3 Card Poker Hands Order
Three Card Poker is a casino table game based on poker.
History[edit]
- A free online version of 3 Card Poker with 6-card Bonus. Test out your 3 Card Poker strategy here. Practice for Vegas. Play Three Card Poker for Free.
- Memorise the order and please note, if you’re more used to Poker, the Run and the Flush switch places in order of ranking. Prial A prial, which is short for ‘Pair Royal’, is the highest ranking hand in the game of 3 Card.
The main difference is the order in which hands are ranked. In Three Card Brag, a three-of-a-kind is ranked higher than a straight flush. In addition to this, the highest three-of-a-kind is 3-3-3, followed by A-A-A, K-K-K, and so on. The swap in rankings lowers the house advantage on the Pairplus and ante bonus bets.
The casino variant of Three Card Poker was first created by Derek Webb in 1994 and patented in 1997.[1] Webb's goal was to create a version of poker that played with the speed of other table games. It was important to Webb that he got the correct mix of three important factors for any casino game: the game rules were easy to understand, the payouts were large enough to attract players, and the house edge was enough that casino owners would be interested in adopting the game.
Webb established a business called Prime Table Games to market the game in both the United States and United Kingdom.[2] The British Casino Association, now known as the National Casino Industry Forum (NCiF) suggested that Webb gain some experience in the US first, since the UK had regulations against such a table game and his application was not strong enough to convince regulators to make significant changes to their rules and regulations for a new game.
The first to adopt the game was Barry Morris, Vice President of Grand Casino Gulfport in Mississippi, after Webb had unsuccessful sales pitches with casino owners in Reno, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City. A key aspect of Webb's offer to Morris was to stand on the floor to train the dealers himself, as well as watch to make sure the game was being played correctly.[3] United Kingdom gambling regulations were changed to allow the introduction of Three Card Poker in 2002.
Prime Table Games continued marketing Three Card Poker until 1999, when Shuffle Master acquired the rights to the game outside the British Isles. The sale was prompted by a lawsuit filed that year in US federal court by Progressive Gaming International Corporation (PGIC), the then-owners of Caribbean stud poker, alleging patent infringement; Shuffle Master agreed to defend that litigation as part of the purchase. Subsequently in 2007, Prime Table Games showed in a countersuit that the 1999 PGIC litigation was based on invalid patent claims; PGIC settled for $20 million.[4] Further, Prime Table Games filed suit against Shuffle Master in 2008 alleging in part that Shuffle Master had undisclosed knowledge that the PGIC claims were invalid prior to the 1999 purchase; it was later settled for over $2 million.[5]
Rules[edit]
Three Card Poker is played as heads-up between the player's hand and the dealer's hand. After all ante wagers are placed, three cards are dealt to each player and the dealer. Players have a choice to either fold or continue in the game by placing a 'play' wager equal to their ante. Hands are then exposed and wagers resolved.[6]
The dealer's hand must be Queen high or better for the dealer hand to play. If the dealer does not play, then there is no action on play wagers and ante wagers are paid 1 to 1. If the dealer does play, the dealer and player hands are compared. If the player hand loses, both the ante and play wagers are lost. If the player hand wins both the ante and play wagers are paid 1 to 1. If the hands are tied, then there is no action on either wager.[6]
Additional optional bets are offered. The Pair Plus wager is a bet that the player's hand will be a pair or better. The Pair Plus wager wins if the player has at least a pair of twos. The payoff applies regardless of the dealer's hand, as the Pair Plus wager is not in competition against the dealer's hand. Some casinos also offer an Ante Bonus, which is paid on the ante wager for a straight or better. The typical Ante Bonus paytable pays 5 to 1 for a straight flush, 4 to 1 for a three of a kind, and 1 to 1 for a straight. Like the Pair Plus wager, the Ante Bonus pays regardless of whether that hand beats the dealer's hand.[6]
Hand ranks[edit]
Straight flush
Three of a kind
Straight
Flush
Pair
High card
| Hand Ranks of Three Card Poker[7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Description | Frequency | Probability |
| Straight flush | Three suited cards in sequence | 48 | 0.22% |
| Three of a kind | Three cards of same rank | 52 | 0.24% |
| Straight | Three cards in sequence | 720 | 3.26% |
| Flush | Three suited cards | 1,096 | 4.96% |
| Pair | Two cards of same rank | 3,744 | 16.94% |
| High card | None of the above | 16,440 | 74.39% |
| Total hands | - | 22,100 | - |
Probability of Queen high or better is 69.59%[citation needed]
Variations[edit]
Some venues have added a wager called Prime in United Kingdom casinos and the game is known as Prime Three Card Poker. The Prime wager is optionally placed before cards are dealt and pays on the color of the player cards. If all three cards are the same color the payoff is 3 to 1. However, when included with the dealer hand if all six cards are the same color then the payoff is increased to 4 to 1.
Another variation is 'six card bonus', in which the players are given a payout based on the best five-card poker hand that can be made using any combination of the player's three cards and the dealer's three cards. Payoff ranges from 5 to 1 for three of a kind to 1000 to 1 for royal flush. Payoffs are paid regardless of whether any other bets pay.
See also[edit]
Three Card Poker Payout
References[edit]
- ^'Three Card Poker'. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
- ^'Intellectual Property Office patent entry'. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^'3CardPoker.com'. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
- ^Stutz, Howard (November 7, 2007). 'Progressive agrees to pay $20 million to end lawsuit'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^Stutz, Howard (January 14, 2011). 'Charge hurts Shuffle Master earnings'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^ abcMatt Villano (August 27, 2014). 'Winning a 3-card poker can be tough'. SfGate.
- ^'Three Card Poker - Wizard of Odds'. wizardofodds.com. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
New players to the world of 3 Card Brag need to familiarise themselves with a few facts and figures, with Three Card Brag hand rankings being the most important of these facts. Along with the various hand rankings we have also added the odds of being dealt the various hands, figures which can make the difference between being a profitable 3 Card Brag player or one of the players who generously donates to the aforementioned profits.
Three Card Brag Winning Hands
These hand ranks are listed with the top scoring ones first, down to the lowest scoring ones at the bottom. Memorise the order and please note, if you’re more used to Poker, the Run and the Flush switch places in order of ranking.
Prial
A prial, which is short for ‘Pair Royal’, is the highest ranking hand in the game of 3 Card Brag. A prial is three cards of the same value (eg. A-A-A, K-K-K) with the most valuable prial being 3’s followed by Aces, Kings, Queens and so on. The odds of being dealt a prial of 3’s while playing 3 Card Brag are 1 in 5,525 with the odds of being dealt any other prial being 1 in 460.
Running Flush
A running flush is the second highest ranking hand in the game of 3 Card Brag, only bettered by a prial. A running flush is three cards running in sequence (eg. 4-5-6) which are also in the same suit. The highest value running flush is A-2-3 followed by A-K-Q then K-Q-J and so on. The odds of being dealt a running flush while playing 3 Card Brag are also 1 in 460.
Run
A run is simply three consecutive cards in any suit. The highest value run is A-2-3 followed by A-K-Q then K-Q-J and so on. Note that K-A-2 is not a valid run or running flush. The odds of being dealt a run while playing 3 Card Brag are 1 in 31.
Flush
A flush is three cards of the same suit of any value. If two players hold a flush the highest value card of each flush is used to determine the winner, if the highest cards have the same value then the middle card is used to determine a winner and if both of these cards are of the same value the third card of each flush is used to determine the winner of the hand (eg. K-7-4 of hearts beats K-6-5 of spades). The odds of being dealt a flush while playing 3 Card Brag are 1 in 20.
Three Card Poker Hands
Pair
A pair is made up of two equally valued cards and another card (eg. A-A-5). The highest ranking pair is Aces followed by Kings, Queens and so on. If two players show the same value pair the highest third card decides the winner (eg. A-A-5 beats K-K-Q, which beats K-K-3). The odds of being dealt a pair while playing 3 Card Brag are 1 in 6.
3 Card Poker Hands Ordering
High Card:
3 Card Poker Hands Orders
A high card hand is the lowest hand in Three Card Brag and occurs when your three cards cannot be used to make any of the above combinations. In this instance the highest value card in your hand is used (eg. Q-9-2 would be a “Queen high” hand). If two players hold the same high card the second cards and then the third cards are used to determine the winner of the hand. The odds of being dealt a high card hand while playing 3 Card Brag are 3 to 1 on.