Some play that the Michican stage is begun by the dealer, or by the player to the dealer's left, rather than by the winner of the poker. Some play that everyone must play with their original cards - there is no swapping or auctioning of the spare hand. All the variations given on the Michigan page are possible for stage three. Some play that the first lead in stage three must be the lowest card in the player's hand. They have no choice unless they hold equally low cards in two or more suits.
Subsequent leaders can choose the lowest card of any of the other three suits as usual.
Another possibility is to require that alternate leads are red and black. The first player must begin with their lowest black card. If the player to lead has no card of the appropriate colour, the turn to lead passes to the left. If no one has a card of the right colour the play ends and everyone pays a chip to the kitty for each card in their hand.