THREE CARD POKER ONLINE
All the reasons for popularity of Three Card Poker in live casinos apply to online casinos, too. It’s just as easy to play, with a reasonable house edge and a simple strategy. You can play against the dealer, play Pair Plus against a pay table, or both. You can test your skills for money at online casinos, or play for fun and practice at free-play sites. In this chapter, you will learn the differences between playing online instead of in live casinos.
HOW TO PLAY AT ONLINE CASINOS
The Three Card Poker games offered at online casinos have the same rules as those at live casinos described in this guide in Chapter How to Play Three Card Poker. The differences come mainly in placing wagers, method of dealing cards and buying credits
PLACING WAGERS
In live casinos, players put chips in the betting circles and boxes. For online play, you place virtual chips on the betting spots either with mouse clicks or by touching the screen on devices with touch-screen capability. One common method is to display your credits in virtual stacks of chips toward the bottom of the screen. A total of value of your credits also is displayed in numerals on a credit meter. To make a bet, you click on a chip denomination, and then click again on the appropriate betting spot. For example, to make a $5 Pair Plus bet, you would click on a $5 chip, and then click again on the Pair Plus betting spot. If you wanted to add $5 to the bet, you could just click on the betting spot again. Extra clicks will add chips in $5 increments. As long as you are betting in $5 increments, there is no need to click the chip denomination again before betting. Should you wish to bet a different denomination chip, then you need to click on the stack of the desired denomination before clicking to bet.
DEALING THE CARDS
In live casinos, Three Card Poker is dealt from a single physical deck of cards. A freshly shuffled deck is used for every hand. Online casinos also use a freshly shuffled virtual deck for every hand, but instead of physical cards, virtual cards are shuffled by a random number generator. Every card has an equal chance of being dealt on every hand. That gives us a game where the odds are the same online as in live casinos.
BUYING CREDITS
In live casinos, you buy chips by placing cash on the layout, outside the betting boxes and circles. The dealer will take the cash, count out the corresponding amount of chips, push the chips to you and put the cash into a locked drop box.
In online casinos, there are several methods of buying credits to use at the games. You can find details at the websites of the casinos of your choice, but the basic methods include:
Among the options for purchasing credits to play online are:
**Credit cards
**PayPal
**Neteller
**Bank transfer,verified by Automated Clearing House
In addition, cash can be used at live casinos to purchase credits for online play. For example, in the U.S. State of New Jersey, online casinos have live casino affiliated, and players may buy credits at the cashiers cage at the live casino and have them credited to online accounts.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Three Card Poker has the same rules at online casinos as at live casinos
- Online players bet by clicking or touching the screen to put representations of chips in betting boxes.
- Online games use a single deck for each hand, freshly shuffled by a random number generator
FREE THREE CARD POKER
Sometimes players are looking for fun or practice instead of the chance to win money.
On those occasions, there are a variety of places you can play for free. They’re easy to find. Just type “free Three Card Poker” in your search engine.
You’ll find the free play comes in a couple of different varieties.
**Instructional sites that are good for practicing strategies.
**Online social casinos
At either, the rules of Three Card Poker are the same as you’ll find at live casinos or online casinos. Other aspects of the games are similar to online casinos. You bet with mouse clicks or by touching the screen. Cards are shuffled for each hand by a random number generator. However, the credits are for fun only. You can’t redeem credits for cash. There are a couple of important differences.
INSTRUCTIONAL SITES
The goal of instructional sites is to help you improve your 3 Card Poker strategy. Most will supply plenty of free credits for you to practice. As you play, instructional sites will flash a warning if you make a strategy mistake.
SOCIAL CASINOS
Three Card Poker is not yet as common as slots, video poker or blackjack at online social casinos. Those that have the game will supply varying amounts of free credits. However, social casinos businesses, and they make money by selling you credits. If you run out of credits and want to keep playing, there is a charge.
Social casinos also will replenish your credits, offering free credits every few hours and sometimes extra bonuses. There are incentives to keep playing in the form of goals and levels, and some players buy credits to pursue their goals of leveling up.
Social casinos are not instructional by nature and usually do not flash warnings if you make strategy errors. Bottom line: Instructional sites are free. Social casinos can be free if you accept down time when you run out of credits. At either, you’re playing for practice or fun and not profit, as credits can’t be turned into cash.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- There are two basic ways to play Three Card Poker: ante-play and Pair Plus.
- Two win in ante-play if the dealer has a Queen or better, your hand must beat the dealer.
- To win in Pair Plus, you do not have to beat the dealer, but your hand must have a pair or better.
QUIZ
- How are cards dealt differently online compared to live casinos?
- How do you bet online?
- True or false: Three Card Poker’s basic rules are the same online as in live casinos.
- How does free play at instructional sites help you learn strategy?
- Is all play free at online social casinos?
QUIZ ANSWERS
- Online casinos use a virtual deck, freshly shuffled by a random number generator, for every hand. Live casinos use physical decks of cards, also freshly shuffled for each hand.
- You bet online by clicking your mouse or touching the screen on devices with touch-screen capability to place wagers on betting spots.
- True, Three Card Poker’s basic rules are the same online as in live casinos.
- Free play at instructional sites help you learn strategy by flashing warnings when you make mistakes.
- Not all play is free at online social casinos. If you run out of credits, you have the option of buying more to keep playing, but the credits cannot then be redeemed for cash.
Written by John Grochowski
