Three Card Poker by the Wizard of Odds

The Wizard of Odds teaches Three Card Poker. For more about Three Card Poker, please visit my site at wizardofodds.com.

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hi I'm Mike shackelford with The Wizard
of odds website and you are going to
learn about three card poker
i'm joined by Angela Wyman my student
and limone who is a real three card
poker dealer here in Las Vegas three
card poker is one of the most successful
new arm games in the casino it was it's
been a big financial success it's been
around for a long time it's made it all
over the world and i'm going to teach
you the rules of the game and how to
play it according to proper strategy
ready ready let's just jump right in
with some hands
the deal is going to start by giving us
each three cards
Angela let's see what you got
you have a king hi I'm going to explain
the strategy in a minute but take it on
faith for now that the odds favor
raising your choices are either to raise
or fold
so you want to make a raise exactly
equal to your auntie bet and just put it
behind it
i have a ten hi this is a lousy hand the
odds favor folding now the dealer is
going to turn over her hand and she
needs a queen high to qualify the dealer
has does qualify now it's the highest
hand wins now
it was close but the dealer wins it goes
to the the five kickers boots you
so you lost that one but let's try again
ok let's see what you got Angela and
King hi again
so make a raised again i have also a
king high so i'm going to raise
now it's up to limone now limone the
dealer needs at least a queen-high to
qualify because she doesn't qualify arm
we're going to win our anti bet and the
race is going to push
ok hey the ante
push push the Rays
let's try another one
no may I touch my cards as soon as she
puts them down or do I have to wait
until hers are dealt you should wait
until she's done because in a real
casino
they'll bite your head off if you look
at your cards too early ok so until
she's done now head fighting
all right so you have an ace high
this of the odds favor raising and i'll
use this opportunity to tell you exactly
what the strategy is you want to raise
if you have a queen 64 hand or better
this is obviously better ace high is
better than a queen-high so you make the
raised bed
ok I have eight hi this is awful
strategy called this is awful
ok much like the last hand the dealer
does not qualify so you win even money
on the ante and the raises a push
great
ok let's see what you got nice and
straight
ok so let's take this opportunity to
review the hand order in three card
poker which is different than
conventional poker
it starts with just on three
singletons like King high is high then a
pair then a flush demonstrate then a
three of a kind and then a straight
flush
now notice that a straight beats a flush
of in with three cards it's tougher to
get a straight flush therefore the
straight outranks the flush you have a
straight
obviously you're going to raise that and
let's see what i have i have a flash
almost a straight flush that's also
definitely raised worthy the dealer
qualifies with a pair but we both win
now this is another good opportunity to
explain the anti bonus
in addition to winning the ante and the
Rays if you have a straight or better
you also get a bonus and for this bonus
you don't even need to beat the dealer
the bonus for a straight is 1 times your
aunt about the same amount for three of
a kind
it's four times your auntie bet and for
a straight flush
it's five times you're into bed and I
didn't have to do anything additional to
get that right you didn't even have to
beat the dealer and that's by the way
that's a frequently made dealer error is
if you have say a straight and lose lots
of times a dealer world are incorrectly
take all your money
you should still lose the ante on the
raise but you still get the anti bonus
so keep an eye out for to make sure the
dealer's play that correct left and its
trying to hand it heads up
all right let's see what you got
nothing I don't have at least a clean 64
right so you fold
I've got a pair of nines any pair is
raised worthy
my my pair of beats the dealer's pair so
i win
ok let's get another hand all right
let's do it
ok let's see what you got
oh wow three of a kind of nice
what's the pair plus now i have to
respectfully disagree with the dealer
here but the pair plus is a side bet
that paid that would have paid thirty to
one arm on a three of a kind
how'd you make the pair plus bed it may
sound like a lot but you don't see a
three of a kind very often
on average with the usual pay table that
goes 1 3 6 30 40 the house advantage on
the pair plus bet is seven point two
eight percent that's a lot more than the
base game
so repeat after me side side that's that
are always always sucker sucker that sad
so that's why you didn't make it I
guarantee you in the situation in a real
casino because the dealer is going to
lecture you for not making that bet but
the dealer's wrong
if you want to lose less avoid the side
that's ok so just so you obviously raise
that
let's see what I got I got a pair of
aces that's definitely raised worthy
ok so I lose and let's make sure the
dealer pays you correctly
three of a kind
ride again the anti bonus pays based
just on the value of your own hand you
don't need to beat the dealer pays hot
one x exactly the ante bet on a straight
four times for a three of a kind and
five times for a straight flush
ok got it I got it I like that one ok
let's see what you got
wow the wheel your hot tonight
ok definitely make that raised but for
sure
huh what do you know this is the lowest
hand that you should raise and remember
Queen 64 or higher
you raise oh what a bad beat the dealer
has a higher straight but you're still
going to win something
tree get it straight
you lose the original bit and this one
but you eat the ante bonus correct
so again I always watch for that if you
have a straighter better even if the
dealer beats you you still get that anti
bonus
ok ok let's see what you got
what are you going to do with that I'm
going to fold it because its Queen 63 do
I needed to be Queen 64 right
that is the best hand that you would
fold on now I have a little confession
to make
I have a king-high here and normally the
strategy would say to raise but when
limone was dealing the cards
she showed me that one of her cards an
Ace therefore i know that i'm going to
lose
so why throw money away on a raise when
I know I'm going to lose
so I'm going to deviate from basic
strategy and throw away a sure loser and
let's see if I was right
there's that ace so once in a while
you'll get a dealer that when she deals
herself her own hand exposes her bottom
card
that's what's known amongst professional
gamblers as a flashing dealer and if you
have a dealer that exposes one of her
cards then you follow a different
strategy
that's available on my website I won't
muddy the waters by explaining it now
but if you get a dealer that
consistently exposes one of her cards
and you follow the flashing the other
strategy
the player will have a 3.48 percent
advantage
all that from just a little bit of a
flap yes assuming that it doesn't arm
bother you
ethically to use that information and it
doesn't bother me
doesn't bother me at all ok do you have
any questions about three card poker
Angela
well are there any side bets associated
with it and if so do they follow your
usual thoughts on that
yes they do limone already reprimanded
you earlier incorrectly for not making
the pair plus bet since that is optional
I consider that a side bet and not a
essential component of the game
so always say no to the pair plus bet
and the game maker has been adding a lot
of other side bets to the game
progressive ones and ones based on all
the players cards combined with the
dealers cards it doesn't matter what
they're doing
always say notice i'd better than any
game i always say now
yes always see know any other questions
Angela I definitely
so if we go out to the real casino and I
play your strategy
what are my ads on this game oh I forgot
to tell you before the house advantage
in this game is 3.3 seven percent
meaning that for every dollar you bet on
the anti you can expect to lose 3.37
sense now
the element of risk which is how much
you can expect to lose
compared to the ante and the possible
raise bet is to point zero one % - % is
not bad for a for a new game
name however you could do a lot better
in the traditional games of like
blackjack and craps if you play them
correctly
let's summarize what we've learned about
three card poker the correct strategy
and three card poker is really simple
raised with Queen 64 or better and avoid
the side bets
that's all you really need to know but
there's a whole host of other
information about three card poker
including all the side bets and variance
of the anti bonus pay table on my
website wizard of odds
ods . com