Never Asked Questions about the Home Game

Q: What is the buyin?
A: Everyone buys in for $20 to start, with unlimited rebuys.

Q: What is the structure?
Dealer's choice. Dealer antes five cents per player. Minimum bet/raise five cents, max bet/raise one dollar in all but the last round of betting. Last round of betting max bet/raise two dollars. One bet and three raises allowed per betting round.

Q: What games do you play?
Five categories, described after the other questions. Texas games, Omaha games, Stud games, Matt games, Other

Q: What games don't you play?
A: Guts or Acey-Ducey type games where the pot doubles exponentially. Additionally, some hosts ban 727 or certain Matt games, or whatever they personally hate.

Q: What is the best hand when wild cards are involved?
A: Ask the host. Some places five of a kind exists and is the best hand, some places it exists and is worse than a straight flush, other places it is only four of a kind with an odd kicker.

Q: What is a low?
A: In most low games, you compare your highest low card, Aces counting as low. A low hand if formed by taking your lowest 5 cards, not counting pairs. For instance, if your hand is AhKdJs8d4d3d2d, your low is 84321. (Your flush is irrelevant.) This hand will lose a low to QhJc7d6s5h3h2c, which has no actual high, but does have 76532. Likewise, 76543 loses to 76432. Just keep comparing highest cards until you see who is lower.

Q: You said "most", what do you mean?
A: The low described above is an ace-five low, where the best hand is 54321. There's another type of low game called deuce to seven, where Aces are high and straights and flushes count against you. The best hand in deuce to seven is 75432.

Q: What's a scooper?
A: Winning high and low, or both halves of other games.

Q: Who's the big winner?
A: Mikey! Mikey's the big winner!

Q: How much do people win or lose?
A: The highest single night win is $122. Highest single night loss is somewhere around $80. These were not at the same time.

Q: Greg, do you have any advice?
A: Fold

Q: Greg, isn't this whole thing an elaborate ruse to take advantage of Rieger's OCD?
A: No comment

Texas Games

• Texas Holdem: If you don't know how to play this, just watch tv. Also, why are you here? Anyway, two cards to a player. Bet, then reveal three community cards (the flop). Bet, then reveal one community card (the turn). Bet, then reveal one final community card (the river). One final round of betting, then the player with the best five card hand using any combination of his two and the five community cards wins.
• Pineapple: Start with three cards; throw one away after seeing the flop and before betting. Then it's Texas.
• Quadapple: Start with four cards; throw one away after the flop, and throw another after the turn. Then it's Texas.
• Accidental Stripper: Start with five; toss one at the flop, turn, and river. Then it's Texas.

Omaha Games

• Omaha: You are dealt four cards. The flop, turn, and river come like Texas. Make the best five card hand using exactly two of yours and exactly three community cards. So if your hand is AhAdAc3d and the board is As4s5s10hJs all you have is three Aces, not four of a kind. You are probably losing to a straight.
• Omaha High-Low Split 8 or Better, aka O8: Same as before, but with a low hand winning half the pot. Highest card for the low is 8. You can make two different five-card hands with any combination. Note that for there to even be a low, three of the common cards have to be 8 or less.
• Chowaha aka Terminal: Omaha times four. Use two of yours and three from one of the four rows. See the crude ASCII Art, noting that the middle row can go either up or down.
  FFF\
    T
FFF< >R
    T
FFF/

• Peril-lelogram: Technically a Matt game, this has an Omaha system. Three cards revealed every round (Flop, Turn, River), in a system that gives you no information. Use two of yours and all three from one of the seven rows. (One vertical row, three horizontal, three diagonal.) See the crude ASCII Art.
  FTR
     RFT
        TRF
  

Stud Games

• One-four aka God of Gamblers: Five card stud. Start with one card down and one up. Three more up cards, one at a time.
• One-three-one: Five card stud. Start with one down and one up. Two up, then one down.
• Vanilla seven card stud: Start with two down and one up. Get three up, then one down. This structure is used for all seven card stud games.
• High-low declare: Seven card stud. After the last betting round, the last raiser chooses high or low. Then everyone else chooses, clockwise. Play against only those people who declared the same way. You may declare both, but you have to use the same five cards for both high and low. (For instance, with a straight.) If you lose either half, you are out and can win neither.
• Follow the Queen: Queens are wild. The card last played after a face up queen is also wild.
• Chicago low: Half the pot goes to the lowest down spade, ace being the lowest.
• Tokyo mid: Half the pot goes to the middlest down diamond. (7 6 8 9 5 4 10 etc)

Other Games

Matt Games