118 Gambling - 3 Card Draw

Rules of 3 Card Draw

Three card poker is relatively new to the casinos and can be played either live at the tables or with electronic video poker games. The reason for the interest in this game is because it is easy to learn, it is played quickly and you don’t need to strategize as much as you do when you play five card poker. It also can be a lot of fun to play. The patent for the game was issued on November 11th, 1997 and the inventor is listed as Webb.

Beginning the Game of 3 Card Draw

You start the game by using a standard, single, deck of 52 cards. Actually, the game of Three Card Poker is two games played in one. First you have the Play/Ante game that pits you against the dealer to see who is holding the highest hand. The other game is called Pair Plus where you make a wager on whether or not you will be dealt a hand that holds a pair or better. When you play at different casinos, you may find that you are required to make what is referred to as an ante bet if you want to bet on the Pair Plus part of the game. Most casinos allow bettors to wager on either one of the two games.

How to Play the Game

When you sit down at the casino, you will see that there are three circles in front of all players. These are the betting circles. The first betting circle is for wagering on the Pair Plus portion of the game. Under the Pair Plus circle you will see two circles that are marked Ante and Play for wagering on the root game. Players start the game by making a bet in either the Ante circle or the Pair Plus circle and it must equal what the minimum wager of the table is.

When everyone has made their wagers, the dealer will then give a hand of three cards to each of the players. This is usually done by a Shuffle Master machine when you play in the casinos. The start of play is with the person on the dealer’s left hand side and will continue around the table in a clockwise fashion.

The Ante/Play

Once a player makes a wager on the Ante, they must then decide if they are going to fold or if they will play once they have seen what is held in their hand. If a player decides to fold then he loses the Ante bet. If a player is ready to continue, they must put a wager in the Play circle that is equivalent to the bet that was made on the Ante.

When all the players have made the decision whether they want to continue, the dealer will then show his hand of three cards, to the other players. The dealer must have a hand that holds a Queen or higher in order for play to keep on. If the dealer does not have a card that is a Queen or higher, all players that stayed in the hand will get even money for the wager they made on the Ante and the bet they made on the Play gets given back to them.