Introduction
GTA San Andreas is memorable, not only for Grove Street’s vibrant inhabitants and dialogue but also its minigames. GTA SA has a whole host of casino games like blackjack and roulette, or you could even place bets.
Video poker is the one game that keeps us coming back to San Andreas time and time again. In a nutshell, it’s poker on a screen but with fewer cards and different rules.
Sadly it was retired in GTA’s later sequels and replaced with games like 3-card poker.
Now that GTA Online has the Diamond Casino update, interest in GTA’s online casino gameplay has surged and become more relevant for online players than ever.
This article explores the pros and cons of playing San Andreas’s GTA video poker vs playing 3-card poker in later GTA online casino games.
Overview of GTA San Andreas’s Video Poker
The two types of video poker in GTA San Andreas are Deuces Wild and Joker Poker. Each game has its own paytable, which can be viewed by pressing the Tab key on the PC version. When playing it’s important to remember that straight flushes score higher than a four of a kind but lower than full houses.
The best hand is therefore an Aces full house, followed by a King’s full house, then a Queen’s full house (this sounds wrong to Texas hold ’em players but it’s because of the way the hands are ranked in this popular poker variant).
If your cards form more than one type of hand then they will be scored relative to each other instead, so if you have three pairs and one pair makes another kind of hand then it scores as 1/4th or 25% for having 3 pairs rather than 125% for 4-of-a kind plus an Ace kicker and 50% for two pairs plus an Ace kicker, etc etc.
This may sound confusing at first but luckily there are online casinos like Casino Viking,where you could actually practice and get started with the whole online casino experience this will make your life much easier when playing GTA online casinos as you would have had real life experience to beat the games online casinos.
You can also press F1 on the PC version during gameplay to view a chart showing what card combinations rank highest.
Let’s dive in and explore the pros on cons of this minigame in the cult classic, GTA San Andreas:
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The biggest advantage it has over online casino three card poker is its simplicity; players don’t need as much knowledge about betting or what hand they have compared to other games such as blackjack.
- It combines the fast thrills of slot machines with the excitement of winning with a straight flush or royal flushes found in poker. This game is more engaging than any standard slot machine for poker aficionados.
- Novices and sharks who need a break from the pressures of a table will enjoy this game’s simple challenge of man vs machine. There are limited options for mind games or trying to read other players here, the game boils down to the cards you’re dealt and how you play them.
- ‘Save scumming’ this game is possible. By ‘save scumming’ we mean saving the game before gambling all your money. This isn’t exclusive to this game but works with every casino gambling game in San Andreas, including slot machines.
Cons
- Simplicity is a double-edged sword and can make the game unstimulating for the seasoned online casino player. This is essentially a simplified, sped-up version of the table favourite, with more limited strategies and choices.
- This lack of control can be frustrating or even boring at times if you prefer playing online casino gambling games where your decisions factor more into winning and losing directly more than luck and probability.
- ‘Save scumming’ is possible. Yes, this is also in the pros because, again, it’s a double-edged sword. The fact that you can save the game before gambling away all your money makes money generation trivial and removes the challenge from the game.
- The game’s graphics and audio haven’t aged particularly well. This isn’t a jab at GTA San Andreas in particular, as the same goes for other games released in 2004 too. The limited number of audio samples can make the game frustrating for longer sessions because you keep hearing the same soundbites over and over again.
Overview of GTA’s Online Casino 3-Card Poker
Grand Theft Auto Online offers a whole host of gambling games similar to online casinos, including roulette, poker, slot machines, and even horse races.
These real casino games have various betting limits and payouts, depending on your in-game money. You can also play against other players by taking part in a private session or playing with others online at the same time.
One such game that GTA Online offers is three card poker. For those of you unfamiliar with this game, it’s a variation on poker played with just three cards instead of four like in typical poker games, as the name implies.
The reason why only three cards are used is that there are no community cards in the game—each player has his or her own set of three.
We won’t go deep into the ins and outs of three-card poker but if you’re familiar with Texas hold ’em and poker in general, you’ll find three-card poker easy to pick up and start making money.
If you like traditional poker games then this will certainly interest you in some way, also if you’re looking for something new to try out then why not give this three-card poker a chance?
Without further ado, let’s dive in and explore the pros and cons of three-card poker in GTA’s online casino games.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The generous starter pack is great value for money, costing only $500 for 5,000 chips. Unfortunately, it’s only limited to one per player, but it’s still an incredible deal that no GTA Online casino player should ever overlook.
- Three card poker is a game that requires less skill than over poker variants like Texas hold ’em. This makes it ideal for the new players as well as a large number of experienced casino card game players who are looking to have some fun in between their serious gambling sessions.
- A lot of people prefer playing 3-Card Poker because they don’t like having to use many strategies or think too much when playing games such as blackjack, craps, roulette, etc. The basic idea behind any type of poker is all about luck – you can be extremely good at other casino games but still, lose big time while being bad at poker.
- This is a great game for both high and low rollers, with an excellent selection of variants. One of the better parts about this game in comparison to many other online casinos where you can play three-card poker is that they give players a lot more options. They offer both standard Jacks or Better-style payouts, as well as Double Bonus pay tables, Royal Flush jackpot, wins for up to $1 million, and even progressive jackpots. This makes it convenient for everyone who plays at GTA’s Online Casino because players have access to multiple varieties of cash games based on their bankroll size and poker playing preferences. For example, if you like playing without the joker wild card then you can wager on those types of games which are called “No Joker” versions versus the regular version where there is a joker included in each hand dealt.
- One of the fastest ways to make money in GTA Online, due to the fast-paced nature of the game. You can easily rake in a million dollars an hour if you know what you’re doing, with a little bit of luck.
Cons
- Beginners may overlook some of the nuances of three card poker’s rules like how straights outrank flushes, unlike Texas hold ’em. Straights are also higher value than pairs and higher cards but actually lower than three of a kind. The strongest hand in three-card poker is a straight flush. This potential confusion is definitely a con for newer players. You shouldn’t dive into three-card poker unless you are already familiar with the weightings of different hands or you could be in for an unpleasant shock when you lose a pile of money when you thought you’d won.
- It can be difficult for new players to get started with the game because they don’t necessarily understand how Jacks or Better works. Even though this version uses standard poker rules, some specialised moves may confuse newer users (and there’s no tutorial).
- The game is a bit too slow. I’ve noticed that the cards are drawn in turns and not simultaneously as my definition of real poker would suggest, so it leaves no room for anticipation or excitement.
- The graphics are nice but nothing significant here. The music is good, but again, nothing to get excited about either.
- Just like real online casinos, GTA Online has a daily chip cap per player. The current daily limit is 20,000 chips per player. The casino’s VIP membership allows you to access higher daily chip limits but it’s only available for players who own a penthouse.
- Perhaps the game is often too reliant upon random variance and probability for some. For example, if your opponent gets a royal flush in the next round of Texas Hold’em then there is nothing you can do about it except bet he/she doesn’t get another card that would complete his/her hand.
Conclusion
Whether you’re riding the nostalgia wave of GTA San Andreas or more comfortable in the shiny, polished Diamond Casino of GTA Online, both games have an enormous amount to offer casino goers.
GTA SA’s casino experience is undoubtedly the old school choice of the two. If you didn’t play this classic back in 2004 when it was released then it’s unlikely that you’ll get into it now, as its aesthetics don’t stand the test of time particularly well.
Regardless of its casino options, however, it’s still a fantastic game with its funny dialogue and hundreds of missions (apart from Big Smoke’s train mission. That one still gives us PTSD).
If you don’t want to play GTA SA, then the plot is as follows:
The main character, CJ, starts as an aspiring criminal living at home with his mother and sister but is forced to flee after he accidentally shoots a police officer during a botched robbery whilst stealing his own car back from someone else who had taken it from him earlier that day.
He spends the next ten years as a fugitive, eventually meeting up with other criminals including Cesar Vialpando (CJ’s cousin) and Big Smoke (a friend).
They form their own gang which becomes involved in increasingly serious crimes before finally culminating when they decide to steal several kilos of cocaine from the Ballas drug dealers for whom Grove Street used to work as enforcers.
The plot then spirals into complex inter-gang relations and is a true rags-to-riches crime story, but we won’t spoil the ending for you just in case you decide to play it.
If you’re newer to the Grand Theft Auto franchise as a whole (or just younger) and you want to explore its wealth of casino experiences, we recommend completely skipping GTA SA and going straight for GTA Online’s Diamond Casino.
It’s a far more modern experience, released in an update in 2019, and packs in all the thrills that a casino has to offer, plus the entire sprawling online city of Los Santos.
There’s something about sharing the rush of winning the jackpot in a casino of other player’s avatars that makes GTA Online’s casino experience less hollow than just playing on any online casino site.
It’s a combination of the animation, in-game sounds, and the voice chat of other players that bring the whole experience to life.
The fact that your casino winnings in GTA Online link in the online world’s virtual economy add another layer of engagement to the already-exciting casino feature.
That money that you won on the casino slot machines or from a royal flush can be used to purchase you the in-game equivalent to a Porsche or Lambo. You can even spend it on a penthouse and join the exclusive VIP club of the Diamond Casino, unlocking higher daily chip caps and more.
This goes to show that you can take a break from illegal hustling and create your fortunes without the worry of getting a five-star wanted level and having annoying sirens blaring after you everywhere you go.
After all, if you can’t be a baller in real life then why not enjoy the next best thing and be one in your favourite online game so you can show off to friends and strangers at the casino table?
