Three Card Poker Payouts & the Ante Bonus, Explained
Last reviewed: July 2026
Three Card Poker looks simple, but the payouts have a few moving parts: two bets that resolve together, a dealer who has to “qualify,” and an Ante Bonus that pays you even when you lose the hand. Here’s exactly how the money works, with the real numbers.
The two main bets: Ante and Play
You start with the Ante. After seeing your three cards, you either fold (losing the ante) or add a Play bet equal to it. When you play, both bets resolve together against the dealer — but how they resolve depends on one rule.
The dealer must qualify (Queen-high or better)
Before comparing hands, the dealer checks their own cards. The dealer only qualifies with Queen-high or better. This creates two very different outcomes:
- Dealer doesn’t qualify: your Ante pays 1:1 and your Play bet pushes (comes back to you). You win one unit no matter what your hand is. This happens fairly often and is a built-in cushion.
- Dealer qualifies: the higher three-card hand wins. Beat them and both Ante and Play pay 1:1 (you win two units). Lose and you forfeit both. A tie pushes.
So a played hand pays +1 (dealer folds), +2 (you win), 0 (tie), or −2 (you lose) — before the bonus.
The Ante Bonus: paid win or lose
Here’s the part people miss. The Ante Bonus pays automatically on strong hands, regardless of the dealer and regardless of whether you win the hand. You don’t bet anything extra for it. The standard “1-4-5” schedule:
| Your hand | Ante Bonus |
|---|---|
| Straight | 1 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | 4 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 5 to 1 |
So if you hold a straight flush and the dealer somehow beats you (they’d need a higher straight flush — vanishingly rare), you still collect 5:1 on your ante. The bonus is a big reason correct play is so cheap: your best hands pay you extra even on the rare losses.
Worked example
Say you ante $5 and play (another $5), holding a straight:
- Dealer doesn’t qualify: Ante pays $5, Play pushes, Ante Bonus pays $5 (1:1 on a straight). You’re +$10.
- You beat a qualifying dealer: Ante $5 + Play $5 + Bonus $5 = +$15.
- You lose to a qualifying dealer: −$5 −$5 + $5 bonus = −$5 (the bonus softens the loss).
That single-hand math is exactly what the simulator settles every deal, in integer cents.
Pair Plus payouts (the side bet)
Pair Plus is separate and pays only on your three cards. The two common paytables:
| Hand | 1-3-6-30-40 | 1-4-6-30-40 |
|---|---|---|
| Straight flush | 40 to 1 | 40 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | 30 to 1 | 30 to 1 |
| Straight | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 |
| Flush | 3 to 1 | 4 to 1 |
| Pair | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
That one difference in the flush row swings the house edge from 7.28% (flush pays 3) to 2.32% (flush pays 4). It’s worth knowing which table you’re at — the full breakdown is in Is the Pair Plus bet worth it?.
The bottom line
Played with the Queen-6-4 rule, the Ante-Play game keeps just 3.37% of your ante — and the dealer-qualify cushion plus the Ante Bonus are the two features that make it that friendly. See the payouts in action free → and watch each hand settle exactly.