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Introduction

As the name implies, Three Card Poker is a poker variation using 3-card hands. Three Card Poker is available with all of the larger casino softwares except for Grand Virtual. The game can a useful alternative for bonus play when lower house edge games such as blackjack, video poker, Texas hold'em bonus, and casino hold'em are not available.

Rules and Play

Three Card Poker has two betting options -- a Pair Plus bet and a Ante & Play bet. With the standard paytable, the Pair Plus bet has the lower house edge per initial bet, and the Ante & Play bet has the lower house edge per unit wagered (and smaller expected loss over a wagering requirement).

The play for Pair Plus is straight forward. After placing a bet, you are dealt a 3-card hand. If the hand contains a pair or better, you are paid winnings. There are no card selections, betting raises, or other strategy decisions. Most casinos use the standard pay table listed below for Pair Plus. This includes Microgaming, Playtech, Cryptologic, Chartwell, Boss Media, Odds On, Rival, World Gaming, and Orbis. The bonus casino at 5Dimes offers a choice of 7 games with improved paytables. The two 5Dimes paytables with lowest house edge are listed below. Some Wagerworks and RealTime Gaming casinos use the standard pay table, and some use a less desirable pay table. Note that a good portion of the overall payout for this game is in rare straight flush and 3 of a kind hands.

The Ante & Play bet is not as straight forward as the Pair Plus bet. After placing an Ante bet, the player is dealt three cards. The player then must choose to either fold and forfeit his bet, or raise and double his bet. If the player raises, then there are several possible payouts.

If the dealer has a queen or better, the dealer "qualifies." If the player wins the hand and the dealer qualifies, then both the ante & raise bets pay 1:1. If the dealer does not qualify (regardless of whether the player wins or loses the hand), then the ante bet pays 1:1, and the raise bet is returned. If the player loses the hand and the dealer qualifies, then both bets lose.

If the player gets a straight flush, 3 of a kind, or straight; then the player receives additional winnings as listed in the table below. This bonus is not dependent on dealer "qualification."* Most casinos use the standard bonus paytable listed below for Ante & Play. This includes Microgaming, Playtech, Cryptologic, Chartwell, Wagerworks, Net Ent, Boss Media, Random Logic, Odds On, Rival, World Gaming, DGS, and Orbis.The bonus casino at 5Dimes offers a choice of 7 games with improved paytables. The two 5Dimes paytables with lowest house edge are listed below. Some RealTime Gaming casinos use the standard pay table, and some use the less desirable paytables. In 2012, Microgaming introduced 3 card poker game called "High Speed Poker", which has an improved ante & play paytable and does not offer a pair plus bet option.

Strategy

With standard paytables and rules, the ante & play bet has the lower house edge per unit wagered. So when completing a wagering requirement, the ante & play bet is usually the better choice. To minimize expected loss per hand on the ante & play bet, raise when your 3-card hand is an unsuited queen, 6, 4 or better. For example, you would raise on a Q/7/2, but not a Q/6/3.

To minimize expected loss per unit wagered (minimum loss over a wagering requirement), raise when your hand is a Q/6/2 or better with the standard paytable; and raise when your hand is Q/5/4 or better with the RTG reduced paytables.
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