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I INVENTED A 'POKER' GAME!!!
In the interest of enjoying "low dough" poker with my friends (see below), I dreamt up a game in 2005. It is universal in its appeal and fun. Some day it will be played everywhere. I call it "Share the Wealth".
Share the Wealth can be played by up to ten players. Each player will end up with five cards face up. The best five-card poker hand that can be derived by any two player's combined ten cards wins the pot. It goes like this:
Share the Wealth is played like showdown - each player gets one card face up. Best poker hand MUST bet. After any calls or raises each player gets another card face up. We usually allow two raises in a normal bet and three raises on the last bet. Now it's time to observe how the field is doing. High hand MUST bet. This card up/betting continues until all five cards are exposed and the best TWO-HAND combination is evident (look carefully).
Other than there is no checking (you can bet or fold), there are only two exceptions to Share the Wealth. If any one hand can beat all combined hands then they are a single winner. That means if someone has, for example, four (4) sevens and that is the highest individual hand, then others with simply an ace don't get to chime in and Share the wealth. That'd be lame. Should the best hand be, for example, one player with 3 Queens and two players with a pair of nines (Queens and nines boat) then durn it, it's a three-way split
Both of these exceptions are rare, but under those conditions, what else can you do?. It is very amusing formulating possibilities with your "opponent/partners" as the hands build. And until all cards are dealt there's really no telling what might happen. Try this game, I think you'll like it.
Years later the game has taken on a life of its own. Rarely is there a poker session where this isn't played (usually by Barb), but now the general concensus seems to be -- since I named it "Share the Wealth" -- if someone gets four of a kind and beats the field, the highest card gets to share with them. The only way someone would get to keep it all is if they have the highest fifth card. Grrr. When I deal it, I play the game as originally intended. After all, it is "Dealer's Choice". ;')
Enjoy.
Poker keeps the mind sharp
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Quote from the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Monash University, Australia: Poker is a good Inductive Inference problem. You only have partial information and your opponents are actively trying to deceive you. Are they bluffing? It is easy to calculate the probability that a good hand or a bad hand was dealt to someone. But your opponents know that you can do that. You know that they know that you can do that, and ...... |
Long before celebrities were playing "Texas Hold 'em" on Bravo, we were playing "Dealer's Choice". "Dealer's Choice" means the deal rotates, and when it is your turn you can call any game (with any special rules) you like as long as everyone understands it. Our group plays a friendly, co-ed game with a 15 cent limit with no wild cards, and a dime limit if there are. Also, there's a two bump (raise) limit for every bet except on the last one where there can be three.
Poker, and the associated games we play, are a wonderful catalyst for enjoying friend's company and having an inexpensive, fun night out.
You really need at least five players for a good poker game. Six players is perhaps ideal, but seven players is great, too, (the more the merrier) because though you can't play draw games as easily, you can play any stud (7-card) game, and there are quite a few of them. With six or seven players we play a lot of split pot games (usually win-place or high-low). That way the winnings disperse more evenly and chances of winning are improved.
This page went up because I'm not good with (paper) lists, and can never remember the cool games I want to call unless I have one. If you play, you will probably like some of them, too. I didn't make them up, I found them elsewhere in books or on the web. Enjoy. I did invent Cincinnatti Bookends, but it's still on the drawing board.
Cincinnatti Bookends (win/place, high/low)
Deal five cards to each player face down, five cards in center. All players turn their center three cards, bet, then turn center three cards (arbitrary) one at a time (betting during each) until exposed. Bookend cards (outside two) are exposed at conclusion of betting. Surprise!
Additional variations: 2 out of 5 down cards are "unexposed" until end of game?
Or middle three cards are unknown until showdown?
Player to left turns your cards?
Alternate (and bizarre) ranking:
Any five cards in a six-card range (high to low) -
Flush
Big Tiger K-8
Little Tiger 8-3
Big Dog A-9
Little Dog 7-2
Straight
Why does a Big Tiger beat a Big Dog? I dunno.
Poker Squares 5 x 5
First to Four (double deck - optional)
I just thought this one up today. Deal everybody four cards up. Bet. Then give each player a card and bet again. The first person to get four of a kind wins.
With a single deck, and especially with seven players, there might not be any four-of-a-kind, you can just play best hand. High-low split would be appropriate, and here's where it gets a little twisty. You can play lowest BEST hand loses, not just lowest hand you can make with the available cards. Also, after 7 cards are up for each player they can be turned up two-at-a-time for less betting increments (especially with a double deck).
Blind & Straddle
Spit Variations
All 4-card (plus wild card)
Three up (wild) cards
Turn up a card at a time showdown
Shotgun
Three cards dealt, bet, then fourth, bet, fifth, bet, draw, bet
Defaults:
Always best 5 cards unless otherwise stated
If dealer fails to call a split and looks at his cards the split is win-place
Learned from a harried game in Albany, GA:
3-2-1
3 cards opt
losers pay pot
the bitch
Guts
3 cards can give one
2s & 5s wild
Beat the Bitch
Match the pot
Buy the third one and you're in best 3
If tie best natural hand of remaining cards wins
Once over x (they used 50) losers pay 20
Pass the Trash (aka Want It? Want It? Got it!) (aka Selection/Rejection) (aka Polish)
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to each player
PLAY: Rotating lead player. At the start of each round, the dealer flips up the top card and offers it to the leader. The leader can either accept it or pass. If passed, the card is then offered to the next player, who can also accept it or pass. If passed, the next player must take the card. A new card is turned up and offered to the next player in turn. This continues, skipping players who already received a card in the current round, until everyone has taken a card. Betting ensues, and a new round begins. This continues until everyone has four up cards. After that round of betting, everyone gets a 7th card down. After a final round of betting, everyone declares high/low/both and a showdown occurs.
WINNER: High and low hands split
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
Each person in turn can reject the first card dealt to them, but must take the next card.
Play as in 5-card Stud.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL 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
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