How To Play 4 Card Poker

By: Ravenmaniac

Break Studios Contributing Writer

If you learn how to play 4 Card Poker, you can play one of several table game versions of poker offered in casinos. Casinos first offered Three Card Poker, and now they have advanced to Four Card Poker. When you are learning how to play Four Card Poker, keep in mind that you are playing against the casino like blackjack instead of against other players.  There are numerous bets that must be made to remain in a hand of Four Card Poker until the end to see if you win the hand.

  1. Receive your cards from the dealer.  Each player must make an initial bet, known as the ante, and then is dealt five cards.  He receives five cards and the dealer receives six cards. The dealer's advantage is he has more cards to make his final four card hand from than the player has. When  you learn how to play Four Card Poker, remember the dealer has this advantage.
  2. Evaluate your hand and decide if you wish to fold or remain in the hand. As you learn how to play Four Card Poker, you must learn to evaluate your hand. Form your best four card hand from the five cards you were dealt and put the fifth card aside.  Flushes and straights as well as straight flushes are valid hands in Four Card Poker, but royal flushes are not.  If you wish to remain in the hand you must make another bet that is equal or up to three times your initial ante. 
  3. Reveal the hands to determine the winner.  The player and the dealer reveal their hands. Either the player or dealer win the hand based on who has the best Four Card Poker hand.  The player's bets are paid out one-to-one if he wins, otherwise he loses his bet.
  4. Determine if the player qualifies for a bonus.  Even if the player loses the hand, if he has three of a kind, a straight flush, or four of a kind, he receives a bonus. When you learn how to play Four Card Poker, check the payout table listed for these bonuses at the table you are playing at as they vary from casino to casino. They pay a multiple of the bet the player made. 
  5. Decide to play the Aces Up bonus bet when you are learning how to play Four Card Poker. As you learn to play Four Card Poker you will find there is a bonus bet called Aces Up. To make this bet you match your ante in a separate bet before the hand is dealt. There is a payout table that lists how much you receive if you win that bet, it is based on the four card hand you are dealt.  There are payouts for hands as low as a pair of aces. Once again, when you learn how to play Four Card Poker, check the payout on the chart listed at the table you are playing at, as these vary from casino to casino.
Posted on: May. 18, 2010