The third hand most be the best hand ( By the standard poker rankings ) the second hand most be better then the first hand ( The one with the 3 cards in it ) . Each player then has to divide his cards into three poker hands ( known as `` setting '' ) : two containing five cards each ( known as `` the middle '' and `` the back '' ) , and one containing three cards ( `` the front '' ) ; the back must be the highest ranking hand , and the front , the lowest ranking hand ( note that straights and flushes do not count in the three card hand ) . The back hand is placed face down on the table in front of the player , then the middle hand is placed face down in front of the back hand , and the front hand is placed face down in front of the middle hand .