There are many different names for one of the greatest games on the internet, whether you call it Three Card Poker, Tri Card Poker or simply Tri Poker, you can be sure that you are about to play one of the most exciting games ever. Even though this game started on the internet it can now be found in most land based casinos and there are many people who love this game and spend hours on end playing it. This game is basically two games in one, once you have decided to play this game and you sit down at the table you are offered two different games to play. Most of the time you are able to play either one or both games at the same time, you should know that at some casinos you are required to play both games and that other casinos will make only one an option. The two different games are called Three Card Ante/ Play and Pair Plus when you play both games at the same time players wager different amounts on each one of the games. Before you start to play this game just like any other you have to know a little bit about how the game is played, both of these two games are played with a regular 52 card deck.

Three Card Poker Hand Rankings
Straight Flush: A hand with all five cards in sequence and of the same suit
Three of a Kind: A hand with three cards of the same rank
Straight: A hand with all five cards in sequence but not all in one suit
Flush: A hand with all five cards in the same suit but not all in a sequence
Pair of Jacks or Better: A hand with two cards of the same rank

Three Card Poker Ante Payout
Straight: 1 to 1
Three of a Kind: 4 to 1 
Straight Flush: 5 to 1 

Three Card Poker Pair Plus Payout
Pair: 1 to 1
Flush: 4 to 1 
Straight: 6 to 1
Three of a Kind: 30 to 1 
Straight Flush: 40 to 1 

Three Card Poker is played by using an automatic shuffling machine, using this machine the cards are given to the dealer in groups of three. You should always know a little bit about the rules of the game before you start to play, the rules of this game are very similar to the rules of a regular stud poker game. In this game you as the player are allowed to wager against the dealer, to wager on the value of your own hand and to do both, wager against the dealer and on the value of your own hand. In Three Card Poker there are also bonus payouts that may be won for specific hands when you are betting against the dealer. A couple of things to remember before you start to play this game is that play must equal the ante and the dealer always plays with a queen high or better. When you go in and sit down at the table to play this game the first thing that you should do is look at the table in front of you, there will be three markings in front of you a circle that says Pair Plus, and diamond that says ante and a diamond in a box that says play, this is ultimately where you will be placing your bets. Now that game starts, first you will be placing your bets in the ante spot on the table, this can be any amount within table limits that will be posted on the table. All players and the dealer get three cards face down. Now that all of the players have their cards they are allowed to look at them and decide whether they want to play or not, if they fold the hand is over, however if they decide to play they should then place a bet (which has to be equal to the ante) in the play spot on the table.

After all players have decided how they want to play the game, the dealer turns over his cards, if he doesn’t have at least a queen high or better he isn’t qualified to play. If he isn’t qualified he pays all of the players still in the game even money on their ante bets and if the player happens to have a Straight or better they are paid the additional ante bonus. If the dealer does have a hand that they can play, those players who can’t beat it lose their antes and their play bets but they can still win a bonus with the ante bonus if they have a straight or better. The players who do beat the dealers hand win even money on both of their bets plus the ante bonus if they qualify. You should remember that when you are talking about the bonus bet it will vary from casino to casino, so don’t count on it being the same everywhere you go. Even though the hand ranks are laid out on the table for you when you start to play they will be told to you here so that you can be doubly aware. In the Pair Plus game a Pair pays 1 to 1, a Flush pays 4 to 1, a Straight pays 6 to 1, a Three of a Kind pays 30 to 1, and a Straight Flush pays 40 to 1. When playing the Ante game the payouts are as follows a Straight pays 1 to 1, Three of a Kind pays 4 to 1 and a Straight Flush pays out 5 to 1. When you look at this one of the first things that you will notice is that the Straight is higher ranking than the Flush, this is because there are fewer ways to make a 3 card straight than there is to make a 3 card flush. To fully understand the meaning of this payout table you have to know what all of these hands mean. A Straight Flush is a hand with all three cards in order and all of them are the same suit (the highest possible is Ace, King, Queen. A Three of a Kind is a hand with three cards of the same rank for example King, King, King. A Straight is a hand with all three cards in order but not the same suit. A Flush is a hand with all three cards in the same suit but not in numerical order. A Pair is a hand with two cards of the same numerical value.

To play this game you have to know how to play poker because this as said before is very similar to a play a stud poker. In stud poker games you play with your original cards, unlike draw where you can pick new cards. In this game the Ace plays either the high or the low card in a straight and an Ace high straight flush is the highest hand that you can get. Something that you should consider when you are playing Three Card Poker is that because there is only a couple of decisions for you to make, whether to keep playing your hand and how much to bet. This makes playing relatively easy one of the most popular strategy methods is that you should always play a queen, six, four and never play anything lower. If you are a beginner to playing poker online and in general some of the things mentioned in this article may seem like crazy to you but once you get down how to actually play the game the rest of this will fall into line. All you have to know about the basics of the game is that there are 52 cards in the deck, four different suits which are hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs. The ranking of the cards goes from highest to lowest A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, and 8,7,6,5,4,3,2. All of the cards are worth their face value except the J, Q, K, and A, the Ace can be counted as a 1 or 11, and the others are valued at 10. This little bit of information is very helpful when you are trying to decide how to play a game because if you don’t know the basics of the game none of the rules laid out for you above will make any sense.

With all of the information provided for you, there is everything you will ever need to play this game with the confidence and knowledge to win when other players aren’t sure what they are doing. One more final piece of advice that you should always follow no matter what game you are playing is money management. If you don’t practice money management you can and probably will end up losing a lot of money. One sure fire way of doing this is to set aside a certain amount of money before you start playing, this way you will know exactly how much you have played and won. When you do when money put half of it away and only replay the other half, this way you always come out ahead. Do not sit and play at a cold table, if you have been playing for a certain amount of time and you just aren’t winning, get up and walk away, go take a little break walk around for a while. You have a much better chance at winning when you are relaxed and you can’t be relaxed if you are constantly losing, the longer you sit there the more money you will lose.

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