Heads-up vs three-handed Patch-Patch

A Patch-Patch table seats two or three players, never more: three players with twelve cards each and three boards of five use 51 of the deck's 52 cards. Heads-up and three-handed Patch-Patch share every rule, but the numbers underneath them are different enough to call for different play. This article sets the two side by side.

The cards in play

You always see 27 cards by the river: your twelve and the fifteen on the boards. The difference is what happens to the other 25. Heads-up, about half of them are in your opponent's hand and the rest were never dealt. Three-handed, all but one are in your opponents' hands.

That changes how often an opponent holds any particular card:

Three-handed, when you wonder whether anyone holds the card that beats you, the answer on the river is almost always yes. Whether they put it on that board is the only open question.

A board takes a better hand to win

Heads-up, each board is your hand against one arrangement. Three-handed, it is your hand against two, chosen from 24 cards. A hand that wins most heads-up boards often comes second three-handed.

The practical rule: three-handed, value the best possible hand on each board much more, and second-best hands much less. Heads-up, a strong second-best hand is often good, especially when the cards that beat it are on other boards or in your hand. The reading three boards article shows how to count them.

What a board is worth

Each board is a third of the pot either way, but the pot is shared by a different number of players. When every player in the hand has put in the same amount:

• Heads-up, one board returns two thirds of your chips, two boards return one and a third. Break-even is one and a half boards.
• Three-handed, one board returns exactly your chips, two boards return double. Break-even is one board.

So three-handed, a split that gives you one sure board and two chances already has your chips back, while heads-up the same split needs one of the two chances to come in. Scoop or split has the full table, and the one-board rule for calling pot bets.

Blinds and position

Heads-up, the button posts the small blind. It acts first before the flops and last on every round after. You post a blind in every hand, alternating 5 and 10 at 5-10: an average of three quarters of a big blind a hand.

Three-handed, the button posts nothing and acts first before the flops, then last; the small blind acts first after the flops. You post blinds in two hands out of three: an average of half a big blind a hand.

The pot-sized opening raise follows from the blinds: heads-up the small blind raises to 30 at 5-10 (3 big blinds); three-handed the button raises to 35 (3.5 big blinds). Heads-up, the blinds cost more and you are in a blind every hand, so waiting for strong twelve-card hands is expensive. Three-handed, there is more room to let a weak twelve go.

How the betting feels

Heads-up, a called pot bet triples the pot. Three-handed, a pot bet called by both opponents makes it four times what it was: the pot, the bet and two calls. Stacks go in sooner in three-way pots, and the player who bets into two opponents needs to be ahead of both.

Bluffing is harder three-handed for the same reason: a pot-sized bluff must make both opponents fold, and each one who calls is another hand to beat on every board. Heads-up, only one player has to fold, and the 50% a pot-sized bluff needs to work is a target, not a long shot.

Where to play each

The lobby has both at every stakes from 5-10 to 500-1000 and every speed: a heads-up table beside each three-player (3-max) one. New players start at the slow 5-10 tables, heads-up or three-handed. A private table can be set to two or three seats, so you can play heads-up with a friend at the stakes you choose. While the community is small, house players may fill empty seats at the 5-10 and 10-20 tables; they wear a House badge and give up their seat when a player wants it.

Summary

If you're new, start heads-up or three-handed at slow 5-10, where the clocks are longest, and read the Patch-Patch rules once before you sit down.