Three Card Poker's popularity is perhaps due to the simplicity of the game. Irrelevant of the reason, Three Card Poker has rapidly become a fashionable and an enjoyable casino game. 3-card poker is a contemporary version of an old game, a game steeped in tradition and folklore.


Some historians say that it comes from the German word “pochen”, which means to brag or bluff, while other gambling aficionados say that it comes from a French card game called, “Poque.”  It’s easy to see how both those theories hold water; it’s just not clear which one is leaking more.

The origins of this game probably stem from the English game of poker, "Brag". The game of three card poker online was created in 1994 by Derek Webb, who is a British poker champion and game inventor. The game was originally introduced to British casinos by Webb, where it proved to be popular. The online game very quickly made its way to the United States and around the world. In 1999, the rights to Three Card Poker were sold to ShuffleMaster.

The modern game of poker – the one we all know and love – is an American baby, born and bred on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers during the 19th century.  A gambler by the name of Jonathan Green gave the game its current moniker in 1834.  Gambling historians say that, since Green first labeled poker, “the cheating game,” that perhaps the name comes from the word, “poke,” a phrase used “professionally” by pickpockets; there is some evidence that the card players of Green’s era referred to their winnings as “pokes.” 

Although it was definitely poker for all intents and purposes, the original poker game that Green wrote about was played with only 20 cards – all 16 face cards, the tens, and the aces.  Slowly, over the years, the deck was increased first to 32 cards and then to the current 52 cards. Never a game to rest on its laurels or to tread water, poker continues to re-invent itself. After a century of 5-card stud and 7-card draw, Texas Hold’em appears to be the most popular poker variation for the time being.  But there is still plenty of room in the poker space for other variants and 3-card poker is currently a particularly popular permutation. 

Three-card poker is said to have been invented by a British poker player name Derek Webb. It is said that when Webb visited Las Vegas, he played the existing poker-based games but found them to be slow and boring.  The variation from which it was derived was first called Brit-Brag or Casino Brag, but that was changed to the simpler and more straightforward name of “3-Card Poker.”
The game is particularly very simple to find online, though the name is evolving as frequently as the game itself. Three-card poker, tri-card poker, and tri-poker are all essentially the same game. Three-card poker is actually two games in one. There is the Play-Ante game where the player plays against the dealer to see who has the highest hand, and there is the Pair Plus game where the player bets on whether he will be dealt a pair or better.