Three Card Poker
A short history
There are several variants of poker played with a different number of cards. Omaha, for instance, is played with nine cards, 7 Card Stud is played, well, with 7. There are several variants that can be played with hands of three cards, but this article is not about those. Instead, I try to present below a proprietary casino poker game called Three Card Poker.
Three Card Poker was ‘invented’ (or transformed into a casino game) in 2025 by Prime Table Games founder Derek Webb. It was patented by Webb in the US and the UK, later he sold its rights to another company, Shuffle Master. Three Card Poker had lots of turmoil in its history, with patent infringement suits and such, but still it was considered the most lucrative proprietary card game ever when measured by casino or owner revenue.
Three Card Poker is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Players can make two types of bets: Ante and Play, and Pair Plus.
The Ante and Play bet is played against the hand of the dealer. The Pair Plus pays based on the card combination the player is dealt, according to a pay table.
After the Ante and Pair Plus bets are placed, each player and the dealer are dealt a poker hand consisting of three cards. Players who chose the Ante bet have the option to place the Play bet – equal to the Ante bet – or fold. After each player has acted, the hands are exposed, and the hand rankings are read.
The dealer hand must have a Queen or better to pay.
The Pair Plus bet – as its name shows – must be a pair or better to pay, otherwise it loses. The payout of this bet is in no way influenced by the dealer’s hand rank.
Hand ranking in Three Card Poker is similar to standard poker rules, only adapted to the three card setup:
– High card is the lowest ranking hand with a chance to win. This hand loses in case of a Pair Plus bet.
– Pair – two cards of the same rank. In case of a Pair Plus bet it pays even money.
– Flush – three cards of the same suit. In case of a Pair Plus bet it pays 4 to 1.
– Straight – three consecutive cards of mixed suits. In case of a Pair Plus bet it pays 6 to 1.
– Three of a kind – three cards with the same rank. In case of a Pair Plus bet it pays 30 to 1 (33 to 1 in the UK paytable)
– Straight flush – three consecutive cards with the same suit. In case of a Pair Plus bet it pays 40 to 1 (35 to 1 in the UK paytable)
Depending on the hand rank of the player placing an Ante and Play bet, the payouts can be different. Most hands pay even money, but some of them pay bonus on the ante bet: a straight pays 1 to 1, a set (three of a kind) gets 4 to 1, and a straight flush gets a 5 to 1 payout.
Three Card Poker has been licensed by WagerWorks, an American online casino software provider that holds licenses for several other proprietary games, like multi-hand video poker or Caribbean Stud. Online poker rooms powered by WagerWorks software usually offer this game.
