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Play Poker Like the Pros

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Three Card Poker Basics

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How to Play Three Card Poker

Three Card Poker Cards and Hand Ranks

Three Card Poker is played using a standard deck of 52 cards, with no wild cards.

Card Ranks

In order from lowest to highest, the rank of cards in Three Card Poker is 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace. Though normally considered a high card, the ace can be considered low or high for the purpose of making a straight.

This guide to Three Card Poker sometimes uses the following shorthand for non-numerical cards: J (jack), Q (queen), K (king), A (ace).

Suit

The suit of a card is the set or class to which the card belongs: clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades. In Three Card Poker, no suit is ranked higher than any other—hands formed from cards of identical rank but different suits are equal in value.

Hand Ranks

As in other forms of poker, in Three Card Poker, the three cards that you’re holding together form a hand. The different hands you can form in Three Card Poker are listed as follows, from highest-ranked to lowest-ranked.

Straight Flush

A straight flush consists of three cards of the same suit in sequence. Note that an ace may be considered high or low for a sequence. For example, both A23 and QKA are considered in sequence. However, an ace cannot be considered high and low in a single hand, so KA2 is not considered in sequence.

To compare one straight flush with another, simply compare the highest card of each hand—the straight flush with the high card of the highest rank wins. For example,

is higher than

since a 10 is higher than a 5.

Three of a Kind

Three of a kind consists of three cards of equal rank.

When comparing one three of a kind with another, the hand with the cards of the higher rank wins. For example, three aces is higher than three kings.

Straight

A straight consists of three cards in sequence. The cards can be of any suit. As in a straight flush, an ace can be considered high or low (but not both) in a straight.

To compare one straight with another, simply compare the highest card of each hand. For example,

is higher than

since a queen is higher than a 9.

Flush

A flush consists of three cards of the same suit. The cards can be of any rank.

To compare one flush with another, compare the highest card of each hand first, followed by the second- and third-highest cards if necessary. For example,

is higher than because, though the two 8s are equal, a 7 is higher than a 5.

Pair

A pair consists of two cards of equal rank.

When comparing one pair with another, the higher pair wins. If the two hands have the same pair, the third card, called the kicker, breaks the tie. For example,

is higher than

since a 10 is higher than a 7.

High Card

A hand that doesn’t meet any of the above criteria is called high card and is evaluated solely by the ranks of the card it contains. It’s usually referred to by the value of its highest card, followed by the word “high.” For example, the hand below would be called “queen high.”

To compare one high-card hand with another, the highest card of each hand is compared first, followed by the second- and third-highest cards if necessary. For example,