Three-Card Poker Guide: Learn How to Play in Less Than 5 Minutes

The Rules

You get two betting options in three-card poker:

• Ante Play – Where you play your hand against the dealer’s and attempt to make the highest-ranking poker hand.

• Pair Plus – Where you attempt to make a hand of a pair (or better). The dealer’s hand is not relevant for this type of bet.

Dealing the Cards

Three cards are dealt face-down to each player. The dealer also gets three cards. Using the ante play option, you are playing against the dealers. In this case, the other players’ cards have nothing to do with whatever outcome you get. 

Playing 

After you receive your cards, it is your turn to act. You can either choose to play your hand or discard it. If you discard your hand, the dealer will win your initial ante. If you want to keep playing, you must place a “Play” bet.  The play bet amount should match your initial ante. In live casinos, these chips usually play after a player arranges their hand in a sequence and places the cards face-down in the “play” area. You click or touch an icon to make a play bet in online casinos, and the game deducts the credits from your meter. 

Payouts

The next step involves the dealer revealing player cards along with their own. When played online, this happens automatically once all the fold or play decisions are made. The dealer then compares hands and, based on that, pays players or takes from them. The paytable for the base game is quite basic, i.e., all payouts are 1-to-1. 

          ☘️ If the dealer has a jack-high card hand (or worse), their hand cannot qualify as “played.” All players choosing to play will still win the ante bet amount but will push with their “play” bet. Therefore, they take back the chips originally bet but do not win an extra amount.
          ☘️ The player wins on the ante even if the dealer’s hand is better than the player’s hand, provided the dealer’s hand does not qualify. Simultaneously, they will “push” with their play bet and get their chips back. For instance, if the dealer has J-4-3, and the player has T-9-7 and played, the player will win their ante amount for the hand.
          ☘️ Suppose the dealer has a queen-high card hand or better. Their hand “plays” and ranks against the player’s hand. If the player’s hand ranks better, they win the amount equal to both their ante and “play” bets.
          ☘️ If the dealer’s hand wins, they collect the player’s money from these betting actions accordingly.

Strategy

The strategy for the ante part of three-card poker is straightforward. Consider folding if you have a hand lower than Q-6-4. Continue and make the play bet if your hand is higher.

To decide if your hand is better than Q-6-4, begin with your first highest hard and compare it to the queen; if it is higher, play and ignore the other two cards. If your first card is a queen and your second card is higher than 6, you still play regardless of your third card’s ranking. If it is lower than 6, do not play.