Poker Strategy #3

When it comes to new casino games, Caribbean Stud and Let It Ride have become the standards against which all are measured.

Against those standards, Three Card Poker measures up pretty well.

Take Three Card Poker's play against the dealer, which is similar to Caribbean Stud. In Three Card Poker, a basic strategy player forfeits his ante about 30.4 percent of the time, much less than the 46 percent of antes the player forfeits in Caribbean Stud. In Caribbean Stud, the house edge is 5.22 percent of the ante, or about 2.8 percent of total action given optimal strategy. In Three Card Poker play against the dealer, it's 2.14 percent.

Or take Pair Plus, Three Card Poker's other betting option, which is similar to Let It Ride. In Let It Ride, fewer than 24 percent of all hands are winners, and the house edge is about 3 percent. In Pair Plus, the player wins nearly 26 percent of hands, and the house edge is 2.3 percent.

OK, none of these games quite measures up to the best bets at craps or blackjack for a basic strategy player or better. But as easy-to-learn, easy-to-play games go, Three Card Poker's popularity as a niche game is understandable.

Played on a blackjack-sized table, Three Card Poker gives the player a couple of betting options. There's Pair Plus, which pays off on a pair or better regardless of the dealer's hand. There's play against the dealer, which starts with an ante and is followed by a bet if the player likes his cards, just as in Caribbean Stud.

The player also may bet on both options. Most players do.

After Pair Plus bets and/or antes are placed, players and the dealer each are dealt three cards face down. After looking at his cards, a player who has chosen to play against the dealer may either fold, forfeiting his ante, or play by placing a bet equal to the ante.

Cards then are flipped face up, and Pair Plus winners are paid off. Any pair pays even money, flushes pay 4-1, straights pay 6-1, three of a kinds pay 30-1 and straight flushes pay 40-1. Keep in mind that these are three-card hands--6-7-8 of diamonds is a straight flush. Also note that in Three Card Poker, straights outrank flushes.

Anyone who plays Three Card Poker occasionally will be dealt the biggest-paying hand, a three-card straight flush. That occurs about once per 455 hands.

In play vs. the dealer, a qualifying hand is a Queen or better. If the dealer does not qualify, antes are paid off at even money and bets are disregarded. If the dealer does qualify, both antes and bets are paid at even money.

Note that there is no video poker like pay table on play against the dealer as there is in Caribbean Stud. If you have three of a kind and the dealer qualifies, your ante and bet still are going to be paid only at even money.

However, Three Card Poker does pay bonuses on hands of a straight or better, and the players get those bonuses even if the dealer fails to qualify. Not only that, the players collect the bonuses even if they lose the hand. Now that's a bonus.

In play against the dealer, a straight brings a bonus equal to the player's ante. Three of a kind brings an additional four times the ante and a straight flush brings an additional five times the ante.

Proper basic strategy for play against the dealer is about the easiest around--make the additional bet any time you have a Queen or better, and fold if you don't.

That's about as easy as a casino game gets. One game that's easier is also the most popular in American casinos--playing the slots. But even getting the most out of the slots requires a little more than most players think.