Origin | English |
---|---|
Alternative names | Brag |
Type | Gambling |
Players | 4–7 |
Skills required | Counting |
Cards | 52 cards |
Deck | Anglo-American |
Play | Anti-clockwise |
Playing time | 5-10 min. |
Random chance | Medium |
Related games | |
Teen patti, poker |
Three-card brag is a 16th-century British card game, and the British national representative of the vying or "bluffing" family of gambling games. Brag is a direct descendant of the Elizabethan game of Primero and one of the several ancestors to poker, just varying in betting style and hand rankings.
A variant of the game is very popular in Trinidad, India, Bangladesh and Nepal, where it is known both as "flush" and teen patti (literally 'three cards' in Hindi), played with numerous local variations. At large gatherings and especially during festival times, it is the game of choice since many people of different skills can play together and have fun. It is also a very popular game among British fairground showmen, who usually get together at the bigger fairs and play for quite high stakes.
Everyone antes, and players are each dealt three cards face down. There is a single round of betting, with action starting to the left of the dealer. Each player has the option of betting or folding. If there was a previous bet, the player must contribute at least that much more to the pot. (Unlike usual poker betting, a player's previous money contributed to the pot is ignored.) This betting continues until there are only two players left, at which point either player may double the previous bet to "see" his opponent. At this point, the two hands are revealed, and the player with the better hand takes the entire pot. If there is a tie, the player who is seeing loses.
For example, with four players A, B, C and D, this situation could occur: Player A bets 2 chips, B folds, C bets 2 chips and D bets 2 chips. In order to stay in, A would have to bet another 2 chips (at least).
Some of these rules can also lead to games, especially heads-up, becoming tactical, with players avoiding making their best hand until their hand is forced into that last exchange by another player sticking, risking that the card that completes their hand isn't taken by another player in the meantime.