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Guts is quite different from most other poker games (in fact classifying it as a poker game at all is somewhat questionable). Rather than the customary rounds of betting followed by a single showdown, guts features multiple rounds, each of which consist of the decision to be “in” or “out”, and each of which contains a showdown. Only the players who stay “in” participate in the showdown. In the most common version, the player who stays in with the best hand receives the current pot, while all other players who stayed in must match the pot. (For example, if the pot is $5 and three people stay in, then one player will receive the $5 pot and two players will be forced to add $5 each to the pot, thus doubling it.) Then the hand is re-dealt, and all players (even those who were “out” in the last round) can participate again. The game ends when only a single player has the guts to stay “in”, and thus the pot is taken without replenishment.

Each player’s hand usually consists of a reduced poker hand of either 2 or 3 cards. The cards are ranked as in regular 5-card poker, but in some variations straights and flushes count and in some they do not.

Another variation is for three-card guts. The hands are ranked as follows: Three of a kind, straight flush, straight, flush, pair. Each player receives two cards face down. In turn, each player declares whether they’re in or out. If they’re in, they receive their third card face up. The dealer declares last; if no other player has stayed in, then the dealer must have a pair or better to win the pot. Another variation is for the other players to have another chance to declare and challenge the dealer. With this variation, there is no requirement for the dealer’s hand; if no one challenges him, the dealer wins.

Declaring “in” or “out” is similar to declaring high or low in high-low games. Each player takes a chip, places their hands under the table, and either places the chip in one fist or not. Each player then holds their closed fist above the table, and the players simultaneously open their hands to reveal their decision (a chip represents “in”, an empty hand represents “out”).

Because the pot can double (or more) each round, the stakes can grow exponentially, and pots of 50 or 100 times the original ante are not unheard of.

There are many variations. Sometimes only the single player with the worst hand (who stayed in) must add to the pot, but they must double the pot rather than match it. In an especially vicious variation, nobody wins the pot unless nobody else stays in. This can degenerate quickly, when one player must add a large amount to the pot, and decides to stay in until he wins it back. Thus the game continues indefinitely, with one player continually adding larger and larger amounts to the pot. The pot may grow so big that no player has enough cash to match it, leading to arguments about how to end the game. (This variation is not recommended when playing among friends. Often this variation is abandoned after the first really big pot leads to conflict.)

One solution to the exponentially growing pots is to cap them at 50x or 100x the ante. That is, if there are 5 players with an ante of $1, the pot started at $5. If there were 3 doublings, the pot is now at $40. Suppose the “cap the pot at $50″ rule were in force. Then, if another doubling occurred, each loser would pay $40, but the pot would now be at $50 and the extra $30 would be set aside as the ante once there’s a hand with a winner and no loser.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Caribbean stud poker is a casino table game with rules similar to five card stud poker. However, unlike standard poker games, Caribbean stud is played against the house rather than against other players (and, like most such games, it cannot be beaten in the long run). There is no bluffing or other deception. For these reasons, most poker players do not consider it to be a form of poker. (They do not necessarily feel that it should not be called poker, but means merely that they will not refer to it as simply “poker”. For instance, a gambler might say “I played poker” if he played seven card stud, but probably would not if he played Caribbean stud.)

The following rules are typical of U.S. casinos, but some of the details (the payouts and limits) vary from casino to casino.

To play, every player places his ante on the layout where indicated; all ante wagers must be placed prior to the dealer announcing “No more bets“. Each player and the dealer will then receive 5 cards, face down. The dealer will turn over one of his cards, then push the cards toward the players, after which the players may look at their cards. They may only look at their own cards, and may not discuss what they have with any other player at the table.

Players have the option to play or fold; if they choose to play, they place their bets (twice the amount of their respective ante) in the bet box. If they choose to fold, they forfeit their ante. After all the players have made their decisions, the dealer reveals his hole cards. The dealer only plays with an ace/king or higher; he then compares his cards to the players’ cards (individually, right to left), and the best poker hand wins.

There are some major rules in Caribbean Stud Poker that must be observed at all times while playing:

• Only one hand per player. Players cannot hold or wager on multiple hands at the table.
• Players choosing to play the Progressive Payout feature are responsible for ensuring their $1 wager has been inserted into slot and the “Indicator Light” is ON.
• Players may not exchange or communicate information regarding their hands to other players or the dealer. Player violation will result in a dead hand and forfeiture of all wagers.
• Incorrect amount of cards to the player constitutes a dead hand (or push) for that player only.
• The decision of the table/casino supervisor is final.
• If the dealer is dealt four cards of the five-card hand, the dealer shall deal an additional card to complete the hand. Any other misdeal to the dealer shall result in all hands being void and the cards shall be reshuffled.
• Each player shall be required to keep the five cards in full view of the dealer at all times. Once each player has examined his or her cards and placed them face down on the layout, they may not touch the cards again.
• If a hole card is exposed prior to the dealer announcing No More Bets, all hands shall be void.

If a player’s cards beat the dealer’s cards, the player will receive even money (1-1) on the ante, and the following on his bet (with a maximum payout of $5,000 U.S. Dollars per hand on each bet wager):

If the dealer does not have at least ace/king, all bet wagers will be void, and players will receive even money on their ante bet only. If the dealer’s cards beat a player’s cards, the dealer collects both the ante and bet.

In addition, in Caribbean stud poker, players can also bet on their poker hands and win the “progressive feature”; this is done by dropping a 1.00 dollar gaming chip into the chip acceptor on the table after placing the ante. Players with a flush or higher win, regardless of the outcome of their table bets:

Winning progressive payout hands are paid in accordance with the amount on the meter when it is the player’s turn to be paid. However, if more than one player at a table has a royal flush progressive payout hand, each player shares equally in the amount on the meter when the first player with a royal flush is to be paid.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

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In the game of poker, the term cards speak (“for themselves”) is used in two contexts:

First, it is used to describe a High-low split game without a declaration. That is, in a cards speak game, players all reveal their hands at the showdown, and whoever has the highest hand wins the high half of the pot and whoever has the lowest hand wins the low half.

The other context is a key rule in casino poker rooms. “Cards speak” means that any verbal declaration as to the content of a player’s hand is not binding. If Mary says she has no pair, but in fact she has a flush, her cards speak and her hand is viewed for its genuine value, that of a flush. Likewise if John says he has a flush, but in fact he does not, his hand is judged on its actual merits, not his verbal declaration. At the discretion of management, any player miscalling his hand may have that hand fouled, but this is not required.

The “cards speak” rule does not address the awarding of a pot, player responsibilities, or the one player to a hand rule. It merely means that verbal statements do not make a hand value. The cards do.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

In poker, the probability of each type of 5 card hand can be computed by calculating the proportion of hands of that type among all possible hands.

External links

• MathWorld: Poker
• Probability and Poker
• Brian Alspach’s mathematics and poker page
• Brian Alspach Poker Math articles
• Brian Alspach Poker Math computations
• QA – Poker probabilities including conditional calculations
• 5, 6, and 7 card poker probabilities

Video: Win at Poker Using Card Counting Techniques : Probability & the Art of Winning at Poker

The large and growing jargon of poker includes many terms. This page contains brief definitions of the most common terms you may encounter in text or at play. If possible, a link to a more complete article on the topic is given. Though space is not an issue here, the list has been trimmed to primarily those poker-specific terms one might find in poker texts or in common use in casinos.

Various poker hands have been given many names, and these are listed in List of slang names for poker hands. Finally, this is not meant to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Cheating in poker is any behavior outside the rules intended to give an unfair advantage to one or more players. Many people make the distinction in poker between hard cheating (mechanics, collusion, and the like) and soft cheating (noting the bottom card that the dealer happened to expose without calling for a misdeal). While the rules are explicit on the subject of cheating in general, many otherwise fair players are tempted to “soft cheat”. Miscalling your hand (calling four hearts a flush, for example–hence a “four-flusher”) is cheating, while offering alcoholic drinks is not, because each player can decline.

Cheating is more common in poker than most people care to believe. Although most cheating occurs in private games that do not follow strict gaming procedures, it is also very common in regulated card rooms and casinos. Cheating can be done either by means of collusion, sleight-of-hand (such as bottom dealing, stacking the deck, switching cards etc), or the use of cheating gaffs (such as marked cards, holdout devices, glims etc).

Cheating is as common in friendly games as it is in high-stakes games. A card cheat may operate alone, but most of them operate in pairs or small groups. The groups are often composed of one card mechanic who is in charge of manipulating the cards, one or several shills who pose as regular players, and a muscle who acts as a bodyguard. Street gangs also often employ a wall man who acts as a lookout, however this approach is more common with three card monte mobs, and back-alley dice gangs.

Following is a list of terms used to categorize specific card cheats:

• card mechanic — A card cheat who specializes in sleight-of-hand manipulation of cards.
• base dealer/second dealer — Also called bottom dealer/second dealer is a cheat that specializes in bottom/second dealing.
• paper player — A card cheat that exploits the use of marked cards.
• hand mucker — A card cheat that specializes in switching cards.
• machine player — A card cheat that uses mechanical holdouts.
• crossroader — Originally, any kind of traveling hustler; but now the term is mainly use to describe cheats who specialize in hitting casinos.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Video: Cheating at poker

The standard poker hands in descending order.

A hand in poker can mean any of the following:

1. A unit of play consisting of a deal, one or more rounds of betting, and possibly a showdown.
2. A set of five cards with a certain value. For example, the hand A♥ 10♥ 9♥ 5♥ 3♥ is a “flush”, a hand that is valuable because each card is of the same suit.
3. A player’s set of non-communal cards.

The second and third definitions are often used interchangeably. For example, in Texas hold ‘em, a player holding A♣ K♠, with a board of A♥ K♣ K♦ 7♠ 3♦, might say, “my hand is ace-king”. However, his best 5-card hand (the portion of the hand which determines value) is the kings-over-aces full house.

General rules

The following general rules apply to evaluating poker hands, whatever set of hand values are used.

• Individual cards are ranked A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low).

Individual card ranks are often used to evaluate hands that contain no pairs or other special combinations, or to rank the kickers of otherwise equal hands. The Ace is ranked low in ace-to-five and ace-to-six lowball games.

• Suits have no value.

The suits of the cards are mainly used in determining whether a hand fits a certain category (specifically the Flush and Straight flush hands). In most variants, if two players have hands that are identical except for suit, then they are tied and split the pot. Sometimes a ranking called high card by suit is used for randomly selecting a player to deal.

• A hand always consists of five cards.

In games where more than five cards are available to each player, hands are ranked by choosing some five-card subset according to the rules of the game, and comparing that five-card hand against the five-card hands of the other players. Whatever cards remain after choosing the five to be played are of no consequence in determining the winner. (For example, when comparing identical full houses, there are no “kickers”.)

• Hands are ranked first by category, then by individual card ranks.

That is, even the minimum qualifying hand in a certain category defeats all hands in all lower categories. The smallest Two pair hand, for example, defeats all hands with just One pair or No pair. Only between two hands in the same category are card ranks used to break ties. The highest single card in each flush or straight is used to break ties (the Ace-through-five straight is the lowest straight, the Ace being a low card in this context). Within two Two pair hands, the higher pairs are first compared. If they tie, then the secondary pairs are compared, and then finally the kicker.

• The order in which cards are dealt is unimportant.

For ease of explanation, hands are shown here neatly arranged, but a poker hand has the same value no matter what order the cards are received in.

Ranking of hands

The most common ranking of hands is as follows:

• Royal flush: Five cards in sequence and of the same suit, starting from the Ace down to the 10. Example: A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ (Note: A Royal Flush is not a category of hand in and of itself, it is simply the highest-valued straight flush, and thus also the highest-valued hand. Since it is mentioned often in the context of hand rankings, it is worth noting in this list.)
• Straight flush: Any five cards in sequence and of the same suit. Example: Q♦ J♦ 10♦ 9♦ 8♦
• Four of a kind: A hand with four cards of the same rank. Example: 4♣ 4♦ 4♥ 4♠ 9♥
• Full house: A hand with three cards of one rank and two of another. Example: 8♣ 8♦ 8♠ K♥ K♠
• Flush: Five cards of the same suit. Example: K♠ J♠ 8♠ 4♠ 3♠
• Straight: Five cards in sequence. (The ace can be considered higher than the king, or lower than the two.) Example: 5♦ 4♥ 3♠ 2♦ A♦
• Three of a kind: Three cards of the same rank. Example: 7♣ 7♥ 7♠ K♦ 2♠
• Two pair: Two cards of one rank, two of another. Example: A♣ A♦ 8♥ 8♠ Q♠
• One pair: Two cards of the same rank. Example: 9♥ 9♠ A♣ J♠ 4♥
• No pair: Also known as a high card hand. The following example is considered “Ace high.” Example: A♦ 10♦ 9♠ 5♣ 4♣

The hands are ranked in this order because of their relative probabilities, with rarer hands ranking above more common hands.

An additional hand type, five of a kind, exists when wild cards are used. Five of a kind outranks the straight flush (and therefore the royal flush too) making it the most valuable hand.

Variations

Some games called lowball or low poker are played where players strive not for the highest ranking of the above combinations but for the lowest ranking hand. There are three methods of ranking low hands, called Ace-to-five low, Deuce-to-seven low, and Ace-to-six low. The ace-to-five method is most common. A sub-variant within this category is high-low poker, in which the highest and lowest hands split the pot (with the highest hand taking any odd chips if the pot does not divide equally). Sometimes straights and/or flushes count in determining which hand is highest but not in determining which hand is lowest (being reckoned as a no-pair hand in the latter instance), so that a player with such a holding can win both ways and thus take the entire pot.

Certain variants use hands of only three cards, either high or low. Three-card low hands can be ranked by any of the three methods above, although with three cards they become ace-to-three (rather than ace-to-five), deuce-to-five, and ace-to-four. The ace-to-three method is the most common, just as the ace-to-five method is most common method for five cards. Three-card high hands are ranked in one of two ways: either with or without straights and flushes. Without them (which is the most common, and used such games as Chinese poker), the hands are simply no pair, one pair, and three of a kind. If you add straights and flushes, the order of hands should be changed to reflect the correct probabilities: no pair, one pair, flush, straight, three of a kind, straight flush. This order is used, for example, in Mambo stud.

Some poker games are played with a deck that has been stripped of certain cards, usually low-ranking ones. For example, the Australian game of Manila uses a 32-card deck in which all cards below the rank of 7 are removed, and Mexican stud removes the 8s, 9s, and 10s. In both of these games, a flush ranks above a full house, because having fewer cards of each suit available makes flushes rarer.

Some games add one or more unconventional hands, or have special exceptions to the rules above. For example, in the game of Pai gow poker as played in Nevada, a Wheel (5-4-3-2-A) ranks above a king-high straight, but below an ace-high straight. This is not the case in California, where the nearly identical game is played under the name Double-hand poker using traditional hand values.

Links

• Poker Hand Ranks

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Video: Poker hand rankings