless of what the dealer holds – so it can win on a hand you folded. The 6 Card Bonus combines your three cards and the dealer's into the best five-card poker hand, with the largest payouts on the table.

Who It Is For

Three Card Poker suits players who want a poker game they can learn in one hand and still play correctly. The single decision, the clear qualification rule and the fast rounds make it one of the friendliest tables on the live floor.

The side bets carry a considerably higher house edge than the main game, as they usually do. They are the entertainment, not the strategy.

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