Play 3 Card Poker Online in Indiana
Indiana could legalize online casinos soon. If that happens, expect to find a variety of table games—including 3 Card Poker—online in Indiana. Let’s cover all you need to know about where you can play 3 Card Poker in Indiana and how to do so.
3 Card Poker online vs. retail
Playing Three Card Poker online is similar to playing in a retail casino where you’ll find it alongside Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Let It Ride and other card games. The rules are the same, and the payouts are usually similar. Both versions often offer the same side bets. There are a few differences worth noting, however, including:
- Live 3 Card Poker involves sitting at a table with other players, but when playing online, you are all alone.
- Sometimes live casinos that offer 3 Card Poker will not have a table open, but if an online casino offers it, you can always log on and play.
- As with other online card games, you can play 3 Card Poker much more quickly online than live. The rate of play is perhaps even twice as fast.
- Online 3 Card Poker offers the chance to play for very small stakes, including “micro” stakes of just a nickel or dime. When the game is played live, the minimum bet is often at least $5.
- You are more likely to see progressive jackpots associated with live 3 Card Poker games than when playing online.
Like other online casino games, 3 Card Poker online can be very convenient. You can play from home on your computer or on the go via a mobile device. You won’t experience the land-based casino’s social element. But as discussed below, most online casinos offer live dealer versions of 3 Card Poker that emulate the in-person experience.
Expected online casinos with 3 Card Poker in Indiana
Indiana already has both retail casinos and online sportsbooks. Now, the state’s lawmakers are expected to consider expanding legal gambling to include online casinos as well. There are presently several states with real money online casinos. A survey of those online casinos shows practically all of them offer 3 Card Poker among their table games.
Here’s a look at 10 online casinos currently operating, most of which will likely launch in Indiana once expanded online gambling arrives. Beside each online casino below, find the 3 Card Poker games it offers.
| Online Casino | 3 Card Poker Games |
|---|---|
| Bally's Casino | 3 Card Poker (SGI) |
| Barstool Casino | 3 Card Poker (SGI), Live 3 Card Poker (Evolution) |
| BetMGM Casino | 3 Card Poker (SGI), Live 3 Card Poker (Evolution) |
| BetRivers Casino | 3 Card Poker (SGI), Live 3 Card Poker (Evolution) |
| Caesars Casino | 3 Card Poker (SGI), Live 3 Card Poker (Evolution) |
| DraftKings Casino | 3 Card Poker (SGI), DraftKings Three Card Showdown (DK) |
| FanDuel Casino | 3 Card Stud (IGT), Live 3 Card Poker (Evolution) |
| Hard Rock Casino | 3 Card Poker (SGI), Live 3 Card Poker (Evolution) |
| Unibet Casino | Live 3 Card Poker (Evolution) |
| WynnBET Casino | 3 Card Stud (IGT), Live 3 Card Poker (Evolution) |
Those parenthetical references are to the game developers. As you can see, most online casinos offer the same 3 Card Poker variant created by Scientific Games Interactive (SGI). Many online casinos also have the same Live 3 Card Poker game powered by Evolution Gaming.
DraftKings Casino also has its own in-house version of 3 Card Poker called DraftKings Three Card Showdown. Meanwhile, you’ll find 3 Card Stud by IGT at FanDuel and WynnBET, which is also a version of 3 Card Poker.
How to play 3 Card Poker in Indiana
3 Card Poker is not difficult to learn. It is basically a simplified version of poker involving just two betting decisions and a single deal of the cards. Let’s run through a hypothetical hand.
- First, Ante up with whatever amount you want to bet.
The table will have minimum and maximum bets allowed (e.g., as low as $0.10 and as high as $50), meaning you have a range of stakes from which to choose. Whatever you choose, that will also be your betting unit for the second betting round.
- Next, decide whether to make any side bets.
Usually, you’ll see two possible side bets to make: the Pair Plus bet and the 6 Card Bonus bet. You can make both, one of them or neither. You can also bet a different amount on the side bets than your ante.
- Then comes the deal.
As the name of the game suggests, it’s three cards for you and three for the dealer. Yours are dealt face up.
- After the deal, decide whether to make the additional Play bet.
Here, you are choosing whether to play your hand or to fold it. You play your hand by placing the Play bet, which is equal to your Ante bet. We’ll talk strategy below, but the decision hinges on whether you think you’ve made a better hand than the dealer. If you fold, you lose your bets. If you play, the dealer’s cards are then revealed, the hands are compared, and…
- The bets are settled, and it’s on to the next hand.
That’s all there is to it. Read on for more about different hands, the odds and payouts, plus some Three Card Poker strategy advice.
3 Card Poker hands
Here are the hands you can make in online 3 Card Poker, ordered from low to high:
- High Card — Three cards of different ranks (and not all of the same suit). For example, Q-7-3 would be considered “queen-high” and would lose to hands ranked “king-high” or better as well as to better queen-high hands like Q-J-2.
- Pair — One pair or two cards of the same rank like J-J-4. If you and the dealer both have the same pair, your third card (the “kicker”) determines the winner (e.g., 9-9-K beats 9-9-5).
- Flush — All three cards are the same suit. If you and the dealer both make flushes, whoever has the highest cards wins.
- Straight — Three cards of consecutive ranks, like Q-J-10 or 6-5-4. The ace can be high or low, meaning A-2-3 and A-K-Q are both straights.
- Three of a Kind — All three cards are the same rank, like 9-9-9.
- Straight Flush — Three consecutive cards that are all the same suit, like the 8-7-6 of diamonds. (Again, the ace can be high or low.)
In some 3 Card Poker games, you can also make what is called a Mini Royal or three-card royal flush like Ah-Kh-Qh that can earn a big payout if you’ve made the Pair Plus side bet.
3 Card Poker online odds and payouts
What are your chances of being dealt those hands listed above? Well, a lot of the time you won’t make a pair at all, although ace-high and king-high (and even queen-high) can be winners. Here are the odds for making each of those hands:
| 3 Card Poker Hand | Chance of Making |
|---|---|
| No Pair (High Card) | 74.39% (almost 3 out of every 4 hands) |
| One Pair | 16.94% (just over 1 out of 6) |
| Flush | 4.96% (almost 1 in 20) |
| Straight | 3.26% (almost 1 in 30) |
| Three of a Kind | 0.24% (1 in 425) |
| Straight Flush | 0.22% (almost 1 in 460) |
Notice how in 3 Card Poker it is easier to make a straight than a flush. That difference is reflected in the payouts, too, where you can make more with a straight than a flush.
Speaking of 3 card poker payouts, we can start with the main Ante and Play bets. If your hand ranks higher than the dealer’s, you win a 1-to-1 payout on your Ante bet (you double your money). In most games, if the dealer fails to make at least queen-high, the Play bet becomes a push (you get your bet back). However, if the dealer makes a qualifying hand and you beat it, you get a 1-to-1 payout on the Play bet as well.
You might also earn an Ante Bonus if you make high enough hands as follows:
- Straight Flush — 5-to-1
- Three of a Kind — 4-to-1
- Straight — 1-to-1
That means if you bet $5 and make a straight flush, you win $25 on top of the money you win for beating the dealer’s hand (assuming your straight flush is best).
Finally, let’s look at the payouts for those optional side bets, the Pair Plus and 6 Card Bonus bets. Again, these bets have nothing to do with whether you beat the dealer’s hand. They concern only the value of the hands dealt.
The Pair Plus bet concerns your hand’s value. The 6 Card Bonus bet concerns the highest-value 5 Card Poker hand you can make from the six cards both you and the dealer receive. Got it?
Here are typical payouts for each of those side bets:
| Hands | Pair Plus Payouts | 6 Card Bonus Payouts |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | N/A | 1,000-to-1 |
| Mini Royal | 200-to-1 | N/A |
| Straight Flush | 40-to-1 | 200-to-1 |
| Four of a Kind | N/A | 50-to-1 |
| Full House | N/A | 25-to-1 |
| Straight | 6-to-1 | 10-to-1 |
| Flush | 3-to-1 | 20-to-1 |
| Three of a Kind | 30-to-1 | 5-to-1 |
| One Pair | 1-to-1 | N/A |
Remember, the Pair Plus payouts focus only on your three cards. If you make a pair, you double your money. If you make three of a kind or better, you earn a handsome payout.
With the 6 Card Bonus bet, you use all six cards dealt to make a 5 Card Poker hand. You get a lot less for making three of a kind there because it is easier to do with six cards than with three.
Notice also how you win less for a straight than a flush with the 6 Card Bonus bet, but more for a straight than a flush with the Pair Plus bet. Again, that’s because with just three cards, it is harder to make a straight than a flush. But with six cards, it is harder to make a flush than a straight.
Best online 3 Card Poker strategy
Now that you know the odds and payouts, what is the best 3 Card Poker strategy? Actually, it is quite simple, and we really only have two tips for you to remember:
- If you receive a hand worth Q-6-4 or better, make the Play bet.
- Don’t make the 6 Card Bonus bet (unless you’re willing to give the house a huge edge).
Probabilities show that Q-6-4 is just above the average three-card hand, which means if you have Q-6-4 or better, you can safely bet against the dealer’s hand.
When we look at the 3 card poker odds and payouts, playing this strategy reduces the house edge to 2.01% versus the Play bet and 3.37% versus the Ante bet (since the dealer earns a push with a non-qualifying hand). That’s not so bad when compared to some casino games.
Playing that strategy is also good when it comes to the Pair Plus bet where it makes the house edge 2.32%.
However, even playing this optimal strategy doesn’t counteract the relatively bad payouts for the 6 Card Bonus bet. There, the house edge is actually more than 15% even when you play correctly. That’s terrible for the player, so only make this bet if you are in an especially ambitious mood.
To boil it down, then, here are three things you can do to improve your 3 Card Poker game:
- Fold if dealt something worse than Q-6-4, but make the Play bet otherwise.
- Place the Pair Plus side bet.
- Avoid the 6 Card Bonus side bet.
Enjoy the fun of Three Card Poker online
3 Card Poker is a great casino game. The rules of 3 card poker are simple and easy to learn. Unlike some games in which there are many strange side bets and alternate ways to play, 3 Card Poker is relatively straightforward and similar no matter where you play. It isn’t hard to learn an effective Three Card Poker strategy, either.
Indiana 3 Card Poker FAQs
Right now, there are no legal real money online casinos available in Indiana, which means no sites to play 3 Card Poker. You can find 3 card poker for free online, however. In fact, online casinos like DraftKings offer demo versions you can play for fun as a way to get familiar with the game and practice your 3 Card Poker strategy.
All Indiana casinos have table games. Most of the state’s 12 commercial casinos and one tribal casino offer 3 Card Poker along with games like Let It Ride and Ultimate Texas Hold’em. Some locations add progressive jackpots to their 3 Card Poker games as well.
Unlike roulette, which is purely a chance-based game, 3 Card Poker does involve some skill. You don’t have to make too many decisions in 3 Card Poker, but there is a recommended 3 Card Poker strategy for increasing your chances of success. There is a lot less to remember, too, when compared to, say, blackjack strategy.
In most 3 Card Poker games, the dealer has to make at least queen-high, or the Ante bet will be pushed. The odds in 3 Card Poker are the dealer will make at least queen-high a little less than 70% of the time. As you might have guessed, the odds of you getting queen-high or better are the same.