The house edge in 3-Card poker can differ depending on what bets you place. With the standard Ante bet, the house edge is a fairly low 3.37%. Nevertheless, this still means you will play with a higher house edge than in other popular casino games, such as blackjack and roulette.
However, you can lower the house edge a bit and shift the odds by making other bets available in Three Card Poker. The most favorable wager in terms of house edge is the Play bet.
The Play bet is a wager made with a Queen, 6, 4 hand or better. The house edge for this bet is only 2%. It is the optimal bet in terms of strategy and is easy to follow. As long as you play any Q, 6, 4, or better hand and fold hands worse than this, you will play with a 2% house edge in the long run.
There is also the Pair Plus bet, which offers a slightly higher but still very solid house edge of just 2.3%. To win the Pair Plus bet, you need to have at least a pair of twos or better.
With all of that in mind, if you stick with a basic 3-Card Poker strategy, you can lower the house edge and expect a long-term return of around 98%. From that perspective, 3-Card Poker is among the most favorable casino games you can play when it comes to odds.
