The casino variant of Three Card Poker was first created by Derek Webb in 1994 and patented in 1997.

Webb's goal was to create a version of poker that played with the speed of other table games.

The first to adopt the game was Barry Morris, Vice President of Grand Casino Gulfport in Mississippi, after Webb had unsuccessful sales pitches with casino owners in Reno, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City.

A key aspect of Webb's offer to Morris was to stand on the floor to train the dealers himself, as well as watch to make sure the game was being played correctly.

United Kingdom gambling regulations were changed to allow the introduction of Three Card Poker in 2002.

The sale was prompted by a lawsuit filed that year in US federal court by Mikohn Gaming, the then-owners of Caribbean stud poker, alleging patent infringement; Shuffle Master agreed to defend that litigation as part of the purchase.

Subsequently, in 2007, Prime Table Games showed in a countersuit that the 1999 litigation was based on invalid patent claims; Mikohn (which had since been renamed as Progressive Gaming International Corporation – PGIC) settled the suit by paying $20 million.

[4] Further, Prime Table Games filed suit against Shuffle Master in 2008 alleging in part that Shuffle Master had undisclosed knowledge that the PGIC claims were invalid prior to the 1999 purchase; that lawsuit was later settled for over $2 million.

Players have a choice to either fold or continue in the game by placing a "play" wager equal to their ante.