Teen Patti: The best 3 card game guide

Playing cards date back to the 9^th century. Back then, people used wooden blocks to print cards. Later they were even hand-painted. The Tang dynasty of China played card games that used different cards. They did not have numbers but instructions for the person drawing them. In India, the Mughal emperors introduced the card game. The deck of Ganjifa cards consisted of 52 hand-made cards. These cards belonged to four suits ♣️, ♥️, ♠️, ♦️. The western-style cards were brought by the British to India. Today, the deck of 52 playing cards uses the original version of the French four suits. These four suits are:

1. Clubs  
2. Diamonds
3. Hearts
4. Spades

Each suit has 13 ranks which comprise 3 face/court cards King, Queen, and Jack. The rest 10 cards in each suit are pip/numeral cards. These cards have numbers written from 2-10. We do not have a card with the number 1 printed on it; instead, we have the Ace card to represent it. Commercial playing cards have the Joker card. The number of joker cards could be one or more. These are custom-made for casinos, magicians, and those sold for promotional purposes or as accessories. One can use this deck of cards to play many types of games.

We are here to tell you about the Teen Patti game mainly. Teen means three, while Patti means cards. This gambling game is a simplified version of Poker. Some people also call it flash or flush. The deck of 52 playing cards is played counter-clockwise, mostly by 4 to 6 players. You can have a maximum of 10 players in this game. Players should know to count. There is no time limit when playing this game.

Teen Patti is a social game for many families in India, especially during Diwali. Today casinos have invented various Teen Patti versions. Read on to find out.

The main objective of this game is to build the pot amount and win it by having the highest-ranking cards. 

Betting in Teen Patti stops, and the game-winner is announced when:

• Only one player is left, while all others have folded/packed. In this scenario, his card rankings won’t get considered. 
• When there are only two players and a showdown is done among them.
• When the pot amount has reached its limit, all the active players will have to do a showdown to decide the winner (this happens only if the Teen Patti game has a pot limit set). When this happens, it is called an alternative showdown.

The Teen Patti card game differs from the Teen Patti bet placed while playing Satta Matka.

Since Teen Patti is a gambling game, read about the Indian gambling laws. 

Table of Contents

• Common Teen Patti Terms:
• How to Play Teen Patti
  • Step 1: Select a Dealer
  • Step 2: Collect the Boot or Ante
  • Step 3: The Dealer Deals the Cards
  • Step 4: Start Playing or Acting
  • Step 5: Continue Playing or Acting
  • Step 6: Showdown
• Ranking of Hands
  • 1) Trail/Set/Trio
  • 2) Pure Sequence/Straight Flush/Straight Run
  • 3) Sequence/Straight/Normal Run
  • 4) Colour/Flush
  • 5) Pair or Double
  • 6) High Card/No Pair
• Fifteen Types of Teen Patti Games
• Probabilities in Teen Patti
• How can You Win in Teen Patti?
• Summary
• FAQs

Common Teen Patti Terms:

Dealer: One who deals/distributes the three cards face down to all players.

Ante/Boot: A fixed amount is decided before the game starts, called the Ante/Boot. Some may call it the entry fee or the pot. All the players must place this amount in the pot at the table’s center. The ante sets the game level because each round is capped to the pot 1024 times the ante amount (only if played with a limit).

Also, note that sometimes instead of collecting the boot amount from each player before the game starts, only one player may contribute to the pot with a large amount. The other players will then contribute on a rotational basis. 

Post: If a player misses a round because they were away from their seat, they must pay the bet amount for the next round they wish to join. All the players must contribute to the main pot.

Poker Blind Player: The player who chooses not to see their cards is called a Poker Blind/ Blind player. They pay the stake or twice its amount when they have to play their hand. If the previous player is a Seen player, the Blind player will pay half the amount of the stake paid by the Seen player. 

A Blind player cannot ask for a Side-Show or Show/Showdown.

Seen Player: This player sees their cards either at the start of the game or at a later hand. Seen players must pay double the stake amount or a maximum of four times the stake amount. 

Stake Amount: Each player has to pay an amount for every hand they play. After the dealer deals the cards, the first player on the dealer’s left side will wage an amount equal to the ante/boot, called the stake. The stake for the next following player is the amount wagered by the previous player. If the current player is a Blind player, the player next to him will pay the same amount if he is a Blind player. If the previous player is a Seen player, then the next player’s stake amount will be half of it if he is a Blind player. To make it simpler, a Seen player pays double the stake. This amount is the minimum amount they have to pay to play. The maximum they can wage is 4x the stake amount. For Blind players, the minimum amount they can wage is the stake, and the maximum is 2x the stake. The stake wagered by a Blind player doesn’t change for the next player. But the amount wagered by a Seen player is reduced to half for the next player. Please refer to the table below to understand this.

Side-Show or Back-Show: This is also known as compromise. A player can ask the previous player to show them their cards if there are more than two players. Such a request can happen if the player requesting it is a Seen player and the previous player is not a Blind player. Both have to be Seen players. The previous player is not obliged to show their cards. They have a choice to accept or decline the request. If they choose to show their cards to the next player, both players need to show their cards to each other. The one with the highest-ranking cards gets to stay in the game, while the other has to pack/leave the game. But, if the side-show request gets declined, none show their cards, and the game continues with the turn passing on to the next player. And in case of a tie, the one who asked for the side-show loses. A player can decline a side-show request only twice. A player may decline it because they have high-ranking cards and want the pot amount to increase further, or they could just be bluffing.  

Showdown: A showdown can happen:

• When there are only two players left in the game, one of the players can request the other player to show their cards. Whoever has the highest ranking cards will win the entire pot amount. If the card rankings of both players are equal, then the one who did not pay/ask for the showdown wins. A Blind player cannot ask for a show from another player. But a Seen player can request a Blind player to show their cards. For this, the Seen player will have to wager 4x the stake. But if a Seen player has to ask another Seen player to show their cards, they need to wager only 2x the stake. 
• When the pot amount reaches its limit, the winner has to be decided. All the active players will have to do a showdown to determine the winner (this happens if the Teen Patti game played has a pot limit set). It is known as the Alternative Showdown.

In some modern games, the Blind player can ask another player to show the cards if only two players are left. 

And, in some games, if the cards of the last two players are the same in ranking, then the pot amount gets split equally among them. 

Call or Raise (Chaal): When the dealer deals the three cards to every player, the player next to him has to start playing/acting. He will either choose to call by paying the stake or double it. The stake is equal to the ante. Or, he may choose to raise by waging 2x or 4x the stake depending on whether he is a Blind or Seen player. There is usually a limit set to how much can be raised. At any point, the call total wagered (call & bet) amount cannot be more than 2x the amount wagered by the previous player. After seeing his cards, he could choose to play further or fold. This action is called Chaal. Suppose the previous player is a Seen player who played raise by waging 4x the stake amount; the next player, if a Seen player, will pay half this bet, while a Blind player will pay one-fourth of it. Please refer to the table below to get a better understanding of this.

Let’s assume the current stake is INR 100.00. 

Seen Player	Seen Player	Blind Player	Blind Player	Seen Player	Blind Player
Raise	Call	Call	Raise	Raise	Call
400 (100×4)	400 (200×2)	200 (200×1)	400 (200×2)	1600 (400×4)	800 (800×1)

So at the end of the 1st round, the stake amount has increased from 100 to 800.

Fold: When a player chooses to leave the game, it is called fold. He will not get anything back from the pot. 

Loose & Tight Play: In Teen Patti, few players may choose to wager on seen or unseen cards and keep playing. At the same time, a few others may want to fold and leave the game at an early stage. The one who is willing to play longer is taking a risk. No one can know the winner, even if the two last players have identical ranking cards until the showdown. The player who decides to fold weaker hands and not proceed after the first round is called a tight player. And the player who plays more hands is named a loose player.

How to Play Teen Patti

You need to have a deck of 52 playing cards without the joker/s to play the steps mentioned below.

Step 1: Select a Dealer

To select a dealer, all players draw cards from the deck. The player with the card having the highest value becomes the dealer. We will discuss the ranking of the highest and lowest cards later in this article. 

After a game ends and the winner has won the pot amount, some players may still have some money/chips left, which they may want to play further. The dealer will change in the new game. If the same players wish to play another game, the new dealer will be on the previous dealer’s left unless the cards were dealt counter-clockwise in the last game round. 

Step 2: Collect the Boot or Ante

For the game to begin, an amount has to be collected from each player and placed in a pot in the middle of the table. The amount collected is called a boot or ante. Some games have this amount capped. The game stops after reaching the set amount, and the winner is selected.

Step 3: The Dealer Deals the Cards

After the ante is collected, the dealer, who is one of the players, has to deal three cards to every player face down in a clockwise manner.

Step 4: Start Playing or Acting

The player on the left of the dealer will start playing/acting. He will either choose to call or raise his bet, or he may decide to fold. If he sees his cards, as a Seen player, he has to pay double the stake for a call or 4x the stake for a raise. But, if he does not choose to see the cards, as a Blind player, he will have to pay the stake for the call and double the stake for a raise. He gains nothing from the pot when he folds and leaves the game.

Step 5: Continue Playing or Acting

The next player continues after the previous player. The game goes on in a clockwise direction. The next player will pay the stake depending on the previous player’s bet. The table above explains this. There is usually a limit set to the ‘raise’ amount. At any point, the call total wagered (call & bet) amount cannot be more than 2x the amount wagered by the previous player. 

A current Seen player could request a side-show from the previous Seen player. If the request is accepted, one player would have to pack. If rejected, both continue in the game.

Step 6: Showdown

If all but one player has packed, the game stops, and that last player becomes the winner. There have to be 2 players to continue the game. One of the players can request a showdown from the other player. The player with the highest-ranking card here would win. If there is a tie, the one who did not ask for a showdown wins. 

The game stops upon reaching the set boot/ante amount, and the players get a winner from among the active players. All payers have to do a showdown. 

Players who do not show their cards for a showdown must surrender the pot. 

Before the dealer deals the cards, players can choose to play another round of this game by selecting a new dealer and paying the respective ante amount. 

Ranking of Hands

In Teen Patti, you need to have high-ranking cards to win. The highest ranking card is the Ace, while 2 (deuce) is the lowest. There are different types of hands involved here. We will explain this to you, starting from the highest to the lowest hands. These are:

1) Trail/Set/Trio

This hand comprises 3 cards belonging to three suits with the same value/rank. Examples of this would be AAA, KKK, and so on. The Ace trio is the highest hand, while the lowest would be 222. This hand is also called the three-of-a-kind. 

2) Pure Sequence/Straight Flush/Straight Run

The 3 cards here would belong to one suit only. And these would be three consecutive cards like A23, AKQ, and so on, with 432 being the lowest. (Need to show the suit type). In online Teen Patti, AKQ is the highest, while A23 is the next highest.

3) Sequence/Straight/Normal Run

Here, the 3 cards can belong to any suit but are consecutive. Some call this type of hand an Impure Sequence because the three cards belong to more than one suit.

4) Colour/Flush

The cards of this hand belong to one suit. They are not in a sequence, though. Examples are A-K-J, 5-3-2, and so on. If two players have similar value cards belonging to two different suits, then the suits’ ranking is considered. Spades are the highest, followed by hearts, diamonds, and clubs are the lowest.

5) Pair or Double

Out of the 3 cards, two form a pair. That means two cards have the same value/rank. They obviously will not belong to the same suit. The third card could be any card. If two players have a pair, the winner will be the one with the highest value pair. And if both the players have pairs of similar value, then the third card with the highest value among the two players will decide the winner.

6) High Card/No Pair

The three cards under this hand need not belong to any particular suit or sequence. Nor does it need two cards of the same value. The winner is decided by checking the next high-ranking card when two players have the same high card value.  

Fifteen Types of Teen Patti Games

Teen Patti is also known as Flash in India. It has been a very popular game played for many years. There are many variations to this game today. These variations make the game more interesting. We have listed some of the famous Teen Patti Variations below:

1) AK47: Here, 16 cards- A, K,4,&7 belonging to all four suits are jokers/wild cards. The other rules for playing/betting remain unchanged. The player with the highest-ranking cards wins the game. 

For example, you have A-5-5. The Ace being the wild card, will now become 5. So your card’s value is 5-5-5.

Now say your opponents have J-4-7. It means the ranking of their cards is J-J-J.

Since your opponent’s cards have a higher value, they win the pot.

2) Best of Four/Discard One: Each player gets 4 cards. They need to discard one before starting the game. The one with the highest hand wins. Since all have seen their cards, there are no Blind players in this game.

3) Cobra/Maatha: Usually, this variation is played as the last round/game. Each player gets a single card only. They have to place this card on their forehead (maatha) without seeing it. They can only see the cards of other players. The player with the highest hand wins here. The fold is not an option in this game.

4) Draw: There are two versions of this Teen Patti game. One version allows the players to change their three cards to find the best cards to make a great hand. For this, they need to decide the amount for the change of each card and pay it to the pot. In other words, they purchase the new card by paying for the exchange. The second version allows its players to change one card in each round. They can change a maximum of three cards in the first three rounds. And they have to pay the decided amount to change these cards. 

5) Wild Draw/Joker: The dealer distributes three cards face down to each player. After that, he picks a random card from the remaining deck and places it face up in the middle of the table. This card becomes the joker/wild card. 

For example, the random card picked is 5(belonging to a particular suit). If you have 5 in your cards, irrespective of the suit it belongs to, you can use it as the joker/wild card. Assume your cards are A-K-5. As per this game, your hand will be A-K-Q. The 5 being a wild/joker card helps you change the 5 to Q. 

6) Mufliss/Lowball: The rules in this game are similar to the traditional ones. But, here, the high card, the lowest hand, becomes the opposite, while the trio, the highest hand, becomes the lowest. The ranking positions reverse here. The lowest-ranking card wins. In this variation, 5-3-2(high card) ranks the highest instead of A-A-A(trio). 

7) Closest to 555: Each player gets three cards. The players can change one card each in the first two rounds if they wish. The main rule of this game is that the hand’s value should be close to 555. There is no rule for the card to be a trio, have a pair, or a sequence. It just means that the value of all three cards should be close to 555. Each card has its value. Irrespective of their suit, the value of the cards is as follows:

• A, K, Q, J = 0
• 9 = 9
• 8 = 8
• 7 = 7
• 6 = 6
• 5 = 5
• 4 = 4
• 3 = 3
• 2 = 2

So, if your cards are J-4-5, J is valued at 0. You could place these cards as 5-4-0. This way, this hand is very close to 555. 

8) 999: Each player receives three cards. The hand value should be the closest to 999 in this game. Each card, irrespective of its suit, has a value. The values for this game are a little different from the 555 Teen Patti game. The values for this game are:

• K, Q, J, and 10 = 0
• 9 = 9
• 8 = 8
• 7 = 7
• 6 = 6
• 5 = 4
• 4 = 4
• 3 = 3
• 2 = 2
• A = 1

If a player has got cards A-J-9, then he has got 1-0-9. He can rearrange the order of the cards to 9-1-0 (9-A-J). If another player has received a trio 777, it is not close to 999. Here the player with the hand A-J-9 would be the winner.

9) 3-2-1: All players play Seen here. This game has 3 rounds. Till a winner gets announced, the pot is the same for all the rounds and remains untouched. One has to win a minimum of two rounds to win the pot. If no one wins two rounds, the pot remains untouched, and this game of three rounds gets repeated till they get a winner.

Each player gets 6 cards. From these 6 cards, each player will use 3 to create a hand for the first game round, 2 cards for the second game round, and 1 card for the last game round.

In the first round, the highest-ranking card is essential. Since only two cards are involved in the second round, the only two types of hands can be the Pair or the High Card. For the last round, the card having the highest value wins.

The game can stop after the second round itself if a player has won the first two rounds. 

10) Faceoff: This game uses 20 cards only. It does not include the cards 2-9 of all four suits. 10, J, Q, K, and A are the only cards used. They are called the faceoff cards. 

Betting rules remain the same. The player with the highest 3-card hand wins.

11) High-Low Split: There is no Side-Show in this game. A maximum of 6-10 rounds are allowed to play this game. The winning pot is equally divided among the highest and the lowest-ranking cards. 

There are two versions of this game. One is called Declaration, where the players declare beforehand whether they will bet on the higher-ranking part of the pot or the lower-ranking one. The players compete for the pot based on the ranking they selected. The second version is the Cards Speak version. The pot gets divided among the highest and lowest-ranking card players in this game when the showdown happens. Here the players compete against each as they did not make any ranking declaration before the game started. 

If there is a tie, then the pot amount is split differently. For example, we have one winner with the highest-ranking hand and two with the same low-ranking hand. Half the pot will go to the highest-ranking card player, while the rest will get divided into two and paid to the two lowest-ranking card players. 

12) 2 Cards Open: Each player gets 3 cards, where 2 cards are face-up while one remains face-down throughout. The dealer cannot be playing here because when one player requests a slide show from the previous player, the dealer should be able to check their cards and decide the winner. 

13) Kiss-Miss-Bliss: Each player gets 5 cards. Using these cards, the player has to make a pair to form a hand of 3 cards. The pair is known as the joker card. A player could make 3 different types of joker cards here. They are:

Kiss– cards paired here should be consecutive, for example, 3-4 or Q-J.

Miss– the paired cards must be alternative cards to miss a sequence. An example of this would be 3-5 or A-Q.

Bliss– this needs cards of the same value to be paired. An example could be 4-4 or A-A.

Any combination helps win the game.

If a player cannot form a pair/joker card, he must discard two cards from the total 5 cards.

14) Kissing Missing: This game is almost similar to the Kiss-Miss-Bliss. 4 cards instead of 5 are dealt to each player. 

You can form a pair to treat it as a joker card. This pair can be of two cards with the same value/rank, becoming the kissing pair. The missing pair would comprise two cards with numbers missing a sequence, like the Bliss Joker Card example in the above Teen Patti variation. 

15) Stud: This game has two versions. In both versions, players get two cards face-down and the rest face-up. The face-down cards are the hole cards, while the face-up ones are the street cards. The rest of the rules to play the game are the same.

There is a 3rd version of this game involving 5 cards for each player. Here, every player has to select one face-down card and two face-up cards from the 5 cards dealt to form a hand of 3 cards. 

Probabilities in Teen Patti

In the table listed below, we have mentioned the probabilities for the different types of hand rankings using the 52 playing cards deck minus the Joker cards. The probabilities will change if using the Joker cards. 

‘Probability’ means how likely you will be dealt a particular hand in each round/game.

‘Frequency’ is the number of combinations of cards that can give you a specific hand.

Type Of Hand	Frequency	Probability
Trail/Trio	52	0.24%
Pure Sequence/Straight Flush	48	0.22%
Sequence/Normal Run	720	3.26%
Colour/Flush	1096	4.96%
Pair/Double	3744	16.94%
High Card/No Pair	16440	74.39%
Total	22100	100.00%

How can You Win in Teen Patti?

Teen Patti is a game of luck. But, it does involve a little acting, bluffing, and understanding the opponent’s behaviour. All cannot rely on chance alone. If you play smartly and with a lot of patience, you may win this game even if you have low-ranking cards. How? Read further:

• Do not play by borrowing money or compromising your standard of living. Play it as a game for fun.
• Start small by joining tables with lower stakes or a limit on the bet amount. This behaviour will help you stay from going overboard.
• Play as a Blind player for a few rounds. The betting amount is lower for Blind players than for Seen players. It will help you save your bankroll for larger bets later.
• Look for bonuses paid by many online casinos, as they can help increase your bankroll and let you play longer.
• Control your emotions and excitement. Do not let your opponents know what is going on in your mind. Be unpredictable. This way, you can bluff and win even if you have weaker hands. Seeing your enthusiasm, an opponent having better cards may choose to fold.
• Ask for a side-show from a Seen player who wagered before you. Do this if you think you have strong cards. The one with the weaker hands will fold.
• If you pack/fold, stay back and watch the other players. This way, you will learn the game. Practice as much as you can. Watching other players will help you understand their style of playing. 
• Know when you need to stop playing. Do not make it your addiction.

Summary

We hope you have managed to go through the entire article. It will help you understand Teen Patti’s basics and the different versions played today. 

Teen Patti is a gambling game played in some casinos in India. Once again, read the section on the prevalent Gambling Laws in India. As a citizen of the country, you need to act responsibly. 

FAQs