Three Card Poker Pair Plus
Dear Mark,
I was especially interested in a recent column where
you compare the three table poker games and suggested
Three Card Poker as being the best. I interpret your
message in this paragraph to say that playing the
"Pair Plus" option is the best percentage-wise
for the player. Am I correct? Or, should we play both
the Ante and Pair Plus, then Play if we have a good
hand? Hilda R.
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Ordinarily,
Three Card Poker is a better play than Caribbean Stud
(-5.3%), better than Let it Ride (-3.5%), and even better
than Pai Gow Poker (-2.5%). As to the best bet in Three
Card poker itself, it depends, Hilda, on whether like
your cards or not; I¹ll rephrase that on whether
you should like your cards. The house edge is 3.37%
against the Ante alone, but only 2.01% against your
Queen-6-4, if you decide to make the Play bet. With
a Pair Plus wager,
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the casino advantage
is slightly higher at 2.32%.
But just when you think
you¹ve got your juju flowing over the low house
edge
of Three Card Poker, take a quick look upstream. Most
casinos are now
tightening the screws on Three Card Poker by reducing
the payoffs on
straight flushes and three-of-a-kinds. It¹s screamingly
worse on the Pair
Plus payoffs. For example, by making a crafty change
on what you¹re paid for
a straight flush from 40-to-1 to 35-to-one, and nibbling
down
three-of-a-kinds from 30-to-1 to 25-to-1, the house
edge jumps to 4.58%,
making this originally good game go bad, way bad.
Stick exclusively to
these payoffs on Pair Plus wagers:
Straight flush: 40 to 1
Three of a kind: 30 to 1
Straight: 6 to 1
Flush: 4 to 1
Pair: Even money 1 to 1
Also, to avoid pocketbook
piracy, make sure the Ante Bonus payoff follows
this schedule:
Straight flush: pays 5 to 1
Three-of-a-kind: pays 4 to 1
Straight: pays 1 to 1
Better yet, Hilda, think
about giving Mini-Baccarat a try, or even
blackjack, using perfect basic strategy. Each has
a house edge well under
two percent, whipping all the table games mentioned
above.
Gambling quote of the
week: "Essentially, expert card counters know
the
right bet and the right play at all times. Understandably,
this doesn¹t
thrill the casinos." Michael Konik, The Man With
The $100,000 Breasts
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