Three Card Poker also called Tricard poker is a poker-based game that has recently become somewhat popular in American casinos. It actually consists of two separate games, Pairplus and Ante and Play. The players can choose to play either or both of the games.

Pairplus

Pairplus is a simple bet on the cards with a payout for all hands of a pair or better. The payouts range from 1 to 1 for a pair to between 35 to 1 and 50 to 1 for a straight flush.

The house advantage on Pairplus, depending on the particular payout table, ranges from 2.3% to 7.3%.

Ante and Play

For Ante and Play, the player places an "ante" bet before receiving his cards. With this information, the player can fold his cards and lose the ante bet, or raise by placing out a bet of equal money to the ante bet. If he chooses to play, there are three possibilities. The first is that the dealer does not 'qualify'. To qualify, the dealer must have a hand of a Queen High or better. If the dealer does not qualify, the ante bet is paid out even money, but the play bet is simply returned. If the dealer does qualify, the player wins if his hand is of higher value than the dealer's, and gets paid out even money on both his ante and play bets. If the dealer's hand is of higher value, the dealer takes the Ante and Play bets. Rules vary on what happens when the hands are of exactly equal value: some say that the player simply gets his money back, but others say that the player is paid even money on his bet.

In addition to normal Ante and Play gameplay, there is a bonus payout on the ante bet for especially good hands. Typical payouts are 1 to 1 for a pair, 3 to 1 for three of a kind, and 5 to 1 for a straight flush. These bonus payouts are paid only on the ante bet for any player who chooses to play, regardless of whether the dealer qualifies or whether the player wins or loses.