You may wish to refer to the list of Poker hand rankings. If you have any games which don't appear on this list, I'd love to add them. Send email to: tomasz at zooski dot net.
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.
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:
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
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:
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.
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:
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.
PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 1 down, 1 up (5 card stud) or 2 down, 1 up (7 card stud) 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 and low hands split.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 1 down, 1 up (5 card stud) or 2 down, 1 up (7 card stud) to each player
PLAY: 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.
WINNER: High and low hands split.
PLAYERS: 4-10
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to each player.
PLAY: Players roll one of their two cards and then there is a betting round. Players are dealt another card down and roll one of their remaining two down cards, followed by a betting round. This continues until all players have five cards: one down, four up. Showdown after the final round of betting.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
PLAYERS: 3-6
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, one up to each player
PLAY: As in 7 card stud, with the following exceptions: Players only get 6 cards. Before the sixth card is dealt, 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, the sixth card is dealt. After the ensuing round of betting, players may make another exchange. This is followed by a final round of betting and a showdown.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
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:
PLAYERS: 4-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down and one up to each player
PLAY: As with 7 card stud, but whoever has the highest Spade in the hole (face down) gets half the pot.
WINNER: High hand and high spade in the hole split.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
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: All queens are wild. Additionally, when a queen is dealt up, the next card dealt up (and all cards of the same rank) is also wild. If another queen is dealt up, the next up card replaces the previous wild as a new wild card (but queens remain wild). If a queen is the last card dealt up, only queens are wild.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
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
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 gets 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 and low hands split.
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
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:
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:
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 Midnight Baseball, but without all the special 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). 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:
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
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:
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:
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.
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 and low hands split
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 left-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 marked 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.
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 leftmost 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 (marked) 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 declare high-low, then hold one last betting round.
WINNER: High and low hands split
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.
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:
1 2 3 4 5 * * * C C C C * C C * C C * * * C C C * C C * C C C C C * * * C * * C
So the middle card can be thought of to be on any "floor". The order of determing 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 and low hands split.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
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:
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
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 and low hands split, but the low must be 8-high or better (lower) or the high gets it all. Cards speak for themselves.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
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
PLAYERS: 3-9
INITIAL DEAL: five cards down to each player, five cards down to the table arranged in a cross.
PLAY: As in Cincinatti, 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:
PLAYERS: 3-9
INITIAL DEAL: five cards down to each player, four cards down to the table arranged in a Z:
1 - 2 / 3 - 4PLAY: 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.
This class includes all games which, although still Poker, don't fall into the other classifications.
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: High hand without straights and flushes.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
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:
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.
This class includes games which do not use the standard poker hand rankings to determine a winner.
PLAYERS: 4-10
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down, one card up to each player.
PLAY: The object is to get as close to 7 or 27 as possible. As in Blackjack, Aces are worth 1 or 11 and numbers are worth their face value. Face cards, however, are worth half a point (.5). The player to the dealer's left is the lead player, with the lead rotating each round. Each round, each player starting with the lead has the opportunity to take one additional card. The lead then starts a round of betting. This continues until nobody takes an additional card. After a final betting round, players declare high/low/both and hold a showdown.
WINNER: Closest to 7 and closest to 27 split the pot. 5-A-A wins the entire pot, even if other players have 7 or 27. 6 and 8 are equidistant from 7 and would split half of the pot.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
PLAYERS: 4-8
INITIAL DEAL: five cards to each player and seven down cards on the table
PLAY: A card on the table is turned over. Anyone holding cards of the same rank must discard them. There follows a round of betting (each round uses a rotating lead, beginning with the player to the dealer's left). After each round another card is flipped over and like cards discarded. If a card of the same rank as a previously flipped card is turned over, a new card is flipped from the top of the deck until an undiscarded rank is revealed. Thus, seven different ranks will always be discarded. If anyone loses all his cards, they instantly win the pot. Otherwise, after all cards have been turned up and the last betting round concludes, players declare high, low or both and have a showdown. Aces are worth 1 or 15, face cards are worth 10, and all other cards are worth their face value.
WINNER: Highest and lowest totals split the pot.
PLAYERS: 4-8 (more possible, but it would be a LONG game).
INITIAL DEAL: 1 card down to each player.
PLAY: This game has no ante. Instead, each player places three of the highest-ranking chips in front of him. The lead begins to the left of the dealer and rotates with each hand. Each player in turn may opt to keep his current card or exchange it with the player to his left. If someone tries to take your card and you have a King, you may stop him from doing so by revealing your King. The last player may keep his card or exchange it for the top one from the deck. When all players have gone, everyone reveals their cards and the lowest card (Aces are high) tosses a chip into the pot. When you run out of chips, you're out of the game.
WINNER: The last person remaining gets the pot.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
PLAYERS: 4-10
INITIAL DEAL: 5 cards down to each player.
PLAY: Top card of the deck is flipped over, and the suit of the flipped card becomes the trump suit for the hand. Players secretly put a chip in their fist if they want to stay in, or form an empty fist if they don't. Players open their fists simultaneously. Players who stayed in may then exchange cards (as many as can be allowed by the remaining deck size and number of players who stayed in). Boo Ray is a trick-taking game. The lead player (which rotates each hand, starting with the player to the dealer's left) leads by playing a card from his hand. All other players do the same in turn. If they can, players must play a card of the same suit as the card which began the trick. If a player has no cards of that suit, he may play any card. The highest card of the led suit takes the trick, unless a card of the trump suit is played in which case the highest trump card wins the trick. The winner of the trick begins the next trick. Whoever takes the most tricks wins the pot. Anyone who stayed in but took no tricks must pay the Boo Ray amount ($1.00, $2.00, or whatever you agree on at the start of the game) to the pot. If tricks are split 2-2-1, nobody takes the pot. The game continues, with new hands dealt to all players, until the pot is gone.
WINNER: Taker of the most tricks
Game list modified from the original by: Peter Sarrett. Last modified: June 26, 1995 (6/26/95).