Three Card Poker is a casino table game based on poker.
History[edit]
The casino variant of Three Card Poker was first created by Derek Webb in 1994 and patented in 1997.[1] Webb's goal was to create a version of poker that played with the speed of other table games. It was important to Webb that he got the correct mix of three important factors for any casino game: the game rules were easy to understand, the payouts were large enough to attract players, and the house edge was enough that casino owners would be interested in adopting the game.
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Webb established a business called Prime Table Games to market the game in both the United States and United Kingdom.[2] The British Casino Association, now known as the National Casino Industry Forum (NCiF) suggested that Webb gain some experience in the US first, since the UK had regulations against such a table game and his application was not strong enough to convince regulators to make significant changes to their rules and regulations for a new game.
The game is played with a single deck of 52 cards. Three Card Poker is actually two games in one. There is the Play/Ante game where you are playing against the dealer to see who has the highest hand. There is also the Pair Plus game where you are wagering on whether or not you will be dealt a pair or better. A 3-Card Poker tutorial from WinStar World Casino.
The first to adopt the game was Barry Morris, Vice President of Grand Casino Gulfport in Mississippi, after Webb had unsuccessful sales pitches with casino owners in Reno, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City. A key aspect of Webb's offer to Morris was to stand on the floor to train the dealers himself, as well as watch to make sure the game was being played correctly.[3] United Kingdom gambling regulations were changed to allow the introduction of Three Card Poker in 2002.
Prime Table Games continued marketing Three Card Poker until 1999, when Shuffle Master acquired the rights to the game outside the British Isles. The sale was prompted by a lawsuit filed that year in US federal court by Progressive Gaming International Corporation (PGIC), the then-owners of Caribbean stud poker, alleging patent infringement; Shuffle Master agreed to defend that litigation as part of the purchase. Subsequently in 2007, Prime Table Games showed in a countersuit that the 1999 PGIC litigation was based on invalid patent claims; PGIC settled for $20 million.[4] Further, Prime Table Games filed suit against Shuffle Master in 2008 alleging in part that Shuffle Master had undisclosed knowledge that the PGIC claims were invalid prior to the 1999 purchase; it was later settled for over $2 million.[5]
Rules[edit]
Three Card Poker is played as heads-up between the player's hand and the dealer's hand. After all ante wagers are placed, three cards are dealt to each player and the dealer. Players have a choice to either fold or continue in the game by placing a 'play' wager equal to their ante. Hands are then exposed and wagers resolved.[6]
The dealer's hand must be Queen high or better for the dealer hand to play. If the dealer does not play, then there is no action on play wagers and ante wagers are paid 1 to 1. If the dealer does play, the dealer and player hands are compared. If the player hand loses, both the ante and play wagers are lost. If the player hand wins both the ante and play wagers are paid 1 to 1. If the hands are tied, then there is no action on either wager.[6]
Additional optional bets are offered. The Pair Plus wager is a bet that the player's hand will be a pair or better. The Pair Plus wager wins if the player has at least a pair of twos. The payoff applies regardless of the dealer's hand, as the Pair Plus wager is not in competition against the dealer's hand. Some casinos also offer an Ante Bonus, which is paid on the ante wager for a straight or better. The typical Ante Bonus paytable pays 5 to 1 for a straight flush, 4 to 1 for a three of a kind, and 1 to 1 for a straight. Like the Pair Plus wager, the Ante Bonus pays regardless of whether that hand beats the dealer's hand.[6]
Hand ranks[edit]
Straight flush
Three of a kind
Straight
Flush
Pair
High card
| Hand Ranks of Three Card Poker[7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Description | Frequency | Probability |
| Straight flush | Three suited cards in sequence | 48 | 0.22% |
| Three of a kind | Three cards of same rank | 52 | 0.24% |
| Straight | Three cards in sequence | 720 | 3.26% |
| Flush | Three suited cards | 1,096 | 4.96% |
| Pair | Two cards of same rank | 3,744 | 16.94% |
| High card | None of the above | 16,440 | 74.39% |
| Total hands | - | 22,100 | - |
Probability of Queen high or better is 69.59%[citation needed]
Variations[edit]
Some venues have added a wager called Prime in United Kingdom casinos and the game is known as Prime Three Card Poker. The Prime wager is optionally placed before cards are dealt and pays on the color of the player cards. If all three cards are the same color the payoff is 3 to 1. However, when included with the dealer hand if all six cards are the same color then the payoff is increased to 4 to 1.
Another variation is 'six card bonus', in which the players are given a payout based on the best five-card poker hand that can be made using any combination of the player's three cards and the dealer's three cards. Payoff ranges from 5 to 1 for three of a kind to 1000 to 1 for royal flush. Payoffs are paid regardless of whether any other bets pay.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Three Card Poker'. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
- ^'Intellectual Property Office patent entry'. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^'3CardPoker.com'. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
- ^Stutz, Howard (November 7, 2007). 'Progressive agrees to pay $20 million to end lawsuit'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^Stutz, Howard (January 14, 2011). 'Charge hurts Shuffle Master earnings'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^ abcMatt Villano (August 27, 2014). 'Winning a 3-card poker can be tough'. SfGate.
- ^'Three Card Poker - Wizard of Odds'. wizardofodds.com. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
To give all of our casino card game playing website visitors a range of playing tips we would like to present to you our guide to the top 10 3 Card Poker game playing hints and tips which you will find listed below.
Feel free to check out these playing tips and put them into play when you next sit down to play this game online.
Lowest House Edge Bet
You are going to find that it is the Ante bet that returns the lowest house edge on the game of 3 Card Poker and as such maybe you are best sticking to placing only those wagers and avoiding the Pairs Plus betting options to ensure the maximum winning opportunities when playing this game.
When to Raise Your Ante Bet
When playing the Ante bet option offered on the card game of 3 Card Poker then the best playing strategy calls for you to only raise your Ante bet when you have been dealt out a Queen, Six and a Four or any higher valued hand, and fold any hand combinations with a lower value.
The “Pairs Plus” Bet Payouts
You need to be aware that depending at just which online casino you are playing at you can often find a completely different set of payouts attached to the game of 3 card poker, more so in regards to the highest payout attached to the Pairs Plus bet option. Microgaming for example offer a payout of 40 to 1 on the Straight Flush hand combination on this wager but other sites can and do offer much lower payouts, and those other sites are therefore offering very poor value on that bet option and their version of this game should be avoided!
Watch Your Stakes!
Be aware then often when you first launch the game of 3 Card Poker it will automatically bet set to the highest possible stake option, and as such if you inadvertently place those wagers onto the table and set the game into live play then you may end up playing for much higher stakes than you intended, so whenever you launch the game of 3 Card Poker always set the stake levels and chips values to your own preferences and never be too eager to simply set the game into play!
Have Enough Cash in Reserve
Be aware that when you play the Ante bet option when playing 3 Card Poker you need to have enough cash in your online casino account should you then go on to play that hand, if you do not have enough cash in your account then you will have to fold that hand which will result in your losing your Ante wager on what may just be a winning hand combination!
Playing with a Bonus
If the casino at which you are playing at has awarded you with some bonus credits and you can play 3 Card Poker games with that bonus then you will often find it is the Ante game which gives you the best chance of meeting the play through requirements of that bonus, the Pairs Plus bet can be high variance some time and this can often result in you losing your bonus way too quickly and may never get near completing the play through requirements of that bonus!
Tied Hands
When playing the Ante Bet if you and the Dealer get the exact same valued hand combination then this is classed as a tie, but many casinos will look at this result in different ways, some will simply class this hand as a push, but if you do find a casino that looks at tied Ant Bet hands as a winning hand for the Player then those games are the best variants to play, as long as the payouts available on that bet are the highest ones available also!
Compare Comps!
Much like every other casino game you should always be getting comp points awarded to you when playing 3 Card Poker, and as the number of comp points you can earn will vary from site to site do a little shopping around and seek out and only play at the sits offering you the highest number of comps points but also with the most beneficial redemption rates for turning those comps into casino credits!
3 Card Poker Tournament Strategies
Be advised that the aim of a 3 Card Poker tournament entry is for you to win as much as you can in the shortest amount of time, and whilst many people tend to play in a very high risk strategy when playing in such a casino game tournament, the best strategy that you can play is for you to work out how many hands you can play in the allocated time based on your tournament credits and then stick to place Ante Bets only.
If you do not follow the correct strategy you will often find you blow all of your tournaments credits way too quickly and as such will never make it onto a prize paying position on the 3 Card Poker tournaments leader board!
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One final 3 Card Poker playing tip if you have never played this casino card game before is that you should give it some play time for free and at no risk at any of our listed online casino sites for by doing to you can then get a good understand for how to play this game and can practise playing perfect strategy and then move over to the real money options when you have truly mastered playing it!