Phoenix Burn, also called three-card burn, is a variant of poker that's similar in some ways to guts poker. It features three card hands, rather than the normal five cards in most forms of poker, and straights and flushes don't exist in Phoenix Burn's hand rankings. Thus, the hand strengths, from best to worst, are: Three of a kind, Pair, High Card.
Phoenix Burn is best played with between three and seven participants.
Each player receives two down cards and one up card, but they can decide which of the three cards they want to be dealt up by so informing the dealer before that card is dealt. If an individual already has two down cards, then their final card must be dealt faceup. The pot is also dealt a hand, but all three of the pot's cards are dealt facedown.
Participants can look at all their cards before determining their action. The player showing the highest card is “burned” and forced to continue. Other players, starting to the left of the burned player, can choose to be in or out.
All players who have not opted out reveal their hands. The highest hand wins the pot. The losers (those who were “in” but lost) have to each contribute an amount equal to the pot or a predetermined limit to create a new pot. If the pot's hand is the winner, then everyone who was “in” must add in an amount equal to the pot size (or the predetermined limit).