Fortune three card poker: how to play the game |

This article first appeared in the Jul/Aug 2011 issue of World Gaming magazine.

The first thing you need to know about fortune three card poker is that it really isn’t poker at all. It is a casino table game that uses a few poker principles. Players get to hold their cards, and they also decide whether to play or fold their hand. One of the game’s best aspects is that through bonus bets you can win some big rewards for a small investment.

The next thing you need to understand is the name of the game. It gets a little confusing so bear with us. The game we call ‘fortune three card poker’ in Macau is just called ‘three card poker’ everywhere else in the world. So why the ‘fortune’? Since the liberalisation of the casino industry in 2004 many Macau casinos have introduced western style casino games. The game of three card poker was no different – the casinos wanted to bring it to Macau. Just one problem – there already was a game called three card poker in Macau! So the western game of three card poker was named ‘fortune three card poker’, to distinguish it from the existing game also called ‘three card poker’. When you see the two games in action they are very different so they are hard to confuse.

Let’s examine the basics of fortune three card poker. The player places a bet on the ante box. At this stage they also have the option of placing a bet on the bonus box, but we will cover that later.

Each player, including the dealer, is dealt three cards face down. Whilst the dealer’s cards are still closed, the player looks at his cards and now has two options. He may fold his cards and lose his ante bet or he can remain involved in the hand.

If the player chooses to continue he must place the same total on the ‘play’ box that he has already bet on the ante box. This means that if he has bet $500 on the ante, the player must increase his investment by a further $500 to continue in the hand.

The action now moves across to the dealer who opens up his cards. He places his cards face up on the table for all to see and determines if his hand ‘qualifies’. For the dealer’s hand to qualify it must be ‘queen high or better’.

‘Queen high or better’ is a poker term. It means at the very least there is a queen, king or ace in the three dealt cards. The other qualifying hands are a pair (two cards of the same rank like two 8s or two kings), a flush (three cards of the same suit), a straight (three cards running in numerical order like 678 or JQK), three of a kind (three cards of the same rank) or finally a straight flush (three cards of the same suit in numerical order like 8♠ 9♠ T♠). Note that these hands were listed in order from worst to best and a straight in fortune three card poker is a higher hand than a flush. In traditional poker where a hand is made up of five cards it is the other way around. Also three of a kind ranks above flushes and straights whereas in five card poker it ranks below straights and flushes.

If the dealer fails to qualify then you are paid even money on your ante bet and your ‘play’ bet is refunded. This means the player would get a profit of $500 on a $1000 investment.

The game gets far more interesting when the dealer does qualify. When this occurs the players’ cards get compared to the dealer’s cards. If the dealer’s cards are better, the ante and the ‘play’ bets are lost.

If a player’s cards beat the open hand of the dealer then both the ante and the ‘play’ bet are paid at even money which means you double your investment. However if the player is lucky enough to be dealt a straight or better then the player gets paid a bonus on their ante bet. The ante bet bonuses are:

Straight flush	5 to 1
Three of a kind	4 to 1
Straight	1 to 1 (even money)

Also note that these ante bet bonuses are paid regardless of what hand the dealer has. This means that if the dealer doesn’t qualify, or even if the dealer qualifies and beats your hand you will still receive the ante bet bonus.

The other important aspect to this game is the bonus bet which is often referred to as the ‘pair plus’ bonus. You must decide if you want to chase this bonus prior to the hand being dealt. There is a separate box for you to place your wager in. This means that you are really playing two different games on the one hand.

This bonus feature offers you greater rewards for bigger hands. We all enjoy the prospect of turning a small investment into a large windfall so this bet is of great interest to many players. It is also a simple bet as there are no further decisions to be made after placing the initial bet. The following amounts are paid for money invested on the bonus bet.