Other Games

This page lists some of the most common home games - to view a complete description of each game click on the game name.

5 Card Draw

Players: 3-7

Inital 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 ifchosen).
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.
DogButt: As in Baseball: 3's & 9's are wild. A 4 gets a player an extra card.

All For One or One For All

Players: 3-10

Inital 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.

Auction

Players: 3-7

Inital 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 secretlychooses an amount of at least a nickel and places it in their hand. Then everyone drops their coins at once. The person who "bid" highest gets to choose his card first. Then the person who "bid" second highest and so on. 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. This continues until all people have 7 cards. Then there is a single betting round starting with the high hand on the table. Then, declare for high, low or both.
Winner: high hand

Baseball

Players: 3-7

Inital 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.
Pay a fixed amount for wild and/or extra cards, like a quarter.

Bid Poker

Players: 3-8

Initial Deal:1 card at a time.
Play: Cards are auctioned off one at a time. The highest bidder takes the card and puts the money in the pot. After everyone antes, each player is dealt five cards face down which they can look at. One card is turned face up. The player to the left of the dealer starts the bidding. Bidding then proceeds to the left, with each player either topping the previous bid, or passing. Once a player passes, they can no longer bid on that card, but they can bid on subsequent cards. When everyone has passed except one player, that player puts his bid in the pot and takes the card. He then discards any of his cards (including the one he just bought) face down in the discard pile. The dealer then turns the next card in the deck face up. The player to the left of whoever started the bidding the previous round starts the bidding for the new card. Play proceeds until everyone has started the bidding once. At this point, there is a showdown, with the best hand taking the pot.

Standard Variations:

Multiples: Instead of going around once (every player getting a chance to start the bidding once), you can go around multiple times. Usually, once or twice around works best.
Bid Slam: Instead of discarding to a discard pile, the player who bought the last card slams the person of his choice. He chooses a card and places it face down in front of another player. Before looking at the card, this player has to discard one card to the discard pile. He can then pick up the card he was given. A typical penalty for looking at the card before discarding is to have to match the pot. In this game, it is tough to keep any hand that requires 5 cards (straight, flush, full house, etc.). This can make the last card very valuable.
Bid Double Slam: Same as Bid Slam, except the player who was slammed can choose another player to slam - including the player who just slammed him. In this variant, even buying the last card doesn't assure you of being able to keep a 5 card hand intact.
Final Round of Betting: Before showdown, there can be a final round of betting, starting with the player to the dealer's left. Without this rule, it's possible to win the pot without putting in any money (except the ante) which may be desirable.

Caribbean Stud Poker

Players: 3-8
Inital Deal: 5 cards
Play: Ante starts at $5. Everyone gets 5 cards, the dealer shows 1 of his. If you want to stay in, you bet exactly twice your ante, else fold. The dealer needs A-K or better to qualify. If he doesn't qualify, he pays off your ante only (if you're still in), no matter what you're holding. If he qualifies, he pays off your ante and your bet if you beat him. The bet (not the ante) pays off in multiples for: 2 pair (2x), trips (3x), straight (4x), flush (5x), house (7x), 4 of a kind (20x?), straight flush (50x?), royal (200x). Furthermore, you can put in a dollar at ante time to be eligible for progressive payoffs. (You get these whether the dealer qualifies or not. These vary by casino; where I was, a flush was worth $50, house $100, 4 of a kind $250, straight flush 10%, royal 100% of the pot. The pot was ~$96k where I played last, but I've seen it as high as $290k. I understand it was originally a cruise ship game, hence the name.

Chicago

Players: 4-7

Inital 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:

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.
Philadelphia: Use high or low hearts instead of spades.

Church

Players: 3-9

Inital 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.

Dirty Schultz

Players: 3-7

Inital 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

Don Juan

Players: 3-8

Inital Deal: Each player is dealt 3 cards. Players may look at their cards.
Play: There is a betting round. Each player in turn beginning at the left of the dealer may discard from 0-3 of their cards and draw replacements from the deck. There is a betting round. There is the showdown.
Winner: Low hand (A-2-3 is lowest).

Standard Variations:

Players pay a set amount, such as a dime, for each card replaced in leiu of the first betting round. After the draw, players proceed to play their three cards as in 3-card guts, either staying in or dropping depending on the degree of confidence each has in his hand. The remaining players have a showdown for the pot or the privilege of mathcing the pot or pot match limit. Play continues until only one player stays, as in guts.

Follow the Queen

Players: 3-7

Inital 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:

Pay for queens.
Queens are not wild.
If last card up is a queen, only queens are wild (or nothing is wild)
All cards after a queen are wild (no cancellations-- not recommended for the squeamish).
Black Mariah: If the Queen of Spades is dealt face-up, the hand immediately ends. All players re-ante and the hand is redealt.
Suicide King: Teh King of Hearts, which has a sword stuck in its head, kills the hand for everyone or just for the player turning it.
Killer King: Teh King of Diamonds, which is holding an axe, kills the hand for everyone or just for the player turning it.

Golf

Players: 3-7

Inital Deal: 4 cards face down (don't look).
Play: You proceed to flip two cards over and keep two cards hidden. Rank of cards King=0, Ace=1, all other cards = face value (face cards 10 except king). The person with the lowest hand wins four kings = 0 you will win. After you flip two cards over you play from the deck. You may pick off the deck or discard pile. Choose card and replace lower numbers. When you think you can win you "knock" everyone gets one more chance except the knocker. You must knock to win the hand!!!! knocker has low hand he wins pot else he matches the pot. Note: you can not look at your two down cards but can replace them with cards you draw risking giving the person next to you a good card. If deck runs out re-ante and begin again. 4 and 5 are good hands.

Guts

Players: 4-10 (the more the merrier)

Inital 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, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cards to each player
Tennessee: Ante. Deal 1 card to each player. Play as in regular drop guts except that in addition to cards ranked from Duece through Ace, suits are ranked from high to low as follows: Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. Therefore, an Ace of Spades beats an Ace of Diamonds. Each player who held their card but did not win pays the agreed upon amount to the pot. The winner of the hand places their winning card in front of them face up as a counter of the number of hands they have won. A player wins the pot after winning three hands.
Baseball: 3's and 9's are wild. If any player who stays in (or the deck hand) has a 4, they get an extra card.
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.
Drop: 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).
Lowball: Low hand wins (A-2-3 is lowest).
Cohones: Low-ball or High-ball. Each player may draw from 1 to x (x is the number of cards dealt) cards as in draw poker. Each player pays a designated amount (usually the minimum bet) for each card drawn. After all players have had a chance to draw, the hand proceeds normally as if just dealt.

Indian

Players: 3-up

Inital 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

Liar's Poker

Players: 3-10

Play: Each player puts two quarters in front of him. Everyone is then dealt two down cards. The first person calls a poker hand. After that, a person must call a hand which beats the previous hand or call the hand. If a person calls the hand, then everyones cards are pooled to determine if the hand exists. If it does, the person who called the game loses one of his quarters and starts the next game, with only one card dealt to him (if he only had one quarter, he is out and play begins with the next person in order). Deck is reshuffled after each round. Game ends when only one person has a quarter left.
Winner: singleton, pair, two pair, three-of-a-kind, straight, flush, full house, four-of-a-kind, straight flush

Standard Variations:

Throwing up an extra card for the hand after each player. Adding a card for reversals.

Rollercoaster

Players: 3-8

Inital Deal: 1 card at a time
Play: Players are dealt one card at a time, betting after each card, alternately competing for high or low hand. After the ante, each player is dealt one card face down, which they can look at. For this first hand, players are competing for the highest card. To allow players to simultaneously indicate if they are going to compete for the pot, everyone secretly puts a coin in their hand to indicate they are competing or doesn't to indicate they are not competing. Everyone puts their closed fist on the table and opens them at the same time. Players who did not compete risk nothing and gain nothing. Players who did compete swap their cards to determine who wins - the other players do not get to see the competing players' cards. The player with the highest hand takes the pot. The competing players who lost have to match the pot. If there is a tie or no one stayed in, the pot carries over. The dealer then deals one more card face down to each player, which everyone adds to their hands. This time players are competing for the lowest hand (just like in Low Ball). Again each player simultaneously indicates if they are competing by secretly placing a coin in their hand to indicate they are staying. Competing players again swap hands to determine the winner with the lowest hand taking the pot. Losing players match the pot - noncompeting players do nothing. After the third card, players compete for highest hand the same way. After the fourth card, players compete for lowest hand the same way. After the final card, there is a showdown (with everyone automatically competing). The highest hand takes the pot and the game is over. As the rules are stated, if only a single player competes for a hand, he takes the pot and there is no pot for the next competition. There are a couple ways to remedy this situation.

Standard Variations:

Ante everytime: Before each card, every player antes. This insures that there is always money in the pot and can allow the pot to increase more quickly.
Punishment: If only one player stays in, everyone else matches the pot. If no one stays, everyone matches the pot. This encourages more people to compete.

Russian Revolution

Players: 3-7

Inital Deal: 7 cards.
Play: Same as 7-card stud. WILDS: RED ACES, RED NINES, RED SEVENS (1917- get it?) Remember, RED 9,7,ACES (six cards total) DEAL: Usual 2-down, 4-up, 1-down, EXCEPT: For the up-cards, if you are dealt any FACE CARDS (no, the other Aces do not count) you have the option of either BUYING a NEW CARD or FOLDING. If your new card is a FACE CARD, you must buy another or fold. In other words, you can't win with any royalty showing. However, any Face cards in the hole are SAFE.

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

Six Kick

Players: 3-8

Initial Deal: As in 7-card stud. except with only six (6) cards total.
Play: Same as 7-card stud except that after the sixth card is dealt and the bets are made, each player in turn may pay to have a card in their hand replaced. An up card is replaced by an up card and a down card is replaced by a down card. The cost of getting an up card is one times the minimum bet. The cost of getting a down card is two times the minimum bet. A betting round is held after each kick (draw). There are two kicks total, then the final bet and showdown.
Winner: High-Low split.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Players: 3-7

Inital 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

The Price is Right

Players: 3-7

Inital 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

Standard Variations:

3 up cards plus the deck, for purchase options of 5, 10, 15, and 25 cents.
Abyssinia: No cards are dealt initially. One card is turned face up on each side of the deck. Each player in turn has must 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 (or 7) cards. Costs are assigned by card rank (2-5 = 25 cents, 6-K = 10 cents, A = 50 cents). Cardsfrom the deck are dealt up so the cost can be paid. Players may hold cards purchased.
Grocery Store Dots: 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. 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. Highest 5-card hand and the 7-card hand with the most dots split the pot.

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.

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.