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With three card poker you are able to have a lot of fun and it is really a popular new table game. Of all the table games out there some just aren’t that much fun to play. That’s not the case with three card poker however. Like with other card games out there you will find some good paytables and some bad paytables. Being able to differentiate between the two will increase your odds of winning and make you a better player.
Pair Plus Three Card Poker
The Pair Plus bet is really easy to learn because it only takes into account the player’s hand. The order of hands and their likelihood of being made are different from five card poker, so it is important to keep that in mind.
For example, the probability of hitting a straight flush is .0021719 and there are 48 different combinations. For a 3-of-a-kind there are 52 different combinations. The odds of hitting a straight are much better and there are 720 different combinations. A flush is even more likely with 1096 combinations. When playing Pair Plus it is fair to hope for a pair because there are 3744 different combinations and much higher odds. Queen to ace high has 9720 different combinations and there are 6720 combinations for Jack high. If you are interested in doing the math you will see that all of the probabilities add up to 1 and the different combinations to 22,100. This information is illustrated in the graph below:
| Probabilities - Three Card Poker |
| Ways to draw 3 cards out of 52 = 22100 |
| Hand |
Combinations |
Percentage |
| Straight Flush |
48 |
0.22% |
| Three of a Kind |
52 |
0.24% |
| Straight |
720 |
3.26% |
| Flush |
1144 |
5.18% |
| Pair |
3744 |
16.94% |
| High Card |
9720 |
43.98% |
| NA |
6720 |
30.41% |
There are many different paytables that may be used for Pair Plus and the experts have seen many that range from a house edge as low as 2.32% to as high as 7.28%. Unfortunately, the more common payable is 7.28% so it is important to know this and keep it in mind when looking for a place to play Pair Plus. They various payoff tables are illustrated below:
Ante
The Ante bet also has different paytables that may be used. The different paytables for the ante may reach as high as 4.28% for the house edge. However, most casinos use a paytable that has a house edge of only 3.37%. This paytable pays 5-1 for a straight flush, 4-1 for a 3 of a kind and 1-1 for a straight. Any casino that pays as low as 3-1 for a straight flush or 2-1 for a 3 of a kind should be avoided. Look at the graph below and you can see how the ante bonus is paid out and when it is a good idea to play.
The best strategy to follow for the ante is to only raise with hands that are Q64 or better. Regardless of the paytable, this is the strategy to follow.
Peeking
This is not technically peeking if the dealer unintentionally flashes you the bottom card, but this happens often enough that you should always have your eyes open to see whatever becomes available. Almost all Pair Plus games are shuffled with a shuffler. When the dealer removes the cards the bottom card is frequently flashed unintentionally. This improves your odds and actually puts the hand in your advantage. In this situation, you will want to employ a different strategy because you are “in the know.” This means that if you have a Jack or lower then you should always raise. If you have a Queen then you should raise if you have Q92 or better. This is the same for Ace and King, raise with A92 or K92 respectively. If there is a face card you don’t know what is then raise with QJ5 or better. As long as you know something about the card, whether it is a face card or not, or the actual card, then you will improve your player advantage by several percentage points.
General Notes about Three Card Poker:
The house edge in Pair Plus three card poker is higher than other casino games that are more traditional. This is not uncommon however because most new games do have higher house edges. Traditional games like craps, baccarat and blackjack have better odds of winning, but sometimes you want to mix things up a little bit and Pair Plus will allow you to do that.
Basic Poker Strategy
