Since the only decision the player has to make in this game is how much to bet, there is no strategy involved. However, due to the low house advantage it remains one of the most attractive table poker games.

Three Card Poker Strategy

Since the only decision the player has to make in Three Card Poker game is how much to bet, there is no strategy involved. However, at full payout the low house advantage makes it about as attractive as any other table poker game. You can't bet five dollars and win a house here, but the payouts are very generous and you should get a pay hand of some sort about 25% of the time.

Three Card Poker is a good game, but you might want to remember that the win/loss swings are more volatile than in Ante/Play. Most places allow you to make unequal bets on the two games. A conservative bet would be two units on Ante/Play and one unit on Pair Plus, or equal bets. A more aggressive approach is to place more on Pair Plus than on Ante/Play. Many good players prefer to gradually increase conservative bets when they are running good, to get ahead before they get aggressive and load up on the Pair Plus side.

Three Card Poker game starts with the players placing bets in the "Ante" spots in the table layouts. The ante can be any amount within the posted table limits. The players and the dealer all get three cards, face down. The players all look at their hands and either fold by giving their cards back and losing their ante bet, or play by placing a bet, equal to the ante, in the "play" spot in the layout. The dealer then turns over his cards. If he does not have Queen High or better, he doesn't "qualify" to play and pays the active players even money on their ante bets and those with a straight or better are paid the additional ante bonus shown above. These players get a "push" on their play bets. If he does have a qualifying hand, those who cannot beat it lose their antes and their play bets, but can still win the ante bonus with a straight or higher. Those who can beat the dealer win even money on ante and play bets plus the ante bonus, if any.

In Three Card Poker Ante/Play, the only thing the expert player needs to know is how high his or her hand should be to produce the best possible long term results, if played. The answer to that question is Q-6-4 or higher.

Note: The house advantage percentages referred to are based on the full payout tables shown above. Be aware that lower payouts, especially in Pair Plus, are used in many places that double and triple the house advantage against the player. Avoid games with a Pair Plus payout of only 3-1 for a flush instead of 4-1 etc. and look for full payout games.

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