Tri Card Poker Online

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Not every version of Three Card Poker online is the same. Some versions offer different payouts for the Pair Plus bet. In our example, a mini Royal Flush pays 100/1. The house edge of this variant is 4.49%. But in other online 3 Card Poker free games, the payout for a mini-Royal can be as low as 50/1. This increases the edge to 5.39%. When playing Tri Card Poker a player is offered two games independent of each other which they may opt to play. The two games referred to here are 3 Card Ante and Raise where players will compete with the dealer and Pair Plus which is a bonus game for poker hands of a pair or higher. One of our favorite places to play Tri Card Poker online is at Vegas Casino Online. Vegas Casino Online is a reputable online casino that accepts players from around the world; including USA players! At the moment, they are currently offering up to $3,000 in free Tri Card Poker bonuses to all new players who make their first deposit! A simplistic triple card game comes your way in Tri Card Poker Real Time Gaming's Tri Card Poker is intended as a fast paced version of the game of poker. With only three cards, the best a player is ever going to land is a three of a kind, although flushes and straights are also possible in this simple title. This game made it to the States as Casino Brag and Brit-Brag, but eventually evolved again into the game we now know as Three Card Poker. Playing Three Card Poker Online. Before you go ahead and register at one of our recommended casinos, you can get a taste of the game right here for free; no sign-up, registration, download or deposit is required.

Three Card Poker

Three Card Poker is one of the greatest stories of player driven success in the gaming industry. It is relatively new and is based on the centuries-old, traditional and extremely popular card game, Poker, as are other casino games like Caribbean Stud Poker and Casino Hold'em. Almost everyone has played Poker at least once in their lives, which would make themselves familiar with the ranking of various hands. Although, Three Card plays at a much faster pace, chiefly due to the time involved in shuffling and dealing which is almost instant online. Not to mention that players don't play against one another in this variant of Poker so there's no waiting, deliberating and bluffing. In fact, the simple play style and easy bankroll control mean the game has picked up quite a following and is loved by many players, whilst the relatively non-volatile house edge leads the casinos to love it just as much. As a percentage of the table games market, Three Card Poker, though it was initially hard to establish, is now amongst the most played games on any casino floor, with over 1600 casinos in the US alone offering the game. The ease of learning the game, the potential high payouts and the wide areas of accessibility have allowed this game to prove just as popular online as it is in traditional bricks and mortar casinos.

Why play Three Card Poker?

• It's fast and easy to play
• Big wins and fast gameplay
• Good odds and a non-volatile house edge

The History of Three Card Poker

Three Card Poker, sometimes known as Poker Three, Trey Poker, or Tri Card Poker, was created back in 1994 by British Poker player Derek Webb who wanted to create a game which used the excitement of Poker, but with the added speed of more traditional casino table games such as Blackjack, Craps or Roulette. The game was introduced to British casinos by Webb where it was successful. Soon after, it reached the US and eventually went around the world. Three Card Poker is the American version of the British game, Brag. This game originated over three hundred years ago from a game known as Primero, a fast-moving betting game using only three cards. As the game evolved, it became known as Post-and-Pair, as the betting rounds became the focal point of the game and wild cards called braggers were brought in, so then it changed once again to be called Brag. This game made it to the States as Casino Brag and Brit-Brag, but eventually evolved again into the game we now know as Three Card Poker.

Playing Three Card Poker Online

Before you go ahead and register at one of our recommended casinos, you can get a taste of the game right here for free; no sign-up, registration, download or deposit is required. Three Card Poker is a two-in-one game consisting of the Pair Plus game and Ante-Play game. In the former, the player is in a one on one game against the dealer to see who has the highest Poker hand, and in the latter, the player bets on whether he/she will receive a winning Poker hand of a pair or better. The house advantage of the Pair Plus game is 2.32% and if played properly, the house advantage on the Ante-Play game can be as low as 2.02%. It is played with one standard 52 card deck which is shuffled for every hand and bets are placed in two ways before the deal; first you can bet on getting a pair or better, and second, you can play an Ante bet against the dealer for the biggest hand (this isn't optional in all forms of the game, it can be compulsory in some casinos so it's worth flicking at the individual game rules for whichever vendor you're playing at). The dealer gives out three cards face down to each player, including himself, however, only he isn't allowed to look at his cards at this stage. Note that once the cards are dealt the Pair Plus game is resolved, yet, you still have the option to place a play bet on the Ante game if you feel the hand holds up, or, you can fold. If you fold, you forfeit your Ante bet. If you raise, an additional Play bet must be made, equal to the Ante. Next, the dealer's cards are revealed. In order to qualify, a Queen high or better is required. The basic strategy of the game is pretty simple, if you hold a hand of Q-6-4 or higher – play, if you hold a lower hand – fold, though some players advocate playing queen high no matter what the other cards are.

The following outcomes are possible:

• If the dealer doesn't qualify, then the player wins even money on the Ante bet and the Play bet will push.
• If the dealer qualifies, then the player's hand is compared to the dealer's hand, of which, the higher of the two hands wins. The order of Poker hands is found below.
• If the player has the higher Poker hand, then the Ante and Play will both pay even money (1:1).
• If the dealer has the higher Poker hand, then the Ante and Play will both lose.
• If both the player and dealer tie, then the Ante and Play bets will push.
• If the player made the Ante bet and has a straight or higher, then the player will receive an Ante Bonus, regardless of the value of the dealer's hand.
• The Pair Plus bet will pay entirely based on the Poker value of the player's hand, as indicated in the Pair Plus section below.

What's great about Three Card Poker is the fact that the Ante bet carries a bonus payout for certain hands which doesn't require an additional bet. This means that any player holding a straight, three of a kind, or straight flush will receive a bonus, regardless whether their hand beats the dealer or not. This will see you into some serious genuine winnings.

Free Tri Card Poker

The game is based on stud Poker, although, seeing as a hand consists of three cards, the ranking hands and the odds on those hands differ slightly. Due to this, straights are rarer than flushes and thus outrank them, whereas, this is the other way around in five-card games. Furthermore, you cannot win with a full house or four of a kind in this variant of Poker. Below is a list of all the possible winning hands and how often they may appear in a pack.

Straight Flush is a sequence of three numbers in the same suit, for example, J-10-9 all in diamonds. The total number of straight flushes in a deck of cards is 48.

Three of a Kind consists of three same value cards from different suits, for example, 5-5-5. There are 52 potential three-of-a-kinds in a deck.

Straight is made up of a sequence of numbers from different suits, for example, J-10-9. There are 720 possible straights to make.

Flush is formed using three random cards in the same suit, for example, Q-7-4 of clubs. There are 1096 flush combinations to make.

Pair is a hand consisting of two cards of the same rank, for example, 3-3-9. There are a possible 3744 pair combinations.

High Card includes one of the face cards, Ace, King, Queen or Jack, with two other random cards, for example, A-4-2.

With regards to the Pair Plus bet, the good news is that you don't need to beat the dealer to win this bet. Any hand containing a pair or higher will do the trick (that's, in fact, where it gets its name from). Make sure to check the odds as Pair Plus pay-tables vary from casino to casino.

Straight Flush pays 40 to 1. The house edge on this hand is 5.39%.

Three of a Kind pays 30 to 1 with a 7.10% house edge.

Straight pays 6 to 1 with a house edge of 7.28%.

Flush pays 3 to 1 and the house edge is 5.57%.

Pair pays 1 to 1 (even money) with a house edge of 4.58%.

Beginners' Tips

By this point, your mind should be whizzing with probabilities, odds and hand combinations! Before you immediately hit the free game on this page, you should take a look at the following advice which may help you beat the casino in this exhilarating variant of Poker!

• First of all, you should call or raise 67% of the time as winning hands occur 25.6% of the time.
• Some casinos add a hand called a mini-royal to the top of the pay-table. Mini-royals consist of A-K-Q of the same suit. Therefore, there are four mini-royals, one for each suit. Paying the mini-royals separately subtracts four combinations from the straight flush total.
• To make good gravy, you ought to be making use of the Pair Plus bet as it's good value for money with such a low house edge of 2.32% and good odds. Keep in mind that this is a bet based on pure luck as you're betting on being dealt a pair or better.
• The number of possible high card only hands is 16440.
• Be sure to have a look at the payout percentages offered by casinos as they to tend to vary from place to place.

Variations of Three Card Poker

Ultimate Three Card Poker: This version of the game also goes by the name Face Up. It has the same rules as the original game, however, with a couple of differences. First of all, the dealer only exposes one of his cards rather than all three in each head to head game. Further differences lie in the betting process. In a game of Ultimate, you need to make an extra blind wager that's the same value as your Ante. You can also make a Pair Plus bet at the same time. Furthermore, if you get a pair, you can make an additional bet triple the Ante, seeing as you can only see one of the dealer's three cards. You can double your bet on anything lower than a pair. You win the blind bet as long as your hand is higher than the dealer's and lose if your hand is lower. It's considered a push if your hand is lower than a flush. The optimal strategy in this game is to fold any hand lower than a J-7-4. Also, you shouldn't make the triple bet with less than a pair in hand.

Teen Patti: Is the Indian version of the game (also known as Teen Pathi or Flash) which took the streets of India by storm. It has some differences from the original, them being, that the ranking of a straight flush and three of a kind are interchanged, and the high card and none (or nothing hand) are joined together. The prime difference between Teen Patti and Three Card Poker is that Teen Patti is played against other players rather than the dealer. This variant of the gambling game is best played between four and seven players and includes betting and bluffing, as is the norm in classic Poker. It's not unlikely that you'll be able to find this version of the game online as it's become highly popular in Indian and other Asian regions.

Three Card 21 ‘n' Done: This is a new variation of the game that has only been introduced to Nevada casinos of late (you never know, it might be available online in the near future). The game is a combination of Blackjack and Three Card, which is guaranteed to please a broad spectrum of people. It pays well on strong hands of three cards, however, if you are dealt a not-so-strong hand of which its total value exceeds 21, you can split it into three separate hands. The game begins with each player placing two bets; one for the three-card hand and the second for the 21 bonus game. Three cards are then issued to each player. The payouts for the 21 bonus are as follows:

21 Total: 1 to 1 (even money) Caesars online gambling.

Pair: 1 to 1

Flush: 3 to 2

Straight: 2 to 1

Trips: 5 to 1

Straight Flush: 15 to 1

3 Card Royal: 50 to 1

3 Card Royal in Diamonds: 200 to 1

Playing for Real Money

Three Card Poker is available all around the globe if gambling is legal in your jurisdiction (and in many cases even when it isn't) you should be able to find somewhere to play this game. With the massive array of table games finding their way into the online casino environment, it's no surprise to see the game available at the best online casinos now also. Given that, unlike slots, table games can be broadcast, Three Card Poker can also be played at many live dealer casinos online, combining the comfort of playing from home with the real casino experience. Be sure to have a look at one of our trusted casinos listed at the top of the page, surely one of them will have the type of play you desire.

FAQ

Is there a strategy I could use to win the Ante-Play bet in Three Card Poker?

The basic strategy for the Ante-Play combination is to bet whenever you have Q-6-4 or better (although an even simpler strategy of playing Queens or higher will yield similar results). This means you should consider playing the following hands and folding all others:

• Any pair or better
• King or Ace high
• Queen high, when your second highest card is a 7 or higher
• Queen high, when your second card is a 6 and your third card is a 4 or higher

Remember that patience is a virtue, and you might have to wait for these hands to come your way, so be prepared to fold those weaker hands. This optimal strategy brings the house edge down from 7.65% to 3.37%.

Is there a progressive jackpot in Three Card Poker?

Progressive jackpots come in all shapes and sizes in this variation of Poker. Some casinos offer a small bonus on the Pair Plus wager which can pay out as much as 50 to 1 on a single suited Q-K-A. Other casinos make good use of a progressive jackpot to make the game more enticing. This is an additional 1 credit bet you can make before your hand is dealt, which you can win if your hand turns out to be a mini royal flush in spades. There is even a progressive bonus you can win if you get a three of a kind or straight flush.

The hand payouts are as follows:

3 Card Poker Online Casino

• Royal Flush in spades gets the whole progressive jackpot.
• Royal Flush in hearts, diamonds, or clubs normally gets 500 credits.
• Straight Flush normally gets 100 credits.
• Three of a Kind typically gets 50 credits.

What's great about the progressive jackpot is the Envy Bonus payoff which comes with it. When it's won, all the other players get a cut too. They receive approximately 25 credits for any royal flush and 100 credits for one landed in spades.

Back in 1994, an employee of Shuffle Master Inc. by the name of Derek Webb created a hybrid table game which incorporated elements of two of the most popular table games of all time, blackjack, and poker. The result was Three Card Poker, a game that can be found today under the Tri Card Poker title at many reputable online casinos.

Along with Tri Card Poker, which is the name used by the Aladdin's Gold and Bovada online casinos, you'll also find Webb's creation listed as 3 Card Poker, 3 Card Brag, or Poker Three. In each case, the basic game remains the same, although slight differences in payout tables and bonus bets may be included to avoid trademark infringement.

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It's clear why Tri Card Poker has become such a success story within the world of online casino gaming. The game combines the most enjoyable aspects of two classic casino games, blackjack, and poker. By pitting the player against the dealer in a situation where one basic decision governs winning or losing, Webb emulated blackjack's one on one format. But the inclusion of poker's traditional hand ranking hierarchy, along with the ability to discard and draw in an effort to improve your hand while chasing big bonus payouts, is what gives Tri Card Poker its particular gusto.

When first-timers hit the floor of a land-based casino, they are invariably drawn to the Tri Card Poker tables. And for good reason, as the game is simple to learn for anybody familiar with a deck of playing cards. When you consider the multitude of bonus payouts and progressive jackpot wagers available in Tri Card Poker, it's clear why novice gamblers are drawn to the game. And more often than not, beginner's luck makes an appearance to give the rookies their first taste of a big score, as the returns on a strong hand in Tri Card Poker can be massive when compared to the risk involved.

The online casino revolution has also brought Tri Card Poker added exposure, as the game is perfectly suited to the fast pace and individual play offered by internet-based gaming establishments. Online casino players with visions of landing a life-changing score love the game because it usually connects them to a larger progressive jackpot.

The following walkthrough is intended for players who are unfamiliar with Tri Card Poker, so the first section is intended to describe the rules, gameplay mechanics, terminology, and wagering options that make up the game. After that, you can check out a list of reputable online casinos that currently spread Tri Card Poker tables (or its similarly named offshoots), along with the major software providers powering some version of the game. Next, the strategic aspects of Tri Card Poker which can be used to increase your chances of winning while reducing the house edge will be explored.

How to Play Tri Card Poker Online

Begin with Ante

A hand of Tri Card Poker will typically begin when you place the ante bet. The ante bet can be for any amount you prefer, but for the sake of this discussion will stick to the standard $5 increment.

One thing to take note of right off of the bat is the fact that this ante bet in Tri-Card Poker is not mandatory. The vast majority of table games require players to place an ante bet in order to receive a hand, but because Tri-Card Poker offers a secondary betting option known as the Pair Plus bet (more on this to come), the ante is optional. However, mathematical analysis has demonstrated that players making the ante bet face a significantly lower house edge than Pair Plus bettors, so this walkthrough will work under the assumption that you'll be playing the ante.

Optional Bet: Pair Plus

After you ante up, you'll find a second betting circle directly nearby which will be labeled Pair Plus. This represents an optional side wager, one which entitles players to escalate payouts whenever they happen to make a hand of one pair or stronger.

You'll find additional information on the Pair Plus bet later in the walkthrough, but essentially this bet offers players a little more reward for a little more risk. The house edge you'll be up against when placing the Pair Plus bet stands at 7.2 percent, which is far higher than the 3.3 percent house edge incurred when betting the ante alone. However, as you'll soon discover, the ante bet offers predominately even money payouts, while the Pair Plus can bring players greater odds on their initial wager.

While the Pair Plus bet is rated as a losing proposition over the long run, Tri Card Poker players tend to enjoy splashing a chip or two on the side bet from time to time. So for the sake of this discussion, we'll assume that a $1 chip has been placed on the Pair Plus bet, simply to offer an explanation of the associated payouts.

Cards are Dealt

Once you have your ante and/or Pair Plus bets in place, the dealer will dole out three cards each, with your hand face up and the dealer's cards face down. You will need to determine if your hand is strong enough to win or not based on the possible rankings there are.

The objective of Tri Card Poker is to hold a stronger hand than the dealer by the time both hands are exposed. In Tri Card Poker the standard hand hierarchy used for most poker games is slightly adjusted, due to the different difficulty levels between making certain hands using three cards rather than five or seven.

Raise or Fold

When you take a look at your three-card hand, the game of Tri Card Poker truly begins. Depending on the relative strength of your holding, you can exercise one of two primary options: fold or raise. By folding, which will only occur when your three cards are ragged and unconnected, providing no hope of defeating the dealer, you will simply forfeit any bets in play.

By raising, which may also be labeled as the 'Play' bet in some online casinos, you must place an additional wager which is equal to exactly the amount of your ante bet. Remember, the ante bet is optional, so unless you have anted up, you won't have the option to raise at all, and you'll only be playing for the Pair Plus bet.

When you like the look of your three-card hand and decide to raise or play, you'll need to place another $5 into the middle. At this point, the dealer will expose their own three cards and compare the two hands to determine a winner. If the dealer produces a superior three-card hand, according to the rankings listed above, you'll lose both the ante and raise bets. If the dealer produces the exact same hand as you, ante and raise bets will simply be returned as a push. If the dealer produces an inferior hand, your payout on the ante bet and the raise bet will be even money, but only when the dealer hand qualifies.

Getting Paid

The rules of Tri Card Poker dictate that the dealer must hold a hand of queen high or better in order to qualify. Should the dealer fail to qualify, and your hand outranks theirs, the ante bet will be paid out at even money but the raise bet will be returned as a push. In instances when the dealer holds a qualifying hand of queen high or better, and you hold a better hand, the ante bet, and the raise bet will be paid out at even money.

Understanding the Hand Rankings

The hand rankings for Tri Card Poker are described below in ascending order of strength:

• Mini royal flush* A K Q of the same suit

*The mini royal flush is not available in all online casinos

Astute observers will notice that the list above is ordered differently than the poker hand rankings you might be accustomed to, and that's for good reason. In a traditional poker game, that is, one which uses five or seven-card hands flushes always outrank straights and three of a kind. However, in Tri Card Poker, a flush is actually easier to make using just three cards, while straights and three of a kind are relative rarities.

Live Three Card Poker

Broken down on a mathematical level, Tri Card Poker offers 52 available combinations by which players can make three of a kind, which is actually right up there with the straight flush (48 combinations) in terms of difficulty. The odds of landing a straight flush or three of a kind on three cards are less than 1 percent, but holding a straight (3.2 percent) or a flush (4.9 percent) occurs much more often.

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In the example described above, let's consider a hand in which you receive the A K 9. You've placed the $5 ante and then the $5 raise after looking at your cards. The dealer turns up the K Q 5, and your ace high beats their king high. In this case, the dealer has qualified, you have won, and the payout will be $5 on both the ante and the raise bets for a $10 total win.

When you have the Pair Plus bet in play, you can earn payouts on your hand even when it happens to lose against the dealer. In essence, you're simply betting that your three cards will form one pair or better, and when they do, you'll receive a payout that escalates based on the exact strength of your holding. You'll find a few slightly different versions depending on which online casino you've chosen, but the standard payouts for the Pair Plus side bet are listed below in descending order of strength:

As an example, let's consider a hand in which you receive the 9 9 9 as your three-card hand while the dealer shows down the lowly 7 3 2. With the $5 ante bet in place, along with a $5 raise bet and a $1 on the Pair Plus, here's how to calculate your winnings. First, you've earned $5 at even money on your ante bet, but the $5 raise bet will be returned as a push because the dealer's seven high doesn't qualify. Then, because you have $1 wagered on the Pair Plus, your three of a kind would return a payout of 30 to 1, or $30.

One thing to remember about the Pair Plus side bet is that the payout table shown above has been adjusted by some online casinos. The table is shown above, which follows a 1 / 4 / 6 / 30 / 40 structure, offers players a low house edge of just 2.32 percent. But many online casinos have tweaked the payout table to follow a 1 / 3 / 6 / 30 / 40 structure, effectively reducing the payout on flushes from 4 to 1 to 3 to 1. By doing so, these online casinos have increased your house edge to a much larger 7.28 percent.

A number of online casinos out there also include a Pair Plus payout of 80 to 1 for making a mini royal flush or the A K Q all in the same suit. This may seem like an added bonus for players, but in reality, the standard 1 / 3 / 6 / 25 / 40 / 80 payout structure for most mini royal Tri-Card Poker games increases the house edge to 7.73 percent.

As you can see, part of the fun found in Tri Card Poker comes from the diverse range of wagering options made available to players. Many players swear by the Pair Plus bet, despite the math which proves this to be erroneous while other players abstain from the side bet entirely. Some players enjoy skipping the ante bet and limiting their play to Pair Plus wagers. However, for the most part, you should be sticking to a standard system of betting the ante, avoiding the Pair Plus, and making the raise bet when you hold an appropriately strong hand.

One reason why players tend to prefer the ante bet, even with being optional, is that Tri-Card Poker contains an additional payout structure known as the Ante Bonus. Basically, when you make a straight or better, the Ante Bonus offers additional payouts for doing so, even when your hand happens to rank as the loser against the dealer. This bad beat insurance simply gives you another way to win even when your big hand happens to be trumped by the dealer's monster.

As always, a few different versions of the Ante Bonus pay table can be found, but the standard Ante Bonus payouts for Tri Card Poker are listed below in descending order of strength:

Should you happen to land a flush, only to watch in horror as the dealer reveals a straight flush, the Ante Bonus ensures that you'll still win $20 on your $5 ante bet at the 4 to 1 odds listed above.

Finally, many Tri-Card Poker tables will also include a separate betting area labeled 'Six Card Bonus.' As the name suggests, this bet pays out on occasions when your three cards can combine with the dealer's three cards to create strong six-card poker hands. The Six Card Bonus is widely viewed as a sucker bet because of the inordinately high house edge it carries, so this side wager should always be avoided by savvy players.

Best Casinos to Play Tri Card Poker Online

For a list of reputable online casinos currently operating worldwide which run Tri-Card Poker games, see below:

• InterCasino
• Paddy Power

Major software providers currently powering a version of Tri Card Poker within their platforms can be found below:

• Betsoft (Triple Edge Poker)
• Cryptologic
• Gamesys

Tri-Card Poker Online Strategy

Even with the wealth of betting options and payout tables described in the preceding sections, Online Tri Card Poker offers players an easily mastered strategy. Games like yggdrasil.

3 Card Poker Games Online

When playing Tri Card Poker the player will produce a winning hand 44.91 percent of deals while the dealer will turn a winner at a 55.03 percent rate, and the remaining hands will be pushed. Gambling experts have crunched the numbers, and by doing so, a basic threshold of hand strength for Tri Card Poker has been identified: Q 6 4.

In other words, whenever you hold a hand that ranks higher than Q 6 4, you should always make the raise bet. On occasions when your hand ranks lower than Q 6 4, you should always opt to fold out. The reasoning behind this strategy is that Q 6 4 represents the minimum hand strength needed to overcome the dealer's random three-card hand.

Fans of Texas Hold'em will recognize this concept, as in that game the Q 7 has been identified as the exact middle in terms of hand strength out of 169 possible non-equivalent starting hands. In other words, Q 7 will beat right around 50 percent of random hands, and it will lose to roughly 50 percent.

In order to play Tri Card Poker optimally, simply following the Q 6 4 maxim will leave you on the right side of variance over the long run. To use the system, simply judge your three cards in order of rank. If you have anything higher than a Q in your hand, it should be raised. If your hand contains no cards higher than a Q, pairs, and other pat hands aside, of course, it should be folded. For hands ranked at exactly Q high, you use the same process on your second highest card, so if it's a 7 or higher you should raise, and if it's a 5 or lower you should fold.

According to the casino game math and probability experts at Wizard of Odds, an alternative strategy employed by many Tri-Card Poker regulars is to simply follow the dealer's qualification guidelines. Using this strategy, players simply raise on all queen highs and fold all lesser hands. But mathematical analysis has shown this strategy to be a little less efficient than the strict Q 6 4 cut off.

Another key strategy tip for Tri-Card Poker involves having the discipline to avoid certain side bets. The Six Card Bonus bet should always be avoided, as it was only created to entice uninformed players while increasing the house edge. When it comes to the Pair Plus bet, this side wager should also be avoided, but if you can't resist tossing a couple of chips there every so often, just make sure that you do so sparingly, without making it a habit.