How to Play 3 Card Brag

How to Play 3 Card Brag

How to Play 3 Card Brag

July 06, 2021  Authorbjbajian

Three Card Brag is quite similar to Three Card Poker. The hand order has a few minor rule adjustments that help the player slightly, but it's the same.

Rules of 3 Card Brag
To begin with, the hands have their vocabulary. 3 Card Brag to Three Card Poker Translation Guide here:

3 CARD BRAG THREE CARD POKER
Prial Three of a kind
Running Flush Straight flush
Run Straight


Second, the hands are in a different order. The only difference is that a three of a kind wins over a straight flush. To put it another way, a Prial trumps a Running Flush in 3 Card Brag terms.

Third, some of the hands have various hand orders. To be more precise:
  • The highest three of a kind is 3-3-3. (Prial). Three of a kind is ranked the same way it is in Three Card Poker.
  • The highest run, or running flush, is A-2-3 (straight or straight flush). Otherwise, they are ranked in the same way that they are in Three Card Poker.

Ante Bonus
HAND PAYS
Prial 5~1
Running Flush 4~1
Run 1~1
Pair Bonus
HAND PAYS
Prial 40~1
Running Flush 30~1
Run 6~1
Flush 4~1
Pair 1~1


Raise on Q-6-4 or better, just as you would in Three Card Poker.

The rule that the highest three of a kind and straight are the 3-3-3 and A-2-3, respectively, cuts both ways. As a result, we can ignore that rule for the sake of analysis.

The rule concerning exchanging the three of a kind and straight flush, on the other hand, benefits the player in both the Ante Bonus and the Pair Bonus. The house edge on the Pair Bonus is reduced from 2.32% to 2.14% due to the change in hand order. The house margin on the Ante bet is now 3.35%, down from 3.37% previously.