Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (78 page)

VARIATION 5: BASEBALL

People love to hate Baseball. The game is similar to basic Seven-Card Stud, but includes wild cards and match-the-pot betting. Batter up!

In Baseball, all 9s and any face-down 3s are wild. In addition, any face-up 3 may be made wild by matching the value of the current pot. For example, if you’re dealt a face-up 3 and the pot’s current value is $8.25, simply pay $8.25 to the pot to make the card wild. You are not required to make a face-up 3 wild, though it may be tempting to do so—plus it makes the next 3 that much more expensive for an opponent to purchase.

The final curveball is that any player who is dealt a face-up 4 may choose to buy an additional card off the deck (dealt face down) for a preset amount, usually 50 cents to $1. The money goes straight to the pot. That player now has eight cards with which to make a five-card poker hand.

STRATEGY TIPS

You will rarely win Baseball with less than a full house. Four-of-a-kinds are more common. With so many wild cards, so are straight flushes. If you are dealt a face-up 3 early in the game, match the pot and make it wild. Even if you don’t exactly need a wild card, it’s a good defensive move—your pot-matching will double the cost to any opponent who’s dealt a subsequent face-up 3.

VARIATION 6: NO-PEEKIE BASEBALL

If you think Baseball is too wild, prepare yourself for the
no-peekie
version. The rules are essentially the same as Baseball, except that players may not look at
any
of their cards. Once all cards are dealt, the player to the left of the dealer turns up a single card. A round of betting follows. Moving clockwise, the next player turns cards up one at a time until they beat the previous hand. For
example, if player one turns up a king, player two must turn up cards until the king is beaten (either by an ace, by a king plus a higher
kicker
, or by a higher poker hand such as a pair). After a round of betting, the next player must turn up cards and try to beat the previous hand, and so on. If any player turns up all his cards and still cannot beat the previous hand, he is out of the game (this is equivalent to a force fold). The game is won by the last player standing. In this game there are no hole cards, so all 3s are considered face up.

VARIATION 7: RAINOUT BASEBALL

This variation adds a little spice to the basic and no-peekie versions. Any time Q of spades is turned face up, the hand is dead, all cards are thrown in, and a new hand is dealt to all players who did not fold in the previous round. Players also should re-ante.

VARIATION 8: BISCUITS & GRAVY

Spice up the basic Seven-Card-Stud game with “biscuit and gravy” wild cards. Biscuits are 3s, and 8s are gravy. It’s commonly held, especially in the American South, that biscuits taste best with gravy, so these cards are only wild in combination. For example, nothing is wild in the hand K-J-8-5-2, whereas there are two wild cards in the hand K-8-5-3-2. You need a helping of gravy for each biscuit, and vice versa, so there are only two wild cards in the hand K-8-8-3-2.

VARIATION 9: BLACK MARIAH

To the basic Seven-Card-Stud game, add one simple twist: a hand may be won only by a player with the best five-card poker hand
and
the highest spade dealt in the hole (face down). The game is over—and the pot is captured—by a player who wins both. Otherwise the pot stays, all players re-ante, and a new hand is dealt.

VARIATION 10: BUTCHER BOY

Deal cards one at time to all players. When a card of matching rank is subsequently dealt (e.g., player three is dealt 5 of clubs, then player four is dealt 5 of hearts), the
card is given to the previous player (the 5 of hearts is given to player three), followed by a betting round starting with the player who received the card in question. The deal starts again at the player who was stripped of the card, and continues until a player has four-of-a-kind. The pot is then split 50-50 between that player and the player holding the lowest hand. If a player has five or more cards, she may choose which five to use. If a player has fewer than five cards, the voids are considered unbeatable low cards. For example, the hand 6-5-3 is considered 6-5-3-0-0 and beats a natural 6-5-3-2-A.

VARIATION 11: BETWEEN THE SHEETS

This is a great end-of-the-night game, when players are willing to make large bets on the flimsiest of hunches. Start with an ante (typically 50 cents to $1), and deal two cards face up, with room for a third card in between. The player to the left of the dealer bets (ante minimum, pot maximum) whether the next card will be “in between” the two face-up cards. If the face-up cards are 4 and 8, for example, in-between cards are the 5, 6, or 7.

The dealer turns up the next card and, if the player bet correctly, he takes that amount from the pot. Otherwise his ante is thrown in, and the next clockwise player is dealt two more face-up cards and the process continues. If a player bets and wins the pot before all players have a turn, all players re-ante and the game continues. Otherwise, the game ends when a player bets and then wins the pot.

Aces are always high; however, if a player’s
first
face-up card is an ace, he chooses whether it ranks high or low.

If the in-between card “hits the goalposts” (matches the rank of either face-up card), the player loses his turn and contributes double his ante to the pot. For example, if the turn-up cards are 4 and 8, and the in-between card is 8, the player loses his turn and pays double his ante to the pot.

VARIATION 12: ACEY DEUCY

This is a gentler version of Between the Sheets. The first time around, table players may wager only up to half the pot total. Thereafter, the game ends
when someone wins the entire pot. And if a player hits the goalposts, there is no double-ante penalty. She simply loses her turn and forfeits the original ante.

VARIATION 13: SHEEP SHAGGER

If Acey Deucy is the gentle version, Sheep Shagger is the evil one. Follow the standard rules, but add a third “upcard,” plus room for a second in-between card. For example: upcard–in-between card–upcard–in-between card–upcard.

The first “up–between–up–x–x” grouping is played exactly like Between the Sheets. The second “x–x–up–between–up” grouping requires its own bet (ante minimum, pot maximum), and the penalty for hitting the goalposts increases to a triple-ante penalty. So, if you bet $5 on the second grouping and hit the goalposts, you owe $15 to the pot.

VARIATION 14: CHICAGO

Does the game have anything to do with the Windy City? Who knows. It’s exactly like standard Seven-Card Stud, except that the pot is split 50-50 between the player holding the best five-card poker hand and the player holding the highest spade in the
hole.

VARIATION 15: CINCINNATI

Deal five cards to each player, face down, plus five communal cards on the table, also face down. After a betting round, turn up the communal cards one at a time, followed by a betting round. At the showdown, players may use any combination of community and hole cards to create the highest five-card poker hand. Ties split the pot evenly.

VARIATION 16: CINCINNATI LOW BALL

One of the most common variations of Cincinnati is low ball, played exactly like the standard game except that the lowest five-card hand wins the pot.

VARIATION 17: CINCINNATI LIZ

This is standard Cincinnati with a single wild card—namely, the lowest community card (aces are low in lowball games, otherwise 2s are low). That card is also wild for all players holding a card of matching rank.

VARIATION 18: CINCO DE MAYO

This game honors not Mexican Independence (that’s September 16), but the day that Mexican armies beat the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. As a result all red 5s are wild—it’s as simple as that. Viva la Revolución!

VARIATION 19: COWPIE

This is basically
Pai Gow
without all the frills. After the last round of betting in a normal Seven-Card-Stud hand, all players create a five-card hand and a two-card hand. The five-card hand must beat the two-card hand, and the latter must contain at least one hole card. There’s a final betting round, followed by the showdown. The winner of each splits the pot 50-50; if there are multiple winners, the 50 percent share is split evenly among them.

VARIATION 20: DAKOTA

Each player’s high hole-card is wild. Start by dealing three cards face down to each player. All players then turn up one card, followed by a betting round. Continue dealing cards face down and one at a time—with players turning up a card followed by a betting round—until each player has six cards. At this point, all players choose to receive a seventh card either face up (for free) or facedown (for the maximum bet amount). At the showdown, the highest five-card poker hand wins.

VARIATION 21: DIRTY SCHULTZ

It’s another “just like Seven-Card Stud” game, with a single twist: whenever a player is dealt a natural face-up pair, the next card dealt face up is wild for all players holding that card. There may only be one wild card, so if a subsequent natural pair is dealt face up, the new wild card replaces the previous one.

There are no wild cards if the second card of a natural pair is the last upcard in the round.

VARIATION 22: EIGHT-CARD STUD

At the end of a normal Seven-Card-Stud hand, deal an eighth card face down to all players. After a round of betting, players make their best five-card poker hands.

VARIATION 23: ENGLISH STUD

In English Stud, all players are dealt six cards total and compete to make the best five-card hands. Follow the basic Seven-Card-Stud game until all players have five cards. Before dealing the sixth, all players may pay (typically $1) to draw a single card from the deck, replacing an upcard with an upcard or a downcard with a downcard. After a round of betting, a sixth card is dealt to all players, followed by a final round of betting and the showdown.

VARIATION 24: FOLLOW THE QUEEN

It’s Seven-Card Stud, with queens always wild. And when a queen is dealt face up, the next card dealt face up is wild for all players, too. If another queen is dealt face up, the next face-up card replaces the previous wild card. If a queen is the last upcard, only queens are wild.

VARIATION 25: FOLLOW THE WHORE

Politically correct this game is not. It’s identical to Follow the Queen, except that queens are never wild. Only the card following a queen is wild. If a queen is the last upcard, no cards are wild.

VARIATION 26: FOOTBALL

No doubt this game was invented by hardcore fans of Baseball who wanted American football to have its own poker variant. The game follows the rules of Baseball, except that 7s (think: touchdown) are always wild, face-down 3s (think: field goal) are wild, and face-up 3s may be made wild by matching
the pot. Face-up 10s (think: first down) allow you to purchase a new card off the deck for a preset amount (typically 50 cents to $1).

VARIATION 27: GOLF

Another sports-inspired game played just like Baseball, with the following exceptions. All 8s (think: snowman) are
dead
cards, which means they are useless for the entire game. Dead, too, is the card immediately following your 8 (think: shank on the next tee box). This penalty only applies to your own hand; it does not carry over to the next player in rotation.

VARIATION 28: GHOST

Six or fewer may play Ghost. Follow the basic Seven-Card-Stud rules, but deal an extra card face down in each round to a “ghost hand.” At the showdown, the player with the highest five-card poker hand must also beat the ghost hand. If this happens, that player wins the pot, and the game is over. Otherwise, there is no winner and the entire pot is carried over to the next hand.

VARIATION 29: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY

This is similar to the basic game, with the addition of a single wild card (good), a single
dead
card (bad), and a single
force-fold
card (ugly). After the initial Seven-Card-Stud basic deal, the dealer takes three cards off the deck and places them face down on the table. The dealer nominates which card is good, which is bad, and which is ugly.

The game continues as normal until all players have a full seven-card hand. At that point, the dealer turns over the “good” card. If any player has a matching card(s) anywhere in his hand, his matching card(s) becomes wild. After a round of betting (initiated by the player with the highest visible hand), the dealer turns up the “bad” card. If any player has a matching card(s) anywhere in his hand, the card(s) becomes useless and must be thrown face-up on the table. Players who lose a card play at a disadvantage. After another round of betting, the dealer turns up the “ugly” card. If any player has a matching card(s), that player must immediately fold. End of story. A final betting round follows.

VARIATION 30: HOT DANG!

Follow the rules of the Good, the Bad & the Ugly, but with two modifications. After the initial Seven-Card-Stud basic deal, the dealer takes five cards off the deck and places them face down on the table, nominating good, bad, and ugly cards as usual, plus first and second
auction
cards.

Once all players have a full seven-card hand, but before the good, bad, and ugly cards are turned, the dealer turns up the first auction card for all players to bid on. The card is won by the player who bids highest. The auction winner pays the bid amount to the pot, takes the auction card, and replaces it with a card from her hand. This card is now up for auction. The process continues until nobody bids on a card, at which point the first auction ends and the second auction card is turned up, and the entire process is repeated. Once both auctions are over and after a round of betting, the “good” is turned and the game proceeds as normal.