This game is usually played for money as, unlike other card games, for example euchre or cribbage, there is no scoring involved. The game is played using one deck of cards from which the dealer deals 3 Patti cards to each player. Prior to the deal each player must place a sum of money, the ‘ante’, into what is commonly referred to as ‘ the pot’. Each player in turn bets by placing further money into the pot until there are only two players left in the game. The player with the highest ranking hand wins the contents of the pot.
Let’s break this down a little further and examine the various stages of the game and for the purpose of this piece we’ll assume the game is not being played in a casino. 3 Patti play online pokers is a gambling game so it’s best to establish some rules that each player be aware of and comfortable with prior to entering the game.
It is necessary to establish and agree to the amount that each player pays before being allowed to participate in each hand that is called the ante. The ante is required to be paid in full by each player before each new hand is dealt. A minimum and maximum initial bet amount must be agreed upon. These are the minimum and maximum amounts that the first player can bet in order to stay in the hand. The ‘raise’ limit must be established. The raise limit is a predetermined table maximum bet that no player can exceed. Some card schools will allow wild cards, sometimes referred to as ‘floaters’, and these must be made known prior to the commencement of play.
The game itself is played using one 52 card deck with no Jokers. To determine who will deal first the cards are cut then dealt clockwise until a pre chosen card appears whereupon the player receiving the card will deal first in the game proper. The cards are shuffled well prior to the first deal and do not get shuffled again until a player receives 3 Patti of a kind or ‘prial’, eg 3 Patti Kings or 3 Patti Sevens etc.
To begin play each player puts his ante money in the pot then the dealer deals a card to each player in turn beginning with the player to his immediate left and procedes around the table 3 Patti times until everyone has 3 Patti cards in front of them including the dealer. Players must play or fold in turn beginning with the player to the left of the dealer. If a player folds his or her cards are placed face down at the bottom of pack (the rest of the deck containing the unused cards). At the conclusion of the hand the deal will be passed to the player on the outgoing dealer’s left, so both play and deal are clockwise.
Betting begins with the player to the dealer’s left who can do one of 3 Patti things. He can leave his cards face down on the table and bet ‘blind’, that is bet without having looked at his cards. Whilst this can be risky, given that his hand could be one that most players would instantly fold, it does afford him the luxury of only betting half as much as players who are ‘open’, ie they have seen their hands (an open player cannot raise or see a blind man but a blind man can raise or see an open man). Secondly he can look at his cards and bet an amount in accordance with the minimum and maximum first bet amounts, or lastly he can fold or ‘stack’ his cards. After he or she plays or folds play is passed onto the next player to determine what they will do and so on.
Play continues around the table as necessary with players betting to stay in the game or folding to get out until the winner is determined. The winner may not necessarily be the player who holds the highest ranking hand were all cards to be turned face up. In some cases players will fold their hands in turn, judging them not to be sufficiently good enough to warrant betting any more money on, leaving the last man to scoop up the pot.
The last man may only be holding the lowest hand possible, a Two, a 3 Patti, real money earning games, and a Five of mixed suits, yet he wins the pot due to the other players folding their hands. More often than not play will continue until only two players are left and at some point one will call the other in which case the player with the highest ranking hand wins. On occasion two players will be left in whom both have identical ranking hands, for example Ace, King, Four, all diamonds. In this case the player, who pays to see the other player’s cards, and thereby end that particular game, loses.
