Derek Webb Poker
3 Card Poker is the most successful proprietary table title ever. However, things weren’t smooth sailing for its inventor Derek Webb, who struggled to get it established in hot spots such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Today, many online casinos offer it in its software form, and a few even let you play it against a live dealer.
- At WinStar World Casino and Resort, we know poker. So you better believe our staff can deal a mean hand of 3-Card Poker. Invented in 1994 by Derek Webb, this fast-paced card game allows the player to not only bet against the house like traditional poker, but.
- As far as casino games go, 3 card poker is one of the newest available that you’ll find on any gaming floor. Created in 1994 and patented in 1997 by Derek Webb of the United Kingdom, 3 card poker took the casino world by storm combining the charm and skill of poker with the.
Three Card Poker is a casino table game based on poker.
History[edit]
The casino variant of Three Card Poker was first created by Derek Webb in 1994 and patented in 1997.[1] Webb's goal was to create a version of poker that played with the speed of other table games. It was important to Webb that he got the correct mix of three important factors for any casino game: the game rules were easy to understand, the payouts were large enough to attract players, and the house edge was enough that casino owners would be interested in adopting the game.
Webb established a business called Prime Table Games to market the game in both the United States and United Kingdom.[2] The British Casino Association, now known as the National Casino Industry Forum (NCiF) suggested that Webb gain some experience in the US first, since the UK had regulations against such a table game and his application was not strong enough to convince regulators to make significant changes to their rules and regulations for a new game.
The first to adopt the game was Barry Morris, Vice President of Grand Casino Gulfport in Mississippi, after Webb had unsuccessful sales pitches with casino owners in Reno, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City. A key aspect of Webb's offer to Morris was to stand on the floor to train the dealers himself, as well as watch to make sure the game was being played correctly.[3] United Kingdom gambling regulations were changed to allow the introduction of Three Card Poker in 2002.
Prime Table Games continued marketing Three Card Poker until 1999, when Shuffle Master acquired the rights to the game outside the British Isles. The sale was prompted by a lawsuit filed that year in US federal court by Progressive Gaming International Corporation (PGIC), the then-owners of Caribbean stud poker, alleging patent infringement; Shuffle Master agreed to defend that litigation as part of the purchase. Subsequently in 2007, Prime Table Games showed in a countersuit that the 1999 PGIC litigation was based on invalid patent claims; PGIC settled for $20 million.[4] Further, Prime Table Games filed suit against Shuffle Master in 2008 alleging in part that Shuffle Master had undisclosed knowledge that the PGIC claims were invalid prior to the 1999 purchase; it was later settled for over $2 million.[5]
Rules[edit]
Three Card Poker is played as heads-up between the player's hand and the dealer's hand. After all ante wagers are placed, three cards are dealt to each player and the dealer. Players have a choice to either fold or continue in the game by placing a 'play' wager equal to their ante. Hands are then exposed and wagers resolved.[6]
The dealer's hand must be Queen high or better for the dealer hand to play. If the dealer does not play, then there is no action on play wagers and ante wagers are paid 1 to 1. If the dealer does play, the dealer and player hands are compared. If the player hand loses, both the ante and play wagers are lost. If the player hand wins both the ante and play wagers are paid 1 to 1. If the hands are tied, then there is no action on either wager.[6]
Additional optional bets are offered. The Pair Plus wager is a bet that the player's hand will be a pair or better. The Pair Plus wager wins if the player has at least a pair of twos. The payoff applies regardless of the dealer's hand, as the Pair Plus wager is not in competition against the dealer's hand. Some casinos also offer an Ante Bonus, which is paid on the ante wager for a straight or better. The typical Ante Bonus paytable pays 5 to 1 for a straight flush, 4 to 1 for a three of a kind, and 1 to 1 for a straight. Like the Pair Plus wager, the Ante Bonus pays regardless of whether that hand beats the dealer's hand.[6]
Hand ranks[edit]
Straight flush
Three of a kind
Straight
Flush
Pair
High card
Derek Webb Poker Club
| Hand Ranks of Three Card Poker[7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Description | Frequency | Probability |
| Straight flush | Three suited cards in sequence | 48 | 0.22% |
| Three of a kind | Three cards of same rank | 52 | 0.24% |
| Straight | Three cards in sequence | 720 | 3.26% |
| Flush | Three suited cards | 1,096 | 4.96% |
| Pair | Two cards of same rank | 3,744 | 16.94% |
| High card | None of the above | 16,440 | 74.39% |
| Total hands | - | 22,100 | - |
Probability of Queen high or better is 69.59%[citation needed]
Variations[edit]
Some venues have added a wager called Prime in United Kingdom casinos and the game is known as Prime Three Card Poker. The Prime wager is optionally placed before cards are dealt and pays on the color of the player cards. If all three cards are the same color the payoff is 3 to 1. However, when included with the dealer hand if all six cards are the same color then the payoff is increased to 4 to 1.
Another variation is 'six card bonus', in which the players are given a payout based on the best five-card poker hand that can be made using any combination of the player's three cards and the dealer's three cards. Payoff ranges from 5 to 1 for three of a kind to 1000 to 1 for royal flush. Payoffs are paid regardless of whether any other bets pay.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Three Card Poker'. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
- ^'Intellectual Property Office patent entry'. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^'3CardPoker.com'. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
- ^Stutz, Howard (November 7, 2007). 'Progressive agrees to pay $20 million to end lawsuit'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^Stutz, Howard (January 14, 2011). 'Charge hurts Shuffle Master earnings'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^ abcMatt Villano (August 27, 2014). 'Winning a 3-card poker can be tough'. SfGate.
- ^'Three Card Poker - Wizard of Odds'. wizardofodds.com. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
It is fitting that we discuss the Three Card Poker games in Reno, Nevada, since the first games in the state were played at the Atlantis Casino and downtown at Harrah’s Reno. The town of Reno was also the first to fully embrace the state’s new open-gambling bill in 1931, and the Bank Club was the state’s largest employer in the 1930’s.
By the 1990’s, when Three Card Poker came to Reno the town was no longer the Big Dog in Nevada, fully over-shadowed by Las Vegas, but even today Reno is a fun, casual destination with plenty of casinos and reasonable room rates and table minimums.
Three Card Poker has remained a very popular, low-cost pleasure for gamblers in Reno. The game’s inventor, Derek Webb, envisioned a game very similar to his experiences at poker with a chance for players to win the occasional large pot. As the game turned out, that’s exactly what the players get. The game offers even-money payoffs on a regular basis, not unlike blackjack, and then when lightning strikes, the player makes three of a kind or a straight flush and is paid the big bucks.
Reno started with a dozen or so casinos in the downtown area. Today, that number is the same, although the names and locations have changed. Where the mighty Harold’s Club once stood, there are benches and concrete, with a door leading to Harrah’s casino. Inside Harrah’s the number of table games offered has dwindled from more than 100 to about half that number, but still, you can play Three Card Poker.
Downtown Reno
In fact, Three Card Poker is offered at 36 Harrah’s properties across the United States, from Rincon in California, to Ak-Chin in Arizona, to New Orleans and Atlantic City. However, you won’t find a lower regular cost game than at Harrah’s in Reno. At least one table is open most hours, and the table limit rarely changes from a $5 minimum. The dealers are experienced and friendly, and deal a very clean and easy to read game. Their house procedures are adhered to at all times.
If you want the regular Reno casino atmosphere, play in the hotel tower section of the property, but if you really want to party, head over to the East Tower Sports casino and the Zone. The special high-energy area offers live music, specialty drinks, Blackjack and Three Card Poker, and dealers in skimpy outfits who move from behind the tables to the stage where they shake what they’ve got! It’s not your parent’s old Reno at Harrah’s.
Other casinos in the downtown area offer Three-Card Poker too, and there are times when the game can be played for just $3 per wager. The Sands, Cal-Neva, Sienna, and Circus Circus have been known to offer the game at discount prices, but $5 is the standard at most clubs.
The Silver Legacy and Eldorado are the nicest casinos in the downtown corridor these days. The Eldorado has an 11-table poker room with limit and no-limit Texas Hold’em, but as with the other clubs in town, the Three Card Poker tables are found out on the casino floor with other games like Let-it-Ride, craps, roulette, and the town favorite: blackjack.
Blackjack itself has good and bad qualities in Reno and Lake Tahoe. Many games are dealt from a single deck, providing quick turnarounds from bad streaks, but the standards in Northern Nevada are double on 10 and 11 only, and no resplit of aces. It’s a tradeoff for the beautiful mountains and lower cost of rooms and food.
At the Eldorado, I’ve played $5 and $10 minimum Three Card Poker, with either a $50 or $100 maximum wager, which limits the house’s liability, and keeps the limits low enough that players are able to play all night without burning through thousands of dollars. The blackjack tables too, have lower limits than larger casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. An occasional $3 game can be found ($200 maximum), with standard upper limits of $500 to $1000.
After playing Three Card Poker at the Eldorado you can venture upstairs to the link of restaurants between the three connected properties, Circus Circus, Eldorado, and Silver Legacy. The walkway is much-inviting when the snow is blowing outside. The weather, from April to September is very nice, with lows in the 40’s to highs in the 80’s, but October to March is a mixed bag of sunny days, cool temperatures, and snowy weeks where the temperature may drop to zero, so be prepared, although you can get from club to club on foot, even in blistery snow.
Derek Webb Podcast
Outside the Downtown Area
Reno offers three very nice casinos that have bucked the traditional and built outside the downtown area. The Grand Sierra Resort is the furthest from downtown, but only by about a 10-minute drive. It is located almost next to the Reno-Tahoe Airport, and has 2000 rooms plus bowling, a golf range, arcade, gift shops, and plenty of table games and slots.
Their poker room is eight tables, and again, Three Card Poker is available on the casino floor nestled amongst the blackjack tables. There is also a Friday/Saturday Wet Party Pit with female dancers, and a William Hill Sports Book. Three Card Poker is available on $5 to $50 tables, and as with most casinos in Nevada, the games go until the players are gone, or all night.
Also found away from the downtown casinos are the Peppermill and Atlantis resorts. These properties are five-miles away, straight down South Virginia Street. The Peppermill comes first, a neo-Roman gargantuan with fountains, columns, and plenty of buildings to keep you guessing where you are. Room rates are as low as $49 at times, quite the bargain for such a nice property, and you won’t need to leave the grounds for days with all their amenities.
The last time I played Three Card Poker at the Peppermill the minimum wager was $5, but they also had $10 tables. Winter time could bring slightly lower limits during graveyard hours, but then again, the last game might close-down and not open again until 10am.
Derek Webb Poker Player
At the Atlantis a few blocks away, the game will definitely close if play drops to nothing in the wee hours of the morning. However, at the place where Derek Webb first brought Three Card Poker to Reno more than 15 years ago, you might just find the same limit: $3. The club does have $3 blackjack, $49 rooms (again, in season), several restaurants, and a poker room. The word for Reno is “Reasonable.”