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Poker Home Games: Suit Poker

Suit Poker

I know there are plenty of purists out there who just flat out hate wild card games. Of course, I can understand this in a casino setting such as PkerStars, but when it comes to the home game, I’m pretty much open to anything. I love learning new games, and the crazier they are, the better. (Unless I’m drunk, in which case the easier they are to learn and remember, the better.)

I remember having so much fun as a kid when I first learned about Aces, Deuces, One-Eyed Faces….and Suicidal Kings being wild.

What’s the deal with those kings, anyway? You’re the frickin’ king….you get to sleep with the Queens and….uh….sevens. What’s there to be suicidal over?

Anyway….

So, here’s a simple, fun, wild-card stuffed version of any poker game that exists. Whether it’s five-card draw, five-card stud, seven-card stud or something else, you can add in these wilds and some spice to your game (and likely some more money to the pot.)

So what’s the wild? Whatever suit you choose.

1.) Let’s set the example for this walkthrough as a game of five-card draw. Basic rules remain unchanged. This one actually gets extremely crazy because all of the cards are hidden…and the ONLY indicator you have of what your opponents might be holding is by how many cards they choose to draw. (And a word of advice, if you don’t choose anything, you better be holding a royal flush or better, or you’re done, son.)

2.) Well, there’s really not much need for a #2. Whatever single suit you choose in your hand to be wild, is wild. You don’t have to call it before hand (although that could make for a good alternative to this — each person writes down on a hidden sheet of paper what suit he wants to be wild, and THEN the cards are dealt).

3.) My house rules are a royal flush beats five of a kind. Four of a kind, straight flush, five of a kind, royal flush. That’s what I prefer…but I know house rules nationwide tend to lean toward five of a kind being the king of hands. I don’t really get this because technically the odds are still probably in favor of you pulling 5 of a kind rather than a royal flush…but I’m just guessing, I could be wrong. In any event, I always recommend you decide this before you start playing so there’s no confusion if the situation does come up.

Enjoy….go WILD!

Poker Home Games: Make Your Choice

Poker Home Games - Make Your Choice

I’m just reading that title and it sounds like something out of the “Saw” movies.

“Live or Die….make your choice.”

Unfortunately, the choice in this poker home game isn’t as dramatic as…say…having to saw your own foot off, but hey, playing for a few bucks can give you just as much as an adrenaline kick, right?

Anyway, here are the basics of the game. A simple but effective variation of 7-card-stud.

Game can consist of 2-8 players, but as I always advocate, 5-6 is the best. Just my preference.

1.) Each person receives two cards dealt face down.

2.) Dealer then flips a card up and gives the option to the person with the first play to take the up card or take a new card off the deck, which also will be face up in his hand.

3.) If the player does not want the card, the next card in the deck is given to that player (face up), and the face up card that the player rejected is offered to the next person in turn.

4.) If a player does take the offered face up card, a new card is flipped and the next player is offered a choice between this new face up card or a card from the deck.

5.) If dealer is playing, once it gets to his turn, he can choose the remaining up card or pass that to the discard pile and receive a new card off the top of the deck.

6.) Round of betting.

7.) Each player receives 4 total up cards, same as in 7-card stud, with the same process of receiving your up card as explained above.

*** Here’s the second unique aspect to Make Your Choice *** Any face up card that you receive that matches one of your down cards automatically makes them both wild. So if you have a six face down and you are dealt a six face-up….you’ll want to keep it.

8.) Last card dealt face down. If it’s a match to any up card, that one, too, becomes wild.

9.) Last round of betting. High hand takes all.

I really like the small but effective twists that the wilds add to this game. First, it’s more or less completely hidden. Nobody knows FOR SURE what your wild cards are…although if you keep a six and a nine, it becomes pretty obvious. Second, it adds a nice element of bluffing if you choose to go that direction – by keeping a throw-away up card instead of passing it off, you can mess with your opponents to make them think you have that as a wild card underneath.

***One last tip*** Even with bluffing, unless you’re sitting on a strong hand of a high full house or better, I wouldn’t stay in the game. Much like baseball, with wild cards all over the place (which some purists would frown upon), it does tend to skew the power of some hands.

Now all we need is a little freaky puppet riding a tricycle and we’ll be all set!

For a more down to earth game, check out the sit n go games at Full Tilt Poker.

Poker Home Games: Anaconda

Poker Home Games - Anaconda.

Yes, you read that right, the card game is named after a giant snake and/or said movie with Jon Voight, Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez, which was almost as painful.

The game, however, is much more fun, and often can lead to some fairly large pots if you’re playing in a group that actually has some balls.

I’ve played this at every regular home game I’ve ever been associated with, it always seems to be a big hit. Over the years, in an effort to spice up the game (as we tend to do with most home games), it evolved from 7-card to 10-card, but for the purposes of explanation, we’ll just stick with the straight 7-card Anaconda variety.

Also, just for the record, I have absolutely no idea why it’s called Anaconda.

1.) Each player is dealt 7 cards, face down. When all cards are dealt you are free to look at your hand, all 7 cards at once.

2.) Each player determines which 5 cards he wants to keep to make his best poker hand.

3.) Each player then discards 2 to a common trash pile in the middle, and arranges the remaining five cards in the order that he wants them to come up individually when the game begins.

***Note, this step is absolutely crucial in so many ways, as will become apparent as the explanation continues****

4.) Now that everyone has their stack of 5 cards, face down, in front of them, everyone flips their first card up and there is an initial round of betting - starting with the high card (high hand).

5.) The single-card flip up and round of betting is repeated until everyone has 4 cards face up and 1 left face down. At this point, again starting with the high hand, each person must declare if they are “in” or “out.” If you go “in” and win, the pot, of course, is yours. If you go “in” and lose, you must match the pot (along with anyone else who went “in” and lost) and the game continues with another hand and another round of betting to add to the already built up pot. If you go “out”, you are not penalized if the game continues…meaning you still will be part of the next hand.

*** As you now can see, the order in which you arrange your cards before they’re revealed can play in your favor or to your detriment. Example: If you’re sitting with two pair, Aces and whatever, you’re likely going to have to be the first one to declare if you’re in or out…which means you get to bluff first if you’re bluffing, or you get to sit there after declaring “in” and watch three other people go in, as well. Let me tell you, nothing tests your poker face as much as knowing immediately you’re going to be forced to match a $30 pot.****

***Note*** Once you go “in” you’re in, that’s it. There’s no turning back — with one exception. As this declare round is also a round of betting, if someone raises you or re-raises you, that frees you from your commitment to go in, and you’re free to fold if you want. Of course, it could just be another bluff, albeit a very, very nervy one with such a high penalty for going in and losing. It also should be mentioned that if you raise someone during this round, that puts you “in.”

VARIATION — This also can be played as a high low game. In this instance:

A) When you get to the declare round, each person holds a coin in his hand. Heads for high, tails for low. It’s hidden until everyone reveals at the same time (having it hidden takes away the possibility of someone changing if they’re going high or low based on what others are going for).

B) The high hands battle first…picks up same rules as above, best hand showing declares “in” or “out” first.

C) Low hands battle in the same way.

***Note, you CAN go both if you want, you just have to say “both” during the coin reveal. And that’s assuming your low straight or flush can count as high and low under the house rules. ****

D) High winner claims half, Low winner claims half….but all losers match the FULL pot, and the game goes again.

If you are interested in playing Anaconda online, then contact FullTiltPoker and let them know to add that game.

Don’t Lowball Me, Please

Poker Home Games: Freeze

Poker Home Games: Freeze

Although this will make 2 for 2 recently for “poker” home games that don’t really revolve around poker per se….I’m excited to bring you a home game special of my old high school group.

The title, Freeze.

I probably could sum this up real nice as a complete rip-off of the 80’s game show Card Sharks, but we tweaked it a bit to make it easier to play as a money game in a Saturday-night game format.

So, it’s a bit different…plus I don’t look nearly as good as the dude who hosted the show.

All right, here’s how it works.

1.) A pre-determined amount from each player is put into a central pot. This isn’t a long game, and also can be played quickly multiple times in a row, so it’s really up to the table how much you want to ante. When we were in high school, we threw in like 75 cents or a dollar each time. If I were playing now, I’d probably ante $3 to $4 each person.

2.) Dealer shuffles and deals out 10-card rows (you can do 7-card rows, too, if you don’t have enough cards…you also can put together multiple decks - which is what we used to do because it’s more fun and somewhat more challenges if you have more cards for each person to go through), 1 row of cards per person in the game.

3.) Each person gets their own row of cards to play with.

4.) The first card in each row is turned face up.

5.) The person associated with the top row takes the first turn. He basically just calls “high” or “low” for where he thinks the next card in the row will fall in relation to the previous card.

6.) If he calls it right, he can either continue with another turn or say “FREEZE.” If he chooses to freeze, the game moves on to the next person.

*** Note *** If you make a wrong call, you’re done. Your row is scrapped and you’re out of the game for that hand.

7.) This continues until there is either 1 person’s row remaining or until someone makes it to the end of their row.

*** There actually is a little more strategy here than you’d think, and here’s why…There’s a constant decision as to whether you want to play it safe and freeze your turn, or be the first one to make it to the end and automatically pick up the win.

A few rules to pay attention to:
- Each player is allowed two “replace” cards off the top of the deck, which are placed directly over the current face-up card in their hand. If you’re sitting with a 7 or 8, it’s probably a good idea to replace if you still have the option.

- If an ace comes up before you call high or low…you can determine if the ace is high or low. But if you make a call on another card and the ace is turned up, the Ace is always high in that role. That high ace remains high through the next card turn, as well.

- If there are only two people left and 1 person calls wrong, then he is still in the game IF his row is above the other person’s row (meaning he played first). If the second person also calls wrong, both are still in the game and new replacement cards are put down.

Winner takes the pot!

Next week I’ll find a way to turn Press Your Luck into an online poker game at Full Tilt Poker ….NO WAMMY….NO WAMMY….STOP! (just kidding).

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