3 Card Poker

The next casino game that we’ll be discussing is Three Card Poker. Three Card Poker is, at its core, a fairly simple game. Players begin by making an ante wager and optionally pair plus and/or six card bonus wagers. All players and the dealer are then dealt three cards.

Players then look at their hands and decide if they want to play or fold. If a player wants to play, they make an additional play wager that must equal their ante. Typically, strategists will recommend playing with most queen-high hands (Q high with at least a 6 kicker is generally thought of as the cut-off for play/fold) and everything higher.

Once every player has decided if they want to play or fold, the dealer will reveal their hand. The dealer qualifies with queen high or higher. If the dealer does not qualify, all players that didn’t fold get their play wager back and automatically win on their ante wager.

If the dealer does qualify, the players’ hands are compared to the dealer’s hand. If a player’s hand outranks the dealer's hand, the player wins on both the ante and play wagers. Additionally, if the player has a Straight or higher, they are also awarded an ante bonus.

One important note: in Three Card Poker, unlike most every other form of poker, a Straight outranks a Flush. This is due to the fact that with three cards (versus traditional Five Card Poker) it is statistically easier to get a Flush than a Straight.

The potential for huge payouts in Three Card Poker comes from the optional bets: pair plus and the 6-card bonus. Both of these wagers must be made with the ante wagers and they are both paid according to a pay-table regardless of the dealer’s hand. Pair plus wagers win if the player’s hand is a pair or higher (it is perhaps the most appropriately named wager in the whole casino!)

The 6-card bonus wager allows the player to combine their three card hand with the dealer's three card hand and then make a five card hand. This wager wins when the five card hand is three of a kind or higher in rank. The pair plus wager pays up to 50:1 and the 6-card bonus pays up to 1,000:1 for a Royal Flush!

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Author’s note: This blog is informational only and should not be taken as representative of the opinions of Rivers Casino Philadelphia or Rush Street Gaming.