Help me remember how to play poker

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m trying to get a poker night started up, but I haven’t played in years. Most of the guys who are going to be playing are in the same boat, so we can’t really remember any of the fun variations we used to play. We do have the basics covered, though (5 card draw, 7 card stud, etc.). I did a quick google, but I ended up with far too many games to actually pick a few to start with. So, I’ve decided to turn to the dope for some suggestions. We’re looking for fun games for a group of friends; for example, we all remember playing Baseball, Nighttime Baseball, Acey Ducey, etc, but none of us remember how to play.

Please include rules and a name for any games that you might post, and thanks in advance.

2

:rubbing hands together, maniacally:

C’mon over to the house tonight, lightningmark, er…I mean lightningtool. Bring a stack of cash, and a few of my buddies and I will give you a fleecing, er…I mean refresher.

…said the spider to the fly… :smiley:

3

:smack: …and bring that lightingtool fella with you.

4

Here are a few seven card stud games that are based on keeping everyone in the game. This way everyone gets to play, and usually the pots are bigger. A number of these games involve a low hand. You might have to do some reading on how to calculate the best low hand.

Seven Card Stud with a High Low Split – The best high hand and the best low hand split the pot.

Seven Card Stud High Chicago – The player with the highest spade dealt down splits half the pot with the best hand. Normally, the ace is the highest possible spade.

Seven Card Stud Low Chicago – The same concept as high Chicago, but this time the player with the lowest spade dealt down splits half the pot with the best hand. Normally, the two of spades is the lowest possible spade.

Seven Card Stud Best Hand Splits with Best Low Hand Dealt Up – The best hand splits the pot with the player who makes the best low hand with the four cards that are dealt face up.

I’d also look into three card guts with a cap and a dummy hand. You’re going to have to read up on this one, but trust me, it’s a nice break from the seven-card games. A cap means losers must match the pot, but only up to a certain amount. This way people don’t end up losing like $20 a hand. A dummy hand means you deal three cards in the middle. If a player stays, he must beat both the other players and the dummy hand. This prevents players from stealing the pot, and it keeps the game going a bit longer. If you’re interested, I’ll try to explain this better later, but for now, happy hour calls.

5

Actually in those Chicago games, the pot is split evenly between the spade and the best hand… not whatever splitting half the pot comes out to. Maybe I should be invited to that game as well.

6

Baseball (at least the version I play with my friends) is a seven card stud game. 3s and 9s are wild, and you can buy another card if you get a 4. In keeping with the spirit of IMHO, it’s a ridiculous game with too many wild cards and I hate it.

Midnight baseball has the same wilds, but each person is dealt 9 cards and doesn’t look at them. The first player flips over a card and there’s a round of betting. The next player flips cards until he or she beats what the first has showing, round of betting, etc. The game continues like this ad nauseum.

7

You should think about house rules, and make sure that everyone knows and understands them before starting, especially when new folks join the game. After all, you probably don’t want gunplay over a simple misunderstanding. (Depending on your location, guns may have to figure in the rules.)

For instance, in my game we have a three-raise limit in each round of betting, and a 50-cent limit for all rounds except the last one, when it rises to $1.00. Pick limits that work for your players, or play table stakes, if you’re rich and have big balls.

Our game allows sandbagging (raising after you started the betting with a check), but some games don’t.

If you play low games, decide what the best low hand is. Some people allow straights and flushes to count as low. Others say the best low is A,2,3,4,6.

Do the cards speak, or if a player says he has a straight, but also has a flush and hasn’t realized it, is he stuck playing the straight?

Some games flat out prohibit wild card games, some discourage them, but allow them in moderation, some allow all of them. Serious players tend to look down on wild cards.

Allow me to suggest a few points in the area of etiquette that will (IMHO) improve the tone of the game. Take it seriously. All players should know the rank of hands cold, without using a cheat sheet. Encourage players to read and follow Hoyle’s basic rules for poker (e.g. did you know that the minimum number of cards in a valid cut is five?). Everyone must bet,check, call, or fold in turn. All cards stay above the table at all times. (Some games impose a fine – fixed amount or even match the pot – for violating rules like these.)

Finally, I strongly recommend that someone invest in a really good set of clay casino-style chips (and perhaps a case to carry them in). Don’t use those cheap plastic interlocking kind, and for god’s sake, don’t play with cash. Tacky, tacky, tacky. You’ll need at least 100 each of four colors, and they aren’t cheap: expect to pay as much as $200-$300 including a case. But they’re worth it. You’d be surprised how much playing with nice chips improves the feel of the game.

Here’s one of our favorite games: Anaconda (aka Screw Your Buddy). It’s a high-low game.
[ul]Deal seven cards down to all players. Look at them and bet.
[li]Each player passes three cards to his left (or right, dealer’s call). (Naturally, you can’t look at the cards passed to you until you’ve passed yours.) [/li][li]Bet. [/li][li]Pass two. [/li][li]Bet. [/li][li]Pass one. [/li][li]Do not bet, yet. Players discard two cards, and stack the five remaining in the order they want to reveal them. [/li][li]All players reveal their first card. [/li][li]Bet. [/li][li]Second card. [/li][li]Bet, etc. to the fourth card. [/li][li]Bet. [/li][li]Before turning over the fifth card, everyone declares whether they’re going high or low. (You know how to do that, right?)[/li][li]The final round of betting. [/li][/ul]
Lots of fun.

8

Bet. Raise. Lose. Repeat. Rant. Bet. Raise. Lose. Spill your beverage. Bet everything. Lose. Throw cards to the floor. Impugn the winner’s ancestry. Quote Yosemite Sam as you stumble out the door. Swear you’ll never play poker again. Next week, laugh at all gamblers. Vote for George W. Bush. Pretend you’re a winner.

9

I’m intrigued, but confused.

Each player declares “high” or “low.” I assume that means high hand or low hand, correct? If so, and I declare “high” and, indeed, have the highest, but someone else declares “low” and he, indeed, has the lowest–who wins?

Or, am I not understanding what you mean by “declaring” high or low?

I’d like to introduce this game to my poker group, if you wouldn’t mind clarifying for me… Thanks in advance.

~S

10

As mentioned above, all high-low games split the pot between the winners of the high and low hands.

BTW, the declare process works like this: all players take a chip in their hand and put both hands below the table. They bring out one hand and then simultaneously open their hands to reveal either no chip, meaning they’re going low, or one chip, meaning high. (The declare must be simultaneous, to prevent someone from switching after seeing how other players have gone.) If all players go the same way, the whole pot will go to one person.

Some games allow a player to go for both: opening the hand with two chips means you think you have winning high and low hands. For instance, in seven card stud, you might have a good low hand, but by using other cards in your hand you can make it into a straight or a flush. However, if you go for both, you have to win both, or you don’t win anything at all. If, for example, your low hand isn’t the winner, but your high hand is, the winner of the low splits with the second-best high hand. Going both gives you a chance of taking the whole pot, but is also risky.

Going for both isn’t an option in Anaconda, or any game that has only five cards.

11

I’ll second suggesting Hoyle’s. Get a copy and make it the final arbiter of house rules.

12

here are a few of my favorites

7 card no peek. smae as seven card stud but all cards are down . after dealing all seven cards ypu flip the next one. the 1st person flips until they beat that card and then bets. the next person flips until his hand beats the last one, then he bets ect.

indian poker. this is a silly game thats more fun when drinking. everyone gets one card face down. without looking at the card they hold it to their forhead now everyone can see your hand but you now you bet knowing what everyone has but yourself.

lowball. smae as 5 card draw except the worst possible hand wins.

seven card stud texas hold’em. this is the same as 7 card stud except 5 of the cards are placed face up in the middle of the table for all players to use. this is the prefered game of the world poker league, as seen on the travel channel and espn. I suggest playing some online poker first to get reaquainted with the game. www.poker room .com is a good one I’ve also heard alot about www.partypoker.com

13

You can find a number of good poker variants here. The site hasn’t been updated in years, but it’s still a very good source for games and rules.

One other thing – I don’t know the size of your poker group, but IMO, go sparingly on the hi-lo games if you’re playing with less than six people. Splitting a five-man pot two ways makes most pots just not worth it. Stick with having high hand win it all, with the very occasional splitting game thrown in.

Our weekly game generally only has five players (the absolute minimum for a decent game), and we keep it to high-hand games, with a game of High (or Low) Chicago thrown in now and then.

(Anyone in Central Jersey wanna help boost our numbers?) :slight_smile: