Three Card Poker Q-6-4: The Hands on Either Side of the Line
Three Card Poker strategy fits in one rule: play Queen-6-4 or better, fold anything worse. This page shows the hands right at that line, with the exact value of playing and folding each.
Values are per unit of Ante. Folding always loses exactly the Ante (-1.0000), so a hand is worth playing when playing loses less than that.
| Hand | Best play | Play EV | Fold EV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q♥ 6♣ 5♦ | Play | -0.9866 | -1.0000 |
| Q♥ 6♣ 4♦ | Play | -0.9934 | -1.0000 |
| Q♥ 6♣ 3♦ | Fold | -1.0026 | -1.0000 |
| Q♥ 6♣ 2♦ | Fold | -1.0124 | -1.0000 |
| Q♥ 7♣ 2♦ | Play | -0.9757 | -1.0000 |
| Q♥ 5♣ 4♦ | Fold | -1.0210 | -1.0000 |
| K♥ 3♣ 2♦ | Play | -0.5515 | -1.0000 |
| J♥ 10♣ 8♦ | Fold | -1.1407 | -1.0000 |
| A♥ 3♣ 2♦ | Play | +2.5377 | -1.0000 |
Why the line sits there
The dealer only qualifies with Queen high or better. When the dealer does not qualify, your Ante wins and your Play bet is returned, whatever you hold. That makes almost every Queen-high hand worth playing, but only just: Queen-6-4 beats folding by less than a cent per dollar, and Queen-6-3 loses to it by about a quarter of a cent.
Get it wrong on the borderline hands and it costs very little. Fold a King-high or Ace-high hand, though, and it costs a lot: King-3-2 is worth almost half a unit more than folding.
Practise it until it's automatic
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