Three Card Poker rules fit on a single screen: you and the dealer are each dealt three cards, and you choose whether to throw your hand away or back it with a second bet the size of your ante. The dealer’s hand has to reach queen-high to count, and when it does the stronger three cards take the round. With only three cards in play, straights outrank flushes, the opposite of what five-card poker teaches. This page walks through the sequence of a round, lists the six hands, explains how two hands are compared, sets out the dealer’s minimum and the ante bonus, and prices the optional Pair Plus bet before five worked rounds at the end.
Key Takeaways: Three Card Poker Rules
- Core Decision: After posting an ante and receiving three cards, players make one choice: fold to forfeit the ante, or match it with an equal play bet to face the dealer.
- Hand Hierarchy: With only three cards, flushes are mathematically more common than straights (4.96% vs 3.26%), making a straight rank higher than a flush.
- Dealer Qualification: The dealer needs queen-high or better to qualify; if the dealer misses (30.41% of rounds), the ante pays 1 to 1 and the play bet pushes.
- Pair Plus Wager: Evaluates only player cards for a pair or better (25.61% chance); paytable variations change the house edge significantly from 2.32% to 7.28%.
One Decision per Round
Before any card is dealt you post an ante, and an optional side wager can go down next to it. After you look at your three cards there is exactly one decision to make: fold and give up the ante, or add a play bet equal to it. The dealer never chooses anything, and the game has no draw, no raise and no second chance.
| Stage | What you do | What the dealer does |
| Before the deal | Post the ante, plus the side wager if you want it | Nothing |
| After the deal | Look at your cards, then fold or play | Keeps three cards face down |
| Showdown | Nothing more | Turns the cards over for the comparison |
Ranking Three Cards
Only six hands can be made from three cards. The table runs from strongest to weakest and shows how many of the 22,100 possible deals produce each one.
| Hand | Sample cards | Deals that make it | Probability | Frequency |
| Straight flush | 6s 5s 4s | 48 | 0.217% | 1 in 460 |
| Three of a kind | 9c 9d 9h | 52 | 0.235% | 1 in 425 |
| Straight | Ts 9d 8c | 720 | 3.26% | 1 in 30.7 |
| Flush | Kh 7h 2h | 1,096 | 4.96% | 1 in 20.2 |
| Pair | 4c 4s Qh | 3,744 | 16.94% | 1 in 5.90 |
| High card | Kd 8h 3c | 16,440 | 74.39% | 1 in 1.34 |
Flushes are more frequent than straights, with 4.96% of deals against 3.26%, and that is why the straight ranks higher. An ace may sit at either end of a straight, which makes A-2-3 the lowest and Q-K-A the highest.
Deciding Which Hand Is Higher
A better kind of hand always wins. Within one kind, the highest card decides first, then the second, then the third, and suits never separate cards of equal rank.
| Your cards | Dealer’s cards | Winner | Reason |
| K-8-5 | K-8-6 | Dealer | The top two cards match, and the 6 outranks the 5 |
| K-3-2 | Q-J-8 | You | A king at the top beats a queen |
| 7-7-K | 7-7-9 | You | The pairs are level, so the odd card settles it |
| 5-5-2 | 4-5-6 in mixed suits | Dealer | A straight outranks a pair |
| 9-8-2 in hearts | 9-8-2 in spades | Neither | Equal ranks tie, whatever the suits |
What Happens When the Dealer Misses
A dealer hand must reach queen-high to count. Any pair or better qualifies by itself, and a hand with no pair needs a queen, king or ace as its top card. Jack-high and everything below it fails the test, which happens in 6,720 of the 22,100 possible deals, or 30.41% of rounds.
- Dealer misses: the ante wins even money while the play bet is handed back, even if the dealer’s cards beat yours.
- Dealer qualifies and you are higher: both bets win 1 to 1.
- Dealer qualifies and the hands are level: both bets come back to you.
- Dealer qualifies and is higher: both bets are lost.
Once the dealer misses, the comparison between the hands stops mattering for these two bets.
The Ante Bonus
Apart from the main contest, a strong hand collects a bonus on the ante. The bonus ignores the dealer’s cards, and you must have played the hand to receive it, since a fold gives up the ante. So a straight that loses to a dealer holding trips still collects the bonus.
The paytable on this page gives 5 to 1 for a straight flush, 4 to 1 for three of a kind and 1 to 1 for a straight. Other versions use larger or smaller figures, so the paytable shown in the game is the one to read before you play.
Pair Plus as a Side Wager
This wager goes down before the deal, and it asks one thing of your own three cards: do they make a pair or better? Neither the dealer nor the qualifier has any effect on it. The table lists each hand with its frequency and the payout under two common paytables, which are called Table A and Table B for the purposes of this page.
| Three-card hand | Deals | Probability | Paytable A | Paytable B |
| Straight flush | 48 | 0.217% | 40-1 | 40-1 |
| Three of a kind | 52 | 0.235% | 30-1 | 30-1 |
| Straight | 720 | 3.26% | 6-1 | 6-1 |
| Flush | 1,096 | 4.96% | 4-1 | 3-1 |
| Pair | 3,744 | 16.94% | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Any other hand | 16,440 | 74.39% | No payout | No payout |
A pair or better turns up in 25.61% of deals, meaning 5,660 out of 22,100, so about three Pair Plus bets in four lose. The tables differ in only one row. Table A pays a flush 4 to 1, whereas Table B pays 3 to 1, and the house edge climbs from 2.32% to 7.28% because of that. Game screens can show either one, so confirm which table applies.
Exercises: Five Rounds Worked in Chips
Each round has a 10-chip ante and a 10-chip play bet unless the question adds a bet. Decide whether the dealer qualifies, which side is higher and how many chips change hands.
❓ Practice: Work Out Each Round
Your cards: 7c 5d 2h. Dealer’s cards: Jd 8h 6s. Bets: 10-chip ante and 10-chip play bet. What does the round net?
Your cards: Th 9d 8c. Dealer’s cards: 5s 5d 5c. Bets: 10-chip ante and 10-chip play bet. What does the round net?
Your cards: Ad 9d 4d. Dealer’s cards: Tc 9h 8s. Bets: 10-chip ante and 10-chip play bet. What does the round net?
Your cards: Ad 9c 4h. Dealer’s cards: Qd 6s 2c. Bets: 10-chip ante, 10-chip play bet and a 5-chip Pair Plus bet on Table A. What does the round net?
Your cards: Kh Qd 6c. Dealer’s cards: Ks Qc 6s. Bets: 10-chip ante and 10-chip play bet. What does the round net?
More Guides in the Series
Among the dealer games of the online poker series, this is the shortest, so it shows clearly how a minimum hand and a side wager sit beside the main bet. These guides can come next:
- Casino poker games: the five dealer games placed side by side.
- Ultimate Texas Hold’em rules: seven cards with a blind and a raise that grows when made early.
- Caribbean Stud Poker rules: five cards each and a higher dealer minimum.
- Casino Hold’em rules: Hold’em against the dealer with a single call.
- Poker hand rankings: the full order that this game trims down.
Limits Before the Next Round
Rounds of Three Card Poker pass in seconds, so chips leave the stack faster than the clock suggests. Every wager here carries a house edge, the side wager included, and repeating a bet never shrinks it. Choose a spending limit and a finishing time before the first ante, and treat both as final. In British Columbia, Gambling Support BC answers at 1-888-795-6111 at any hour, and our responsible gambling page covers more tools and support services.
❓ Three Card Poker Questions: Frequently Asked Questions
In what order do the hands rank?
What does the dealer need to qualify?
Does Pair Plus care about the dealer’s cards?
When does the ante bonus pay?
Author:
Lucas Portela
Owner, BoldGambler • Avanhandava/SP
Oddsmaker, affiliate and content creator in the iGaming industry.