From: cracicot@us.oracle.com
Newsgroups: rec.gambling
Subject: Re: Variations of Poker wanted
Date: 30 Jul 92 01:00:01 GMT
Organization: Oracle Corporation, USA
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by an unauthenticated user
              at Oracle Corporation.  The opinions expressed are those
              of the user and not necessarily those of Oracle.


We have a tendency to play lots of wildcard games, but here are a few
of the mostly non-wildcard games that we play:

(I invented D and E below, so all rights reserved, play em but don't
 publish em please)

A.  5 card stud, (hole card wild if you want), roll your own all the way
    through. hi/lo.  (First round, you get 2 hole cards, turn one face up,
    next card is dealt down, turn one face up, and so on)

B.  7 stud, low if there's an 8-low (or 7-low, depending on # of players)
    or lower, else high.

C.  7 stud, after all cards are dealt and bet, you divide your hand into a
    5-card poker hand and a 2-card poker hand (the 5-card must beat the
    2-card).  To win you must have the best 5-card AND the best 2-card
    hand.   You might want to play this with only two hole cards instead
    of 3.

D.  Amoeba: 5 card stud, roll your own all the way through, hi/lo, (hole
    card wild if you want).  Exactly once during the hand (before the final
    bet), you may "bud" off an extra hand by moving the last rolled card from
    your current hand to the side.  The new hand thus created is brought up to
    size one card at a time (roll your own, as usual).  To "bud" costs 1 unit
    per card you have in your hand before the bud.  You can play both hands if
    you want to, but you only get one chance to bet, and it costs twice the
    usual amount to bet with both hands instead of just one.  (this prevents
    you check-raising yourself and other nasty stuff)  We play with a declare
    at the end, but this is optional.  

    Example of a round with a bud (third round actually):
      Each player has 2 cards up and 1 card down.  Each player is dealt
      1 card down.  Each rolls a card.  The player with the high hand
      on the table is offered a chance to bud.  He decides not to.  The
      next player clockwise decides to bud (pays $4).  He currently holds: 
          hole-card, 10-spade, J-spade, 2-club (newly rolled)
      He moves the 2-club to the side and is given another card
      face down for his primary hand.  He rolls a 8-spade.  Now he has:
          Hand 1:  hole-card, 10-spade, J-spade, 8-spade
          Hand 2:  2-club   
      Hand 2 gets two cards face down, rolls a 3-diamond.
          Hand 2:  hole-card, 2-club, 3-diamond
      It still has fewer cards than everyone else, so it gets another down
      card and rolls a 6-heart:
          Hand 2:  hole-card, 2-club, 3-diamond, 6-heart

      So the hand is this at the moment:

      Player 1        :  Hole card, A-heart, K-club, J-diamond
      Player 2 (hand1):  Hole card, 10-spade, J-spade, 8-spade
      Player 2 (hand2):  hole card, 2-club, 3-diamond, 6-heart
      Player 3        :  hole card, 7-club, 7-heart, k-spade

      Player 3 Bets $2, Player 1 calls, Player 2 wants to play both
      hands and sweep high and low, so he sees the $2 bet by putting
      in $4, then raises $1 by putting in $2.  Player 1 actually doesn't
      have much of a shot to pull his straight, to he folds.  Player
      3 with the high hand, just calls $1.

     Players 2 and 3 now finish out the hand.  Player 2 may not bud
     again, but player 3 can still bud if he chooses next round for
     $5.

And for anybody still reading this after that long-winded blurb:
This one's sort of a joke, but actually is playable.

E.  "Treys, Spades, and the Men with the Blades":  7-stud, Hi-lo, 
    threes, kings, jacks, and spades wild.  The three, jack, and king
    of spades count as two cards, both wild.  The wild cards only count
    as wild for the high hand.  When figuring out your low hand, they
    just count as their natural value.  The highest hand in this game
    is 10 Aces, since you can use all 7 cards.
         3-spades,j-spades,k-spades,A-hearts,6-spades,2-spades,4-spades
         (2 aces) (2 aces) (2 aces) (1 ace)  (1 ace)  (1 ace)  (1 ace)
    This particular hand is also a perfect low (A2346).

    The order of hands is:   an N-of-a-kind beats an N-card straight flush,
                             but an N+1 card straight flush beats N of a
                             kind.

          Rank (low to high):
             (less than a straight flush and you have already folded)
             5-card straight flush
             5 of a kind
             6-card straight flush
             6 of a kind
             ...
             10-card straight flush
             10 of a kind
             
    The low split is determined in the usual way, which is the only
    thing that saves this game from being intensely stupid.  Or maybe
    it is intensely stupid and I like it anyhow.  It certainly generates
    big pots in our games.