Free 3 Card Poker / Pair Plus in 3 card poker
Pair Plus in 3 card poker
Pair Plus is a bet that your own three cards will make a pair or better. It pays from 1 to 1 for a pair up to 40 to 1 for a straight flush. The dealer's hand doesn't matter, and there is nothing to decide.
How Pair Plus works
- Before the deal, put chips on the Pair Plus spot. You can bet it alone or with an Ante.
- You get your three cards.
- If they make a pair or better, Pair Plus pays by the table. If not, it loses.
That's it. Pair Plus doesn't care whether the dealer qualifies, whether you beat the dealer, or what the dealer holds.
The payouts
The table played here is 1-4-6-30-40, a common Pair Plus table.
| Hand | Pays | Ways | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight flush | 40 to 1 | 48 | 0.22% |
| Three of a kind | 30 to 1 | 52 | 0.24% |
| Straight | 6 to 1 | 720 | 3.26% |
| Flush | 4 to 1 | 1,096 | 4.96% |
| Pair | 1 to 1 | 3,744 | 16.94% |
| High card | Lose | 16,440 | 74.39% |
The house edge
Add it up over all 22,100 hands, betting 1 each time. Pairs return 3,744, flushes 4,384, straights 4,320, three of a kind 1,560 and straight flushes 1,920, for 15,928 won. High cards lose 16,440. The difference is 512 lost over 22,100 hands, a house edge of 2.32%. On a 10 bet, that averages 23 cents a hand.
How often it wins
Pair Plus wins 25.61% of the time, about one hand in four. Three hands out of four lose. The payouts on the rare hands make up for it, which is why a session of Pair Plus swings: long runs of losses, then a straight or three of a kind pays for many of them.
Pair Plus and your Ante
If you bet both and fold, you lose both. That never costs you a Pair Plus win: the only hands you fold under the Q-6-4 rule are high-card hands, and high card loses Pair Plus anyway. So Pair Plus doesn't change how you play.
When a hand is good for Pair Plus, it often pays twice. A straight played against the dealer earns the Ante Bonus and the Pair Plus payout, win or lose against the dealer. All the payouts.
Pair Plus or the Ante?
Measured against the first bet you place, Pair Plus has the lower edge: 2.32% against 3.37% of the Ante. Measured against all the money that goes out, the Ante and Play come to 2.01%. Either way the two bets are close. Pair Plus has no decisions and bigger swings. The Ante and Play need the Q-6-4 rule.
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Questions
What is Pair Plus in 3 card poker?
A bet that your three cards make a pair or better. It pays by a fixed table and ignores the dealer's hand.
What does Pair Plus pay?
On the 1-4-6-30-40 table: pair 1 to 1, flush 4 to 1, straight 6 to 1, three of a kind 30 to 1, straight flush 40 to 1.
Can you bet only Pair Plus?
Yes. You don't need an Ante. With Pair Plus alone you just see your three cards and get paid if they make a pair or better.
What are the odds of winning Pair Plus?
25.61%, about one hand in four. A pair comes about once in six hands, a flush once in 20, a straight once in 31.
Does Pair Plus pay if the dealer doesn't qualify?
Yes. Pair Plus is paid on your hand alone. The dealer's hand never affects it.
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