Four Card Poker

Last Updated on October 10, 2026 by Bala Kumar

In Three Card Poker, you can win your Play bet even when you have a weak hand, because the dealer often fails to qualify. In Four Card Poker, there’s no such safety net. The dealer always plays.

On top of that, the dealer gets one card more than you. So every hand you keep is a straight fight, and every time you decide to raise, you’re choosing how much to risk on that fight.

That’s what makes Four Card Poker a thinking player’s casino game. The cards decide your hand, but you decide how much it’s worth: nothing, 1x or 3x. Get that decision right, and Four Card Poker has one of the friendlier house edges on the casino floor.

This guide covers the rules, hand rankings, payouts, side bets, odds, house edge and strategy, with worked examples you can check yourself.

Four Card Poker at a Glance

What Is Four Card Poker?

Four Card Poker is a house-banked poker game. You don’t play against other players at the table. Everyone plays their own hand against the dealer.

• Goal: Make a better four-card hand than the dealer, and bet more when you’re likely to win.
• How you win: Ante and Play bets pay even money when your hand beats or ties the dealer’s. Bonuses pay on strong hands no matter what the dealer has.
• Background: The game was created by Roger Snow and is marketed by Shuffle Master, the company behind Three Card Poker. It was designed as a deeper follow-up to that game. It’s now a regular on table game floors in the United States and other casino markets.

There’s no bluffing and no drawing. Your only choices are which bets to make at the start, and whether to fold or raise 1x, 2x or 3x once you see your cards.

Four Card Poker Rules

The deal

The dealer’s extra card is the casino’s main advantage. Your advantages are winning ties, raising up to 3x and seeing one dealer card before you decide.

The bets

Most casinos let you bet Aces Up on its own, without an Ante. Some also offer extra side bets, such as a progressive jackpot or a 6 Card Bonus (more on these below).

The key rules

• The dealer always qualifies. There’s no minimum hand.
• Ties go to the player.
• Ante and Play pay 1 to 1 when you win.
• If you fold, you lose your Ante.
• The Ante Bonus pays on three of a kind or better even if the dealer beats you.
• Aces are high, but can also be low in a 4-3-2-A straight.

How to Play Four Card Poker: Step by Step

Step 1: Place your bets. Put chips on the Ante, the Aces Up, or both. Check the paytable printed on the felt before betting Aces Up. More on why below.

Step 2: Get your five cards. The dealer deals you five cards and themselves six, turning one dealer card face up.

Step 3: Find your best four. Work out the best four-card hand you can make from your five cards. Discard the weakest card mentally.

Step 4: Check the dealer’s upcard. It tells you a little about the dealer’s hand and matters for some close decisions.

Step 5: Fold or raise. Fold weak hands. With a pair or better, place a Play bet of 1x to 3x your Ante. The strategy section below shows exactly when to do each.

Step 6: Showdown. The dealer reveals all six cards and sets their best four-card hand. Higher hand wins; ties go to you.

Step 7: Bonuses and side bets. Ante Bonus and Aces Up payouts are settled on your hand alone.

Four Card Poker Hand Rankings

With only four cards, some hands are rarer than in normal poker, so the order changes. Three of a kind beats a flush and a straight, and four of a kind beats a straight flush.

There’s no full house and no royal flush in Four Card Poker, because you only use four cards.

When hands tie on rank: compare the highest cards first, then the next highest, and so on. If the four cards are exactly equal in rank, it’s a tie, and you win.

Four Card Poker Payouts

Ante and Play

Ante Bonus (paid even if you lose to the dealer)

This standard paytable is used at casinos including Hard Rock Atlantic City and Cypress Bayou:

A rarer version pays 30 to 1 for four of a kind and 15 to 1 for a straight flush. It’s seldom seen on casino floors.

Aces Up paytables and house edge

The Aces Up bet is where casinos differ most. There are seven known paytables, and the house edge ranges from under 2% to over 6%.

Payouts are “to 1.”

How to spot a good table quickly: look at the three of a kind and flush payouts. 9 to 1 for trips with 6 to 1 for a flush is the best combination. 7 to 1 for trips with 5 to 1 for a flush is the worst. You’ll win the Aces Up bet roughly 18.6% of the time, about once every five or six hands.

Worked Examples

All examples use a $10 Ante, a $5 Aces Up bet, the standard Ante Bonus table and the most common Aces Up table (Table 5).

Example 1: Two pair beats one pair

Decision: Two pair is better than a pair of 10s, so raise 3x ($30).

Example 2: You lose the hand but still profit

Decision: Trips is a premium hand, so raise 3x ($30). Unluckily, the dealer makes a straight flush.

Lesson: Bonuses are paid on your hand alone. That’s why premium hands are valuable even when the dealer gets lucky.

Example 3: The tie rule in action

Both hands are exactly J-J-9-5. Ties go to the player, so your Ante and Play both win. Your Aces Up loses, because a pair of jacks is below a pair of aces.

Example 4: Knowing when to fold

Decision: No pair and no A-K-Q with a matching dealer card means fold. You lose $10, plus your $5 Aces Up.

Folding feels bad, but playing this hand at 1x would usually cost $20 instead of $10. The dealer, picking four from six cards, makes a pair or better most of the time.

Four Card Poker Strategy

Simple strategy (memorise in 30 seconds)

House edge with this strategy: about 3.40%.

Intermediate strategy (uses the dealer’s upcard)

House edge: about 2.85%, only 0.06% worse than perfect play.

Why the upcard matters: if the dealer’s face-up card matches one of yours, the dealer is less likely to pair it. If it’s higher than your pair, the dealer has a better chance of beating you with a higher pair.

How much each strategy costs

Our recommendation: start with the simple strategy. Move to the intermediate version once it feels natural.

Four Card Poker Odds: What Actually Happens Over Time

We worked out these figures from the full published combinations for optimal play. They show what a session of Four Card Poker really looks like:

What this means:

• You’ll fold almost half your hands, often several in a row. That’s correct, not bad luck.
• When you do play, you win about 56% of those hands.
• Your 3x raises are where the money is made. Your 1x raises are mostly about limiting losses on marginal pairs.
• Your average total bet is about 2.14x your Ante, which is why the element of risk (about 1.30%) is much lower than the headline house edge.

What it costs to play

An illustrative estimate: at a $10 Ante with optimal play, the average cost is about 28 cents per hand (2.79% of $10). At roughly 50 hands an hour, that’s around $14 an hour in expected losses. Actual results swing far more than that in either direction. Track your play with our bankroll calculator.

Four Card Poker vs Three Card Poker

In short: Three Card Poker is simpler. Four Card Poker is better value if you’re willing to fold often and raise properly.

Four Card Poker vs Crazy 4 Poker

These two names cause a lot of confusion, but they’re different games.

If the table layout shows “Super Bonus” and “Queens Up,” you’re at Crazy 4 Poker, and the strategy above doesn’t apply.

How Four Card Poker Compares to Other Casino Poker Games

Approximate house edge figures with good strategy:

Four Card Poker sits near the top for value while staying easy to learn. For a closer look at another game on this list, see our guide to Mississippi Stud rules, payouts and 3x bets.

Four Card Poker Side Bets and Variants

A word on progressives and bonus side bets: jackpot side bets usually carry a much higher house edge than the main game. Treat them as a small lottery ticket, not part of your strategy.

Where to Play Four Card Poker

Four Card Poker is mainly a land-based casino game. It’s found in many US casinos, often next to Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold’em. Recent rule cards from these casinos show it in action:

Online: Four Card Poker appears far less often online than Three Card Poker. Availability depends on your country, state and casino. Check the table games or live casino lobby of a licensed operator where you live.

Practical tip: Before you sit down anywhere, read the paytable on the felt. The same game can cost you less than 2% or more than 6% on the Aces Up bet, depending only on which paytable the casino uses.

Is Four Card Poker Gambling? Is It Legal?

Yes, Four Card Poker is a casino gambling game with a built-in house edge. Unlike Texas Hold’em, where skilled players can beat other players over time, no strategy can beat Four Card Poker in the long run. Good strategy only reduces how much the house keeps.

It’s legal wherever casino table games are licensed. Online versions are only legal where online casino gaming is regulated. Always check your local laws.

Four Card Poker Terminology

Common Four Card Poker Mistakes

1. Playing every hand. The most expensive mistake. Folding about 47% of hands is correct.
2. Always raising 1x. Being timid with pairs of 10s or better throws away your main advantage.
3. Raising 3x with small pairs. A pair of 5s should be 1x. The dealer makes a better pair too often.
4. Ignoring the upcard. It changes the right play with middle pairs and with A-K-Q.
5. Betting Aces Up without reading the paytable. One table costs 1.98%; another costs 6.15%.
6. Mixing up the hand rankings. Three of a kind beats a flush and a straight here.
7. Confusing it with Crazy 4 Poker. Different rules mean a different strategy.
8. Chasing losses with bigger Antes. The house edge applies to every hand, whatever happened last hand.

10 Four Card Poker Tips for Beginners

1. Learn the hand rankings first, especially trips above a flush.
2. Memorise the simple rule: 3x with 10s or better, 1x with smaller pairs, fold the rest.
3. Expect to fold a lot, and don’t let it frustrate you.
4. Always look at the dealer’s upcard before deciding.
5. Find the Aces Up paytable before betting it; 9-6 for trips and flush is best.
6. Remember that ties go to you.
7. Treat progressives as entertainment, not value.
8. Set a session budget before you sit down.
9. Practise your poker hand-reading skills free before playing for money.
10. Walk away on schedule, win or lose.

Want to build your poker instincts first? Try our free Texas Hold’em practice table, test hands with the poker odds calculator, or challenge yourself with the Daily Poker IQ Challenge.

Final Verdict

Four Card Poker takes the simplicity of Three Card Poker and adds the one thing it was missing: a real decision. You’ll fold often, raise boldly when you’re strong, and lean on the bonus table when you hit something big.

Play it with the simple strategy and you’ll give the house about 3.4%. Learn the upcard adjustments and you’ll cut that to about 2.85%. Add a good Aces Up table, and Four Card Poker becomes one of the better-value games in the casino pit.

For more game guides, explore our poker games section, including our complete Open Face Chinese Poker guide. The latest updates are on our poker news page.

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