Like any other bluffing card game 3 Card Brag involves more than just playing the cards in front of you. If you were to only bet when you had a monster hand you would soon find yourself being bled dry by the antes, however you will also find yourself out of pocket if you were to bet every single hand. The trick is to identify the playing styles of your opponents. Doing this will require patience and observance.

When you first sit down at a 3 Card Brag table it is advisable to play the first dozen or so hands open, looking at your cards at the first opportunity. If you have a half decent hand and the betting stays at a reasonable level you can then play the hand but if you have a weak hand or the betting gets big you should fold like a cheap chair. This conservative period of play will offer you a safe platform from which to observe your opponents play while giving the impression that you yourself are a conservative 3 Card Brag player.

Once you think that you have the measure of your opponents and they think that you’re a meek and conservative player you can start making moves for the pots, even with weaker hands. It is worth noting that players will quickly adjust to your new style and you may soon find your bets getting called. If this happens simply revert back to a more cautious approach which will once again confuse your opponents.

A technique which is regularly used by experienced 3 Card Brag players is card counting. Card Counting is normally frowned upon while playing most other card games but in the game of 3 Card Brag it is considered to be a skill which is universally accepted. Card counting doesn’t require a superhuman brain to remember every single card dealt. It is a technique which uses various systems to determine the likelihood of certain cards to be dealt allowing you to decide how strong your opponents’ hands are.

As well as honest methods some players may well use dishonest methods to win while playing 3 Card Brag. In a similar way to online poker, many of the cheating methods used in 3 Card Brag are eliminated when you play online but if you’re playing live games it is worth keeping an eye out for the following cheating techniques.

The first and most popular cheat used by 3 Card Brag players is to claim that they’re playing blind after looking at their cards. A simple way to avoid this is to wait until everybody else has looked at their cards before you do so, eliminating the opportunity for players to sneak a peek at their hand.

Never allow people to stand behind you when you play as they could easily give an opponent vital information about your hand. If you’re playing in an open room such as a bar you should be extra vigilant.

Fake bets are also used by dishonest 3 Card Brag players. A fake bet is when a player says they are betting one amount but they actually place less money into the pot. This technique is used with great success when playing with coins so be extra careful when playing 3 Card Brag or any other card game with coins.

Our final brag tip is a fairly obvious one which covers all forms of gambling but is often disregarded by players. You should never bet with money that you can’t afford to lose and you should never borrow money to gamble. This will put undue pressure on you and will affect the decisions that you make while playing.