Three of a kind, also called trips or a set, is a poker hand such as 2♦ 2♠ 2♣ K♠ 6♥ that contains three cards of the same rank, plus two cards which are not of this rank nor the same as each other. In Texas hold 'em and other flop games, three of a kind is called a "set" usually when it is composed of a pocket pair and one card of matching rank on the board; It is called "trips" usually when it is made by one card that player has in the hole with two matching cards on the board.
A higher-valued three-of-a-kind defeats a lower-valued three-of-kind, so Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ 7♠ 4♣ defeats J♠ J♣ J♦ A♦ K♣. If two hands contain three of a kind of the same value, which is possible in games with wild cards or community cards, the kickers are compared to break the tie, so 4♦ 4♣ 4♠ 9♦ 2♣ defeats 4♦ 4♣ 4♠ 8♣ 7♦.
In five-card poker, there are 54,912 possible three of a kind hands that are not also full houses or four of a kind; the probability of being dealt one is approx 2.11\% .
In seven-card poker, the frequency of three of a kind is 6,461,620, the probability of being dealt one is approximately 4.83%.
Note: This cache was placed in Jonathan Dickinson State Park as part of Cacheapalooza 8, with the permission of Martin Morse, Park Service Specialist. If you park anywhere in JDSP, make sure all your tires are off the road and you are not blocking any gates.