Three Card Poker Game

Three Card Poker is a fun and exciting casino game that has become very popular in recent years as it is very easy to master, has a fast game pace, unlike other Poker games, and offers great odds. The game is played on a blackjack-style table and in online casinos a single player plays against the dealer.

The game's roots can be traced back three hundred years ago to the British game Brag and when first introduced it was often referred to Brit-Brag or Casino Brag. It was invented by Derek Webb in 1994, who obtained a patent on it in the US and Britain and subsequently sold it.

Unfortunately the game suffered from a small controversy relating to the rights to the game that resulted in a decade-long legal battle between two companies with regards to the patent rights to the game.

To play Three Card Poker players must place their bets and have a choice of two separate wagers; 'Pair Plus' and 'Ante and Play' that offer different odds. Players can play just one of the wagers or both simultaneously and increase their odds of winning.

'Pair Plus' bet is a bet a player makes wagering they will hit a pair or better and when they do they win this wager regardless of the dealer's hand. There are fixed payouts depending on the value of your hand and players will be paid according to them even if the dealer's hand trumps the player's hand.

'Ante and Play' is a wager where the player needs to beat the dealer's hand by having a higher poker hand than the dealer. This wager consists of two bets that are made by the player; first the player places an Ante within the table wagering limit and once the player gets their three cards dealt, they can opt to continue to play by placing another wager on the Play area that is equal to the amount of the wagered Ante.

When playing 'Ante and Play' the dealer needs to have Queen High hand or better in order to qualify to have a playing hand. A dealer can have a 9 High hand and the player will hit an 8 High hand but still win as the dealer's hand didn't qualify.

If the dealer's hand doesn't qualify the Ante wager is paid to the player at 1 to 1 ratio and the Play wager is Pushed.

Therefore it is advised that players use the Play bet when showing Queen, 6 and 4 or better. Choosing to go for the Play option can help a player to break even if they made a 'Pair Plus' bet but didn't hit a pair of higher.

Overall Three Card Poker offers players very low house edge of 2.71% on the 'Pair Plus' wager and 2.01% on the 'Ante and Play' wager. Players can reduce the house edge even further on 'Ante and Play' wagers by playing hands lower than Queen, 6 and 4.