How To Play 3 Card Poker

• To start, the player places an ante wager and/or a pair plus wager, betting that they will have a hand of at least a pair or better. 
• Three cards are then dealt face down to each player and to the dealer. You are only playing the dealer and not other players at the table. 
• The player will then look at his hand and determine to place a play wager (equal to the amount they put as the ante wager) to pit his hand against the dealer’s hand or not. Optimum strategy says the player should “play” all hands greater than Queen, Six and Four and fold all hands worse. 
• If a player folds, the hand is over and the dealer will collect the player's ante wager and pair plus wager. If the player places a play wager, the cards will be turned over to determine if the player has a better hand than the dealer. 
• If the dealer has a hand of Jack-high or worse, the play wager is returned to the player. If the dealer has a hand of Queen-high or better, both the play wager and the ante are paid out at 1 to 1 if the player has a better hand than the dealer. 
• If the dealer’s hand is superior, both the ante and play bets are collected. The pair plus bet is determined completely independent to what the dealer has. 

3 Card Poker Payouts:

Pair plus payouts:

Straight Flush                    40 to 1

Three of a Kind                  30 to 1

Straight                              6 to 1

Flush                                 3 to 1

Pair                                   1 to 1

Ante bonus payouts:

Straight Flush                    5 to 1

Three of a Kind                  4 to 1

Straight                             1 to 1