How to Play Teen Patti

There is a whole range of casino games that have spawned out of and remain popular in specific regions. In some regions, the game that dominates the card and gaming scene is Teen Patti, a cultural phenomenon that has ties to poker and other bluffing games.

In this guide, we’ll explain exactly what Teen Patti is, how it’s played, the rules, and the hands that players are aiming to get in the game.

What is Teen Patti?

Teen Patti is an Indian card game that has its origins in three-card brag, a bluff game that is closely tied with poker. Over the years, it has taken on more similarities with the latter game through its utilisation of different winning hands. It pits players against each other in an attempt to claim the prize pot.

As with poker, the winner is the player with the best hand but, unlike that game, they will have to form these hands with only three cards. Players can continue to add to the prize pot that they set at the beginning of the game with their initial bets and betting throughout the play.

The Rules of Teen Patti

As this is a game that is most popular in South Asia, there are many outside of that region who may never have even heard of it. As a result of that, the rules might be unfamiliar even to fans of card games at casinos.

Here, we’ve broken down Teen Patti into a step-by-step guide to take a beginner from the start of a game right through to the end.

Get Your Players Together: Before the game begins and the cards are dealt, at least two players will be needed to play but it is mostly played by three to six.

Bet the Ante: Players will set their bets and place them - this will build the prize fund that your group is looking to win.

Deal the Cards: With a standard 52-card deck with the Jokers removed, deal each player a hand of three cards.

Gather up the Boot: The players should contribute an amount of money known as the boot - this will be added to the prize pot in the middle of the table.

Play as a Blind or Seen Player: At this point, players can choose to look at their hands and become a “seen” player or continue without looking and be known as a “blind” player.

Open Up the Chaal or Fold: Players will now have the option to either raise or call the existing bet. If players don’t have confidence in their hands and would like to leave the game, they will fold and sacrifice their existing ante bet or boot. Blind players can also fold at any time.

Betting on the Blind: A blind player will place a bet in the pot without looking at their cards. If they are the first player, this must be at least the boot amount but can not be more than twice that amount. This then becomes the minimum stake. If the player prior to a blind player is seen, then half their bet is the amount.

Betting as a Seen Player: Players who have looked at their hands will bet anywhere between twice or four times what the current stake is. If they’re the first player, that is the boot. If the previous player was blind, their bet is the new stake. If they were seen, half that bet is the new staking amount.

Calling for a Blind Show: When there are only two players left in the game, a blind player can call for a show and force the other to display their hand. This costs the amount of the stake for a blind player, and they must hand the money over before the show can go ahead. If both hands have the same ranking and value, the player who did not call for the show wins the hand.

Calling for a Show as a Seen Player: If two players are left and only if they are both seen, they can call a show by paying twice the current stake. Again, if their hands are equal, the one who did not call the show wins.

Calling for a Sideshow: Seen players can call for a sideshow against the previous player by paying twice the stake if they are also seen and there are more than two left in the game. The previous player can say yes or no to this sideshow, and if their hand beats their opponent’s, the player who called the sideshow must fold.

Hand Rankings in Teen Patti

Like with poker, different hands hold different levels of importance in a game. For example, in Texas Hold ‘em, you can expect a Royal Flush to be the hand that every player is hoping for. In Teen Patti, the idea is the same, but the hands that help players win are much different. Here’s a comprehensive ranking of the hands that you will be looking for in the game.

It’s worth noting that if two players have matching hands and the values can’t be separated, both will share the prize pot due to the rankings being unable to be definitively given as a winner.

Trio

This is the dream hand for any Teen Patti player. A trio is three of the same card of the highest value. For example, three Aces would be a winning hand that would give a player the prize pot. As they are the most valuable hands, these are one of the rarest in the game.

Pure Sequence

A Pure Sequence hand is one where the three cards are of the same suit, and the highest three in ascending order will win. For example, an Ace, King, and Queen of Spades would beat out an 8, 7, and a 6 of the same suit.

Sequence

This is slightly less important than a pure sequence. Instead of the cards belonging to one suit, they can be from any. For example, an Ace, King, and Queen of any three suits would be the highest possible for this kind of hand.

Flush

The name of this hand will be familiar to players of poker but it can also be known as Colour in Teen Patti. In this case, a player will be hoping to get three cards of the same suit. Higher value cards will be taken into account if two players both have Flush hands. If nothing can differentiate between the hands based on value, the ranking of the suit can decide the winner.

High Card

This is the best hand available in Teen Patti and is three of the highest cards that you can get from the deck in descending order. This will be an Ace, Jack, and King, and trumps every other hand that a player can possibly achieve as a high card.

Pair

To get a Pair, players will want two of their three cards to be the highest possible. This will usually be two Aces. However, if two players have the same pair, their third card will be the decider. For example, if a player has two Aces and one Jack, this will trump another player with two Aces and a King or a card of any lower value.

Betting Options in Teen Patti

The betting doesn’t begin and end with the initial stake that players put forward that makes up the Teen Patti prize pot or boot. Instead, players have the option of placing a number of bets that will both up the funds available to the winner and add to the high-stakes nature of the game. Here are the different kinds of bets that you can expect to find in a game of Teen Patti.

Ante

The ante bet is the one that each player places before the cards have been dealt and the game has started. This is what will make up the prize pot and what players will be battling it out to win.

Chaal

In Teen Patti, the call or raised bets following players seeing their hands are commonly known as chaal. In English, this translates to something along the lines of “move”. A call bet means that they will remain in the game without adding anything to the previous player’s bet. A raise bet would see a player adding money to the stake that the previous player made. So, for example, if the player prior to you placed a £10 bet, you could call and place another £10 bet or raise and increase that amount.

Blind Bets

While chaal bets are when players have had the chance to see their hands and make an informed decision, blind bets are the opposite. Here, players will keep their hands face down and make bets without knowing their place in the game. Blind play is less tactical, given that players won’t know if they have a potential winning hand.