The Odds at Three Card Poker

Three card poker is a really easy game to play. You have three circles where you can place a wager. Ante up and decide whether or not to place a pairs plus bet, and then you get your three cards. If they’re good enough, double your ante and keep playing. If the dealer doesn’t get at least a queen, then you get even money on your ante and your play bet is a push. If you have a hand better than a pair and you made a pairs plus bet, you get money for that bet too. If you have one of the top three hands – a straight, three of a kind, or a straight flush, you get a bonus whether or not you made a pairs plus bet.

The odds vary wildly from casino to casino. The regular game odds are pretty straight, ranging from a house edge of 3.37% to one of 4.28%. It’s when you get to the pairs plus odds that you really hit a wide range on the house edge. The house edge can range from 2.32% to 7.28%. That means that you’ll have to know how to read a payout table to determine whether to make the pairs plus bet. If the house edge on the pairs plus bet is 2.32%, then it’s a great bet compared to a house edge of over 3%. If it’s over 7%, on the other hand, it’s a sucker’s bet.

The payout tables with the worst odds aren’t the ones with the lowest payouts on the straight flush. In fact, if the payout on the straight flush is higher than 40:1, you should be suspicious. Instead, you should look at the payout on the more common wins. Pairs always pay 1:1, but a flush should always pay 4:1. If it doesn’t, don’t bother to play the pairs plus bet. Likewise, a straight should always pay 6:1. If those two are correct, chances are that the house edge is 4.58% or less. The best pay table runs 1/4/6/30/40. Remember, though, that the flush and straight are really crucial since you’re much more likely to get one of those than a straight flush or three of a kind.

If you’re in Las Vegas and you see a payout table that isn’t good, play a different game. Remember that the only way to punish a casino for having poor payout tables on a game is to refuse to play that game. If a game doesn’t generate business