Home; Casino; Online Casino Games 500+ casino games; 3 Card Poker; 3 Card Poker. If you like poker, you'll love 3 Card Poker. Objective of the Game. 3 Card Poker is a popular card game played in casinos around the world including the UK and Las Vegas. It is a fast moving and interactive game based on the relative strength of your hand against Poker values. Welcome to 3 Card Poker. Step into the home of one of the newer games found in casinos both online and in the real world – 3 Card Poker. In spite of being a relative newcomer when compared to the likes of blackjack and baccarat, it is already one of the most popular casino games and ranks among the top ten most-played casino games in the world. You won’t find many, if any 3-card poker variations. However, what you may find are 3-card poker games under different names. That includes three card and tri-card poker. The biggest difference from one casino to the next will be the payouts. I suggest you read our reviews to find the casinos with the best odds/payouts.
Poker with Big Wins and Fast Action
Three Card Poker
Three Card Poker is one of the greatest stories of player driven success in the gaming industry. It is relatively new and is based on the centuries-old, traditional and extremely popular card game, Poker, as are other casino games like Caribbean Stud Poker and Casino Hold’em. Almost everyone has played Poker at least once in their lives, which would make themselves familiar with the ranking of various hands. Although, Three Card plays at a much faster pace, chiefly due to the time involved in shuffling and dealing which is almost instant online. Not to mention that players don’t play against one another in this variant of Poker so there’s no waiting, deliberating and bluffing. In fact, the simple play style and easy bankroll control mean the game has picked up quite a following and is loved by many players, whilst the relatively non-volatile house edge leads the casinos to love it just as much. As a percentage of the table games market, Three Card Poker, though it was initially hard to establish, is now amongst the most played games on any casino floor, with over 1600 casinos in the US alone offering the game. The ease of learning the game, the potential high payouts and the wide areas of accessibility have allowed this game to prove just as popular online as it is in traditional bricks and mortar casinos.
Why play Three Card Poker?
- It’s fast and easy to play
- Big wins and fast gameplay
- Good odds and a non-volatile house edge
The History of Three Card Poker
Three Card Poker, sometimes known as Poker Three, Trey Poker, or Tri Card Poker, was created back in 1994 by British Poker player Derek Webb who wanted to create a game which used the excitement of Poker, but with the added speed of more traditional casino table games such as Blackjack, Craps or Roulette. The game was introduced to British casinos by Webb where it was successful. Soon after, it reached the US and eventually went around the world. Three Card Poker is the American version of the British game, Brag. This game originated over three hundred years ago from 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, as the betting rounds became the focal point of the game and wild cards called braggers were brought in, so then it changed once again to be called 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 Three Card Poker.
Playing Three Card Poker Online
Before you go ahead and register at one of our recommended casinos, you can get a taste of the game right here for free; no sign-up, registration, download or deposit is required. Three Card Poker is a two-in-one game consisting of the Pair Plus game and Ante-Play game. In the former, the player is in a one on one game against the dealer to see who has the highest Poker hand, and in the latter, the player bets on whether he/she will receive a winning Poker hand of a pair or better. The house advantage of the Pair Plus game is 2.32% and if played properly, the house advantage on the Ante-Play game can be as low as 2.02%. It is played with one standard 52 card deck which is shuffled for every hand and bets are placed in two ways before the deal; first you can bet on getting a pair or better, and second, you can play an Ante bet against the dealer for the biggest hand (this isn’t optional in all forms of the game, it can be compulsory in some casinos so it’s worth flicking at the individual game rules for whichever vendor you’re playing at). The dealer gives out three cards face down to each player, including himself, however, only he isn’t allowed to look at his cards at this stage. Note that once the cards are dealt the Pair Plus game is resolved, yet, you still have the option to place a play bet on the Ante game if you feel the hand holds up, or, you can fold. If you fold, you forfeit your Ante bet. If you raise, an additional Play bet must be made, equal to the Ante. Next, the dealer’s cards are revealed. In order to qualify, a Queen high or better is required. The basic strategy of the game is pretty simple, if you hold a hand of Q-6-4 or higher – play, if you hold a lower hand – fold, though some players advocate playing queen high no matter what the other cards are.
The following outcomes are possible:
- If the dealer doesn’t qualify, then the player wins even money on the Ante bet and the Play bet will push.
- If the dealer qualifies, then the player's hand is compared to the dealer's hand, of which, the higher of the two hands wins. The order of Poker hands is found below.
- If the player has the higher Poker hand, then the Ante and Play will both pay even money (1:1).
- If the dealer has the higher Poker hand, then the Ante and Play will both lose.
- If both the player and dealer tie, then the Ante and Play bets will push.
- If the player made the Ante bet and has a straight or higher, then the player will receive an Ante Bonus, regardless of the value of the dealer's hand.
- The Pair Plus bet will pay entirely based on the Poker value of the player's hand, as indicated in the Pair Plus section below.
What’s great about Three Card Poker is the fact that the Ante bet carries a bonus payout for certain hands which doesn’t require an additional bet. This means that any player holding a straight, three of a kind, or straight flush will receive a bonus, regardless whether their hand beats the dealer or not. This will see you into some serious genuine winnings.
The game is based on stud Poker, although, seeing as a hand consists of three cards, the ranking hands and the odds on those hands differ slightly. Due to this, straights are rarer than flushes and thus outrank them, whereas, this is the other way around in five-card games. Furthermore, you cannot win with a full house or four of a kind in this variant of Poker. Below is a list of all the possible winning hands and how often they may appear in a pack.
Straight Flush is a sequence of three numbers in the same suit, for example, J-10-9 all in diamonds. The total number of straight flushes in a deck of cards is 48.
Three of a Kind consists of three same value cards from different suits, for example, 5-5-5. There are 52 potential three-of-a-kinds in a deck.
Straight is made up of a sequence of numbers from different suits, for example, J-10-9. There are 720 possible straights to make.
Flush is formed using three random cards in the same suit, for example, Q-7-4 of clubs. There are 1096 flush combinations to make.
Pair is a hand consisting of two cards of the same rank, for example, 3-3-9. There are a possible 3744 pair combinations.
High Card includes one of the face cards, Ace, King, Queen or Jack, with two other random cards, for example, A-4-2.
With regards to the Pair Plus bet, the good news is that you don’t need to beat the dealer to win this bet. Any hand containing a pair or higher will do the trick (that’s, in fact, where it gets its name from). Make sure to check the odds as Pair Plus pay-tables vary from casino to casino.
Straight Flush pays 40 to 1. The house edge on this hand is 5.39%.
Three of a Kind pays 30 to 1 with a 7.10% house edge.
Straight pays 6 to 1 with a house edge of 7.28%.
Flush pays 3 to 1 and the house edge is 5.57%.
Play Free Online Casino 3 Card Poker
Pair pays 1 to 1 (even money) with a house edge of 4.58%.
Beginners’ Tips
By this point, your mind should be whizzing with probabilities, odds and hand combinations! Before you immediately hit the free game on this page, you should take a look at the following advice which may help you beat the casino in this exhilarating variant of Poker!
- First of all, you should call or raise 67% of the time as winning hands occur 25.6% of the time.
- Some casinos add a hand called a mini-royal to the top of the pay-table. Mini-royals consist of A-K-Q of the same suit. Therefore, there are four mini-royals, one for each suit. Paying the mini-royals separately subtracts four combinations from the straight flush total.
- To make good gravy, you ought to be making use of the Pair Plus bet as it’s good value for money with such a low house edge of 2.32% and good odds. Keep in mind that this is a bet based on pure luck as you’re betting on being dealt a pair or better.
- The number of possible high card only hands is 16440.
- Be sure to have a look at the payout percentages offered by casinos as they to tend to vary from place to place.
Variations of Three Card Poker
Ultimate Three Card Poker: This version of the game also goes by the name Face Up. It has the same rules as the original game, however, with a couple of differences. First of all, the dealer only exposes one of his cards rather than all three in each head to head game. Further differences lie in the betting process. In a game of Ultimate, you need to make an extra blind wager that’s the same value as your Ante. You can also make a Pair Plus bet at the same time. Furthermore, if you get a pair, you can make an additional bet triple the Ante, seeing as you can only see one of the dealer’s three cards. You can double your bet on anything lower than a pair. You win the blind bet as long as your hand is higher than the dealer’s and lose if your hand is lower. It’s considered a push if your hand is lower than a flush. The optimal strategy in this game is to fold any hand lower than a J-7-4. Also, you shouldn’t make the triple bet with less than a pair in hand.
Teen Patti: Is the Indian version of the game (also known as Teen Pathi or Flash) which took the streets of India by storm. It has some differences from the original, them being, that the ranking of a straight flush and three of a kind are interchanged, and the high card and none (or nothing hand) are joined together. The prime difference between Teen Patti and Three Card Poker is that Teen Patti is played against other players rather than the dealer. This variant of the gambling game is best played between four and seven players and includes betting and bluffing, as is the norm in classic Poker. It’s not unlikely that you’ll be able to find this version of the game online as it’s become highly popular in Indian and other Asian regions.
Three Card 21 ‘n’ Done: This is a new variation of the game that has only been introduced to Nevada casinos of late (you never know, it might be available online in the near future). The game is a combination of Blackjack and Three Card, which is guaranteed to please a broad spectrum of people. It pays well on strong hands of three cards, however, if you are dealt a not-so-strong hand of which its total value exceeds 21, you can split it into three separate hands. The game begins with each player placing two bets; one for the three-card hand and the second for the 21 bonus game. Three cards are then issued to each player. The payouts for the 21 bonus are as follows:
21 Total: 1 to 1 (even money)
Pair: 1 to 1
Flush: 3 to 2
Straight: 2 to 1
Trips: 5 to 1
Straight Flush: 15 to 1
3 Card Royal: 50 to 1
3 Card Royal in Diamonds: 200 to 1
Playing for Real Money
Three Card Poker is available all around the globe if gambling is legal in your jurisdiction (and in many cases even when it isn’t) you should be able to find somewhere to play this game. With the massive array of table games finding their way into the online casino environment, it’s no surprise to see the game available at the best online casinos now also. Given that, unlike slots, table games can be broadcast, Three Card Poker can also be played at many live dealer casinos online, combining the comfort of playing from home with the real casino experience. Be sure to have a look at one of our trusted casinos listed at the top of the page, surely one of them will have the type of play you desire.
FAQ
Is there a strategy I could use to win the Ante-Play bet in Three Card Poker?
The basic strategy for the Ante-Play combination is to bet whenever you have Q-6-4 or better (although an even simpler strategy of playing Queens or higher will yield similar results). This means you should consider playing the following hands and folding all others:
- Any pair or better
- King or Ace high
- Queen high, when your second highest card is a 7 or higher
- Queen high, when your second card is a 6 and your third card is a 4 or higher
Remember that patience is a virtue, and you might have to wait for these hands to come your way, so be prepared to fold those weaker hands. This optimal strategy brings the house edge down from 7.65% to 3.37%.
Is there a progressive jackpot in Three Card Poker?
Progressive jackpots come in all shapes and sizes in this variation of Poker. Some casinos offer a small bonus on the Pair Plus wager which can pay out as much as 50 to 1 on a single suited Q-K-A. Other casinos make good use of a progressive jackpot to make the game more enticing. This is an additional 1 credit bet you can make before your hand is dealt, which you can win if your hand turns out to be a mini royal flush in spades. There is even a progressive bonus you can win if you get a three of a kind or straight flush.
The hand payouts are as follows:
- Royal Flush in spades gets the whole progressive jackpot.
- Royal Flush in hearts, diamonds, or clubs normally gets 500 credits.
- Straight Flush normally gets 100 credits.
- Three of a Kind typically gets 50 credits.
What’s great about the progressive jackpot is the Envy Bonus payoff which comes with it. When it’s won, all the other players get a cut too. They receive approximately 25 credits for any royal flush and 100 credits for one landed in spades.
If you’re into staying on the edge of the latest iGaming trends and play the newest games, this free demo by Money$uit Industries is just for you.
Advantage Play 3 Card Fury is launched in 2019, on the heels of Three Card Poker, as an easy and dynamic game offering a well-balanced package of fun and luck to test your poker skills at.
The mandatory prerequisite to enjoying this game is, of course, to introduce yourself with the game description provided by the Wizard, which offer a detailed overview of rules, pay tables, strategy, and analysis given by BMM Testlabs.
The goal of this single 52-card deck poker is simple — use the best three out of four cards you’ve been dealt with and beat the dealer’s three cards.
User Interface
The 3 Card Fury free demo has a user-friendly and clear, informative outlook, providing players with a nice tool to practice poker skills.
Your hand is neatly displayed below the dealer’s cards atop. The game will automatically select the best cards in your hand and inform you through white caption inscribed right underneath your cards (same goes for the dealer’s hand).
Two pay tables (4-Card Royal Family Bonus and 3-Card Monster) are visible on the left and the right of the screen. Being self-explanatory, they also have a nice feature allowing for your hand to be automatically pre-selected in both.
For instance…
…if you get straight flush with five of clubs as the highest card, the title will let you know it’s “Straight Flush, Five-high” while your hand will be highlighted in red both at 4-Card Royal and 3-Card Monster paytables.
It’s quite a neat functionality which allows you to quickly assess your table situation.
On the bottom of the screen is a control strip that lets you set up all parameters of the game and provides for relevant information. Moving from left to right, there is a Balance field — you start your game with $5,000 — a four chips denominations, Wager info (at the center), two control buttons, and Win amount (in the far right corner).
Ante, as well as an optional 4 Card Royal Family Bonus Wager you can also bet at, are made with chips in denominations ranging from $5, $25, $100, and $500. You’ll notice yellow borders encircling them when selected. You can increase bets in each value by a single click.
The maximum ante is $500 and you can bet 4 Card Royal wager up to $100. Generally speaking, the betting systems are comparable to Texas Hold ‘Em. Easy
As usual, the game is started by placing your chips at ante or 4 Card Royal Family Bonus Wager field, and by clicking the Play button. Right after, your bet is displayed in the Wager field. (Don’t forget, it is always doubled for two pay tables!)
Once your hand is dealt, you can opt to either continue, by clicking Play button or to back down by using Fold button.
Regardless of your choice, the outcome is displayed two-fold.
First off…
Free Online Casino Games 3 Card Poker
… in the Win box, you are able to see the exact amount of money you’ve gained. In case of loss, no amount is displayed at all. Secondly, you get an extra visual sense of the result by observing chips being collected around betting fields and distributed either to you or the dealer.
Overall Vibe
The Advantage Play 3 Card Fury flows quickly, smoothly, offering great pleasure both to slower and rapid poker players. All information are highly visible, while intuitive UI provides for full awareness at any stage of the game.
At times, the game provides for a few volatile moments, indeed.
After four hours of play, we got to tumble down to $2,500 switching between $100 and $500 chips— high-rolling indeed, but remember, it’s testing the game, not the real-life — only to rally and go to $25,490.
Also worth mentioning, the 3 Card Fury is well supported in our online community where you can learn more about other players’ experience and sift through game’s general discussions. If you’re into digging deeper, make sure to check it out!
Bottom line?
The Advantage Play 3 Card Fury online trainer gives an exciting time if you’re into table games and iGaming in the first place.
For entry-level players…
…it is easy and assessable opportunity to get a glimpse of real play, the game’s atmosphere, and to test whether it’s your cup of tea, erm, game, or not.
For advanced players…
… it is a useful tool to practice Three Card Poker skills, explore new strategies and approaches while playing without real money.
As always, in any type of game, use it as responsibly as you can, stay wise, and have great fun.