Teen Patti uses a standard 52 card deck, with Aces ranking highest and 2's lowest. The game can be played by 2 or more players but is ideally played with 4 to 7 players. The dealer deals the cards one at a time until everyone has three cards. Each has the option to look at their 3 card hand before betting (playing seen) or to leave their cards face down on the table (playing blind).

At the begining of the Teen Patti game, each player has put in the agreed upon the ante or the minimum bet to enter he game. For the first round, the ante is the "Current Stake" or Chaal in Hindi.

The minimum bet in order to stay in the game required of each player during the second round depends on if one is playing Blind (not seen their cards) or Seen (seen their cards). Seen players have to bet twice as much as blind players to stay in. A Blind player must put in at least the current stake and not more than twice the current stake. The current stake for the next player is then the amount that the player before put in.

All players have the option of Folding / Packing i.e. exiting the Teen Patti game instead of putting in a bet. Folding will result in them forefeiting any bets put into the pot.

Blind players may choose to look at their cards when their turn comes to bet. They then become a seen player and from that turn onwards must bet at least twice the current stake.