3 Card Poker Strategy
3 Card Poker is a casino table game where you play against the dealer with three cards. The goal is to make the best poker hand possible. Understanding the optimal strategy can help minimize the house edge.
How to Play
- Ante Bet (House Edge: 3.37%): Place your ante bet to start the hand.
- Pair Plus Bet (House Edge: 2.32%): Optional side bet on your hand only.
- Receive Cards: You and the dealer each receive three cards face down.
- View Your Cards: Look at your three cards.
- Make Decision: Either fold (lose your ante) or play (make an additional bet equal to your ante).
- Dealer Qualification: If you play, the dealer must have Queen-high or better to qualify.
- Compare Hands: If dealer qualifies, compare your hand to the dealer's hand.
Hand Rankings
| Hand | Description | Example | Pair Plus Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight Flush | Three cards of same suit in sequence | 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ | 40 to 1 |
| Three of a Kind | Three cards of same rank | K♠ K♥ K♦ | 30 to 1 |
| Straight | Three cards in sequence (A-2-3 counts) | 5♠ 6♥ 7♦ | 6 to 1 |
| Flush | Three cards of same suit | 2♠ 7♠ K♠ | 3 to 1 |
| Pair | Two cards of same rank | Q♠ Q♥ 5♦ | 1 to 1 |
| High Card | No combination | A♠ 8♥ 3♦ | Lose |
Optimal Strategy
The optimal strategy for 3 Card Poker is called the "Q-6-4" rule:
- Play if you have Queen-6-4 or better
- Fold if you have less than Queen-6-4
Play
Fold
Strategy Chart
| Your Hand | Action | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Any Pair or Better | Play | Always play pairs and better hands |
| Q-6-4 or Better | Play | High card combinations that beat dealer's average |
| Q-6-3 or Worse | Fold | Low card combinations that lose to dealer's average |
Betting Options
Standard (Ante/Play + Pair Plus) (Ante/Play: 3.37%, Pair Plus: 2.32%)
- Ante/Play: Main bet against the dealer. Best odds—use Q-6-4 strategy for optimal play.
The best strategy is to bet the minimum allowed on Ante/Play only. - Pair Plus: Side bet on your hand only. Negative expectation—should be avoided for optimal strategy.
However, if you insist on betting more than the minimum, Pair Plus has a lower house edge (2.32%) than Ante/Play (3.37%).
Ante/Play Only (House Edge: 3.37%)
- Optimal play is to only bet Ante/Play and use the Q-6-4 rule.
Pair Plus Only (House Edge: 2.32%)
- Pair Plus is a negative expectation bet and not recommended for minimizing losses.
With 6-Card Bonus (Main: 3.37%, 6-Card Bonus: 8.56%)
- 6-Card Bonus is a high house edge side bet and should be avoided for optimal play.
Key Strategy Points
- Only play Ante/Play using the Q-6-4 rule for the lowest house edge, and bet the minimum allowed.
- If you insist on betting more than the minimum, Pair Plus has a lower house edge than Ante/Play, but is still a negative expectation bet.
- All side bets (Pair Plus, 6-Card Bonus, etc.) are negative expectation and should be avoided if your goal is to minimize losses.
- The only way to eliminate the house edge is not to play.
Why This Strategy Works
The Q-6-4 rule is mathematically optimal because:
- It maximizes your expected value against the dealer's average hand
- The dealer must qualify with Queen-high or better
- Playing with Q-6-4 or better gives you a positive expected value
- Folding with worse hands minimizes your losses
This strategy minimizes the house edge to 3.37% for Ante/Play and 2.32% for Pair Plus. While this is better than many casino games, it's still a negative expectation game in the long run.