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How much do you tip the dealer in 3 Card Poker?

Three Card Poker: Etiquette Tipping: It's customary to tip dealers when you win. While the amount and frequency you tip are up to you, 10% is usually acceptable. (Remember that you can use $1 chips if you're playing with $5 chips.)

888poker.com - How to Play 3 Card Poker - Rules & Strategy (Beginners)
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In a divide between poker games and poker-based table games, Three Card Poker falls on the poker-based side.

You're not playing against other players.

The house edge doesn't come from taking a share of pots.

You're playing against the dealer or a pay table. Other players' hands don't matter to you, and the house has an edge built into the game’s odds. That's not unusual. Caribbean Stud Poker was the trailblazer for poker-based games. Let It Ride, Four Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold'em, Mississippi Stud Poker and more have since followed.

Three Card Poker is played both online and in live casinos.

Online, you'll find it in a menu of games.

Live in the U.S., it's in table games pits right alongside blackjack, craps, and roulette. In European casinos, you may find it either in the pits or in card rooms. Assuming you make a hand of a specific value, Three Card Poker can have pretty big payouts! It’s also a straightforward and easy game to learn. So, read on to find more about this popular casino table game and exactly how to win at Three Card Poker!

Table of Contents

Three Card Poker: How to Play

This section will cover everything you need to know for how to play Three Card Poker at a casino, including how to win at Three Card Poker.

THREE CARD POKER REQUIREMENTS

In live casinos, this game is played with one 52-card deck and betting chips. Automatic shuffling machines are often in action, with one deck shuffling while another is in play. Online, Three Card Poker most often has virtual representations of cards and playing chips. There is also a credit meter to show how much you have available for wagering. Some casinos use streaming video of a live dealer instead of virtual cards.

THREE CARD POKER OBJECTIVE

How to beat Three Card Poker is simple: You want to make the best three-card poker hand possible! There’s no exchanging or drawing more cards like “hits” like in Blackjack. It’s merely about the cards you’re initially dealt.

That makes it a "stud" poker-based game rather than "draw" poker.

Depending on how you choose to bet, you’ll either want to (1) hope to make a pair or better; and/or (2) have your hand outrank the dealer.

THREE CARD POKER RANKINGS

Three Card Poker hand rankings are simple: You want the highest poker-ranked card(s) in your hand to win! Do note that Three Card Poker rankings are slightly different from regular poker.

In Three Card Poker, straights outrank flushes.

In five-card games, flushes outrank straights.

There are more possible ways to make flushes than straights in Three Card Poker. Also, there are more ways to make straights than flushes in most other games.

Here they are ranked from best to worst:

Straight Flush: Three cards of consecutive value and in the same suit (i.e., Kc-Qc-Jc) 3 of a Kind: Three cards that match of equal value (i.e., 8-8-8)

Straight: Three cards of consecutive value (i.e., 6-7-8)

Flush: Three cards of the same suit (i.e., Ad-9d-3d)

Pair: Two matching cards of equal

Value, plus one “kicker” (i.e., A-A-4)

High Card: Non-paired cards with no consecutive order or suit matching between the cards (i.e., Qc-6s-4d) Note that for a high card hand, any A-X-X hand will beat a K-X-X hand; in other words, even if you have A-3-4, you’ll still beat a holding of K-Q-9, even though the average value of the K-9-8 might be higher. Additionally, note that if the first high card is “tied” in a high card hand, then the second card will determine the winner, and so on. Also, notice that even if two players have a hand of the same poker hand ranking (i.e., a pair), the player of the higher value of hand within that rank will win (i.e., A-A-2 beats 2-2-A, as one as a pair of Aces and the other only has a pair of 2s).

How to Play: Three Card Poker Rules

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Betting: There are two betting options in Three Card Poker:

Ante-Play: Where you’ll be playing your hand against the dealer’s, trying to make the highest-ranking poker hand. Pair Plus: Where you’ll aim to make a hand of a pair or better with your hand. (The dealer’s hand is irrelevant for this bet.) NOTE: Different casinos have different betting requirements. Some require you to put forward an ante if you want to play a hand, with the Pair Plus bet being optional. Other casinos allow you the choice to play with the Ante or the Pair Plus. Dealing: Three cards are then dealt face-down to each player in the hand and the dealer. Like blackjack, as mentioned earlier, you’re trying to beat the dealer if you use the “ante-play” betting option. The other players’ cards are irrelevant to whether you win or lose. Playing Action: After the players receive their cards, it is then their turn to act. They either have the option of “playing” their hand or discarding it. If the player discards their hand, the dealer wins the player’s initial ante. If the player wants to keep playing, they must place forward a "Play” bet. The play bet amount must match the ante that the player initially used. Typically, in live casinos, these chips will play after a player arranges his hand sequentially and then places these cards face-down in the area marked “play.” You touch or click on an icon in online casinos to make a play bet, and credits are deducted from your meter. Winning and Payouts: The next step of the hand is for the dealer to reveal player cards, followed by their own. Online, this is done automatically once all play or fold decisions are complete. Then hands are compared, and any appropriate monies are collected or paid out: If the dealer has a Jack-high High Card hand or worse, the hand doesn’t qualify to be “played.” All players still in the hand will win the amount of the “ante” bet but will push with their “play” bet. So, they simply collect back the chip(s) originally in play but don’t win an additional amount for this wager. Even if the dealer’s hand is better than the player’s hand, the player wins on the ante if the dealer doesn't qualify. At the same time, they’ll “push” with their Play wager and get their chips back after the hand. (Say the dealer has J-4-3 and the player has T-9-7 and played. The player will win the amount of their ante for the hand.) Even if the dealer’s hand is better than the player’s hand, the player wins on the ante if the dealer doesn't qualify. At the same time, they’ll “push” with their Play wager and get their chips back after the hand. (Say the dealer has J-4-3 and the player has T-9-7 and played. The player will win the amount of their ante for the hand.) Suppose the dealer has a Queen-high High Card hand or better. Their hand “plays” and ranks compared to the player’s hand. If the player’s hand is better, the player wins the amount equivalent to both their ante and play bets. If the dealer’s hand wins, the player’s money from these betting actions is collected accordingly. Casinos typically offer Ante Bonus payouts, too, if you make one of the strongest of hands. These payouts on straights or better are part of the ante-play portion of the game and require no additional wagering. Payouts for the Ante Bonus might look something like this but are subject to different payout structures:

Straight: 1 to 1

Three-of-a-Kind: 4 to 1 (or 2 to 1 or 3 to 1)

Straight Flush: 5 to 1 (or 3 to 1 or 4 to 1) The most common pay table is 5-1 on straight flushes, 4-1 on three-of-a-kind and 1-1 on straights. But don't be surprised if you see reduced payouts.

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Three Card Poker Rules: Pair Plus Payouts

The Pair Plus wager acts independently of ante-play. Players win with any pair or better or lose the bet if dealt a High Card hand. The dealer's hand does not affect the outcome of Pair Plus hands.

You don't have to beat the dealer.

Winners are paid according to a pay table posted on the table or online on the screen. Though these can differ from casino-to-casino and place-to-place, here are the standard Three Card Poker odds used for Pair Plus payouts typically used in America, along with select payout variations used:

Pair: 1 to 1

Flush: 3 to 1 (or 4 to 1)

Straight: 6 to 1 (or 5 to 1)

Three-of-a-Kind: 30 to 1 (or 25 to 1)

Straight Flush: 40 to 1 The most common version uses the payoffs that are not in parentheses. Some casinos add a bigger payout at the top. They’ll separate a "mini royal" of Ace-King-Queen of the same suit from other straight flushes. Mini royals usually pay 50-1 though they have been spotted at 100-1.

Three Card Poker Rules: Stakes

There are minimum and maximum bet sizes at Three Card Poker Tables. If it’s a $5 minimum table, though, “playing” a hand of ante-play will cost $10 total if you make the play bet: $5 for the ante wager and $5 for the play wager if you decide to keep and play your hand against the dealer. If you also bet $5 on Pair Plus, your total risk is $15. When played, the ante and play chips must always be of the same numeric value. But they can differ from the amount used for the Pair Plus wager. Note that the Pair Plus wager must still be within the minimum and maximum table stake values.

Three Card Poker Strategy and House Edge

Optimal strategy for Three Card Poker indicates you should do the following – Play all hands of a value of Q-6-4 or better, including all pairs

And fold everything else

This ante-bet game will always give the house a slight edge of around 2% of your total of ante and play bets over the long term. You don't make the play bet on every hand. So, another way to look at the house edge is 3.4% of the ante. That varies with payouts on the ante bonus. If straight flushes pay 5-1, three-of-a-kind 4-1 and straights 1-1. That leaves house edges of 2.01% of total action or 3.4% of ante. If ante bonuses are only 3-1 on straight flushes, 2-1 on three of a mind and 1-1 on straights, house edges on ante-play increase to 2.6% of total wagers or 4.3% of antes.

In Pair Plus, small changes make significant differences in the house edge.

In the most common version in the United States, the house edge is 7.28%, with the following payoffs –

40-1 on straight flushes

30-1 on three of a kind

6-1 on straights

3-1 on flushes

1-1 on pairs If only one change is made, with flushes paying 4-1, the edge drops to 2.32%. A version sometimes seen in Europe pays 35-1 on straight flushes, 33-1 on three of a kind, 6-1 on straights, 4-1 on flushes and 1-1 on pairs. That house edge is 2.7% edge.

Three Card Poker: Etiquette

Regarding etiquette in Three Card Poker, there are three things to note:

888poker.com - How to Play 3 Card Poker - Rules & Strategy (Beginners)
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