HOW TO PLAY & WIN AT TRI CARD POKER
Do you like the idea of poker, but you wouldn’t mind something a touch easier to master and faster to cash out with? Then get ready to play Tri Card poker online! SlotsLV Tri Card poker is a simplified version of poker that combines a handful of skill with a dash of luck, and boasts a couple of money-making twists along the way.
With SlotsLV Tri Card poker, you can win in multiple ways, which is why it’s such a big deal. You get the regular wins for beating the Dealer, but also more for having your own winning hand.
The whole shebang takes place with only 3 cards and there’s no flop, so on top of it all, it’s super-fast and there’s even less calculating than a typical game of five card poker.
You may find that Tri Card poker is just the game you were looking for to hit “refresh” on an old classic. We’ll go over Tri Card poker rules, how to play Tri Card poker online, and of course some Tri Card poker strategy tips.
Ready to dive in and see what Tri Card poker is all about?
HOW TO PLAY TRI CARD POKER: BASIC RULES
First you should get familiar with the flow of the game. Then we’ll catch you up on the specific Tri Card poker rules and outcomes.
These are the steps to play Tri Card poker online.
- Ante up: To start, you’ll need to drag your chips to the Ante betting circle, which is your starting bet. This is also when you opt in to the Pair Plus bet if you choose.
- Get your cards: Once you’ve made your bet and hit “Deal”, you’ll get three cards face up, and the Dealer gets three cards face down.
- Make your move: Based on your first three cards, you make your first big decision: do you raise to continue the game and double your ante, or do you fold and forfeit your ante and end the round?
- The Showdown: If you decide to raise and face the Dealer, some unique things must happen for you to win, aka, the rules.
TRI CARD POKER RULES
To have a face-off in the first place, the Dealer has to qualify with a Queen or higher. Let’s focus on that first.
Assuming the Dealer qualifies, you win if you have a better poker hand than him. The amount you’re paid is based on your ante bet and your raise. If, however, the Dealer qualifies and he has the better poker hand, you lose that round, including your ante and raise.
But don’t fret! There are a few more scenarios.
What if the Dealer doesn’t qualify with a Queen or higher?
If the Dealer doesn’t qualify at all, you win on your ante, and the raise is pushed, regardless of the value of your poker hand.
So what happens if you don’t raise on your hand in the first place? Well, in this case you opted to fold, and in doing so you forfeit your bet and end the round. That happens regardless of what the Dealer shows. That’s the risk (and the joy) of the game.
But here’s the best part of all. Regardless of what happens with the Dealer (qualify, not qualify, higher hand, lower hand, or whatever), you can still win money if you opted for the Pair Plus bet at the beginning. In this case you win if your three cards show a pair, a flush, a straight, a straight flush or three of a kind.
So those are the Tri Card poker rules, but the best part is yet to come. Let’s go over SlotsLV three card poker paydays, and the odds to winning them.
TRI CARD POKER ODDS & PAYOUTS
To refresh your memory, keep this in mind.
When you play Tri Card Poker online, you can win in four ways:
- With your Ante and Raise when the Dealer qualifies and you have the better hand
- With your Ante if the Dealer doesn’t qualify
- With a Pair Plus bet when you have a winning poker hand
- With a Pair Plus bet and your Ante and Raise when the Dealer qualifies, you have a better poker hand, and you opted in for the Pair+ bet at the beginning of the game
So how much money is on the table with those wins, and more importantly, what are their odds in the first place?
| Hand | Pair Plus Payout | Ante Payout (only on the strongest hands) | Odds to Win |
| Straight Flush | 40:1 | 5 to 1 | 0.21% |
| Three of a Kind | 30:1 | 4 to 1 | 0.23% |
| Straight | 6:1 | 1 to 1 | 3.2% |
| Flush | 3:1 | – | 4.9% |
| Pair | 1:1 | – | 16.9% |
| High Card | – | – | 74.3% |
Keep in mind a straight ranks higher than a flush when you play Tri Card poker. Three cards means unique rules. That’s why the game is so fresh!
TRI CARD POKER STRATEGY: WINNING TIPS
When it comes to Tri Card Poker strategy, you’ll be happy to hear there isn’t anything too elaborate. It isn’t like Texas Hold ‘Em where you have to think ahead multiple moves and get a reading on the table. There’s only one decision (to raise or fold with your first three cards), and the payouts are settled, just like that.
Follow this simple rule and you’ll be golden. You should always raise when you have a Q-6-4 or higher, and fold on anything else. These are some hands to look out for that fall under the rule:
- K-4-2
- Q-7-3
- Q-6-5
- 10-9-7
If you have any other hand, fold that round, re-bet, and try again. It couldn’t be easier!
When you use an optimal (and remarkably simple) strategy like the Q-6-4 or higher Tri Card Poker strategy, your house edge is only 2%, which is almost two percent lower than the base game house edge of 3.17%!
READY TO PLAY TRI CARD POKER?
Now you’re ready to dive in and play SlotsLV three card poker. There’s just one more thing to know.
So far we’ve talked about how to play SlotsLV Tri Card Poker against the Dealer. That’s an excellent choice when you want to win big on your ante and the Pair Plus bet. To play against the Dealer, drag your chips onto the ante circle and the Pair Plus circle, then hit “Deal”.
If you want to keep it even more simple, you can play only on the Pair Plus bet. That means there’s no opponent at all, just you and the three cards. For this version, drag your chips only to the Pair Plus circle and hit “Deal.” If you get a Pair or better, you win your bet up to 40:1 for a Straight Flush. It’s a piece of cake, and a mighty rich one, at that.
Starting to catch on, yet? No other game is this easy to learn and this varied with the paydays. It’s as simple as bet-deal-win. Use practice mode to sharpen up your Tri Card Poker strategy, review the Tri Card Poker rules, and see what those three little cards can do for you at SlotsLV!
