Stud Poker Games

This class of games includes all games in which players either receive some cards at the initial deal and acquire more cards as the game progresses, or receive all their cards at the initial deal and reveal them one by one.

Seven Card Stud PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, 1 up to each player PLAY: Betting begins after the deal. After each round of betting, each player is dealt one card face up except for the last card, which is dealt face down. Showdown occurs after the last round. WINNER: High hand. STANDARD VARIATIONS: Last card dealt face-up. Adding wild cards. High-Low hands split the pot.

Five Card Stud PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 1 down, 1 up to each player PLAY: Betting begins after the deal. After each round of betting, each player is dealt one card face up. Showdown occurs after the last round. WINNER: High hand. STANDARD VARIATIONS: Adding wild cards. Canadian Stud: 5 card stud. 4-card straight beats a pair, 4-card flush beats a 4-card straight, 2 pair beats a 4-card flush. This adds more hands to shoot for, making 5 card stud more interesting.

Maverick PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 1 down, 1 up to each player PLAY: Same as Five Card Stud, except last card is dealt face down. WINNER: High and low hands split. WINNER: High hand. STANDARD VARIATIONS: Adding wild cards.

Murder NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down and one up to each player PLAY: Play the same as 7-card stud, with the following variations: The  Queen of Spades is wild, IF IT IS IN THE HOLE (facedown). Additionally, when the Queen of Spades is dealt up, the hand is immediately over, and the hand is re-dealt.  Those players that have NOT folded in this hand or a previous one will be dealt into the next hand, and must ante for each new hand. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Roll Your Own PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: three cards down to each player. PLAY: Players roll one of their three cards and then there is a betting round. Players are dealt another card down and roll one of their down cards, followed by a betting round. This continues until all players have six cards: two down, four up. One more card is dealt down, and stays down, as in Seven Card Stud. Showdown after the final round of betting. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: High/low Down card (and all other cards of the same rank in that hand) is wild. Deal three cards to start, continue until everyone has seven cards, with the seventh card dealt up. Deal last card down. Low card down is wild in each player's hand.

English Stud PLAYERS: 3-6
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, one up to each player PLAY: After the initial deal, there is a betting round.  Players a dealt another card up, and there is a betting round.   Repeat again, all players should have three cards up, and have a betting round.   Each player beginning at the dealer's left may exchange one card. If he discards an up card, he is dealt a new up card; if he discards a down card, he gets a new down card. A player may choose not to exchange. When all players have exchanged or stood pat, there is a betting round. Players have two more rounds of exchanges and betting, three total. The third round is a final round of betting and a showdown. STANDARD VARIATIONS: Pay to exchange. With 5 players, this game can be played with 7 cards. With 6 players, it can be played with 7 cards with the understanding that some players may be unable to exchange cards in the second exchange. If this is done, it is highly recommended that you also require players to pay for the right to exchange-- this increases the chance that some players will not exchange, giving all players the opportunity to make the choice.

Second Hand High PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down and one up to each player PLAY: Deal and bet as in 7-card stud. Cards speak for themselves to form the best poker hand available within those 7 cards. WINNER: Second highest hand, or the only remaining hand if all but one player fold. STANDARD VARIATIONS: Play in any standard poker format (draw, 5-card stud, etc) Play with wild cards Second-low in a lowball format Split pot between the highest and second highest hands

Low Chicago PLAYERS: 4-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down and one up to each player PLAY: As with 7 card stud, but whoever has the lowest Spade in the hole (face down) gets half the pot. WINNER: High hand and low spade in the hole split. STANDARD VARIATIONS: Adding wild cards. Washington Park: each player's lowest down card is wild for that player, along with all cards of the same rank. Low Chicago (aka Baltimore): low spade in the hole gets half the pot instead of high spade.

Follow the Queen NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down and one up to each player PLAY: Play the same as 7-card stud, with the following variations: When a queen is dealt up, the next card dealt up (and all cards of the same rank) are wild. If another queen is dealt up, the next up card replaces the previous wild as a new wild card. If a queen is the last card dealt up, there are no wild cards. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: Pay for queens. Queens are also wild. If last card up is a queen, only queens are wild. All cards after a queen are wild (no cancellations-- not recommended for the squeamish). 

Sequence NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, 1 up to each player PLAY: As in 7 card stud, but: if a 2 turns face up, all twos become wild. If after that a 3 turns up, all threes are wild instead. And so on, with each successively higher number replacing the previous wild card rank if it appears face up. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: High/low

Cheatin' Heart NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, 1 up to each player. PLAY: As in 7 card stud, but whenever a player is dealt a heart face up, he trades a card (either up or down) from another player. You must trade one of your own cards (up for up, down for down) with the card you take.   WINNER: High hand. STANDARD VARIATIONS: Have a Heart: The player who is dealt a heart TAKES any card from another player. The player whose card is taken does not draw a replacement.

Dirty Schultz NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down and one up to each player PLAY: As in 7 card stud, with the following variations: whenever a natural pair is dealt up to a player, the next card dealt up (and all cards of the same rank) becomes wild. If another pair is dealt up, the next up card replaces the previous wild as a new wild. If the second card of a pair is the last up card, nothing is wild. WINNER: High hand

Auction PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to each player PLAY: A number of cards equal to the number of players is turned up in the middle of the table. Each person then secretly chooses an amount of at least the minimum bet and places it in their hand. Then everyone drops their coins at once. The person who "bid" highest chooses one of the up cards and adds it to his hand, leaving it face up in front of him. The person who "bid" second highest chooses next, and so forth. If more than one person bid the same amount, then the person nearest a spot rotating clockwise from the left of the dealer chooses first with the other people choosing in clockwise order. All bids are added to the pot. This continues until all people have 7 cards. Then there is a single betting round starting with the high hand on the table, followed by a high/low/both declaration and a showdown. WINNER: High hand.  VARIATIONS: High/low

Want It? Want It? Got it! (aka Selection/Rejection) PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to each player PLAY: Rotating lead player. At the start of each round, the dealer flips up the top card and offers it to the leader. The leader can either accept it or pass. If passed, the card is then offered to the next player, who can also accept it or pass. If passed, the next player must take the card. A new card is turned up and offered to the next player in turn. This continues, skipping players who already received a card in the current round, until everyone has taken a card. Betting ensues, and a new round begins. This continues until everyone has four up cards. After that round of betting, everyone gets a 7th card down. After a final round of betting, everyone declares high/low/both and a showdown occurs. WINNER: High and low hands split STANDARD VARIATIONS: Each person in turn can reject the first card dealt to them, but must take the next card.

Baseball PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two down and one up to each player PLAY: As with 7 card stud, with these exceptions: threes and nines are wild. If a four is dealt face up, the recipient immediately receives another card down. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: Rainouts - If the Queen of Spades is dealt face up, the hand is terminated and redealt-- but only for players who are still in. Rainouts as above, but after 3 of them you build a dome over the stadium, preventing further rainouts. Paying for wild cards. Usually, the required payment is to match the pot. Possibilities include: Face-up threes, nines, or both require the recipient to pay for them to be wild, otherwise they're just face value. Face-up threes, nines, or both require the recipient to pay for them or fold. Pay for face down wilds as well as face up ones. Paying for the additional card when a four comes face up. Allowing someone with a face-down four to flip it face up and receive an additional card. The way we usually play is: Nines are free, as are down threes. Up threes require you to match the pot or fold. The additional card from a four is free.

Midnight Baseball PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: seven cards face down to each player and one up card on the table. PLAY: Do not look at your cards! This game is similar to baseball, except you can't look at your cards until they're flipped up. The player to the dealer's left is the lead player. The lead player starts rolling cards until his revealed hand beats the highest revealed hand on the table (initially, the single up card). He must obey any payment rules which apply as he flips cards (paying for wild cards, fours, etc). As soon as his revealed hand becomes the new best hand, he stops rolling cards and begins a round of betting. If he rolls all his cards and does not beat what is on the table, he is out and a betting round begins with the high hand. Either way, the next player then tries to beat the high hand in the same manner, with a betting round ensuing whenever someone stops rolling cards. The game continues until all the cards have been turned up or there is only one person left in the game. WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS: If a player rolls all his cards without beating the high hand, there is no betting round-- the next player begins rolling immediately. Players can look at their cards and lay down the cards of their choice until their exposed hand beats what's on the table. Makes this game more strategic.

Mexican Sweat PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: seven cards face down to each player and one up card on the table. PLAY: Do not look at your cards! The player to the dealer's left is the lead player. The lead player starts rolling cards until his revealed hand beats the highest revealed hand on the table (initially, the single up card from the deck). As soon as his revealed hand becomes the best hand, he stops rolling cards and begins a round of betting. If he rolls all his cards and does not beat what is on the table, he is out and a betting round begins with the high hand. Either way, the next player becomes the new lead player and the process repeats, with a round of betting whenever someone stops rolling cards. If at any time the lead player rolls a card of the same rank as the card dealt up from the deck at the initial deal, he must immediately fold and a betting round begins with the high hand. The game continues until all the cards have been turned up or there is only one person left in the game. WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS: If a player rolls all his cards without beating the high hand, there is no betting round-- the next player begins rolling immediately. If a player folds because he matches the initial up card, there is no betting round.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (the real name is not pronounceable, but must be whistled) PLAYERS: 3-7 
INITIAL DEAL: 2 cards down, 1 up to each player, three down on the table PLAY: The same as 7 card stud with these modifications: After the fourth card is dealt, flip the first of the table cards. This is The Good, and is all cards of the same rank are wild (but The Good card itself is not shared). After the fifth card is dealt, flip the second table card. This is The Bad, and all cards of the same rank must be discarded. After the 6th card is dealt, flip the last table card. This is The Ugly, and anyone who has an up card of the same rank must fold. WINNER: High hand

Henway PLAYERS: 3-5
INITIAL DEAL: 10 cards down to each player PLAY: Players split their cards into two 5-card hands, laying each hand down in their desired order. Each rotating betting round is preceded by all players turning over the top cards from both of their hands. WINNER: High and low hands split STANDARD VARIATIONS: Add wild cards.

Ten PLAYERS: 3-5
INITIAL DEAL: 10 cards down to each player Do not look at your cards! Each player flips a card and quickly, without looking at the other players' cards, places it face up to his left or to his right. Cards on the left form a hand going low, while cards on the right form a hand going high. There follows a round of betting. Repeat until all 10 cards are up. No hand can have more than 5 cards. Cards speak for themselves when the last one is flipped. WINNER: High and low hands split STANDARD VARIATIONS: Add wild cards.

Cowpie Poker PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down and one up to each player. PLAY: Deal and bet as in 7-card stud. After the betting round following the final down card, all remaining players split their hands into a 5-card hand and a 2-card hand. The 2-card hand must contain at least one down card. The 5-card hand must be a better hand than the 2-card hand. Following the split there is one more betting round. WINNER: Highest 5-card hand and highest 2-card hand split the pot.

The Price is Right PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to every player and two up cards in a row on the table next to the deck. PLAY: Beginning with the player to the dealer's left and rotating around the table, each player has the opportunity to purchase a card. The leftmost up card costs a nickel, the second up card costs a dime, and the top down card from the deck costs 15 cents (feel free to adjust the amounts to suit your group-- some play nickel-dime-quarter, for example). Up cards stay up, down cards stay down. If the nickel up card is bought, the dime up card slides down and becomes the new nickel card. If the nickel or dime card is bought, the topmost card of the deck is dealt up to become the new dime card. This continues until everyone has 7 cards. A showdown occurs after one round of betting. WINNER: High hand.
STANDARD VARIATIONS: 3 up cards plus the deck, for purchase options of 5, 10, 15, and 25 cents. High and low hands split.

Abyssinia PLAYERS: 3-12
INITIAL DEAL: None PLAY: One card is turned face up on each side of the deck. Each player in turn has the option to buy one of the up cards or the top card from the deck, each at preset prices. After each round of purchasing comes a round of betting. Play continues until each player has 5 cards. Costs are assigned by card rank (2-5 = 25 cents, 6-K = 10 cents, A = 50 cents). Cards from the deck are dealt up so the cost can be paid. Players may hold cards purchased. WINNER: High hand..

Grocery Store Dots PLAYERS: 3-7 INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down and one up to each player, plus three up cards to the table (the grocery store) with the right-hand card marked with a chip. PLAY: Deal and bet as in 7-card stud, with the following exception: before being dealt each up card, each player has the choice instead to buy his card from the grocery store. First card (the left one) costs one betting unit, the second costs 2, and the third costs 3. If the player chooses not to buy, then he is dealt an up card normally. Prior to each potential purchase, the store is restocked as necessary from the deck. Note that this means that, if the dealer buys a card, the store shows only two cards during the ensuing betting round-- it is not restocked until the next dealing round. The remaining store stock is discarded after all players have four up cards. "Dots" consist of the pips in the center column of each number card: threes have 3 dots; twos, eights, and tens have 2 dots; aces, fives, sevens, and nines have 1 dot; fours, sixes, and face cards have no dots. WINNER: Highest 5-card hand and the 7-card hand with the most dots split the pot.

Wall Street PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down and one up to each player, plus four up cards to the table (Wall Street) with the rightmost card marked with a chip. PLAY: Deal and bet as in 7-card stud, with the following exception: before being dealt each up card, each player has the choice instead to buy his card from Wall Street. The first (left) card costs one betting unit, the second card costs two units, the third costs 3 and the fourth 4. If the player chooses not to buy, an up card is dealt normally. Prior to each potential purchase, Wall Street is restocked from the deck if necessary. Note that this means that if the dealer buys a card, Wall Street shows only 3 cards during the ensuing betting round. The remaining Wall Street stock is discarded once all players have 4 up cards. After the betting round following the last down card players have a showdown. WINNER: High hand.

Dakota PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 3 cards down to each player PLAY: After the deal, players simultaneously turn one card up. After each round of betting, players receive a new down card and must turn one down card up. Before getting the seventh down card, a player must decide whether or not to buy the Option. If he declines the option, he does not turn another card up. If he buys the Option (at a cost of the maximum allowed bet), he turns a card up normally. After a final betting round players declare hi/low/both and reveal their hands. Each player's lowest down card (and all other cards in their hand of the same rank) is wild if the player went high. Nothing is wild for low hands. WINNER: High hand.

Mexican Armpit PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: seven cards face down to each player and one up card on the table. PLAY: Do not look at your cards! Play is the same as in Mexican Sweat, except for two things:  After all cards are dealt to the players, three cards are flipped up on the table from the remaining deck.  The first card is the card to beat for the first player to flip.  The second card is wild, and the three remaining cards of that rank are wild in a player's hand.  The third card is the killer.  If a player has a card of that rank in his hand, he is out of that hand, and forfeits rights to the pot. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: If a player rolls all his cards without beating the high hand, there is no betting round-- the next player begins rolling immediately. If a player folds because he matches the initial up card, there is no betting round.

Jack the Shifter PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 cards down and one card up to each player PLAY: Normal seven card stud until a Jack is turned face-up. The player with the Jack may then name any 7 card stud game, and the rest of the hand is played out as that game. If another Jack is turned up, the owner of that Jack may name a different stud game, and so forth. The game named must be an accepted, named game within your poker circle-- no calling "6's wild" when you've got a pair of sixes (unless, of course, your group routinely plays a sixes wild game). A face-down Jack may be turned up at any time, at which point that player names a game. To prevent timing conflicts, before the final round of betting the dealer should ask each player, in turn, if they wish to reveal a jack, starting with the player with the best hand showing and proceeding clockwise. Any player who declines to show a Jack when asked at this time forfeits the ability to do so for the rest of the hand. WINNER: High hand, unless changed by the game called.

Draw Poker Games

This class of games includes all games in which players receive their full complement of cards at the initial deal, then exchange some of them during the course of play.

5 Card Draw PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: five down cards to each player PLAY: There is a betting round after the deal, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. After the betting round, each player may exchange up to three cards. Another round of betting ensues, followed by the showdown. With fewer than six players, a player may draw four cards if they show that their remaining card is an Ace. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: Adding wild cards to play (and allowing five-of-a-kinds if chosen).
High/low: the highest hand and lowest hand split the pot. Lowball: Lowest hand wins
Allowing for four card draw with an ace.
Double draw: After the first exchange and subsequent betting, there is another exchange and betting round.

Spit in the Ocean PLAYERS: 3-12
INITIAL DEAL: 4 cards down to each player, one card up in the middle. PLAY: As in 5 card draw, but each player receives only 4 cards. The card in the middle is shared by all players and, along with all other cards of the same rank, is wild. WINNER: High hand

Anaconda (Pass the Trash) PLAYERS: 4-7
INITIAL DEAL: seven down cards to each player PLAY: Rotating bet starting after the deal. Each player passes three cards to the player on their left after the first round. After the next betting round, everyone passes two cards to the player on their left. After another betting round, players pass one card to their left. Each player then chooses five cards to keep and discards the remaining two. Play continues with a rolling showdown. Cards speak for themselves. WINNER: high hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: The cards are passed to other than the person to the left (Ex. 3-left, 2-right, 1-left or 3-left, 2-two-to-the-left, 1-three-to-the-left). The player keeps all seven cards at the end and chooses which to turn up. This allows the player to change from hi to lo depending on what is being played. Pass 2 cards to the left and 1 card to the right at the same time. Love Thy Neighbor: High hand and the person to his left (who is still in) split the pot.

Howdy Doody PLAYERS: 4-7
INITIAL DEAL: seven down cards to each player PLAY: As with Anaconda, but with these exceptions: this game is high/low and has wild cards. Threes are wild if and only if the hand they are in is used to try to win the high pot. Kings are wild if and only if the hand they are in is used to try for the low pot. No betting until the showdown. WINNER: High and low hands split NOTES: The low pot is usually won by a perfect low. High is usually won by at least a full house.

Jacks to Open, Trips to Win PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: five cards down to each player PLAY: Played like 5-card draw, with the following differences: Only a player with a hand as good as or better than a pair of Jacks may open the betting. If someone has such a hand, they must open the betting. If nobody can open, the hand is discarded, everyone antes again, and hands are redealt. Once the betting is opened play continues as in 5 Card Draw until the showdown. At this time, anyone who has at least a 3 of a kind must reveal his hand. The best revealed hand takes the pot. If nobody reveals a hand (that is, nobody has at least 3 of a kind) everyone still in may make another exchange. Repeat this process (exchange, bet, check for winner) until someone wins. WINNER: High and low hands split STANDARD VARIATIONS: Progressive Jackpot: You have to win 3 hands to win the pot. The first hand starts with twos being wild, with the rank of the wild card increasing by one with each hand (so in the fourth hand, fives are wild). If nobody can open, the requirement increases to a pair of Queens, then Kings, then Aces.

Trees PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 5 down to each player PLAY: Bet. Now every player can trade cards freely with every other player. Any number of cards can be exchanged, but a player must give the same number of cards he is receiving. When all no more trades are forthcoming, there follows a final round of betting before the showdown. WINNER: High hand.

All For One or One For All PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 5 down to each player PLAY: Bet. Each player, starting to the dealer's left and continuing clockwise, may choose to either draw one more card or trade in all his cards for an equal number of replacements. Rounds of betting and drawing/exchanging continue, the leader rotating each time, until there are fewer cards in the deck than players left in the game. WINNER: High hand.

Pick a Partner PLAYERS: 4, 6, 8, or 10
INITIAL DEAL: 5 down to each player PLAY: Everyone rolls a card. Highest card showing picks one of the other hands as a partner. The next highest unpartnered hand chooses a partner, and so forth until everyone is paired up. Each partnership combines their remaining 8 cards and chooses 3 of them. Three rounds of betting follow, with one of the 3 cards rolled after each round. The winning team splits the pot. If one member of a team folds, the other can continue playing and, if he wins, he wins the entire pot. WINNER: High hand.

Psycho PLAYERS: 3-6 (tricky with 6-- may not have enough cards)
INITIAL DEAL: 5 down to each player PLAY: As in 5 card draw. Immediately after draw, players show 3 cards. After a round of betting, players receive one card up. Bet. Receive a last card down. Bet, then showdown. WINNER: High hand.

Shared Card Games

This class of games includes all games in which cards are dealt up to the table which are available for shared use by all players in forming their final hands.

Elevator PLAYERS: 4-11
INITIAL DEAL: four cards to each player and seven down on the table, arranged in two columns of three (the shafts) with one in between (the elevator). PLAY: Table cards are turned up one at a time, followed by betting rounds. The player will use the four cards in his hand along with three on the table to create a seven card hand. The player must use the elevator and one card from each shaft, and the three cards must be in a line, though the elevator can be in any of the three possible positions. For example, the * cards in the following table cards could be used:

So the middle card can be thought of to be on any "floor". The order of determining which card to flip is such that the elevator is turned over last and no two shaft cards which can be used in the same hand be turned up until necessary. After all seven cards have been turned up, there is a final betting round and then each player must declare whether they are going high, low or both. If going for both, both hands must be made up of the four cards in their hand and the same set of three from the table. WINNER: High hand. STANDARD VARIATIONS: The elevator card is wild. Different rows can be used for high and low hands when going both ways.

Cincinnati PLAYERS: 3-9
INITIAL DEAL: five cards down to each player, five cards down to the table. PLAY: One of the table cards is flipped up, followed by a round of betting. Repeat until all five cards have been flipped (players keep their own cards face down). A showdown follows the last round of betting, with each player making the best hand possible using their own cards and the five on the table. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: High/low Whoever has the highest card of the same suit as a specified table card (usually the 3rd or 5th) gets half the pot. If you use the 3rd card, expect someone to raise the maximum every time during the last 3 betting rounds.

Texas Hold 'Em PLAYERS: 3-20
INITIAL DEAL: 2 cards down to each player, five cards down to the table. PLAY: A round of betting is held after the deal, then three of the table cards are turned up. Another round of betting follows. One more table card is flipped, followed by another round of betting. The last card is flipped, a final round if betting ensues, and finally a showdown in which players make their best hands using their 2 and the table's 5. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: Tahoe: 3 cards down instead of 2. No more than 2 hole cards can be used in final hand. Pineapple: 3 card down instead of 2. Each player must discard one before the first 3 table cards are flipped. Crazy Pineapple: same as Pineapple, but each player discards AFTER the first 3 table cards are flipped. Super Holdem: 3 cards down instead of 2, all of which may be used.

Omaha PLAYERS: 3-11
INITIAL DEAL: 4 cards down to each player, five cards down to the table PLAY: Identical to Texas Hold 'Em, but final hands must include exactly 2 of the player's four cards and exactly 3 of the table's five cards. WINNER: High hand. Cards speak for themselves. STANDARD VARIATIONS: Players may use all 4 of their cards, splitting them into two groups to form a high hand and a low hand. Cards speak for themselves. As above, but players declare high/low/both. High and low hands split, but the low must be 8-high or better (lower) or the high gets it all.

Lame Brain Pete PLAYERS: 3-20
INITIAL DEAL: 3 cards down to each player, five cards down to the table PLAY: A round of betting is held after the deal, then one of the table cards is turned up. It is wild, along with all cards of the same rank. Another round of betting follows. Repeat until all four table cards are up. Each time a table card is flipped, if it is the lowest showing table card it (and all cards of the same rank) become wild, replacing the previous wild cards. WINNER: High hand

Church (aka Iron Cross) PLAYERS: 3-9
INITIAL DEAL: five cards down to each player, five cards down to the table arranged in a cross. PLAY: As in Cincinnati, with the table cards revealed clockwise with the center card last. Players may only use cards from one arm of the cross to form their hands. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: High/low. Center card is wild.

Z PLAYERS: 3-9 INITIAL DEAL: five cards down to each player, four cards down to the table arranged in a Z:

PLAY: The game begins with a betting round, the lead of which rotates each round. After each betting round, flip one of the table cards in the order indicated above (card 1 in the first round, card 2 in the second, etc.). After the last card is flipped there is one more round of betting, and then players form a hand from three of their own cards and any two orthagonally adjacent table cards (1&3, 3&4, 4&2), which they reveal in the showdown. WINNER: High and low hands split, but the low must be 8-high or better (lower) or else the high hand gets the whole pot.

Tic Tac Toe PLAYERS: 3+
INITIAL DEAL: 2 cards down to each player, nine cards up to the table arranged in a 3x3 grid. PLAY: All players place three blue chips in front of them (henceforth called "posts"). Betting starts to the dealer's left. At the showdown, players announce their best hand using their two cards plus any vertical, diagonal, or horizontal row of three cards from the table. Note that you must announce your hand-- if you miss a better one, too bad. High hand takes the pot, and all other players must toss one of their posts (if any still remain) into a separate pot. All cards are then discarded and a new hand dealt (without shuffling the deck if enough cards remain) to all players who still have posts. Play continues in this manner until only one player has posts left. That player collects the post pot and the game ends. WINNER: High hand gets the pot; last player with posts gets the posts.

Miscellaneous Poker Games

This class includes all games which, although still Poker, don't fall into the other classifications.

Guts PLAYERS: 4-10 (the more the merrier)
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to each player PLAY: Everyone secretly puts a chip in their hand if they are staying in, otherwise they leave their hand empty. Players then hold their closed hands in front of them and open them simultaneously. Players who held chips (and thus stayed in) reveal their hands. The winner takes the pot and the losers have to match what the pot was. New hands are then dealt. The game continues until only one player stays in, and thus the pot is emptied. WINNER: Highest hand, without straights and flushes STANDARD VARIATIONS: Deal 1, 3, 4, or 5 cards to each player Weenie rule: If nobody stays in, everyone reveals their hand and whoever has the best hand (and thus would have won) must match the pot. Beat the deck: When only one player stays in, the top two cards from the deck are turned over. If these cards beat the player's hand, the player loses and must match the pot. Limit match: A limit is set on the amount players must pay if they lose. If the pot is more than this amount, players just pay the limit. Instead of declaring with chips, dealer counts out "one-two-three-drop" while all players hold their cards above the table. On "drop" all players who are dropping out drop their cards. This is faster, but can lead to arguments if one player is slower to drop than the others. Auction Guts: An additional "mystery hand" is dealt face-down. Before the showdown, players bid for the right to switch hands with the mystery hand. This continues until nobody wants to switch with the new mystery hand. Hold Your Guts: If nobody stays in, play again with the same hands. Repeat until somebody stays in. Pass Your Guts: If nobody stays in, everyone passes 1-5 cards (decided beforehand) to the right, until someone stays in. Progressive Guts: Start with 2 cards. If nobody stays in, everyone gets dealt another card. Repeat until someone stays in. Straights and flushes become legal at 5 cards. Bloody Sevens: Deal 2 cards down to each player, players still in after guts get 3 cards up. 7s down are wild. Anyone with a 7 up immediately folds. High hand takes the pot, losers match (someone killed by a 7 does not match).

Buddha's Folly PLAYERS: 4-10
INITIAL DEAL: 5 cards down to each player PLAY: The lead rotates each hand, starting with the player to the dealer's left. The dealer turns the top card of the deck face up. The lead player has the option of taking that card or passing it to the next player clockwise. If the card is taken, the player taking it must replace it with a different card from his hand, passing that card clockwise. This continues until a card makes it all the way around without anyone taking it. Play then continues as in Guts. WINNER: Highest hand. STANDARD VARIATIONS: Weenie rule: See Guts, above Limit match: See Guts, above

Three Five Seven PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 3 cards down to each player PLAY: Players examine their cards and indicate whether or not they're staying in as described in Guts above. Players who are in determine who has the best hand by examining each other's hands-- players who did not stay in don't get to see these hands. Threes are wild, and straights and flushes don't count. Players who stayed in but lost must each pay the winner the amount currently in the pot. If two players have equal hands, no money is exchanged between them. All players, including those who didn't stay in earlier, are dealt two more cards down. The above procedure is repeated, but this time fives are wild instead of threes and straights and flushes count. When the winner has been paid, all players again receive two more cards and repeat the procedure with sevens being wild instead of fives, using each player's best five cards. If only one player stays in during a hand, that player earns a point. The first player to earn three points takes the pot, ending the game. If no player has three points after the 7 card hand, everyone antes again. The cards are shuffled, and play starts again with 3 cards down to each player. WINNER: High hand for each individual hand; first player to reach 3 points for the pot itself.

Indian PLAYERS: 3-up
INITIAL DEAL: one card down to each player PLAY: Do not look at your card! Each player carefully places the card face out on their forehead, taking care not to see the suit and/or rank of their card. Each player can freely view the cards of their opposing players. A betting round ensues as does a showdown. WINNER: High hand STANDARD VARIATIONS: High/low hands split. Low hand wins. Deal 2-5 cards to each player

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