Teen Patti rules: Boot, deal, Chaal, blind vs seen, Show

Table of contents

What Teen Patti is, in three sentences

Teen Patti is an Indian 3-card game played against the table, not the dealer. Each active player is dealt three cards face down, everyone plays the same single betting round called Chaal, and at the showdown the strongest 3-card hand wins the pot. The basic stakes scale by whether a player has looked at their cards (Seen) or wagered blind.

The rules below describe a standard cash table with three to seven players. Festival Joker tables, AK47 wild tables, Muflis and 999 play by amendments listed in the House variants gallery; this pillar remains the default ladder of mechanics.

The deck and card ranks

Teen Patti uses one stripped 52-card deck, no jokers in standard play. Ace ranks above King in every category except Trail. Suits carry no rank between hands but do decide Flush ties by the highest card inside that suit. A stripped 52 is the only equipment a table needs besides chips and a dealer button.

Where the deck matters

• Sequence and Pure Sequence accept Ace as the high end only (A-K-Q, A-2-3). A-K-Q and A-2-3 are both accepted; Q-K-A is the same hand, just written differently.
• Flush ignores suit rank entirely. If two players both show a Flush, the tie is broken by the highest individual card in that flush.
• Trail does not depend on suit; three Aces of different suits is the strongest Trail and equally strong as three Aces in identical suits if the deck allowed it.

Boot amount and the deal

At the start of a hand the player to the left of the dealer posts the Boot. The Boot is the table minimum, not a personal stake; every player contributes a similar pot of chips at the start of the round. The dealer then gives three cards face down to each player, including themselves if they are playing. The deal continues clockwise.

Common Boot conventions

• Festival rooms: a single chip from every player to form the pot.
• Cash rooms: a fixed table minimum, typically equal to half the Seen stake or a set value written on the table.
• App-based rooms: the Boot is set by the app and visible on the table UI before the deal.

Chaal round: blind and seen

Once the deal lands, the player to the left of the dealer has first action. Players may either play Blind (wager without looking at cards) or Seen (look first, then wager). Blind wagers are paid at half the Seen stake in most rooms, doubling the number of small bets a player can place while their cards stay face down.

The round is single-bet. A player can match the previous stake, raise it (often within a cap), or fold. Most tables cap the number of raises per round to keep the action readable; cap values are house-by-house and visible on the table before the deal.

Blind versus seen in one paragraph

A Blind player has not looked. They are paying for time and pot odds without information, and the table often lets them fold cheaply. A Seen player has looked and tends to play tighter, paying a full stake. The mixed-information pot is part of the game's reading challenge: knowing how many Seen players are in changes which hands stay profitable.

The Show and the stake size

When only two players remain, either one can call a Show. The current stake size determines who pays what: the Seen player pays the full stake to call, the Blind pays half, and the pot is awarded to the stronger hand. A player who folds on the Show loses any stake they have already placed.

Show by position

• If the last opponent is Seen, the Blind player must either become Seen (pay a second half-stake to look) or fold.
• Side pots can form when players go All-In for less than the last stake. Side-pot awards follow the same hand ladder but only the active players participate.
• Showdown cards are revealed one at a time, dealer first or last depending on house convention.

Settle the pot

The hand ladder settles the pot. Trail wins over Pure Sequence, which wins over Sequence, which wins over Flush, which wins over Pair, which wins over High Card. On a tie, the highest single card decides; suits carry no rank. If both hands are identical by rank and cards, the pot splits evenly.

The dealer sweeps the pot to the winning position. Some rooms apply a small commission on real-money pots. Commission and rake rules are visible on the table HUD before the deal.

Common house rules you should ask about

Most of the rules above are universal. The clauses below vary by house and you should confirm them on the table UI or with the dealer before joining a pot.

• Maximum number of raises per round (usually 3 to 5).
• Whether a Seen player must match the last stake to call a Show.
• All-In side pot rules. Some rooms treat an All-In as a Show call; others require a separate stake match.
• Joker mode, AK47 or 999 mode. These variants are advertised on the table title.
• Time bank. Online rooms apply a clock to each decision; the time bank is visible after the third decision.

Pitfalls the editor wants you to skip

A new player calling Blind too often is the most common leak. Blind bets are cheap, but they keep more players in the pot longer, which raises the equity the table needs to beat. Switching between Blind and Seen at random, "for balance", is the second leak; a strategy pillar will give you a decision tree.

Next steps in the field manual

• Hand rankings: the Trail-through-High Card ladder with tie-break rules.
• House variants: Muflis, AK47, Joker, 999, Lowest and One-Eyed Jack at a glance.
• Table strategy: position, blinds and the pot-math checklist.
• How to play: the step-by-step walkthrough from signup to first pot.

Reader questions on Teen Patti rules