Marion Club House Rules

House Rules

Game Format: Dealer’s Choice Chips or Coins: Chips, house as banker Table Stakes: Yes Buy-in: $10.00 Rebuy: $5.00 with less than $5.00 on the table, capped at $20 total Ante: 5 cents Minimum Bet: 5 cents Maximum Bet: 50 cents Minimum Raise: Amount of last raise Raise Limit: No limit when only two players, limit of three otherwise Check Raise: Yes Default Low: The wheel (A-2-3-4-5, no straights, no flushes) Wildcard Rank: Natural beats wildcard Midnight: -matching games allowed when only four or fewer players left Other Rules: No food on the felt, use a napkin, don’t drink and drive. Players may cash in/out between hands. Aces are high except in straights where they may be low (but not both). Suits do not have rank. Burn card dealt in community card games (Hold ‘Em, Omaha, etc) between community deals. The last person to bet or raise shows their cards first. No one else needs to show, but not showing is the same as folding. All-in means a second pot is formed that you have no stake in.

Tournament Rules (same rules as above, except as below)

Game Format: HORSE ( Hold ‘Em, Omaha-8, , 7-Card Stud, Stud-Eight) Games change with each rotation of the dealer button Buy-in: $X (X to be determined) gets you a seat at the table and $1000 worth of chips. All players must buy in at the same time. If someone shows up late, they’ll just have to watch and serve drinks. Rebuy: Not allowed, but deals may be made among players Minimum Bet: Start at $10 and go up every 15 minutes Maximum Bet: Twice the last bet or raise Midnight: No pot-matching games allowed Other Rules: No food on the felt, use a napkin, don’t drink and drive. No additional chips may be purchased. Players may exchange chips among themselves as loans or gifts. If you run out of chips, you are out of the game. At the end of the game, third place gets ½ $X and the rest of the pot is split 3:2 between the top two players. The Games

General Rules (except for “weird” variants) • The game is played with one 52-card deck. A second deck may be used to make shuffle times between hands go faster. • All cards are shuffled between each hand. • Dealing starts with the house and moves to the left with each hand. • Players receive one card at a time, in a circle, until all required cards are dealt. • Unless otherwise noted, betting starts with the dealer’s left and proceeds clockwise until all players have raised, called or folded. This is a round. • Multiple winners split the pot evenly, leaving any remainder for the next pot.

Draw Poker – replaceable cards Each player antes and is dealt one card at a time, face down. After the deal, an initial betting round takes place. All players still in the game at this point may replace up to the limit number of cards by discarding them face down to the burn pile. The dealer then gives the player the same number of face down cards to add to their hand. A second round of betting (the showdown) occurs, and the wining hand takes the pot. Five Card is the most common form. Each player is dealt five cards total, and may replace up to five cards in their hand. Optional: If asking for more than three cards, a burn card is dealt first.

Stud Poker – permanent cards A certain number of “hole cards” are dealt face down to each player, one at a time around the table. Each player is then dealt a face up card, one at a time until a given number of face-up cards are dealt. After each face-up card is dealt, the player with the highest hand showing starts the round of betting. A final card is typically dealt “down and dirty” (face down), a showdown occurs, and the winning hand (using the top five cards from all that were dealt to each player) takes the pot.

Five Card Stud 1. Each player is dealt one hole card. 2. Four face-up cards are dealt with a round of betting after each one.

Seven Card Stud – can also be played hi/lo split 1. Each player is dealt two hole cards. 2. Four face-up cards are dealt with a round of betting after each one. 3. A seventh card is dealt down and dirty for the showdown.

Razz This is seven card stud played for low hand. Communal Poker In communal poker, each player has a certain number of hole cards (face down) and the table has a certain number of communal cards (face up). Each player calculates his or her hand by using the best combination of their hole cards and the communal cards. The best hand wins. Sometimes, the worst hand wins too.

Texas Hold ‘Em 1. The player to the dealer’s left puts in ½ minimum bet (in this case, the minimum is raised to 10). The next player puts in the minimum bet. 2. Each player is dealt two hole cards, one at a time. 3. An initial round of betting occurs. 4. A burn card is dealt and then three communal cards are placed in the middle of the table. This is the “flop.” 5. A second round of betting occurs. 6. Another burn card and then a fourth communal card is played. This is called the “turn.” 7. A third round of betting occurs. Optional: The minimum bet is now doubled. 8. Another burn card and a fifth and final communal card is played. This is the “river.” 9. The showdown occurs, and the player with the highest hand wins.

Omaha Poker Same as Texas Hold’Em but each player is dealt four hole cards instead of two, and each hand must use exactly two hole cards and three communal cards.

Omaha-8 Same as Omaha, but the pot is split between the high hand and the low hand. Low hand only qualifies if it is a set of unpaired cards, all less than 8. Straights and flushes do not count. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins all of the pot. Otherwise, the pot is split between the high hand and the low hand (ties split these splits even further). Different sets of cards may be used for determining high hand and low hand.

Note that seven-card stud can also be played hi/lo split. In this case, these same rules apply for determining qualifying low hands. Variants and Extras

Wildcards Wildcards are a set of cards (by rank, color, picture, or whatever weird descriptions) that can be used in place of any other card in a hand, either by number, suit, or both. Popular wildcards are twos (deuces), “one-eyed jacks” and “suicide kings.” Wildcards must be specified before each hand is dealt and may change between hands. Note that “natural” cards outrank wildcard substitutes so that A-A-4-5-6 would beat A-W-4-5-6 (W is the wildcard). Having four wildcards is considered a five-of-a-kind and ranks as the highest hand, beating a straight flush. Five Aces the highest hand, but A-A-A-W-W will beat W-W-W-W-A (in a game with more than four Ws).

Blind Not to be confused with blind bets, this means that in stud games, cards are dealt facedown. Also not to be confused with “no peekum” in which players cannot look at their own face-down cards until the showdown (by rolling each card one at a time).

Hi/Low The highest and lowest hands split the pot. House rules determine what constitutes the lowest hand. Typically, straights and flushes are ignored so the lowest hand is A-2-3-4-5. Sometimes, low hand must qualify with cards all 8 or less.

Mississippi Stud Same as seven-card stud except instead of dealing (2)-1-1-1-1-(1), you deal (2)-1-2-1-1. This shortens the game to four rounds of betting and makes the final card face up. It saves a lot of money for poor hands this way. Optionally, it can be dealt (3)-1-2-1, and only two hole cards can be used to determine the hand.

California Lowball This is five-card draw playing for low hand.

Frankensteining There is a game called Frankenstein which is 5-card draw except that the winner must beat the best hand made from the discards. Most any discard game can be played this way. The discards come back as a freakish monster hand that must be beaten. If the Frankenstein hand is not beaten, either the pot stays and the deal goes to the next player, or if pot-doubling is active, the losing winner must match the pot and then deal moves on. Be sure to know whether pot- matching is on or off before calling Anaconda Frankenstein!!! Rankings

Five cards of the same suit in sequence, such as 87654 of diamonds. Ranked by the top card, so that AKQJT is the best straight flush, also called a royal flush. The ace can play low to make 5432A, the lowest straight flush. Four cards of the same rank accompanied by a “kicker”, like QQQQ5. Ranked by the quads, so that QQQQ5 beats 9999A, and then ranked by the side card, so that 4444A beats 4444K *. Three cards of one rank accompanied by two of another, such as AAA55. Ranked by the trips, so that AAA55 beats QQQKK, and then ranked by the pair, so that 444AA beats 444KK *. Five cards of the same suit, such as Q8652 of diamonds. Ranked by the top card, and then by the next card, and so on for all five cards, so that Q8652 beats Q8432. Five cards in sequence, such as T9876. The ace plays either high or low, making AKQJT and 5432A, but not both – 32AKQ is not a valid straight. Three cards of the same rank and two kickers of different ranks, such as QQQ72. Ranked by the trips, so that QQQ72 beats 999AK, and then ranked by the two kickers, so that QQQAK beats QQQA7 *. Two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank and a kicker of a third rank, such as AAQQ8. Ranked by the top pair, then the bottom pair and finally the kicker, so that AAQQ8 beats any of QQJJA, AA22Q, and AAQQ5. Two cards of one rank accompanied by three kickers of different ranks, such as KKT74. Ranked by the pair, followed by each kicker in turn, so that KKT74 beats QQAKJ and KKT72 Any hand that does not qualify as one of the better hands above, such as AJ952 of mixed suits. Ranked by the top card, then the second card and so on for all five cards, as for flushes.

* Such matchups are only possible in games where there are wild cards or where community cards are shared, such as Texas Hold ‘Em. Odds The standard poker hands are ranked based on the probability of their being dealt pat in 5 cards from a full 52-card deck. The following table lists the hands in order of increasing frequency, and shows how many ways each hand can be dealt in 3, 5, and 7 cards.

Hand 3 Cards 5 Cards 7 Cards Straight Flush 48 40 41,584 Four of a Kind 0 624 224,848 Full House 0 3,744 3,473,184 Flush 1,096 5,108 4,047,644 Straight 720 10,200 6,180,020 Three of a Kind 52 54,912 6,461,620 Two Pair 0 123,552 31,433,400 One Pair 3,744 1,098,240 58,627,800 High Card 16,440 1,302,540 23,294,460 TOTALS 22,100 2,598,960 133,784,560

Chips There are three chip colors: white, red, and blue. Their values are arbitrary, but they are fixed for the night as:

White 5 cents Red 10 cents Green 25 cents Blue 50 cents Black 1 dollar

General Notes It goes without saying that cheating is not tolerated. If caught, you will forfeit your hand, your chips will be returned to the bank (except in tournament play where they will be distributed to the other players), you will receive none of your money back, and you will be asked to leave the house. Most likely never to be invited back.

Verbal indications are the only sure sign of action. Finger tapping, waving, and inaction are not necessarily considered signs of checking or passing. Take your time, but make a decision one way or the other. There are no time limits on any aspect of the game other than when we want to stop.

Please announce the rank of your hand when you show. “Cards speak for themselves,” so if someone else notices a better hand than the one you announced, then that is the hand you’re actually playing. We’re playing for fun, not for a vacation home. Definitions

Ante Bet placed into the pot at the beginning of each hand to be eligible to play Bet or Raise A bet greater than preceding bets. All players must match, exceed, or fold Burn Card A card discarded from the top of the deck without its face being seen Call A bet equal to a preceding bet that maintains a player's interest in the pot Check A bet of zero that does not forfeit interest in the pot Communal A card shared between everyone, as if it were part of their own hand Fold Forfeiting the hand, your cards, and all bets made that hand Pot The communal pool of all bets that goes to the winner(s) of each hand Round Going around the table until all players have raised, called, or folded Showdown The final round of betting prior to revealing any face down cards