Vegas Poker Blog

Weve all played œguts�, right? Well, heres a nifty little variation called Lou. Maybe it was named after some guy named Lou �or maybe a girl friend. Who knows? But its an interesting one to add to your list of weird poker variations.

It starts with three cards to each player. The dealer flips a trump card afterwards. This is all guts style. Those players who declare œin� can draw as many cards as they want. When the play starts, each player must follow suit. Every trick is worth 1/3 of the pot, and every player who declares œin� and doesnt get at least a trick, must match the pot!

Basics:

Since the goal of this game is to collect tricks, it almost isnt a poker game although it relates strongly to guts and there are bets �so it can be classified as poker! The dealer decides on the ante amount, and that must be at least 15 cents. Theres a reason for this: because the pot must be divisible by three, so even nickel-ante table would have a 15-cent ante for this variation. The pot is divided into 3 equal piles So each player gets three cards and the dealer flips the trump You play by each player tossing out one of their cards at a time in sequence, and always trying to follow suit. Anyone unfamiliar with trump, it automatically takes the trick, unless a higher trump card is thrown on the same round. If youve played bridge, this is easy stuff. So if spades is trump, hearts were led, and everybody has a heart but you, you can throw down any spade and it gets you the trick. However, another player who might not have had hearts could play a higher spade than yours to take the trick.

Just like œguts�, players must call “in” or “out”. Do this is with the chip declare, where players lower one chip or coin under the table with both hands, raising only one hand over the table. Getting a little weird now, huh? Players who choose to go “in” have the chip in their hand; those who do not want to go “in” leave the chip in the hand that is not raised over the table. Once each player has one hand raised over the table, all players open that hand at the same time. This sort of puts the whole thing in to a party realm, doesnt it? Especially depending on how many drinks youve had and how good your coordination is holding up. Those that drop a chip are declaring “in”. These players are allowed a draw of as many cards as they want.

Play starts with the first player who called “in” to the left of the dealer leading. Everyone must follow suit if they can. Otherwise, you can throw down a trump card if you have one to try to take the trick. Once all players who went “in” have played their three cards, players take a third of the pot for each trick that they collected. Those players that went “in” and did not collect at least one trick of the three must match the pot. If two players went “in” and collected no tricks, then the pot doubles, but is still divided into three piles for the next round. The game is over when each player who went “in” collects at least one trick. Otherwise, somebody will be throwing money into the pot and the player to the left of the dealer re-deals the same game.

I made some friends try this the other night after wed popped a few. If nothing else, its great for laughs! I loved bridge before I loved poker so trumps are fun for me!

Pan poker, or officially panguinque poker, is really an offbeat variation of the standard game. Its origins are in the Orient, and its popular in both Florida and California. Very few casinos offer it and there are few online sites yet, but with poker gaining in popularity, youre bound to start seeing this one.

If you like gin rummy, this variation should satisfy because its all about melds.

Youre going to need eight decks of cards for this one �thats right, eight. First thing you do is take all the spades out of one deck. Then, you remove all the 8s, 9s, and 10s. You will have a total of 310 cards. That ought to be enough for a long night of poker, right?

Each player receives ten cards and then the rest of the deck is put in the middle of the table for draws. Each player can then decide to keep their hand and play, or slough their hand and sit it out.

Then each player in turn takes the top card of either the discard pile. A player can take from the discard pile only if the card was drawn from the stock by the preceding player, and can be immediately melded with the cards in the taker’s hand. When a player draws from the stock, he must meld the card or discard it. After a draw and before the discard, a player can meld as many sets as he holds or add to his existing melds. A player must drag a drawn card to his meld zone before any cards from his hand can be added to the meld zone. If a player uses a drawn card to build one or more melds, he must end his turn by discarding a single card from his hand. This is done by dragging the desired card from his hand to the discard pile. If he has no remaining cards in his hand to discard and has all 11 cards in valid melds, the hand is finished.

A few rules:

- A set consists of 3 or more cards of the same rank that are of only one suit or of at least three different suits

- Ace’s and King’s are an exception to this rule, which only need three of any suit

- Certain melds are conditions. On melding a condition, a player immediately collects chips from every other player. All 3’s, 5’s, and 7’s are called valle cards. The conditions are: A set of three same ranked but different suite valle cards collects a chip from each player. A set of three valle cards of a single suit collects 2 chips, 4 chips if the suit is spades. Also, 1 additional chip is collected for each additional valle card of the same suit added beyond the initial three cards,2 chips if the suit is spades. A set of three non-valle cards of a single suit collects 1 chip, 2 chips if the suit is spades. Also, 1 additional chip is collected for each additional non-valle card of the same suit added beyond the initial three cards, 2 chips if the suit is spades. A sequence starting with an Ace or ending with a King, e.g. (3, 2, A) or (K, Q, J), collects 1 chip, 2 chips if the suit is spades.

- A meld can be halfed by adding cards if each half forms a meld. If splitting a meld creates a condition, payment is collected. A player can take a card from a meld to complete a new meld, provided he leaves a valid meld. Example: From 7, 6, 5, 4, either the 7 or 4 may be borrowed, but not both.

- If the top of the discard pile can be added to a meld of a person playing in turn, he must take the card and meld it. The finish is when a player shows 11 cards in melds (10 cards plus his final draw card), he collects the value of all his conditions, plus two chips from each player and collects the tops pot.

- After the pot has been won, all the players put in chips for the next hand. The winner of the previous hand goes first.

This is an interesting game, and one, which would seem a very good candidate for online play. I suspect well start to see it more and more since the popularity for it is growing wildly. So stock up on decks and have a go at it!

Okay, there are times when its fun to throw a new wrench into the weekly game, and this is a good one.

Assassin played much like 5-card draw with five cards dealt to each player. The variation on this one is that deuces are wild (you can use jokers if you want to), but hardly in the normal way wild cards are usually used!If you receive a deuce in the deal, you can trade it in before the second draw. It can be placed face up during the trade-in, but you definitely want to get rid of it and take the extra card. If you have two deuces in your first hand, you dont get two extra cards �just one. Now, it might seem like holding on to a deuce might be a good idea in the end, but thats not allowed. You have to declare them.

So, the player with a deuce will end up with six cards for the final hand. In the showdown, its poker as usual in that you have to make the best 5 card hand that you can.

Now, if you have a deuce in the last hand, you can do a couple of things because if you get caught with it youre ˜assassinated �youre automatically out of the game

If youve got a deuce in your final hand, you dont have to reveal it. If you think you can get all the other players to fold and not have to reveal your hand, you might want to go for it. But if that fails and you have to show your hand and theres a deuce, its bye bye, baby.

Interesting twist on this variation is that if all the players have a deuce, no one wins and the pot is carried forward to the next ga

When I looked at this variation, I decided it might be great for those times when theres a real smart alec at the table who needs a little bluffing comeuppance! Sounded like fun to me anyhow.

NAPALM is a regional poker game from the Northeast U.S. Although its exact origin isnt known, it became popular at Brandeis University (Massachusetts) but has now filtered down the coast to the Maryland and Virginia areas as well. How it came by the name, Napalm, isnt known either and its sometimes referred to as Whipsaw, but there are differences in the two.

This unusual game calls for frequent bluffing and moves a lot of money very quickly.

If youve got some timid players in your weekly game, this is a sure fire way to get them moving!

Its played with a standard 52 card deck and chips, but you also need something to use for tokens. Although the tokens have no monetary value, they do determine the winner and are kept in a central store for allotments and awards for specific circumstances. First person to collect five of the tokens wins the pot.

The objective of this variation is to win the most number of tokens, and to also win side bets (which match the pot amount). The game is played in three stages.

First stage: After an ante, two cards are dealt to each player. Starting at the dealers left, each player must declare œyes� or œno� as an indication of whether they think theyre holding the best hand. Standard ranking is used but, of course, flushes and straights have no value in a two card hand. This is a one shot call unless everyone at the table has said œno� and the dealer says œyes�. Then everyone is allowed a second turn to declare.

At this point, four things can happen. One, if only one player says œyes�, they are awarded a token. Two, two players have said œyes�, and they privately show their hands to one another with the best hand taking a side pot. The table pot is unaffected. Three, in the case of a two or three way tie, the loser(s) pays into the side pot. Or fourthly, if theres no œyes� at the table, no chips or tokens change hands.

Second stage: Players are dealt three additional cards. This time the declarations are based on having the lowest hand. Aces still count as high, and now flushes and straights count. Example: the best lowest possible hand would be 2-3-4-5-7. At this end of this stage, tokens are awarded and side bets resolved exactly as in stage one.

Third stage: Each player is dealt two more cards, and this time the declarations are made based on the best five-card poker hand. The game is handled the same as in the other stages with tokens awarded and side bets settled.

With every new dealer, players add a chip to the pot and as soon as one player has collected five tokens, they win the table pot.

This sounds more complicated than it really is, and its a great way to give some new interest to your weekly game. Just round up some tokens!