3 Card Poker, Pair Plus and Ante Play Explained
3 Card Poker is 2 different games that can be played together or separately. The first is Pair plus 3 Card Poker is played with a standard 52 card deck on a table that looks the same as a blackjack table. The table will have the rules and a payout schedule on the table for all to see. Because in this game a player only has 3 cards the hand values are not the same as in other poker games and that changes the odds of the hands. Aces can be both high and low cards. The best hand you can get in 3 Card Poker Pair Play is an Ace high straight flush.
The second game is 3 Card Poker Ante play starts when the players place their Ante on the table. The ante can be any amount within the table limit. Then a player looks at his cards and decides how good his hand is and either folds or to plays them. If the player decides to play their 3 Card Poker Ante play hand they will then put the play bet on the table. The play bet is equal to the ante bet placed at the beginning. The dealer will then turn over his cards and if he does not have a queen high or better he does not qualify for the hand and each player wins. If the dealers hand does qualify then everyone who beats the dealers hand gets paid on the anti bet and gets paid on the hand value for the play bet, and if the dealer does not qualify the bets are returned to the players.
The only decision to be made in a 3 Card Poker game is how much they should bet. At a full payout table the house advantage is less then 3.5% making it one of the best poker games to play in the casino.
if you are looking to play one or 2 rounds and win enough to retire on this may not be the game for you, but on average you should get a payout of some sort in 3 Card Poker pair play about 25% of the time. But the win/loss streaks can change quickly.