Three Card Stud Triple Draw™
Play the Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ demo by clicking here. Note that the original demo was done in Flash, a format which Adobe has since stopped supporting. Enjoy!
How LAG Is Your LAG?
Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ is the loosest and most aggressive casino poker game in its class, pushing the limits of playability and action for games with a single 1x-3x betting round -- all off a single forced bet, and while giving the player an extra card over the dealer.
Like any true stud poker game, Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ is played against an up card and on the draw. In Three Card Stud Triple Draw™, the objective is to make a better three-card poker hand than the dealer, while maximizing the value of your good drawing hands. After making the initial Ante wager, you are dealt a two-card hand against a dealer up card (and three down cards), and can either fold or make a 1x-3x wager with three cards to come, one of which will be used to complete your three-card hand.
Essentially, the player gets five cards to make a three-card hand, with the stipulation that the player must use both of his hole cards and only one of three community cards -- the "triple draw" -- shared by the players (but not the dealer). Meanwhile, the dealer can use any combination of his four cards to make a three-card hand.
The 1x-3x Draw wager always plays, while the Ante pushes if the dealer makes less than a pair.
Note that a flush beats a straight, in contrast to Three Card Poker™.
All winning wagers at showdown are paid according to a paytable, with bonuses awarded for making trips, a straight flush, or an AKQ mini-royal. For example, let's say you start with A♠K♠, bet 3x, and draw the Q♠, giving you the AKQ mini-royal flush, which pays 10 to 1 on all winning wagers. If the dealer makes a pair, you will win 40 units (given your 1x Ante and 3x Draw wager); if the dealer makes less than a pair, you will win 30 units (the 1x Ante wager now pushes, but the 3x Draw wager always plays).
With a betting frequency of 94.6% and max-bet frequency of 42.1% under optimal play, Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ is the loosest and most aggressive (LAG) game of its kind.
And given the choice, any informed poker player would choose super LAG to go with a 0.63% adj. house advantage per unit wagered under optimal play, which also makes Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ one of the fairest gambles around.
For more action, also make the Five Card Hand wager, which pays based on all five cards using both of your hole cards and all three community cards, with payouts ranging from 2 to 1 for a pair of jacks-or-better, up to 500 to 1 for a royal flush. This wager stays in action even if you fold before the Draw.
The Basics of Strategy
Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ is purpose-built, designed to maximize playability and action. It's correct to play roughly 95% of hands while max-betting (3x) on 42% of hands, which is more often than any other prominent casino poker game. Moreover, the 1x-3x Draw wager is made with three cards to come, which has the effect of magnifying the value of drawing hands.
Any suited hand has up to an 11-out flush draw with three cards to come, and with a 56% completion rate is a favorite to hit. Any connected hand (like QJ or 98) is an 8-out open-ended straight draw, while any one-gapper (like QT or 86) has a 4-out gutshot.
Meanwhile, a suited connector like Q♠J♠ or 7♦6♦ is a monster 17-out draw that will make a straight or flush 80.5% of the time!
That said, for the most part, you should max-bet (3x):
It is only correct to fold around 5% of hands. Generally speaking, in order to fold, for the most part the dealer should have an Ace or King up, and you should have two offsuit undercards with no straight potential (in other words, you are never folding a connector or one-gapper, or an overcard); it is also correct to fold against a Queen with any two offsuit cards 7 or less with no straight potential.
Min-bet (1x) everything else.
There are some other exceptions to those rules, but that's the gist of the game and enough to get you close to optimal play. For the complete strategy, see the Strategy page.
Note: Whereas Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ allows the player to bet 1x-3x, it is never correct for the player to bet 2x. As such, for the sake of simplicity, the demo does away with the middle bet size, and only allows 1x or 3x bet sizes on the Draw.
Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ is the loosest and most aggressive casino poker game in its class, pushing the limits of playability and action for games with a single 1x-3x betting round -- all off a single forced bet, and while giving the player an extra card over the dealer.
Like any true stud poker game, Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ is played against an up card and on the draw. In Three Card Stud Triple Draw™, the objective is to make a better three-card poker hand than the dealer, while maximizing the value of your good drawing hands. After making the initial Ante wager, you are dealt a two-card hand against a dealer up card (and three down cards), and can either fold or make a 1x-3x wager with three cards to come, one of which will be used to complete your three-card hand.
Essentially, the player gets five cards to make a three-card hand, with the stipulation that the player must use both of his hole cards and only one of three community cards -- the "triple draw" -- shared by the players (but not the dealer). Meanwhile, the dealer can use any combination of his four cards to make a three-card hand.
The 1x-3x Draw wager always plays, while the Ante pushes if the dealer makes less than a pair.
Note that a flush beats a straight, in contrast to Three Card Poker™.
All winning wagers at showdown are paid according to a paytable, with bonuses awarded for making trips, a straight flush, or an AKQ mini-royal. For example, let's say you start with A♠K♠, bet 3x, and draw the Q♠, giving you the AKQ mini-royal flush, which pays 10 to 1 on all winning wagers. If the dealer makes a pair, you will win 40 units (given your 1x Ante and 3x Draw wager); if the dealer makes less than a pair, you will win 30 units (the 1x Ante wager now pushes, but the 3x Draw wager always plays).
With a betting frequency of 94.6% and max-bet frequency of 42.1% under optimal play, Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ is the loosest and most aggressive (LAG) game of its kind.
And given the choice, any informed poker player would choose super LAG to go with a 0.63% adj. house advantage per unit wagered under optimal play, which also makes Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ one of the fairest gambles around.
For more action, also make the Five Card Hand wager, which pays based on all five cards using both of your hole cards and all three community cards, with payouts ranging from 2 to 1 for a pair of jacks-or-better, up to 500 to 1 for a royal flush. This wager stays in action even if you fold before the Draw.
The Basics of Strategy
Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ is purpose-built, designed to maximize playability and action. It's correct to play roughly 95% of hands while max-betting (3x) on 42% of hands, which is more often than any other prominent casino poker game. Moreover, the 1x-3x Draw wager is made with three cards to come, which has the effect of magnifying the value of drawing hands.
Any suited hand has up to an 11-out flush draw with three cards to come, and with a 56% completion rate is a favorite to hit. Any connected hand (like QJ or 98) is an 8-out open-ended straight draw, while any one-gapper (like QT or 86) has a 4-out gutshot.
Meanwhile, a suited connector like Q♠J♠ or 7♦6♦ is a monster 17-out draw that will make a straight or flush 80.5% of the time!
That said, for the most part, you should max-bet (3x):
- Any pair
- Any suited hand
- Connectors with one card at least matching the dealer's up card or higher (overcards are better)
- The top one-gappers, namely KJo vs. K or less, QTo vs. T or less, and J9o vs 8 or less
- Any Ace with straight potential (AK, AQ, A2, A3) or with a kicker at least matching the dealer's up card or higher (e.g. A6o vs. 6 or less, A9o vs. 9 or less)
It is only correct to fold around 5% of hands. Generally speaking, in order to fold, for the most part the dealer should have an Ace or King up, and you should have two offsuit undercards with no straight potential (in other words, you are never folding a connector or one-gapper, or an overcard); it is also correct to fold against a Queen with any two offsuit cards 7 or less with no straight potential.
Min-bet (1x) everything else.
There are some other exceptions to those rules, but that's the gist of the game and enough to get you close to optimal play. For the complete strategy, see the Strategy page.
Note: Whereas Three Card Stud Triple Draw™ allows the player to bet 1x-3x, it is never correct for the player to bet 2x. As such, for the sake of simplicity, the demo does away with the middle bet size, and only allows 1x or 3x bet sizes on the Draw.