Criss Cross Poker vs Other Casino Poker Games
Most casino poker games deal you one hand. Criss Cross Poker deals you two from the same seven cards. Almost every other difference comes out of that.
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The One Structural Difference
Sit down at Three Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Mississippi Stud or Caribbean Stud and you are building a single hand. You bet it, you finish it, it wins or it does not.
Criss Cross Poker deals one 52-card deck, gives you two hole cards, and lays five community cards face down in a cross. Your two cards plus the horizontal three make the Across hand. Your two cards plus the vertical three make the Down hand. The centre card sits in both.
Two hands, one deal, one shared card
That is the whole design. It is why there are six wagering spots on the layout (Ante Across, Across, Ante Down, Down, Middle and the Five Card Bonus) and why a single centre card can pay three bets at once or flatten both hands together. The full rules are here.
How the Games Line Up
Structure only: the parts that do not change from casino to casino.
| Game | Hands you play | Beat a dealer? | Betting decisions | Top payout, main bet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criss Cross Poker | 2 (Across and Down) | No dealer hand | 3 | 500 to 1 |
| Three Card Poker | 1 | Yes | 1 | – |
| Ultimate Texas Hold’em | 1 | Yes | 3 | – |
| Mississippi Stud | 1 | No dealer hand | 3 | – |
| Caribbean Stud | 1 | Yes | 1 | – |
The Criss Cross Poker figures are fixed by the game rules: no dealer hand and no qualifying, three betting decisions (Across, Down, then Middle) and a main pay table that tops out at 500 to 1 for a royal flush. Played to correct strategy the game runs at a house edge of 4.33% against the ante, which works out at a 1.48% element of risk once you count everything you actually put out. All the pay tables are here.
Which One Feels Closest?
Mississippi Stud is the nearest cousin. Both games pay off a fixed pay table rather than a dealer hand, both let you escalate your bet as more cards appear, and in both the question at every decision point is the same: is what I can see worth more money?
The difference is the cross. In Mississippi Stud the cards you have seen all feed one hand. Here they split in two directions, and the same two hole cards can be magnificent one way and worthless the other. The example above is a royal flush Across and king high Down, off one deal. It is also why the Middle bet exists: it is graded on whichever of your two hands finishes higher. More on the Middle bet.
Ultimate Texas Hold’em is the closest on decision count, three each, but it puts a dealer hand in front of you. Three Card Poker and Caribbean Stud are the furthest away: one hand, one decision, and a dealer to beat.
What You Give Up, What You Gain
No bluffing
There is nobody to represent a hand to. Your bet size is information you give away to nobody.
No opponent
No dealer hand and no qualifying. You are playing the pay table and nothing else.
Real information
Cards turn over between decisions, so each raise is made knowing more than the last one.
Two shots per deal
Across and Down are settled separately. One direction can pay while the other dies.
None of that makes it a better game than the others. It makes it a different one. If the part of poker you enjoy is reading a person, this game does not have it. If the part you enjoy is working out what a hand is worth and sizing the bet accordingly, all three decisions here are that. The strategy is short enough to learn in a sitting.
Who Tends to Like It
Two groups, mostly. The first is players who already prefer pay-table games: no dealer hand, no qualifier, no hand you lose on a technicality. What you make is what you are paid for.
The second is Three Card Poker players who want more to do. One decision per hand is a clean game but a quick one, and the whole hand is settled before you have really thought about it. Criss Cross Poker gives you three decisions across the same deal, with more of the deck exposed each time.
It also reads easily to anyone coming from video poker: the hand rankings and the pay-table logic are already familiar, and only the cross is new. Hand rankings are here if you want a refresher first.
Common Comparison Questions
Is Criss Cross Poker like Texas Hold’em?
Only in the shape of the deal. You get two hole cards and there are community cards, the same as Hold’em. After that they part company: the community cards form a cross rather than a board, you make two five-card hands rather than one, and there is no dealer hand to beat and no other player to outplay. Everything is settled against a pay table.
Do I play against other players?
No. Other people may be sitting at the table, but their cards and their decisions have no effect on yours. Every seat is playing its own hand against the same pay table, so you can raise, fold or skip the Middle without any of it being read by anybody.
Is it a form of video poker?
No, though the resemblance is not accidental. It is a live table game from AGS, dealt by a dealer from one 52-card deck. What it borrows from video poker is the settlement model: you are paid a fixed amount for the hand you finish with, rather than being paid for beating somebody. There is no drawing or discarding.
Which is easier to learn, this or Three Card Poker?
Three Card Poker is easier, honestly. One hand, one decision, and you are done. Criss Cross Poker asks you to hold two hands in your head and make three decisions. The rules take a few minutes longer, and the strategy is a short list rather than a single line. Whether that is worth it depends on whether you want the extra decisions or would rather not have them.
Criss Cross Poker is a table game from AGS, developed by Ron LaDuca and In Bet Gaming. The figures on this page are verified for Criss Cross Poker only. Details of the other games are limited to structural facts that do not vary; their pay tables, top payouts and house edges differ between properties and should be checked at the table. See also the full FAQ and where to find a table.