Married Poker and the
Eight Commandments
5 March 2007
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark: I love Three Card Poker. My husband
says that the only bet I should make when
playing the tables is on the Pairs Plus. Do you
have any ideas on that? Also, I hear that Three
Card Poker has the best odds behind craps. Is
that true? Mary Jo H.
Ah, yes, he clearly speaks with love. Three Card
Poker is an exciting poker game that offers two
ways to play and four different ways to win. The
game is quick, and a snap to learn. No hidden
risks to worry about, no troubling calculations.
In front of each player are three betting areas:
first, the wager you like, Mary Jo, Pair Plus,
then an Ante circle, and finally a Play square.
Players can wager either that their hand will be
higher in rank than the dealer's hand, or they
can wager that their hand will consist of at
least a pair, hence Pair Plus.
Betting on a pair is a simple matter of making a
Pair Plus bet. You know immediately whether you
have won a Pair Plus payoff as soon as you look
at your cards. With a Pair Plus bet there is no
raising or discarding, and the dealer's cards
are immaterial.
Payoffs on Pair Plus wagers are made according
to the following schedule, regardless of the
dealer's hand:
Straight flush: 40 to 1
Three-of-a-kind: 30 to 1
Straight: 6 to 1
Flush: 4 to 1
Pair: Even money
Hubby is somewhat right in that the Pair Plus
wager has a relatively low house edge of 2.3%.
But surprisingly, the Ante/Play alternatives,
when using the strategy of betting when you have
at least a queen, six, and a four in your hand,
lowers the house edge even more to 2.1%, You
might stun Mister H. with this news sometime.
As to Pair Plus having the best odds next to
craps, well, select video poker machines, basic
strategy in blackjack, the bank and player hands
in baccarat, and yes, a handful of bets on the
crap table all offer an even better – well
slightly better -- choice for the knowledgeable
player. Which leads me to my official
recommendation, that being: since you can't put
a price on a good time, and you love playing
Three Card Poker and the Pair Plus bet, with the
relatively low house edge of 2.3%, keep playing.
Dear Mark: I sometimes forget to bring my basic
strategy card for blackjack to the casino. Do
you have any simplified rules to follow that
will cut the edge on the game? Gary Z.
For starters, Gary, find a casino that offers
some decent rules that are favorable to the
player, such as these eight: single deck game,
early and late surrender, the ability to double
down on any two cards, doubling after splits,
multiple pair splitting and the re-splitting of
aces, deep deck penetration, and dealers that
stand on a soft 17.
Next, memorizing these few simple rules below
will enable you to knock the house edge down to
less than one percent.
If your hand is a 12 through 16 and the dealer's
up card is between 2 and 6, stand. If it's 7
through ace, hit. If you have a 17 or more,
regardless of what the dealer up card is, stand.
The only exception to this would be a soft 17;
here you always hit.
If you have 10 or 11, double if the dealer has a
2-9 showing.
If you have a soft 13 -18, double if the rules
allow when the dealer is showing a 5 or 6.
Always split eights and aces.
Never take insurance.
Finally, if you have a pair of deuces, threes,
sixes, sevens or nines, split if the dealer is
showing a 2-7. One exception; stand on your
nines if the dealer has a deuce.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week:
"My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery,
people would stop dying." -- Ed Furgol (an
ex-professional golfer)
|
