A seat at the 3 Card Poker table offers two separate games to play. You are usually allowed to play either one or both games at the same time, but some casinos will require you to play both while others will make only one optionable. The two games are "Three Card Ante/Play", where you compete against the dealer, and "Pair Plus" that has different bonus payouts for 3 card poker hands of one pair or better.

Ante/Play Strategy

In Ante/Play what you need to know is how high your hand should be to produce the best possible long term results, if played. The answer to that question is Q-6-4 or higher.

High card only hands between Q64 through KQ10 are loss limit plays. These are hands with negative expectations. They will lose less if played than they will in ante forfeiture losses if they are not played.  Ace high hands and better have positive expectations. The minimum house edge for the ante/play game is 3,4% which improve your winning changes.

Pair Plus Non-Strategy & Unequal Bets Play

Since the only decision you has to make in Pair Plus is determine how much to bet so there is no optimal strategy involved here. Equal bets are expected, and always safe. You can also go for conservative bet which is two units on Ante/Play and one unit on Pair Plus, or equal bets. If you are aggressive, you may place more on Pair Plus than on Ante/Play. Many good players prefer to keep their Pair Plus to Ante Play ratio on the conservative side and try to get a little ahead before they get aggressive and load up on the Pair Plus.

3 Card Poker Probabilities

Poker Three Tips

• If you have a Queen or better, place a bet in the "Play" spot, otherwise fold.
• A dealer will qualify with a Queen on approximately 2/3 of the hands, also 4 out of every 10 "Ante" hands will win an ante bonus.