Three Card Poker
A modern casino banking game invented in 1994: players ante, look at three cards, then fold or bet against the dealer's own three-card hand, with hand rankings unique to the short deal.
Coming soon — not yet playable
Rules
Three Card Poker is a banking game — every player competes individually against the house dealer, not against each other. Each player and the dealer are dealt three cards; players' cards are dealt face down.
After looking at their three cards, each player either folds (forfeiting their ante) or places an additional "Play" bet equal to the ante to see the hand through. The dealer's hand must qualify (commonly Queen-high or better) to be compared; if the dealer doesn't qualify, the Ante pays even money and the Play bet pushes regardless of the player's hand.
Because only three cards are used, hand rankings differ from standard poker: a straight actually outranks a flush (since straights are rarer than flushes with only three cards), with the full order being straight flush, three of a kind, straight, flush, pair, high card. An optional side bet called "Pair Plus" pays out based on the player's own three-card hand strength regardless of the dealer's hand.
Historical note: Three Card Poker was invented by Derek Webb in 1994 and patented in 1997, then marketed through Prime Table Games and later Galaxy Gaming — it remains one of the most widespread modern poker-based casino table games worldwide.
Strategy notes: Because there's only one decision (fold or play), optimal strategy reduces to a simple threshold: play any hand of Queen-6-4 or better, fold anything weaker, since the qualifying-hand and payout structure bakes in the house edge regardless of finer reads.
Common house rules
Pair Plus is a separate optional bet
The Pair Plus side bet is entirely independent of the main Ante/Play bets and pays out purely on the player's own three-card hand strength, win or lose against the dealer.
Straight beats flush — don't assume standard rankings
This is the single most common point of confusion for players used to five-card poker: with only three cards, a straight is rarer than a flush, so the ranking order is inverted from what most players expect.
Dealer qualifier varies by casino
Queen-high is the most standard dealer-qualifying threshold, but confirm before playing since some casinos and home adaptations use a slightly different minimum.
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Based on shared category, origin, and rules that reference each other.
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