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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).

Poker Home Games: Pass The Trash

I can’t believe I’ve forgotten about this game up till now. It’s a relic from my college years (at least that’s where I learned it), but remains one of my favorite “break up the poker action” games to play - next to hearts, of course. As you may have guessed from that last sentence, this game isn’t really associated with any type of poker-related rules other than it’s based on a high/low card system.

The best part about pass the trash? It’s a sure fire way to absolutely piss off anyone sitting next to you, which more than likely will happen multiple times over the course of the game.

Now, for me, unlike traditional poker where I prefer a smaller crowd of 4-6 people max, the more you have for pass the trash the better.

Here’s how the game works if you’re not familiar.

The object, plain and simple, is not to be stuck with the lowest card at the table for any given round.

1.) Everyone places 4 of the same monetary denomination on front of them, spread out so that there are 4 distinct piles. These can be chips, they can be dollar bills….you can have these be worth a quarter or 20 bucks a piece…completely up to you.

2.) Everyone is dealt 1 card, face down.

3.) Rotating from the left, each player looks a their card and makes the decision on whether to keep their card or pass it to the person to their left. If the player chooses to pass, the person to their left is forced to give up his card in the exchange.

** Note ** If a player is holding an Ace (or King if you play Aces as low), then that serves as a block, and he does not have to trade cards when requested. Only the Ace can be a block.

4.) The person deciding whether to pass just says “pass” or “keep.”

5.) The same decision goes to the next player, and then the next, until we come to the end of the table.

6.) The last person has the option of keeping the card he has or was passed, or exchanging it for the top card off the deck.

7.) When the round is complete, everyone flips up their cards, and the lowest card must push one of his money stacks into the middle.

** Note ** If two people both have the lowest card, they both must put in a money stack.

8.) The cards from the previous round are discarded, not put back into the deck, and the remaining cards are dealt out again, rotating 1 spot to the right. The person who decides first this time also rotates 1 spot to the right.

9.) The game continues until there is only 1 person remaining with any money stacks, and he clears the pot in the middle.

** Ride the Bus note *** The first person to have to put all of his money stacks in the middle has the option of “riding the bus”, which is buying into the game for 1 more stack of money. Only the first person to lose all his stacks gets this option. If he passes, nobody gets to ride the bus…and certainly nobody gets to ride the short bus, as much as you may want to.

Can’t say there’s a whole lot of strategy to this one. It’s more gut feelings and trying to remember what was discarded from previous hands. I also can’t think of a reason not to ride the bus, unless you lost the first 4 hands and everyone else is sitting with full stacks of money…then I could see it being pointless to buy in again, even if it gives you another chance. However, you really never know, because there have been times I’ve seen someone ride the bus, ride it smoothly through 16 more hands and win the money in the middle.

So, as I said, not much of a traditional poker game like the games on DoylesRoom, but a fun money game and a good change from poker if you’re looking for something like that

Poker Home Games: A Little Piece of Omaha (ALPO)

There’s nothing I enjoy more when it comes to poker than a variation on a classic. A variation that really works, mind you, and forces seasoned poker players to rethink their entire strategy to adjust to a new set of circumstances.

A Little Piece of Omaha (or ALPO for short) has that in…..well…..spades.

I’ll assume everyone is familiar with the general rules of Omaha Hold ‘Em, so we’ll pick up from there.

Important note to start - This game cannot be played with fewer than 5 players. 5 is the absolute minimum, and although I’m typically not a fan of a packed table (just my preference), the more players there are for ALPO, the more interesting it gets.

1.) Each player is dealt 5 cards, face down. Note this is one more card per player than in typical Omaha.

2.) The deck is set aside, as it has served it’s purpose for this game and won’t be needed anymore.

3.) Each player then sorts through his or her hand and selects one card to add to the discard pile for the dealer. It is discarded face down, so not even the dealer sees it.

4.) At this point, the dealer shuffles the discard pile and selects 5 cards out of the bunch to make up the 5 community cards for the hand.

5.) Betting, play and payouts proceed as in regular Omaha at this point.

I really can’t explain how much I love playing this variation of Omaha Hold ‘Em. I introduced it to my regular group after just learning about it a few months ago myself, and now I’m totally addicted. When my deal comes around, I’m playing ALPO 9 out of 10 times these days.

The strategic plays are endless. If there’s more than 5 people playing, you have to ask yourself….will my discarded card show up in the community? If you’re dealt 3 aces in regular Omaha, the third Ace is worthless…but in ALPO it might make perfect sense to discard it in hopes that it comes up in the community.

What if you have 4 to a straight but a lone, out of place Ace? Do you discard the Ace and give your opponents ammunition for a high two-pair or full house?

I’ve kicked myself a few times already over the decisions I’ve been forced to make. I’d say having to discard something you know will help your opponents is almost as bad as breaking up a full house in pass the trash.

Give it a try, it might not build up the largest pots (unless you’re playing no-limit like the games at BodogPoker, of course) but it will definitely cause a few internal wars in your head. And isn’t that just as much fun?

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