What exactly is Teen Patti?
If you are familiar with the basic principles governing the game of poker, you shouldn’t find it too difficult to understand how the game of Teen Patti is played. Teen Patti, sometimes Teen Pathi and also known as Flush, is a card game that is said to have originated from India. The name means “three cards”, and as the name itself states, the game is played with three cards. It is similar to the British game called 3 Card Brag.
A game of Teen Patti requires a standard deck of cards and can be played by at least 2 players, although the ideal number is between 4 to 7 participants. The dealer deals the cards on the deck one at a time to all the players. The players then may play the cards dealt to them blind or seen. If they choose to play the cards blind, they do not look at the cards before the play starts. If they want to know what cards they have first, they are playing seen. Betting on who has the best hand begins after the cards have been dealt and betting continues until only one player remains, or only two players are left and one player pays for what is called a “show”.
Although there are only three cards, Teen Patti has six possible rankings namely: trio, straight run, normal run, colour, pair, and high card. Just like standard Poker, the lowest ranking is the high card. This occurs when all the three different cards you have do not belong to the same suit or color. Following this is a Pair with the highest pair being two aces, and the lowest a pair of twos. Cards of similar suits and colours are next, then three consecutive cards (irregardless of suit) called a normal run. A straight run is similar to the normal run, consecutive, except that all three cards should be of the same suit. The highest rank is that of a trio (three cards of the same rank). The best trio is three aces while the lowest is that of a trio of twos. And, just like Poker, the lowest hand of a higher type will beat even the highest hand of a lower hand ranking.
Note however, that the similarity between Teen Patti and Poker ends in the ranking or hierarchy of the cards. When it comes to betting, the rules become markedly different.