5-Card Draw – The Wild West (or at least TV Westerns) were built on 5-Card Draw and Whiskey.
After everyone antes, 5 cards are dealt to each player. Then there is a round of drawing cards and a round of betting.
In the drawing round, you may ask for up to 4 cards. Hand the dealer the cards you’re replacing face down and he will deal your new cards which you pick up and add to your hand. If you don’t want cards, tell the dealer you will “stand pat”.
After the round of drawing, betting begins with the player on the Dealer’s left and goes clockwise.
During the round, you must match the bet (i.e. call), raise the bet (match and increase), or fold your cards, forfeiting any money you have in the pot. Betting goes around until everyone has had a chance to raise.
7-Card Stud – Another classic, on which many of the others below are based.
Overview:
Every player will end up with 7 cards of their own: 3 face down, 4 face up. Betting starts with the player with the highest hand showing; in case of ties, it’s the player closest to the left of the dealer. Hands that usually win are 2 pairs or 3-of-a-kinds; with wild cards, of course, the hands get much better! There are a lot of rounds of betting in this game, so pace yourselves…
Step By Step:
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The dealer deals every player two cards face down, then one card face up.
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A round of betting takes place, starting with the highest showing card.
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The dealer deals every player a card face up.
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A round of betting takes place, starting with the highest showing hand.
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The dealer deals every player a card face up.
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A round of betting takes place, starting with the highest showing hand.
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The dealer deals every player a card face up.
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A round of betting takes place, starting with the highest showing hand.
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The dealer deals every player a card face down.
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A round of betting takes place, starting with the highest showing hand.
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The player whose bet was matched on the last hand is “called,” and shows his 5-card hand, made from any of the 7 cards available to him.
Texas Hold’em – The classic; rules for both tournament and cash games.
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Everyone antes.
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The dealer deals two cards face down to every player.
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A round of betting takes place, starting to the left of the dealer.
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The dealer discards one card from the deck (this is called “burning” it), then deals the “flop”: three communal cards, face up. Everyone shares these cards.
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A round of betting takes place, starting to the left of the dealer.
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The dealer burns another card, then deals one card face up; this is the “turn.”
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Another round of betting…
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The dealer burns another card, then deals a final card face up; this is the “river.”
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A final round of betting takes place.
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Whoever was “called” shows cards first; players are able to use any combination of five of the seven available cards (2 private face-down cards, and 5 community cards).
Guts – No Guts No Glory
Each player is dealt 2 cards face down.
Each round starts with an ante. After ante, each player picks up and holds their two card from above, face down. Then we go around clockwise from the dealer’s left and each player declares “In” or “Out”. If out, they drop their cards.
If only one player is in, he gets the pot and that’s the end of the game.
If nobody is in, deal another round.
If multiple players are in, the high hand wins the pot and the losers who stayed in must match the pot.
Chase the Queen – A variation on 7-card stud with varying wild cards…
This is just like 7-Card Stud, but with an interesting system for wild cards. Queens are always wild. Also, whichever card most recently followed a face-up queen is wild. Therefore, if the dealer deals a queen face-up, and the next card is (for example) a 5, then 5’s are also wild. However, if another queen is dealt face-up later in the game and followed by a 7, then 7’s are wild and 5’s are no longer wild. If a queen is the very last card dealt face up, then there are no other wild cards; only queens remain wild.
Baseball – Special cards all over the place, but they might cost ya…
This is just like 7-Card Stud, but with the following extras:
3’s are always wild. They cost you money (2 basic units, usually $.50 at my games) if they’re face up. You must either pay for the wild card or fold.
9’s are always wild. They cost you money (4 basic units, usually $1.00 at my games) if they’re face up. You must either pay for the wild card or fold.
4’s, when dealt face up, automatically immediately get you an extra card face-up from the top of the deck. (4’s are not wild, though!)
