3 Card Poker (or tri-card poker as it’s also called) is an American version of a British game called Brag. This game originated over three hundred years ago as a game known as Primero, a fast-moving betting game using only three cards. As the game evolved, it became known as Post-and-Pair and then again as Brag. This game made it to the States as Casino Brag and Brit-Brag, but eventually evolved again into the game we now know as 3 Card Poker.
3 Card Poker is very similar to the Indian game Teen Patti with some minor differences. The differences being that the ranking of a straight flush and three of a kind are interchanged, and in teen patti, high card and none are merged together.
Pairplus: Pairplus is a simple bet on the cards with a payout for all hands of a pair or better. Below are probabilities and six examples of actual payout tables used by some casinos.
Probabilities - Three Card Poker Ways to draw 3 cards out of 52 = 22100
Hand Combinations Percentage Straight Flush 48 0.22% Three of a Kind 52 0.24% Straight 720 3.26% Flush 1096 4.96% Pair 3744 16.94% High Card 9720 43.98% None 6720 30.41%
Payoff Tables for Pairplus: Hand Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5 Table 6 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 Advantage 2.32% 3.49% 4.58% 5.10% 5.57% 7.28%
Normal ante-and-play gameplay: For ante-and-play, the player places an ante bet before receiving his cards. The player is then dealt his cards and after seeing them, the player can fold his cards and lose the ante bet, or raise by placing out a bet of equal money to the ante bet. If he chooses to play, there are three possibilities. The first is that the dealer does not 'qualify'. To qualify, the dealer must have a hand of a queen high or better. If the dealer does not qualify, the ante bet is paid out even money, but the play bet is simply returned. If the dealer does qualify, the player wins if his hand is of higher value than the dealer's, and gets paid out even money on both his ante and play bets. If the dealer's hand is of higher value, the dealer takes the Ante and Play bets. Rules vary on what happens when the hands are of exactly equal value: some say that the player simply gets his money back, but others say that the player is paid even money on his bet.
Generally, the simplest strategy for the ante-and-play portion of the game is to raise whenever the player's hand is an unsuited Queen-6-4 or better; otherwise fold.
The ante bonus: In addition to normal ante-and-play gameplay, there is a bonus payout on the ante bet for especially good hands.
Ante Bonus Payouts: Hand Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 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 3.37% 3.61% 3.83% 4.28%
These bonus payouts are paid only on the ante bet for any player who chooses to play, regardless of whether the dealer qualifies or whether the player wins or loses.
Since the ante bet is placed before the cards are dealt, there is no specific strategy that will maximize the profits from the "ante bonus" or "pair plus" bet. A player should simply predetermine if they have the overall bankroll, and/or sufficient profit from the ante-and-play, to participate in this option of the game also.
