Three Card Poker: Rules, Payouts, House Edge and Origin
Summary Three Card Poker is a banking card game in which the player and the dealer each receive three cards from a single 52 card deck. It combines two independent wagers on one layout: Ante and Play, which is settled against the dealer's hand, and Pair Plus, which is settled only against a paytable. Under the reference rules below, with an Ante Bonus of 1, 4 and 5 to 1, the Ante and Play wager carries a house edge of about 3.37% per unit of ante. The Pair Plus edge depends on the paytable and ranges from 2.32% to 7.28% across the three common tables documented here. Field Value Category Poker Variants Deck One standard 52 card deck, shuffled each round Player decisions One: play or fold after seeing three cards Dealer qualifier Queen high or better Ante and Play edge, Ante Bonus 1, 4, 5 About 3.37% of the ante Pair Plus edge, 1, 4, 6, 30, 40 2.32% Last verified 7 October 2026 Rules The player places an Ante wager, a Pair Plus wager, or both. The dealer gives three cards face ...