Teen Patti or ‘Three cards’ is a gambling card game that comes from the Indian subcontinent and it is very popular in South Asia.
This game is heavily influenced by poker, and some parts of the world also call it ‘flush’ or ‘flash’. Nowadays online you can also play different versions of this game. You can find it if you visit 1Good.Bet website, for example.
So, what are the rules for this game?
What is Teen Patti?
This is an Indian card game played with a standard 52-card deck without the jokers where the main objective is to make the best 3 card hand and to maximize the prize pool before the showdown at the end.
It is very similar to poker and it is increasing in popularity in different parts of the world. Read about its history here.
Rules of Teen Patti
The rules of this game are fairly simple, especially if you are familiar with other casino card games. The game starts with the ‘boot’ which is an amount of money collected from all players. This is the agreed minimum stake each participant needs to pay in order to play.
All the money is placed in the center of the table and the prize pool grows throughout the game. The dealer then deals the cards anti-clockwise and every player receives 3 cards at the beginning.
To spice things up a bit, Teen Patti has a rather interesting rule that allows players to decide whether or not to play:
Seen – Which allows you to see your cards
Or
Blind – Where your cards are kept face down
If you decide to play ‘Blind’ you must at least pay the current stake or the boot. The current stake for the next player is the amount that you bet (if he is playing blind as well) or twice the amount if the player decided to play ‘seen’.
If you decide to see your cards, you have to bet at least as much as the current stake (if the player before you also has seen his cards) or double the amount if the player before was playing blind.
You can also change strategies in mid-game and see your cards, from where you become a seen player onwards.
The game continues until one of these things happen:
All except one player has folded. With this outcome, the remaining player wins all the chips placed in the pot, irrespective of the Teen Patti sequence (cards in the hand) held.
All except two players decided to fold and one of these players at their turn said that it is time for a show. Here both players show their cards and the player holding the higher Teen Patti sequence wins the pot.
Rules to Be Aware Of
There are certain rules that every participant in the game must follow, such as:
A show cannot occur unless only two players are remaining in the game and others folded. Players bet certain amounts of money until someone folds and it comes down to a show.
When it comes to a show, the player with the higher card value wins the pot. However, if both hands are equal, the player who requested the show loses.
Another interesting rule about Teen Patti is the sideshow. This rule allows a player to request the player who bet before in a sideshow. If the player accepts the sideshow, the two players compare their cards, and the player with lower-ranking must fold. If their card value is equal, the player that requested the sideshow must fold.
The player can also refuse the sideshow, where the betting will continue as usual.
Card Rankings
In order to understand the game, you must go through the card ranking system and see which hand will give you an advantage. If you are familiar with poker, you’ll understand the card rankings in no time since they are very similar.
- Trail (three of a kind) – 3 cards of the same rank (AAA is the best hand in the game
- Pure Sequence (Straight flush) – 3 consecutive cards in the same suit
- Sequence (Straight) – 3 consecutive cards which don’t have to be in the same suit
- Color (Flush) – 3 cards in the same suit, where the highest card wins the pot
- Pair (two of a kind) – have a pair of 2 cards of the same rank. In case of a draw, the value of the third card in hand will determine the winner.
High Card – When participants don’t have any card combination, the highest card wins the pot
