PLAYING TIPS for TIC-TAC-TOE POKER
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HOW TO PLAY TIC-TAC-TOE Poker:
Deal each player 4 hole cards. Place 9 cards face down on the board arranged as 3 rows of 3 cards each. Reveal 3 random cards per betting round. Players must use exactly 2 hole cards plus all 3 cards from either: 1 of the 3 horizontal rows, or 1 of the 3 vertical rows, or 1 of the 2 diagonal rows. May be played high-low split. |
SUMMARY of ACTION
Deal 4 hole cards to each player. Arrange board cards. Bet Reveal any 3 cards Bet Reveal any 3 cards Bet Reveal last 3 cards. Bet High only or Hi-Lo Cards Speak: Showdown High-Low Declaration: Declare Bet Showdown |
STARTING HAND SELECTION
As with most high-low split games you want to have been dealt a hand that gives multiple possibilities of winning so combining elements of good starting low and high hands gives you the best shot.
For high having one or two high pair is a decent start. (In 4 cards you will be dealt 2 pair about 3% of the time and a single pair about 30%) You have a small possibility of getting a full house, but most of the time trips is the best you'll get so the higher your pair(s) the better.
Several connected cards will be helpful for straights and a straight is often the best possible hand. Flushes require that all 3 cards of one side be suited and that does not occur often. Thus suited cards, though better than unsuited, are only marginally more valuable. Trips in your hand are worthless since you can only use 2 of your hole cards.
For low 2A is the best start. 3A or 32 gives you a one card draw to the nuts and either is absolutely playable. Unfortunately, when you have only 2 low cards in your hand there is a pretty good possibility that one of them will appear on the board. That does not always counterfeit your low as there are other cards that could come to save you. But, there is a very high chance it will. For that reason a protected low like 32A or 42A is a far better hand. Whenever you hold one of these low hands with an ace you'd prefer the ace to be suited to one of your other cards.
As with most high-low split games you want to have been dealt a hand that gives multiple possibilities of winning so combining elements of good starting low and high hands gives you the best shot.
For high having one or two high pair is a decent start. (In 4 cards you will be dealt 2 pair about 3% of the time and a single pair about 30%) You have a small possibility of getting a full house, but most of the time trips is the best you'll get so the higher your pair(s) the better.
Several connected cards will be helpful for straights and a straight is often the best possible hand. Flushes require that all 3 cards of one side be suited and that does not occur often. Thus suited cards, though better than unsuited, are only marginally more valuable. Trips in your hand are worthless since you can only use 2 of your hole cards.
For low 2A is the best start. 3A or 32 gives you a one card draw to the nuts and either is absolutely playable. Unfortunately, when you have only 2 low cards in your hand there is a pretty good possibility that one of them will appear on the board. That does not always counterfeit your low as there are other cards that could come to save you. But, there is a very high chance it will. For that reason a protected low like 32A or 42A is a far better hand. Whenever you hold one of these low hands with an ace you'd prefer the ace to be suited to one of your other cards.