Thirty-one is a classic hand comparison card game played in Greece. Although it involves betting, it is never encountered in casinos or formal gaming environments, but is played as a home game, particularly on special occasions such as New Year’s Eve parties. Your objective in this cool online game is to assemble a hand which totals 31. It is played with the help of four players. When you enter the game, you would be asked that do you want to keep the cards showing on the screen hand, or swap it with the extra hand.
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Introduction
31 Classic is a new table game that had its first placement at the Muckleshoot Casino in Washington. It will debut at the Sunset Station in Las Vegas on December 14, 2017. It is difficult to compare to any existing games, other than a similar game by the same inventor Money$uit 31. The object of this game is to combine the point values of up to three suited cards to get a hand totaling 17 points or higher. There is no dealer hand to beat, only your own cards matter. The game features the card values of blackjack and a raise/fold decision as seen in many poker-based games.
The rules may look a bit intimidating at first, but the game really is simple to understand and play after a few hands. The strategy is fairly easy, and the odds are competitive compared to other new casino games.
Rules
Following are the rules for 31 Classic.
- One 52-card deck is used.
- All cards are scored as in blackjack, except aces are always 11.
- Play begins with the player making an Ante wager and an optional Natural 31 Bonus side bet.
- The dealer shall give the player three cards and one Draw card face down.
- After viewing his three-card hand, the player must either make a Play wager, equal to his Ante wager, or fold.
- The dealer shall collect the Ante wager of any player who folded. His cards will be retained if he made the Natural 31 Bonus bet.
- The dealer shall then expose the player's first three cards and resolve the Natural 31 Bonus side bet.
- The dealer shall reveal the Draw card.
- To determine the number of points in the player's hand, the dealer shall combine cards of the same suit between the player's three cards and the Draw card. The suit resulting in the greatest number of points shall determine the value of the player's hand. A three of a kind and mini royal (suited ace-king-queen) are winning hands and treated separately from their point value.
- In the unlikely event that all four cards are the same suit, the player may use the three cards resulting in the greatest number of points only .
- The pay tables for the Ante and Play bets are below.
- As stated above, the Natural 31 Draw bet shall pay based on the value of the player's original three cards. The pay table is shown below.
Following is the pay table for the Ante and Play bets. All wins are on a 'to one' basis.
Ante and Play Pay Table
| Player Hand | Ante Pays | Play Pays |
|---|---|---|
| Mini-Royal | 1 | 20 |
| 31 | 1 | 10 |
| Trips | 1 | 6 |
| 30 | 1 | 4 |
| 28 & 29 | 1 | 3 |
| 24 - 27 | 1 | 2 |
| 18 - 23 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Push | 1 |
Following is the pay table for the Natural 31 Bonus bet. All wins are on a 'to one' basis.
Natural 31 Bonus Pay Table
| Player Hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Mini-Royal | 200 |
| 31 | 100 |
| Trips | 30 |
| 29 & 30 | 15 |
| 26 - 28 | 10 |
| 22 - 25 | 5 |
| 16 - 21 | 1 |
Example
In the hand above, I had 20 points in hearts after my first three cards, so I made the Play bet. The Draw card was the four of hearts, for a total of 24 points in hearts. With 24 total points, my Ante paid even money, and the play bet paid 2 to 1. The Natural 31 Bonus is paid based on my original three cards, which totaled 20 points, which pays 1 to 1.
Demo Game
Click the game image in the example above to enjoy 31 Classic for yourself. One click and you're in.
Strategy
Play if you have any of the following:
- Suited 15 or higher composed of two cards.
- Two suits both 9 or higher.
- Three suits all 7 or higher.
- Pair of 7's or better
- Pair of 2's - 6's with a suited 10 or better
Ante and Play Analysis
According to a math analysis by GLI, the house edge is 2.59%. The player will make the Play bet with probability 69.68%, for an average final wager of 1.6968 units. This makes the element of risk, defined as the ratio of the expected loss to average wager, equal to 2.59%/1.6968 = 1.52%.
Natural 31 Bonus Analysis
The following tables show the number of combinations, probability, and contribution to the return for the Natural 31 Bonus bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 6.08%.
Natural 31 Analysis — Pay Table 1
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini-Royal | 200 | 4 | 0.000181 | 0.036199 |
| 31 | 100 | 20 | 0.000905 | 0.090498 |
| Trips | 30 | 52 | 0.002353 | 0.070588 |
| 29 & 30 | 15 | 72 | 0.003258 | 0.048869 |
| 26 - 28 | 10 | 168 | 0.007602 | 0.076018 |
| 22 - 25 | 5 | 368 | 0.016652 | 0.083258 |
| 16 - 21 | 1 | 5,556 | 0.251403 | 0.251403 |
| Loss | -1 | 15,860 | 0.717647 | -0.717647 |
| Total | 22,100 | 1.000000 | -0.060814 |
31 Card Game App
External Links
Classic 31 — official website