FIRST GAME: January 22, 1989

SCHEDULE: The game will be played on the third Friday of each month. The host will rotate equally. If there is a conflict, it is the responsibility of the person with the conflict to contact the host and either get a substitute or reschedule. The host will have the responsibility to reschedule with the players and/or to remind them a few days in advance.

TIME: The game will start at 7PM. Punctuality is required. The game will generally end at midnight.

PENALTY: The penalty is $2.00 for rule violation, but is usually waived by consensus.

PICKING THE GAME: The starter (host) will pick a game to played which will remain the same until three hands have been played. The person to the left of the starter will pick the next game to be played and the same process will take place. If there are six players and each person picks a game, there will be 18 total hands before the round is complete. Eventually, the starter will have an opportunity to pick another game to be played (depending upon time) and a new round will start.

ANTE: The dealer will always ante for everyone. The ante will be 50 cents per person.

MONEY: The only authorized or acceptable coin is the quarter.

BETS & ROUNDS: The maximum bet is $1.00. The maximum raise is $1.00. The maximum number of rounds are two.

DEALING: If the dealer accidentally shows a card, it is immediately burned unless the player was to be receiving an up card prior to the next bet. Then, it will simply be considered dealt out of order and no harm done. There are no rules for how cards must be dealt. All cards are random. Thus, the order is irrelevant.

HIGH HAND: The hand hierarchy is 5 of a kind, straight flush, 4 of a kind, full house, flush, straight, 3 of a king, 2 pair, 1 pair, high card (suit is not relevant).

LOW HAND: The lowest possible hand is the 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 not of the same suit. The next lowest is the 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, etc.

SUIT: The suit hierarchy is Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs.

ACES: Aces are always considered high and cannot be used as a one (1) for a straight.

JOKERS: Jokers are either aces or can be used to fill straights or flushes.

WILD CARDS: These are defined by the game, but almost always mean they can be used as any card in the deck – even a 5th card of the same degree. In most games where there is a high and low hand, wild cards are “crazy wild” – meaning they can be used as a high card or a low card.

DECLARATION: This takes place when a game is split between high and low hand. Prior to showing the cards, each remaining player must declare whether they are going high or low. This is done by holding a quarter in their fist for high or nothing in their fist for low. Fists must be put above the table and opened at the same time. If everyone who declares is going the same direction, then there is only one winner. A person can declare both ways via two quarters in the fist, but in doing so can only win as long as they did not lose either high or low. If they tie high or low, they split whichever one they tied and take the other half.

TIES: A tie hand is the same value for the best five cards only. No additional cards will be factored in. If a tied hand occurred in a split situation, the tied players will receive 1/4 of the pot, while the other player receives 1/2.

LOW CHICAGO: Can be added to a variety of games. The lowest spade down wins half the pot. If a player has two low spades (7 or lower), it defeats any other single spade. If two players each have two low spades (7 or lower), the player with the lowest high card of the two spades wins.

BUY OUT: Can be added to a variety of games. Generally this means a player cannot fold without paying a penalty to get out. This is usually stated as $2.00.

DOTS: Instead of splitting the pot with Low Chicago, the number of dots down can be used. Dots are the numbers of symbols in the vertical center row of a card. The following cards are listed with the number of dots in parenthesis: 2(2), 3(3), 4(0), 5(1), 6(0), 7(1), 8(2), 9(1), 10(2).

OFFICIAL GAMES

AMARILLO (7 card)

Each player is dealt 7 down cards. He looks at all the cards. He then keeps his best 4 cards and passes 2 cards to the right and 1 card to the left – all face down. Each player ends up with 7 down cards. The goal is to have the highest or lowest hand – based upon his best 5 cards. He discards 2 of the 7 cards, arranges his 5 remaining cards (his hand) in order of how he wants to reveal them. 8s are wild with high only. Each player flips their top card over. At that point, he cannot change the order of his down cards. BET. Then the second card is flipped over. BET. The third card. BET. The fourth card. BET. Upon showing the fifth card, the game is over the pot is split between the high and low hand.

DOTS

There are two winners in this game. 4s and 6s are wild because they have no dots. High hand wins half the pot. The other half the pot is won by the person who has the most “dots” (see definition under tags) down. Ties for dots are decided by the most dots up (showing). The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up. BET. The 4th card is dealt up. BET. The 5th card is dealt up. BET. The 6th card is dealt up. BET. The 7th card is dealt down. BET.

FOLLOW THE JOKING BITCH

There are typically two winners in this game – high hand and low hand. It is generally played with a $2 Buy Out. The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up. The card on the bottom of the deck is shown (or a random card from a second deck). All cards that are the same rank as this card are crazy wild – meaning they can be used for high or low cards. BET. If at any time on the 4th, 5th or 6th round a Joker or Queen is shown, the next up card will be wild and the previous wild card will cease* to be wild. The 4th card is dealt up. BET. The 5th card is dealt up. BET. The 6th card is dealt up. BET. The 7th card is dealt down. BET. Then, using a coin, each remaining player must declare high or low.

*This game can also be played where once wild - always wild.

Another version of this game is called "CHAOS". It is played the same except that whenever a Queen (not also a Joker) is shown, the suit of the next up card means that all cards from 2-9 of that suit are crazy wild.

IRON CROSS

There are typically two winners to this game – high and low hand. The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up. Then the next card is a community card and is placed in the center of the table. BET. The next three cards are placed (centered) above the single card and are also community cards. BET. The next three cards are placed (centered) below the single card and are also community cards. BET. The 4th card is dealt to each player face up. BET. The last card is dealt to each player face down. BET. Prior to showing, each player declares high or low hand as per the coin. The rule is simple. Either he uses all five cards in his hand or only two in his hand and three from the community pot. If he uses three from the community pot, he must us all three of any line – top line, bottom line, center line or either of the two diagonals.

A variation on this game is called "Matrix" where instead of just one card in the middle, there are three cards in the middle. The rest is the same. There are ultimately nine community cards (3 x 3). The same rule applies where he uses all five cards in his hand or only two in his hand and any three in a row from the community pot.

LOW CARD IN THE HOLE

There are two winners in this game – high hand and Low Chicago. Each player’s lowest down card is wild and all his other down or up cards that match his low card are also wild. The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up. The dealer flips the next card on the deck over and shows it. BET. The next round begins with each person to the dealer’s left - being given the option of either taking the visible card or taking the next card off the deck. Either way it will be an up card. If they choose to take the visible card, the dealer flips the next card over to make it visible. At the end of the round, BET. The next round is the same. BET. The next round is also the same. BET. Each person now has six cards. The last round is the same except that if the person opts for the next card off the deck instead of the visible card, that card is a down card and could mess up his previous low card in the hole (down). BET.

NO PEEK

Typically, this is the last game of the night because the size of the pots are (on average) the largest.

This is a single winner game – high hand. All players are dealt 7 cards down. The player may shuffle the cards in any way he wants at any time during the game, but he cannot look at the cards at any time unless it is his turn. The penalty for looking at a card out of order is $2 and the player must fold. After the cards are dealt, the dealer shows the card on the bottom of the deck or a random card from a second deck. The first player must flip his cards until he beats that card. BET. The next player flips his cards until he beats the previous player’s hand. BET. Then the next player, etc. until all players have shown all their cards or have folded.

If a player flips all his cards and has not yet beaten the previous player’s hand, he can either fold or he can choose to buy an additional card off the top of the deck. The cost for an additional card is $4.00. If he still fails to beat the previous player’s hand, he can either fold or he can choose to buy one more additional card off the top of the deck. The cost for the second (and last) card is $7.00. The wild cards are 3s (Cost: $1.00 to buy) and 9s (Cost $2.00 to buy). The player can opt not to buy a wild card leaving it as either a 3 or 9, but the decision must be made prior to another card being flipped. If a 4 is dealt as an up card, an extra card is dealt up immediately to the same person.

PARTNERS

There can be two winners in this game (the two partners) or a single winner (if the partners are “divorced”). The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up. Prior to betting the partners are picked. The highest two face up cards are paired. Then, the next two highest are paired, etc. If there is an odd number of players, the lowest up card is by himself – meaning he doesn’t have a second way to win (no partner). However, if he does win, he doesn’t have to split the pot with a partner.

There are opportunities to divorce one’s partner. If the partners get divorced, they proceed alone for the duration of the game. Otherwise, they split the pot if they win. The wild cards are 3s and 9s, however if a player receives an up 3, they have to pay $1.00 to make it wild. If they receive an up 9, they have to pay $2.00 to make it wild. They may opt not to pay and thus not to have the card become wild. If they choose to make the card wild, their partner will have a choice to pay the same wild card fee. If they pay it, they remain partners. If they don’t they are divorced. Both partners must choose to pay or not to pay prior to the next card being dealt except on the first round of up cards where the choice to pay or not to pay is made after all the up cards are dealt and partners paired up.

The game proceeds with the typical initial BET. The 4th card is dealt up. BET. The 5th card is dealt up. BET. The 6th card is dealt up. BET. The 7th card is dealt down. BET.

PAT HAND

This is a two-winner game and it is played with Low Chicago. It is also played with a $2 Buy Out. The purpose of the game is to reach a goal the fastest – meaning a minimum hand of a straight. Once a player has reached the goal of a Pat Hand, he can either declare the game over after the bet or he can continue to play – keeping his Pat Hand a secret. If his Pat hand is 100% visible, the game must end after the betting for that round.

The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up. BET. The 4th card is up. BET. The 5th card is up. BET. The 6th card is up. BET. The 7th card is down. BET. All remaining cards are up with a BET after each round. The game must end when all players have received the same number of cards, but the dealer cannot complete another round.

Option: If the dealer runs out of cards, he can deal additional cards from a second deck until someone declares.

THREE TURDS

There are two winners in this game as it is played with Low Chicago. The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up. BET. The 4th card is dealt up also, but prior to betting an additional card is dealt off the deck, shown and laid aside. This card cannot be used, but all other cards of the same rank are wild. BET. The 5th card is dealt up, but prior to betting, a second card is dealt off the deck, shown and laid aside. Again, this card cannot be used, but all cards of the same rank are wild. BET. The 6th card is dealt up, but prior to betting, a third card is dealt off the deck, shown and laid aside. This card also cannot be used, but all cards of the same rank are wild. BET. The 7th card is dealt down to each player. BET. The three cards that are shown as wild cards are indicator cards only. These cards themselves cannot be used by the players. If any of the three indicator cards match, then both are discarded and immediately replaced with two additional cards – thus changing the wild cards.

Flush Option: After the 7th card is dealt down and before the final BET, a fourth card is dealt to the pot. If any player has a matching card down, he cannot win high unless everyone else folds, but could still win low. Since he is the only one who knows he has lost high, he may try to bluff everyone else out. If there are no high winners, the low wins the entire pot.

TIN QUEUE

This is the same game as IRON CROSS except that after the first card is placed in the center of the table, the next round of three cards are placed to the right of that card. On the next round, three cards are placed to the left of the initial card. Now there are 7 cards in a row. The player can choose any two or three cards to play with as long as they are adjacent to each other. The player uses the best 5 cards, either all 5 in his hand or 2 in his hand and 3 on the table or 3 in his and 2 on the table. As this is a two-winner game, players must drop a coin to declare high or low.

Option: This game can be played with, or without, wrap around. Wrap around simply means the card on the far left wraps around to the far right card – completing a circle.

UNOFFICIAL GAMES

6 CARD AMARILLO

This is identical to Amarillo (7 card) except that each player only receives 6 cards and passes 1 card to the right instead of 2. He still keeps his best 4 cards prior to passing and plays his best 5 cards of the 6 he ends up with. The key difference is in what wins high and low. One less card usually has a dramatic effect on the quality of the hands.

7 CARD STUD

There are typically two winners in this game as it is usually played with Low Chicago. The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up BET. The 4th card is dealt up. BET. The 5th card is dealt up. BET. The 6th card is dealt up. BET. The 7th card is dealt down. BET.

EBAY

There are two winners in this game – high and low hand. The 8 is crazy wild except that no 8 that is bid on is wild – only those that have been dealt. The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up. BET. The 4th card is dealt up. One card is also put in the pot facing up. This card will eventually be up for bid as will all four cards put in the pot. BET. The 5th card is dealt up and one up card put in the pot. BET. The 6th card is dealt up and one up card put in the pot. BET. The 7th card is dealt down and one down card put in the pot. BET.

The four cards in the pot will be up for bid (one at a time) in the order they were put into the pot. The person with the highest hand makes the first bid on the first card. The minimum first bid is $2.00, maximum $4.50. The next person to the initial bidder’s left can bid higher (in any 50 cent increment) up to $5.00. The next person can bid higher as long as it hasn’t reached $5.00 yet. And, so on. Once $5.00 has been reached, only one more bid can be offered. It must be for $10.00 ending the bidding. Otherwise, the bidding ends when all players have passed. If no minimum bid of $2.00 is made, then the card is discarded. The winner of the bid gets to use the card. The second card is bid upon the same way. The only difference is that the person to the initial bidder’s left begins the bidding. The first person to bid on each card keeps rotating to the left. After all cards are bid upon, BET. Then, using a coin, each remaining player must declare high or low.

HIGH HAND, LOW HAND

There are two winners – highest hand and lowest hand. This requires two decks as 10 cards are distributed to each player. 8’s are crazy wild unless in the low hand. Each player evaluates his 10 cards and places them in two groups of five. The highest hand must be on the right, the lowest hand must be on the left. If the lowest hand is higher than the highest hand, the player must fold.

Each player flips the top card of both groups of five. BET. Flip the 2nd card. BET. Flip the 3rd card. BET. Flip the 4th card. BET. Flip the last card.

JACKS ARE WILD

There are two winners in this game – high hand and low hand. Jacks are wild. One-eyed Jacks are wild with low (however a one-eyed Jack can also be used as a Jack) and two-eyed Jacks are wild with high. The Joker is crazy wild – meaning high or low. It begins with the typical 2 down 1 up. BET. The 4th card is dealt up. BET. The 5th card is dealt up BET. The 6th card is dealt up BET. The 7th card is dealt down. BET. Then, using a coin, each player must declare high or low.

TEXAS DRAW

There are typically two winners in this game and can be played as either high and low hand or high hand with Low Chicago. The game begins with the typical 2 down, 1 up. The 4th card is a community card and is placed in the pot. BET. The 5th card is also a community card and is placed in the pot. BET. The 6th card is also a community card and is placed in the pot. BET. The 7th card is distributed to each player face up. BET. The 8th card is distributed to each player face down. BET. The player picks the best five cards from his and the community pot. If the game is played with high and low hand, then prior to showing, each player declares as per the coin.