Three-Card Poker Championship underway

The second edition of the ShuffleMaster Three-Card Poker National Championships began yesterday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas with a $1 million prize at stake for the winner.

After a year of regional playdowns, the field was set at about 200 for this year's championship, and a three-day tournament is scheduled to decide the best Three Card Poker player in the country. The champ walks away with a $1 million pay day.

An increasingly popular non-traditional game, Three-Card Poker is a stud game with players competing against the dealer. Hand rankings are slightly different from the usual five-card game, with straights beating flushes and the highest ranking hand being a straight flush.

You can bet against the dealer on the value of your own three-card hand or the hand value only. If you play the dealer, wagers pay off if the player's hand is higher than the dealer's, who must have a queen high or better to qualify.

To play the hand value only, you place a wager on the "pair plus" spot. If your have a pair or better, you win.

Last year's championship aired on the Game Show Network.

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