The Rules of Three Card Poker

Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Ante wager" means the wager that a player is required to make prior to any cards being dealt in order to compete against the dealer's hand in a round of play.

"Hand" means the three-card poker hand that is held by each player and the dealer after the cards are dealt.

"Pair plus wager" means the wager that a player is required to make prior to any cards being dealt in order to compete against a posted scale of payouts, regardless of the outcome of the player's hand against the dealer.

"Play wager" means an additional wager, equal in value to his or her ante wager, which a player must make if the player opts to remain in competition against the dealer after the player reviews his or her hand.

"Round of play" means one complete cycle of play during which all wagers have been placed, all cards have been dealt and all remaining wagers have been paid off or collected in accordance with this subchapter.

"Stub" means the remaining portion of the deck after all cards in the round of play have been dealt or delivered.

"Suit" means one of the four categories of cards: clubs, diamonds, hearts or spades.

Three Card Poker Rankings

(a) The rank of the cards used in Three Card Poker, in order of highest to the lowest rank, shall be: ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2. All suits shall be considered equal in rank. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an ace may be used to complete a "straight flush" or a "straight" with a two and three.

(b) The permissible poker hands in the game of Three Card Poker, in order of highest to lowest rank, shall be:

1. "Straight flush" is a hand consisting of three cards of the same suit in consecutive ranking, with ace, king, and queen being the highest straight flush and three, two and ace being the lowest ranking straight flush.
2. "Three-of-a-kind" is a hand consisting of three cards of the same rank, regardless of suit, with three aces being the highest ranking three-of-a-kind and three twos being the lowest ranking three-of-a-kind.
3. "Straight" is a hand consisting of three cards of consecutive rank, regardless of suit, with ace, king and queen being the highest ranking straight and three, two and ace being the lowest ranking straight.
4. "Flush" is a hand consisting of three cards of the same suit, regardless of rank.
5. "Pair" is a hand consisting of two cards of the same rank, regardless of suit, with two aces being the highest ranking pair and two twos being the lowest ranking pair.

When comparing two hands that are of identical hand rank pursuant to the provisions of (b) above, or that contain none of the hands authorized in (b) above, the hand that contains the highest ranking card as provided in (a) above that is not contained in the other hand shall be considered the higher ranking hand. If the hands are of identical rank after the application of this subsection, the hands shall be considered a draw.

Table Opening

When opening a new table the dealer and floor supervisor will check the bankroll for accuracy and sign and drop the table inventory slip.

If an automated shuffler is used, two decks of cards will be used, each with a different color back. If on a game where a manual shuffle will be used, only one deck of cards is used.

When cards are placed on the gaming table a casino supervisor will break the seal then give the cards to the dealer for inspection. The dealer or casino supervisor will spread the cards face up in two rows to verify that all cards are present. The backs of the cards will be checked to make certain there are no marking, which can be identified as to the value of the card. Cards will be checked for any kind of damage. If after checking the cards, the dealer or supervisor finds that the cards are damaged or improper, the supervisor will replace them. When replacing cards on the initial opening the whole deck in question will be replaced with a new deck from inventory. The defective deck will have the defect noted, and returned to the Card and Dice storage.

A deck of 52 cards will be used. (Unused jokers shall be immediately cancelled with a black magic marker).

After the first deck is checked, it will be spread and washed on the table. If an automated shuffler is used, then they will be collected, riffled once, and inserted into the automatic shuffler. For a manual shuffle they will be spread and washed then continue with the manual shuffle procedure.

If an automated shuffler is used, the second deck is then washed and riffled the same way.

If there is no player at the table, the second deck will be spread face down. If there is a player, the bets will be checked and the cards loaded into the shuffle machine to start the first hand.

Wagers

(a) The following wagers may be placed in the game of Three Card Poker:

1. A player may compete solely against the dealer by placing an ante wager in an amount within the posted minimum and maximum wagers and then placing a play wager in an equal amount
2. A player may compete solely against a posted payout ledger by placing a pair plus wager, which wager may be in any amount within the posted minimum and maximum wagers; or
3. A player may compete against both the dealer and the posted payout ledger by placing wagers in accordance with the requirements of (a) 1 and 2 above.

(b) All wagers at Three Card Poker shall be made by placing gaming chips and, if applicable, a match play coupon on the appropriate betting areas of the table layout. A verbal wager accompanied by cash shall not be accepted.

(c) Only players who are seated at a Three Card Poker table may wager at the game. Once a player has placed a wager and received cards, that player shall remain seated until the completion of the round of play.

(d) All ante wagers and pair plus wagers shall be placed prior to the dealer announcing, "No more bets" in accordance with the dealing procedures described in these internal controls. No wager shall be made, increased or withdrawn after the dealer has announced, "No more bets." All play wagers shall be placed in accordance with the "Procedures for Completion each Round of Play" described below.

(e) Prairie Meadows may, at its discretion, permit a player to place wagers at two betting positions during a round of play provided that the two betting positions are adjacent to each other.

Prairie Meadows has the right to deny play to any player at any time for any reason, which it considers detrimental to the best interest of Prairie Meadows and the State of Iowa gaming industry.

Shuffle Of The Cards

The standard shuffle after a hand is complete is to riffle once and place the deck into the shuffle machine. Three Card Poker will be dealt from an automatic shuffler. In the event that a shuffler breaks down, the dealers will use a manual shuffle. If an error light turns on during the shuffle, the cards in the machine will not be brought into play until a supervisor investigates the error. The dealer will riffle twice, strip the cards (5-7 times), and riffle once more. If manually dealt a player will be offered the cut, if nobody wishes to cut the dealer will call out "Dealer Cut", and cut the cards in the middle. The cards will then be dealt out as described below.

Dealing Of The Cards

After a deck is loaded into the shuffle machine, the machine will produce the first 3-card hand. Starting at the Dealer's left, this spot will receive the first hand. Each player, including the house, will receive a three-card hand. The dealer will receive the last hand. The machine will dispense the remaining cards and they will be placed in the discard rack before play will begin.

Hands will be fanned or spread near the players' betting area.

In a manually dealt game the dealer will deal one card per spot from left to right, including the Dealer's spot last until each spot has three cards. After all spots have hands, there should be 28 cards left over. These should be verified then put into the discard rack. The dealer will remove any hands where there are no wagers, and place these cards into the discard rack.

The dealer shall announce to the players that it is ok to view their hands.

Procedures For Completion Of Each Round Of Play

(a) After the dealing procedures have been completed, each player shall examine his or her cards. Each player who wagers at Three Card Poker shall be responsible for his or her own hand and no person other than the dealer and the player to whom the cards were dealt may touch the cards of that player.

(b) After examination of his or her cards, each player who has placed an ante wager shall have the option to either make a play wager in an amount equal to the player's ante wager or forfeit the ante wager and end his or her participation in the round of play. The dealer shall offer this option to each player, starting with the player farthest to the left of the dealer and moving clockwise around the table in order. If a player has placed an ante wager and a pair plus wager but does not make a play wager, the player shall forfeit both the ante wager and the pair plus wager. After each player has either placed a wager on the table in the play wager area or forfeited his or her wager and hand, the dealer shall collect all forfeited wagers and associated cards, placing the cards in the discard rack. The dealer shall then reveal the dealer's cards and place the cards so as to form the highest possible ranking hand. The dealer shall then, starting with the player farthest to the dealer's right whose hand is still active, reveal the three-card hand of each player.

(c) The dealer will pay and take in order and then lock up the cards after each hand is resolved.

1. The dealer shall pay all winning wagers beginning with the player farthest to the right of the dealer and continuing counterclockwise around the table.
2. After paying all winning wagers, the dealer shall immediately collect the cards of all players and the dealer and place them in the discard rack.

(d) All cards collected by the dealer shall be picked up in order and placed in the discard rack in such a way that they can be readily arranged to reconstruct each hand in the event of a question or dispute.

Payout Odds

(a) There are three payout types as follows:

1. A player in competition against the dealer shall be paid 1 to 1 on both the ante wager and the play wager if the player's hand is ranked higher than the dealer's hand. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the dealer does not hold a hand with a "queen high or better" rank, the ante wager shall automatically be paid 1 to 1 and the play wager shall be returned to the player.

2. A player placing a pair plus wager, shall be paid in accordance with the following payout ledger:

   Pair	pays	1 to 1
   Flush	pays	4 to 1
   Straight	pays	6 to 1
   Three-of-a-kind	pays	30 to 1
   Straight flush	pays	40 to 1

3. Player placing an ante wager and a play wager shall be paid a bonus if the player's hand consists of the following:

   Straight	pays	1 to 1
   Three-of-a-kind	pays	4 to 1
   Straight flush	pays	5 to 1

Irregularities

(a) A card that is found face up in the shoe or the deck while the cards are being dealt shall not be used in the game and shall be placed in the discard rack. If more than one card is found face up in the shoe or the deck during the dealing of the cards, all hands shall be void and the cards shall be reshuffled.

(b) A card drawn in error without its face being exposed shall be used as though it was the next card from the shoe or the deck.

(c) If any player or the dealer is dealt an incorrect number of cards, all hands shall be void and the cards shall be reshuffled.

(d) If one or more of the dealer's cards is inadvertently exposed prior to the dealer revealing his or her cards as described above, all hands shall be void and the cards shall be reshuffled.

(e) If the automated card-shuffling device jams, stops shuffling during a shuffle, or fails to complete a shuffle cycle, the cards shall be reshuffled in accordance with procedures described above.

(f) If an automated dealing shoe is being used and the device jams, stops dealing cards, or fails to deal all cards during a round of play, the round of play shall be void and the cards shall be removed from the device and reshuffled with any cards already dealt.