I’m looking to see what are the “common” rules of a game which was introduced to me as “midnight baseball.” It is similar to the game listed in Hoyle’s as “Baseball,” bus has significant differences. The game as we play it has the following rules:
Everyone gets dealt seven cards, face down.
(In Hoyle: dealt as seven-card stud)
Nines are wild.
Fours allow one the option to buy an extra card for a nominal price (fifty cents or a dollar in our circle).
(In Hoyle: the option is to forfeit the four for another card, with no monetary penalty)
Threes are, provisionally, wild. If you turn up a three, you must either buy the pot or fold. If you buy the pot, any threes you subsequently turn up are also wild. Buying the pot applies to each player’s first turned three.
(In Hoyle: the “provisionally” applies only to threes dealt face-up; threes in the hole are automaticaly wild. In addition, the buying of the pot applies only to the first player dealt a face-up three.)
Eldest hand turns a card up, and bets on it. Next hand turns up as many cards as are necessary to beat eldest’s card showing. Betting round ensues. Next hand turns up as many cards as are necessary to beat all hands showing on the table. And so forth until:
a. All but one player have folded;
b. All cards are turned over by all remaining players. The bet is settled when the last remaining player turns his last card over, and five-card hands are declared from the seven cards dealt.
Now, the question is thus: I have also heard other variations of this game called “Baseball.” Does anyone else out there play by similar/different rules? If so, what are they?
(This is not intended as a poll, but in fact as research for a story I’m writing. Thanks.)
In the game we play as “Baseball”, a four gives you the option to buy another card for one ante. If you get a nine, you can “buy it wild”; i.e., make it wild for twice the ante. Nothing about threes; otherwise it’s 7-card stud.
“Thursday Night Poker”, a fine shareware poker game, has a game of “Baseball” in which you can buy an extra on a four and threes and nines are just wild.
We play where 4’s allow you to buy another card for ante. you also get to play that 4 as well. Threes and Nines are also wild but you have to ante up for those as well. You keep flipping until you beat the leader.
I’ve played both “Night Baseball” and “Baseball”. The regular form of baseball is, as DoctorJ noted, 7 card stud with threes and nines wild, and fours entitling you to an extra card. Night baseball is similar to what you describe.
Generally, the only differences I have observed is whether you have to “pay” for a free card when you’re dealt a four, or whether you get it for free. Same with threes and nines: we would play that threes involved either matching the pot or a specific fee to make the card wild. Don’t pay the fee, and you have to fold. Nines were generally “free” wild cards. However, your mileage may vary.
We would also play baseball with the option of turning over a down four, if you had one and buying a free card for a specific price. (I liked to do this just before the final bet.)
Weird poker games confuse me so I may be repeating rules already mentioned. Here’s how we play it in my neck of the woods.
Assume a quarter-limit raise:
A three is wild and costs you a dime (if regular 7 stud, a three in the blind is free, a three up is a dime)(in the midnight version, turning up a three costs you a dime).
A four gives you a free spare card - if you’ve a 4 in the blind you flip it up and get another down card.
A nine is wild and free.
FWIW - nothing at all against Hoyle, but their (?his?) rules only occasionally resemble real life rules. There are so many quirks and variations and local and/or family rules. My family has a book of Hoyle and uses it as a guide only - more accurately, it’s used as a reference if needed for some half-forgotten game.
Side note - is ‘follow the bitch (queen)’ played anyplace else but here? And is Hearts or Spades more prevalent where you live?
The version of baseball I play is essentially the same (threes and nines in the hole wild; any three up–dollar to make it wild, or fold; any nine up–quarter to make it wild or fold; four up, option of paying forty cents to get an extra hole card; four in the hole means nothing).
Follow the bitch (queen) seems to be universal; in fact, from my experience it’s the only “nonstandard” poker game that everyone seems to know (“standard” meaning your regular five/seven card draw or stud, possibly with deuces wild thrown in).
Spades seems to be more prevalent where I’m from (southwest VA), though I rarely play it.
We play Follow the Queen as well as a variation called “Black Mariah”–in which the Queen of Spades dealt face up–or turned up out of the hole at any time by hte player who has it–causes an automatic redeal, but with all the money staying in the pot. Nasty game. I try to stay out of it. Follow the Queen is fine though
Hearts is more prevalent where I live/have lived (southern MI/northeast OH), but it’s only played as a parlor game and not for money.
And, I must agree that Hyle should only be used as a reference I just wanted to get a feel for whether this was a common game, and generally played this way.
I’ve played “follow the bitch”. Often, we played with a high spade splitter or some such. I’ve also played “follow the bitch” where queens are wild, and every card immediately following an up queen is wild (in other words, you can have a LOT of wild cards…too many, in fact)
I’ve also played with the automatic redeal rule if a certain card comes up. Or a rule that if a certain card comes up, the player who’s dealt it (and ONLY that player) is out of the game.
Hearts is more common than Spades, at least in my personal experience. (I live in Southern California.)
I played “Baseball” with threes and nines wild, pay the limit bet for an extra card down for a four face up. You keep the four. Otherwise it’s seven stud.
Anyone ever play “With a blind man.”?
We used this a lot in three man games. You deal an extra hand for “The blind man.” The blind man always stays. He can’t be bluffed. You can’t take the pot unless you beat the blind man. (Unless everyone else folds.) When the blind man wins, the pot stays, the deal passes. The next game is dealer choice, but the blind man still plays. If you folded, on the last game, your ante is the pot devided by the number of players. You can’t get rid of the blind man, until he looses.
You cannot play poker “according to Hoyle”- his book was written prior to the invention of poker, and only covered some 3 games- like whist & stuff. He never played poker, and certainly never wrote about it. The “hoyle” of poker is Scarne.
I’ve played “Black Mariah”, but we call it “African Queen”.
We also have the rule where if a person has the queen of spades face-down (first 2 cards are dealt down) they get half of the pot regardless of who wins the game.
Back to the OP.
I think most of the rules for baseball have been covered.
One variation is using a seven as a killer card meaning if you turn over a seven you automatically lose.
Also with fours, some play that if you are to buy another card with a four you must do so immediately upon turning the four over. Others allow you to buy it at anytime, say much later in the game when the decision to buy a new card may greatly improve your hand or provide no help at all in which case you would fold. Some play that if you buy a card with a four you are “trading it in” meaning it is no longer part of your hand others maintain you keep it.
One last thing, don’t forget the concept of betting on someone else’s failure. After someone folds, you go with another wagering round usually started with the high hand.
Speaking of other games that everyone knows, how abut Guts?
Everyone receives three cards (no straights or flushes in this game). Everyone holds his/her cards up and someone counts off.
At the signal to drop, those wishing to fold drop their cards. Those wishing to stay in hold their cards and high man wins.
The loser(s) must match the pot. Game ends when only one person holds.
A great game which certainly requires Guts as the pot increases and also allows for much spirited debate when someone is dropping late or “feinting” drops by making the motion to drop the cards but actually wishes to hold.
Also an excellent game, but for us, if one person stays in, he must take two cards, then beat the next six cards off the top of the deck–else he matches the pot, and the game continues.
