Table Games Three Card Poker

Does anyone play this game? I was thinking of tying it weekend after next and searching for a proper strategy. From what I have read, it sounds simple enough but pay tables may vary by casino. Any words of advice appreciated.

 

Proper strategy is to play every hand blind.


Kidding...though, there are plenty of people who play it this way. Check out wizardofodds.com for info and strategy. I very rarely play 3 card, so don't remember the minimum holding to play (10-8-6?).

 

i feel like "full pay" 3CP is near impossible to find at this point. or am i wrong? i haven't touched that game in years. my buddy would have good luck with it. i never did.

 

The minimum hand to play is Queen, 6, 4.
Pay tables are all over the place.
The best has a house advantage of only 2 1/2 to 3 percent. w
The worst go up to 7 percent.
I occasionally play it if I'm getting killed at Craps, my main game.
It's fun, and once in a while you hit a nice one.
The six card bonus bet is where you can score a big multiplier on premium hands.

 

Thanks all. I will look up the 6 card bonus and scout out the pay tables at three or more casinos before I sit down.

 

Ms. Gecko and I often play three-card, though it's more a diversion from BJ than anything else. As with most "sucker" side bets, we play 'em, since it hurts more to lose out on a big payoff if not betting, than the side bets cost. It's hard to remember they're sucker bets when you get a straight flush! There are several good practice games on-line, though practicing three-card is pretty much like practicing playing slot machines!

We find it particularly interesting how many folks bet Ante, Play, and Raise right off the top and don't even look at their cards

 

Just like with slot machines, the valuable lesson from practicing online is how quickly you can blow through your bankroll if you're not hitting any bonuses.

 

I used to play quite a bit before I became a UTH junkie.

I have a strange way of playing, which is based on a Q-8 minimum hand. (PS - when I play these days, it's $5 a spot).

1. I look at one card at a time. If I see an Ace, King or Queen on the first card, I play the remaining two cards blind.
2. If I see an Ace or King on card #2, I play the third card blind. If card #2 is a queen, the 'Q-8' rule applies.
3. If the first two cards reach for a straight flush (eg - 6-8 of hearts), or reach for a plain straight on both sides (eg - 7-8 rainbow) regardless of rank, I play the third card blind.
4. Any pair on the first two cards, I play the third card blind.

Now - I realize that all of these plays (except for # 3) are just adrenaline add-ons to otherwise sound strategy.
I like having 'mystery cards' in play...nothing better than getting that surprise third card to hit a bonus pay-out.

As for #3? Here's the way I look at it - 1/3 of the time, the dealer will not qualify, so I push if I have crap. In the case of the SF play, I can have a flush, I ca have a straight, I can have a SF, I can have a pair, and I can have an Ace, King or Queen in hole. Using my 6-8 hearts example above, let's count these possibilities: 6 cards pair me up. 1 card gives me a SF. 10 more hearts give me a flush. 3 sevens give me a straight. There are 12 Aces, Kings & Queens. Add those all up? There are 32/52 cards that my third card can be which would be a proper strategy 'stay-in' hand. 61.5%. Now, 1/3 of those 61.5%, the dealer doesn't qualify, but it doesn't matter, because I would have played those hands in any event. But additionally, the remaining 38.5% of hands, the dealer will not qualify for 1/3 of THOSE...or, 12.8%.
Add those up? 61.5+12.8 = 74.3% win, push or would have played anyway, with 25.7% losers.
Folding saves you 1 unit, but loses 2 units 100% of the time, for a 66.7% loss-rate. Apply that 1/3 'no-dealer-qualify' to your fold hands and you get a 22.2% loss rate (in terms of dollars)
25.7% chance of losing $15 versus a 33.3% chance of losing $10...that's close enough for me to be worth the added fun of playing that third card blind.

Let's say those #3 events occur 10 times. If you fold the 38.5 hands, you lose $385. Playing loses you 25.7 of the hands x $15, for a loss of $385.50. Virtually identical. Not folding is WAY more fun though!

PS - the math for the rainbow straight play is close. 8 cards fill the straight, 6 cards pair me & there are 12 A-K-Qs. 26/52, or 50% plus the 12.8% net 'no-dealer-qualify' hands.
72.8% win, push, or would have played anyway... 27.2% losers that I would have folded if I had looked at the third card. Folding, I lose $385. Playing I lose $408. Not as good as the SF play, but still not too bad.

 

90% of the fun for me is playing like topcard and having mystery hands. I love knowing I have a pair and calling for three of a kind when the dealer turns over my cards. Some MGM places have started to deal this game face up which takes all the fun out of it

 

i have done the blind card in the hole bit when playing, and other times i use players on the table to help me. let's say i have a 6-8 of hearts. i hold the last card up for another player to see and ask if i have a 7. i don't ask the suit, just for the 7. occasionally they say yes. so then i put it back down, without looking, and hope for the straight flush. if they say no, then i end up looking at the card to make my decision.

 

Actually that's the high card flush strategy. 3CP strategy is to play Q64 or higher as mentioned earlier.

 

I play blind most of the time. A fun dealer will squeeze the cards out real slow.

 

if and when i sit down to that game i just bet the pairs plus... and like you said, play blind...
sort of like playing a slut machine...bet and see what happens

 

Lol...that must be why 10-8-6 was stuck in my mind...HCF has been my latest carnival vice. I finally learned to get up and run after a solid win streak in that game, back in January. Now, if I can only learn to unglue my skinny ass at the Crazy4 and UTH tables, after a solid hot streak.

 

I hit a straight flush a couple of weeks ago at a local casino. I just shrugged it off. I joined a full table, within an hour it was just me and one other. The others were getting hammered on their sucker bets. Yeah it stings to miss it like I did but I get over things like that quickly.

 

With the house edge of a slut machine to boot! I miss the days of 1-4-6-30-40. Back then the pair plus was actually better than the ante/play game!

 

Love the game. Love to play mystery cards also. Hopefully, it will love me this summer.

 

If I could just "shrug it off" I'd never make another sucker bet! With me, it's more a personality thing than math and probability, even if I do fall into the casino's trap.

Hell, it still pains me to recall the time in Tunica I got three suited 7's (shoe game, obviously), without placing $1 on the Super 7's side bet. And that was nearly 20 years ago! Now, every time I get three 7's, I have a flashback. The dealer got wide-eyed and called everyone else over to see it, as no one ever had before. The other "psychics" at the table all remarked, "What? You didn't bet a dollar to win $5,000!" I had never made a side bet before that day, and seldom miss doing so now. Winning the $1000 on Lucky Ladies didn't hurt either!

Yeah, the odds are lousy, but like I said, we don't shrug – we internalize, dwell, and suffer!

 

There are some interesting ways to play this carnival game and I like some of the ideas posed here. Will give it a shot next weekend. Thanks all.

 

The last time I played 3CP was at Barona, which has the favorable PP payscale (6/4 IIRC) and I got my ass kicked, lol.
Also, I always play 3CP the same way as TopCard...squeeze each card..see an Ace or King first, no need to look at the others.

Also, I SELDOM play this game..but played in it December with Aaron5, and like my third hand, I hit trip 10's, haha...I felt bad, because I had just sat down to kill time with him (he was playing $25-$100 per spot).