A Quick Guide to Vegas Three Card Rummy

If you’re a fan of Three Card Poker, then you’ll probably like Vegas Three Card Rummy. It’s a somewhat similar game, but the scoring system is different. For example, aces are always a low in this game, and your object is to try to score fewer points than the dealer. You start off by making an ante bet. You and the dealer will then be givne three cards apiece, but you can’t see the dealer’s cards. The first aspect of scoring is that you add up all of the values of your cards with aces always being worth one and face cards worth 10 like in blackjack.

From here, pairs, three of a kind, and runs of suited cards (at least two) count as zero. After you see your hand, you can either raise or fold. If you raise, then you add another bet that’s equal to your ante. The dealer needs 20 points or fewer to qualify, but if the dealer doesn’t qualify, you’ll get 1:1 on your ante and get your raise bet back in a method that’s very similar to other casino poker games. If the dealer qualifies, then you will compare hands with a chance to win. You can also win bonus pays of 2:1 if you win with 1-5 points and 4:1 if you win with zero points, and these are both on the raise bet only.

Strategy in this game is a bit tricky because you have to get used to counting up the cards. You should always raise if you have 20 points or fewer, and you should fold if you have 21 points or more. The tricky part of it is not making mistakes with your counting because it’s hard for a lot of players to get used to this style of hand scoring.

There’s also a bonus bet that’s optional. There’s a 1.96 percent house edge for the ante bet if you play correctly and a 3.46 percent edge for the bonus bet, so you should avoid it. However, it can pay 100:1 for a suited A23 combination and 25:1 if you score zero points in a different way, so a lot of people play it anyway. There are other bonus payouts for other totals like 2:1 for 1-6 points, 1:1 for 7-10 points and 4:1 for 11-12 points. Scores of 13 or higher lose with the bonus bet.