What is Teen Patti – A Crash Course to Indian Poker

Born out of three card poker, Teen Patti is a classic Indian game that is as commonly seen in Indian households as rice on a plate. It’s a competitive card game which is usually enjoyed between 3 – 6 friends or family members. Teen Patti is quite easy to learn and just as easy to love. Like many competitive poker types, there’s a certain depth that makes the game difficult to master though.

How to Play Teen Patti

A game round begins with three cards being dealt to each participating player and a mandatory boot amount being put in the pot by everyone. One after another, players take turns calling bets or raising. The game is played limited so there’s always a limited amount that can be staked on each turn. 

What is truly unique about Teen Patti is that players are able to decide whether they would like to play with their cards seen or unseen. The latter option comes with the benefit that bets are called for just half the price compared to playing with the cards seen. At any time, a player can choose to see their cards.

Unlike most poker games, there is usually no limit to the number of turns that can occur during a game round. Calls and bets are either made until a decided pot limit has been reached, which will force all players to a showdown; until all but one player has folded; or ‘til only two players are left and one of them requests a showdown. Their cards are then compared and a winner is crowned. 

While these are the basic rules of the traditional game, you must know that playing Teen Patti for real money is often done against live casino dealers when played online. This is an entirely different experience. The traditional game is about to hit the internet too, but as of now, it is very rare to find. 

How to Win in Teen Patti

Winning in Teen Patti is all about psyching your opponents or being lucky by being dealt a strong three card hand. As mentioned, betting goes on until all players have folded or a showdown occurs. If you have a bad hand and don’t want to fold, your only option of winning the game round will be to bluff through your bets and have everyone folding. 

If you have a strong hand, building the pot with as many bets as you can and going to a showdown is the way to go. At a showdown, all players that are left in the game will compare their cards. The player with the best ranked hand is the one that will win the entire pot. 

Before moving on to hand rankings, you must know that side-shows can also be made in Teen Patti. This is when two players decide to secretly compare hands with each other. The player with the worst hand will then be forced to fold, while the game continues with all remaining players. 

Hand Rankings in Teen Patti

There’s a total of six types of hands that can be made in Teen Patti with four of these being considered as premium ones. From the best to the worst, here are all of the hands in the game:

• Set

All cards of the same value, such as three 8s or three Kings.

• Straight Flush

All cards being in the same suit with consecutive values, such as 5, 6, 7 of hearts or 10, jack, queen of spades.

• Straight

All cards with consecutive values, but not the same suit, such as 5, 6, 7 in both hearts and spades. 

• Flush

All cards in the same suit, such as 2, 8, jack, all in spades. 

• Pair

Two cards of the same value, such as two 7s or two Queens. 

• High Card

This is what you’re left with if you don’t form any hand at all. The highest valued card in your hand is your ranking. For instance, A, 8, 2 in different suits is an Ace high hand. 

We hope you enjoyed the article. Teen Patti is a fun and interesting game which is well worth a try!

Photo by Jarosław Kwoczała on Unsplash