xaosdog > rec > indoor > poker > games

Poker Games and Variants

The Games

-Except where stated otherwise, games with all cards dealt down begin with the player to the dealer's left, and games with one or more cards dealt face-up begin with the player with the best cards showing, ties being resolved in favor of the player nearest to the dealer's left.

-Variants -- most games can be changed with one or more of these:

Poker Games: 5-card

5-Card Draw
Deal 5 cards down. One round of betting. Discard 0-3 cards in exchange for new ones (up to 4 if the remaining card is an Ace is a very common variant; other variants are possible, especially to allow a larger number of players; with 6 players and up allowing a fourth card could lead to more than 52 cards being used, with more than 6 players even 3 cards could lead to needing more than 52 cards). A second round of betting. Best poker hand wins.

Jacks or Better
5-Card Draw, except the player who starts the betting must have a pair of Jacks (or better), and the winning player cannot have less than three of a kind. Failure at either of these hurdles means dealing new hands to everyone still in.

Spit in the Ocean
5-Card Draw, except that each player is dealt only four cards; one card is dealt face-up in the middle; that card is all players' fifth card; that card is wild, as are all others of the same rank.

Whiskey Poker
5-Card Draw, except as follows. With n players deal n+1 hands. The extra hand is the widow. Starting with the player to the dealer's left, each player decides whether or not to trade his or her hand with the widow. If a player trades, the player's old hand (the new widow) is placed in the middle, face up. Players in turn now decide whether to trade all, some, or none of their cards with cards from the widow. This continues until one player knocks, indicating satisfaction with his or her current hand. After a knock, the non-knocking players each get one more chance to trade in turn. (Knocking can occur while the widow is face down; if a whole cycle around the table occurs without the widow being taken, it is turned face-up after the dealer has passed.) A round of betting occurs each time play passes to a new player after the first cycle is finished, unless a player knocks before the cycle is finished in which case betting starts with the knocking player. Once all trading is finished there is a final round of betting before cards are revealed.

5-Card Stud
Same as 7-Card Stud, except deal is one card down, four cards up.

Lowboy
5-Card Stud except that low hand wins.

Poker games: 7-card

7-Card Stud
Deal two cards down, four cards up, and one card down. At each up card and the final down card there is a round of betting. Best poker hand wins -- of course, only 5 of the 7 cards can be used, since a poker hand has 5 cards. Max 7 players.

No Peek
7-Card Stud, except that all cards are dealt face down and at the same time. No one looks at their cards. The first player rolls one card, followed by a round of betting. The next player rolls cards one at a time until he or she has cards showing that can beat the first player's up card, followed by a round of betting. Each subsequent player rolls cards one at a time until he or she has cards showing that can beat the best set of showing cards, each time followed by a round of betting, unless a player reveals all seven cards without being able to beat the current best hand, in which case that player folds and no betting occurs. (Can be played with 5- instead of 7-card hands.)

Pass the Trash
High and low 5-card hands split the pot. Deal all players a seven card hand. Each player selects three cards to pass to the player on his or her left, and receives three cards from the player to the right. Then each player passes two and receives two, then passes one and receives one. Then each player determines which five cards he or she will use, and the order in which they will be played. The cards are placed face down, with the top card being the one played first. Cards are revealed one at a time by all players simultaneously. High showing card(s) begins a round of betting each time a new card is revealed. After four cards have been revealed, remaining players make a simultaneous declaration whether they are going for high or low, followed by a fifth round of betting. Then the fifth cards are revealed.

Shite & Onions
7-Card Stud with two esoteric twists. If you got Shite, you're alright, unless you got Onions. Shite are 7's and Onions is 9's. 7's are wild unless you have any 9 (up or down, whether or not you use it in your 5-card hand; all seven cards must be revealed when hand is played), in which case 7's can only be 7's -- but remain wild as to suit.

Shite, Onions & Squits
Shite & Onions with another twist. If you got Shite, you're alright, unless you got Onions, in which case you got the Squits. Squits have a rank of 4 and are wild as to suit. That is: 7's are wild, but having a 9 in your 7-card hand gives 7's a numerical value of 4; 7's remain wild as to suit.

Follow the Queen
Modified 7-Card Stud with one constant and one fluctuating wild card. Deal one down, five up, one down. Queens are always wild. The first time a Queen is dealt face up, the next card after the Queen to be dealt face up becomes wild, as do all others of like rank. After that, any time a Queen is dealt face up, all wild cards except Queens (all fluctuating wild cards) cease to be wild, and then the next card to appear face up becomes wild. If the last card to be dealt face up is a Queen, only Queens are wild.

Evil Queen
Follow the Queen with two significant twists. First, standard 7-Card Stud dealing is used (two down, four up, one down). Second, when the Queen of Spades appears face up, the hand instantly ends and all players re-ante and begin again. A common variant is for Queens themselves not to be wild (leaving only the fluctuating wild card (all cards of the rank of the card following the most recent Queen); on this variant, if the last up card is a Queen, the first up card and others sharing its rank are wild).

Baseball
7-Card Stud with several twists. 3's are wild. 9's are likewise wild, but when dealt face up they are only wild for a price (equal to max allowable bet, half the pot, etc.). 4's dealt up get you an extra card, optionally for a price.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
7-Card Stud except that three cards are dealt to the middle. (Deal two down, three to the middle, then one up.) Before each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth cards (second, third, and fourth up cards) are dealt, one of the three cards is turned over. The first is the Good -- all cards of that rank are wild; the second is the Bad -- all up cards of that rank must be discarded; the third is the Ugly -- any player with an up card matching the Ugly in rank must fold.

52 Pickup
7-card Stud until the very end. After the final betting round of standard 7-Card Stud, all players divide their seven cards into a 5-card and a 2-card hand. Then there is a final round of betting, after which the best 5-card and the best 2-card hand split the pot. Note -- all players must select their 5- and 2-card hands so that their 5-card hand beats their 2-card hand.

Pokerid Games

Bunkum
(Ante must be a multiple of 3 unless there are 3*n players where n is an integer.) Deal 3 cards down. Turn a single card from the deck face up; the suit of this up card is trump. Beginning with the player to the dealer's left, each player declares whether he or she is in or out. If only one player remains in when it is the dealer's turn to declare, the dealer must be in. If there are no players in when it is the dealer's turn to declare, dealer must deal again. Players who are in now trade 0-3 cards with cards from the deck. Player to the dealer's left plays one card, followed by each other player in turn. Following players must follow suit if they have the suit originally played. If no trump is played, the highest card of the original suit wins the trick. If trump is played, highest trump card wins the trick. The winner of the trick begins the second trick, whose winner begins the third. Each trick is worth a one-third share of the pot. Players who stayed in but won no tricks must match the pot. If there was at least one matcher, the game continues with the next player in turn dealing, and all players (whether they stayed in or out) back in the game. Play continues until there is no matcher.

Lawyer's Poker
Each player commits two unit amounts to the pot, but does not yet pay them to the pot. Deal one card down for each unit amount. Players can look only at the cards corresponding to unit amounts they have committed. Player to the dealer's left begins by naming a poker hand he or she believes can be formed by all of the cards that have been dealt. The next player must either name a more powerful poker hand or declare the previous player a lawyer. Play continues until someone has been declared a lawyer, after which cards are revealed. If the accused lawyer is vindicated, the accuser pays one unit amount to the pot; if the accusor is vindicated the lawyer pays. Players drop out after losing twice; deal rotates after each accusation is resolved. The last remaining player wins the pot.

Guts
Deal two cards down. After looking at their cards, the players hold them face down above the table. Dealer counts, "One... two... three... guts!" On the word guts, players drop their cards if they are out, and continue holding them if they are in. Dropping should be simultaneous, and a delayed drop is considered to be a hold unless a consensus of other players decides otherwise. Players who are in compare their 2-card hands. Highest hand wins (best pair or in the absence of pairs highest card; ties split the pot). Players who stayed in but did not win match the pot. Play continues until there are no matchers. If no players stay in deal again.

3-card Guts
The same as guts but with 3 cards mutatis mutandis.

Guts with the Nelly Rule
Where no players stay in, the player who would have won had all players stayed in must pay a penalty. Penalty can be a set fee, matching the pot up to a specified maximum, or matching the pot. Where the penalty is matching the pot, the variant is referred to as "Harsh Nelly"

Phantom Guts
One more hand is dealt than there are players. The extra hand is the phantom. Beating all the other players is not enough; if the phantom hand is better than the otherwise winning hand, then all players who stayed in must match the pot. If no players stayed in and the Nelly Rule is in effect, if the phantom has the best hand, no one is penalized.
Double or Triple Phantom games are possible, by dealing more phantom hands.
When the Phantom has more cards in its hand than the players do in theirs (usually one more), it is called a Reaper.

Spit Guts
One card is dealt face up. That card counts as being in everyone's hand; it is wild, as are all other cards in anyone's hand matching it in value (ie., if it is a 4 all 4's are wild).

Nuclear Guts
Guts variants can be played in any combination; Phantom Spit Guts with the Nelly Rule is Nuclear Guts (or Harsh Nuclear Guts, or Double Nuclear Guts, etc.).

Pass the Guts
Guts where if all drop players pass a set number of cards (usually one) to the left, and play again with the adjusted hands.

Blind Guts
Guts in which no player looks at his or her hand before deciding whether to remain in or out. Do not play Blind Guts.

Indian
Play as if for 1-card Blind Guts, except each player, without looking at his or her card, places it on his or her forehead where all other players can see it. Only play when drunk.

Pokeroid Games

In Between
Dealer deals two cards a couple of inches apart (for each player, including him- or herself, as each player's turn comes up); if the first card is an Ace the player decides if the Ace will be high or low. Each player decides whether the next card (to be dealt in between the first two) will fall in between the two outside cards in rank, and bets some fraction of the pot on the outcome. If right, the player takes that amount; if wrong, the player pays the amount of the bet to the pot; if wrong and the inside card matches an outside card the player pays double the bet to the pot. Play ends when a player guesses right after betting the whole pot. During the first cycle around the table, the maximum bet is the ante. Optionally, require a minimum bet every time; optionally excuse the minimum bet when the outside card are identical in rank or if they are consecutive.

Screw Your Neighbor, or, There Can Be Only Juan
Each player commits three unit amounts of money to the pot, but does not yet pay them to the pot. Deal each player one card. Any player with a King should turn the King face up. Beginning with the player to the dealer's left, the player decides if he or she wants the card he or she has been dealt, or would prefer to trade with the next player (a player with a King to his or her left is blocked and cannot trade, unless that player is the dealer). Each subsequent player can elect to trade or not, until the dealer, who can keep the card he or she has ended up with, or trade with the next card from the deck. The player with the lowest card pays one unit amount to the pot (ties both pay) (optionally, Aces pay double). Deal rotates. Continue until all players except one have lost all three unit amounts to the pot; the last remaining player takes the pot. Optionally, allow players to remain in the game "on their honor" after losing their third unit amount, as though they had a phantom fourth unit amount: players are in until they lose the fourth unit. Best to play as the last game of the evening, as it takes a while.

Stendahl
Face cards have an absolute value of 10, Aces of 15, and all other cards of their own rank. Reds are positive and blacks are negative. Play as with 7-Card Stud, with the first to bet each round being the player with the highest positive total. Pot is split by the player with the highest total absolute value and the player with the lowest total absolute value (ties split the half-pot) (the same 7-card hand can be used to construct two different 5-card hands to win both high and low).

7-27
Aces can be 1 or 11, player's choice; face cards equal 0.5; all other cards are worth their rank. Deal one card down and one card up to each player. Each player then gets the choice of taking another card up or passing. The players with totals closest to 7 and to 27 (after all players are satisfied with their totals and do not require more cards) split the pot; it is possible to win both. Ties where both players have the same total split the split pot; other ties are resolved by the rule that low total beats high total (ie., 6.5 beats 7.5).

Molotov
Aces are 1 or 15, player's choice; face cards are 10, all other cards are worth their rank. Deal five cards down to each player, and seven cards down in the middle. Bet. Turn one middle card over; any player having a card or cards matching the up card in rank discards that card or cards. Bet. Repeat for each middle card. The first player to lose all five down cards wins the pot. If no player loses all five down cards, the players with the highest and the lowest totals split the pot.