Quick 3-Card Poker Simple Question

I have not seen 3-card poker, so a quick, dumb question. I know the dealer's cards are dealt face down. Are the players' cards dealt face up or face down?

Thanks.

Players cards are face down, and you aren't supposed to share info with other players, though they do let you play more than 1 position usually.

Thanks! I assume it would be a big player advantage to see other's cards. If you saw lots of high cards, it may make the dealer's hand more likely to be trash. Or vice versa.

There are other face-down card games where you're not supposed to look at / talk about your hand, but they'll let you play two hands. One that comes to mind is Pia Gow Poker.

They'll place a clear cover ove one hand while you play the other hand. Then move the cover to play the first hand.

If your bet isn't the same for the two hands, you'll always be required to play the hand with the higher bet first.

Quote: SailorKane

Thanks! I assume it would be a big player advantage to see other's cards.

At most 3CP games at most casinos, sharing cards with other players at the tables is allowed. To quote JG in "Beyond Counting" pages 137, 138:

"Looking at other players' hands only gives weak information about the dealer's hand by eliminating some possibilities... If all seven players share information, there are 31 remaining unseen cards, leaving 4495 possible hands for the dealer ... [if] we know one of the dealer's cards in addition to our own hand [then] there are then only 1128 possible hands for the dealer. Knowing one of the dealer's cards gives us far more powerful information than knowing all 21 of the players' cards."

Upshot: you cannot gain an edge over the house by the increased playing efficiency gained by seeing all the other players' cards.

--Dorothy

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I've been asked to deal 3 card poker at a charity event locally. This is not a real casino and the only prizes are: fun, and raffle tickets. I'm a tournament poker dealer, but never dealt 3cp, or seen it dealt. The event will be pretty loose with the rules and I can probably deal any way I want. Would it be advantageous in a charity event to deal the player's cards face up, as it would be in blackjack? If there is little advantage to be gained by seeing other players' cards, it might be a faster more fun game if the players cards are face up?

What I've found at many of these charity events is that probably 60% of the players have little experience in real casinos. 20% have some experience (e.g. once a year trip to vegas) and 20% are hard core gamblers.

Thanks for the advice.

I would say do it the standard way, because like you said, the 80% aren't going to care, but out of the 20%, many will be saying to you the whole night "You know, you are supposed to deal the cards face down..." Plus I don't think the speed is going to be affected by the difference. And my final argument for dealing face down is, I am a teacher, and my goal is to always educate people on the correct procedures. I'm not helping anyone who wants to go to a casino someday by making my own rules and confusing them later.

OK. Sounds like it makes sense. Thanks everyone for the info and advice.

Sailor -

I'll echo CClub's comment. Yeah, you might as well "teach" it as close to casino rules as you can.

Plus, people instinctivly associate ALL poker games with keeping the cards hidden. Oh, sure, you always have people encouraging their neighbor peek at crappy hands. But even though they are playing against a dealer, they don't let the neightbor peek at the good hands as often.