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Three Card Poker Review
Traditional poker games and tournaments can quickly get a bit slow and boring. You can’t play on multiple tables at the same time and unless you’re still a rookie, you won’t play more than a quarter of the hands you’re dealt.
Without taking anything away from brick-and-mortar casino poker, it’s only normal to crave a bit of pace when you’re playing the game.
Evolution Gaming’s Three Card Poker mashes together elements from land-based casino table games and live casino games to create something that every poker fan can enjoy.
Even if you’re not a huge poker fan yet, our review may yet convince you to give Three Card Poker from Evolution Gaming a try.
Where to play Three Card Poker?
There are virtually hundreds of Canadian online casinos where you can sign up and play Three Card Poker today. Picking the best place is, however, no easy task.
There are numerous variables to consider to be sure that your gaming will be enjoyable, your deposits safe, and your payouts expeditiously paid out in full.
Some of the things to consider include the casino’s license and brand reputation, selection of games and banking options.
You may also want to find out if there are a lot of recent complaints about the online casino or not.
Website design, mobile compatibility, customer support, video stream quality, and more factors can also help you make your pick.
If you don’t want to go through such a tedious process, then we’ve recommended some of the best Canadian online casinos.
How to Play Three Card Poker?
In the true spirit of brick-and-mortar casino gaming, players must take their seat at the Three Card Poker table for the game to begin.
Like all other poker games, the objective of Three Card Poker is to make a better hand than your opponents. It’s up to you to decide if your cards stand a chance to provide you with massive wins or not.
Three Card Poker is played using one 52-card deck. The deck is shuffled once each round is completed.
To begin the game, a player should choose a bet size by adding chips to the Ante bet. You can also make an optional Pair Plus or 6-Card Bonus side bet.
After placing your bet, both you and the live dealer receive three cards, all of which are dealt facing down. Both sides aren’t able to discard or receive any more cards.
You have to decide whether your hand could be strong enough to beat that of the dealer as it is. You then choose to either Fold and surrender your Ante bet or make a Play bet and Call.
The tricky part is that all this while, the dealer’s hand is face down so you don’t know what you’re up against.
If you make a Play bet, you must match your initial Ante bet. For example, if you’d bet $10, you add another $10 and have $20 total in play.
The dealer then reveals their cards and both hands are compared to see which one is stronger.
At this point in the game, there are three possible outcomes. For the dealer to qualify, they need at least a Q high hand.
If they don’t qualify, you’ll get an evens payout on your Ante bet but get only the original Raise bet back.
Using our previous example, if the dealer doesn’t qualify, you receive a $20 return on your Ante bet and $10 for your Raise—$30 in total.
If the dealer qualifies but has a weaker hand than yours, you’ll win and get paid on both bets, which makes a $40 total return.
Depending on the hand that you’d have made, it’s even possible to get a higher payout. And if the dealer qualifies and gets a better hand than yours?
Pretty simple—you lose both your Ante and Raise bet. Also, if you make a Pair Plus bet and get anything less than a pair, you lose that bet as well.
Three Card Poker features & betting options
One of the best things about Three Card Poker is that any player can quickly learn the game and start playing optimally.
The hands in this game are all based on traditional poker, but as only 3 cards are dealt, you only have 6 simplified hand types.
If you’ve played or read about standard poker hands before, then Three Card Poker hands aren’t too difficult to grasp.
There’s, however, one significant change to take note of—because getting a Flush is easier than getting Three of a Kind in Three Card Poker, a Flush is lower-ranked.
The cards are ranked as follows, from the weakest to the strongest:
- High card
- Pair
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a kind
- Straight Flush
- Mini Royal (A, K, Q with same suite)
As you’d be playing with only three cards, you can’t get Four of a Kind. There’s also no Full House equivalent.
Players can, however, place a 6-Card Bonus bet by combining their own three cards with the live dealer’s three cards.
If you’ve played any Evolution Gaming live dealer games before, then you should be familiar with their classy, golden studio backgrounds and user-friendly interface.
Voices and sounds from other ongoing games are audible enough to lend a land-based casino feel without interfering with your gameplay.
The simple layout makes it easy to locate various game controls, adjust video quality, turn the volume up and down, play at an additional table at the same time, and open game rules.
Evolution Gaming made sure that players wouldn’t find anything missing or wish for some features to be different.
Three Card Poker RTP, volatility, minimum stake & maximum stake
How does Three Card Poker compare to other poker variants in terms of house advantage?
The average house edge on the Ante bet is 3.37%, you get 4.49% on the Pair Plus bet, and 8.56% for the 6-Card Bonus bet. The maximum payout this casino game is 1,000:1.
Compared to other casino games like blackjack and even double-zero roulette, the Three Card Poker house edge is way less competitive.
Even compared to other poker variants like Pai Gow, 3.37% is a high number. From an RTP point of view, Three Card Poker isn’t a favourable game for the player.
However, due to its simple rules and quick, exciting gameplay, players absolutely love the game.
The Ante bet paouts are as following:
- Mini Royal – 5:1
- Straight Flush – 5:1
- Three of a Kind – 4:1
- Straight – 1:1
When it comes to the Pairs Plus bonus bet you can win the following:
- Mini Royal – 100:1
- Straight Flush – 40:1
- Three of a Kind – 30:1
- Straight – 5:1
- Flush – 4:1
- Pair – 1:1
The 6 Card Bonus has the highest possible win:
- Royal Flush – 1000:1
- Straight Flush – 200:1
- Four of a Kind – 100:1
- Full House – 20:1
- Flush – 15:1
- Straight – 10:1
- Three of a Kind 7:1
These are the standard payouts, but different online gambling sites may alter them slightly.
Three Card Poker hints and tips
There isn’t much room for strategy when you’re playing Three Card Poker.
Your only choices are to Raise, Fold, and play the Pairs Plus bet. Having said that, there are a few decisions that may enhance your play and reduce the house edge.
You should always raise if you have a Q-6-4 or better hand. For everything else, it’s a good idea to fold. Using this strategy reduces the house advantage to around 3.37%, depending on where you play.
If you’re not using this strategy, the house advantage is a whopping 7.5%. For the Pair Plus and 6-Card Bonus bets, there are no strategies, so if you’re worried about your bankroll, you’re better off sticking to your Ante bet only.
Final Thoughts
Three Card Poker is based on traditional poker rules, but is much quicker and ranks hands in a slightly different way.
As can be expected from Evolution Gaming, the game is streamed in glorious HD format and set in a studio that superbly replicates and feels like you’re inside a real casino.
Players can place the main Ante and Play bet, as well as a side Pairs Plus or 6-Card Bonus bet. You're required to make a decision for each round, so Three Card Poker also has an aspect of strategy.
The game is easy to learn, so once you can play decent hands, you can reduce the house edge to around 3%.
When you consider that you can play Three Card Poker for free before you dive into a real money casino, it's easy to see why the game is so popular.
