Teen Patti Rules for Beginners
If it’s highly entertaining, competitive and involves skill, it’s never a bad time to learn a new card game. So, here’s an Indian favorite that checks all of the boxes, which you’ve probably never heard of before; Teen Patti, also known as 3 Patti as the game is played with three cards. Let us tell you all about the rules and details you need to know to enjoy this South Asian gem.
Getting started
To get started, you need an ordinary deck of 52 playing cards, at least three people participating and money or poker chips to bet with. Even though Teen Patti can be played with no cash at stake, we highly recommend playing the game with real money to be won as that will make a huge difference in fun. You can either set up a tournament or play Teen Patti as a cash game.
Playing Teen Patti online
While the competitive game can be played online, it’s very difficult to find a great Teen Patti site to play at for real money. Most gambling operators only offer the live casino version of the game, which is quite different as this is purely luck based and played against a dealer. Unless you want to settle with fun-to-play-apps, Teen Patti is best suited to enjoy with friends and family.
Teen Patti Rules
Played in different game rounds, each of these begin with all players putting an ante in the pot, which is a sum you’ve agreed on together. Three cards are then dealt facedown to all participating players. The person dealing will change every game round to make the turn-order of the game fair.
Sitting closest to the dealer, a player will start acting. Not only will this player be able to call the ante or make a bet to raise it. The player will also get to choose if he or she would like to play without seeing their cards (known as playing blind) or would like to see their cards (known as playing seen). The downside with the latter option is that it costs twice as much to make a call and a raise.
Teen Patti is always played with a bet limit, which is based on a stake. For the first acting player, this stake is equal to the ante amount. However, as players take turns making calls and raises, the stake changes. The stake is whatever the previous player put in the pot if that player is playing blind. If the player is playing seen, the stake will then be half of the amount that was added to the pot.
It may sound confusing, but this rule makes a lot of sense when looking at the betting options that blind and seen players have:
Playing blind: can call the stake or make a raise to double it
Playing seen: can call double the stake or make a raise to x4
Seen players simply have to pay a penalty for having seen their cards.
In Teen Patti rounds of betting can go on for a long time; either until all except one player folds or until a showdown occurs where players compare their hands. A showdown between all players can only happen if a pot limit has been reached (which you decide if you want to play with or not) or when only two players are left in the game and one of the players request a showdown.
There are, however, side-shows that can occur. This is when two players that are sitting next to each other agree to show their hands in secret (the one who is acting will ask the previously acting player). If this side-show goes down, the player with the worst hand will be forced to fold.
Hand Rankings in Teen Patti
- Set/trips: Q♠Q♥Q♦
- Straight Flush: 2♣3♣4♣
- Straight: 6♠7♥8♦
- Flush: 2♥9♥J♥
- Pair: K♠K♦3♦
- High card: A♣8♥J♣
That’s it! You now know all of the basic rules that are required to enjoy Teen Patti to its fullest extent. If you want to become a master of the game and make good profit from it, there is, however, some strategy left to learn about.
Photo by Jarosław Kwoczała on Unsplash
