• Practice defining ranges away from the table. Every player’s range is shaped by their previous.
• Poker Down The River it may be difficult Poker Down The River to find a lot of available options. Some individual states have passed online gambling legislation, Poker Down The River but play is restricted to players residing in those states or playing while visiting the physical state itself. Rest assured that the climate continues to change.
• Playing the turn and the river after the flop requires different skills. Read the guide on poker river and learn how to make the most of the turn and the river. You are currently on partypoker.com. Visit our New Jersey website here to register and play for real money.
• River This is the last card given in all games. In Hold'em and Omaha, it is also known as 5th street. In Stud games, it is also known as 7th street.

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Hand Guide: Preflop > Flop > Turn > River

River strategy overview.

When you make it to the river (which actually happens a lot less often than you might think), all the players have been given the final card on the board with which to make their best 5-card hand. River strategy is different to strategy on other betting rounds because with every other street there are always more cards to come to help players improve their hands, but on the river you are stuck with what you are given.

The river betting round is free from all the complications of pot odds, implied odds and all other types of mathematics that are involved with drawing hands.

However, this does not necessarily mean that the river is an easier round to play. River strategy can become very tricky as players will either ‘have it’ or they won't, and so the players who don't make the hands that they were hoping for will sometimes make one last effort to try and take down the pot with a big bluff.

Therefore to play the river well, you should always think about all of the information you have gathered from each street in the hand you played against your opponent up until this point to help influence your decisions.

How to play the river.

As I just mentioned, you have to think about the way your opponent has played the hand on each street to help inform your decision on how to play on the river. The more information you have, the more pieces to the puzzle you can fit together to build a bigger picture of what your opponent may be holding.

By the river it is often likely that your opponent will have given off enough information through the way they have played to indicate what kind of hand they are holding, so it is just a case of thinking through the hand and looking for it.

Always take your time to evaluate all of the plays that have taken place up to that point on the river. You can find a lot of useful information if you think about the hand carefully.

If your opponent has been playing as if they had a drawing hand on each street, and then comes out with a bet when the river comes with a card that could not have helped them, you can be fairly sure that they are bluffing be happy to call their bet if you have a decent hand. Similarly, if an opponent has been playing very aggressively on previous streets by betting and raising but plays very weakly on the river by checking, you can happily sense they are trying to trap you and trying to induce a bluff.

Position on the river.

Playing the river can be a lot easier if you have position over your opponent. Acting after your opponent will prove to be a huge advantage on the river because you can see how your opponent reacts before making your final decision. When you reach the river you will be in one of the following situations regarding the strength of your hand:

• You are confident you have the best hand.
• You are confident you have the worst hand.
• You are unsure about whether you have the best hand.

The first two situations are easier to play in, both in and out of position, but things can become very tricky when you are not sure about whether or not you have the best hand. So here is a quick guide on how to play in or out of position when in each of the situations mentioned above.

Playing the river in position.

- You are confident you have the best hand.

If you are confident you have the best hand, you want to get as much money from your opponent as possible. This means that you should definitely bet and raise to get more and more money into the pot. It is better to make big pot-sized bets on the river rather than smaller bets to try and entice your opponent into calling. It will be more profitable to make big bets even if your opponent calls less often, as it is explained in the article on maximizing value.

- You are confident you have the worst hand.

When you feel that you have the worst hand, you should be happy to fold the majority of bets your opponent makes on the river. It is unlikely that opponents will bet into you out of position with a poor hand, so always lean toward folding rather than raising in an attempt to bluff.

If your opponent checks to you, you are now faced with the tough decision of whether or not to bluff. It is in these instances that you should use all the information from the way your opponent has played up until this point to decide whether a bluff is likely to work. Always try and be at least 80% sure that a bluff will be successful before making one, and fold if you have any doubts in your mind at all.

- You are unsure about whether you have the best hand.

If our opponent checks to us, then we should almost always check behind them and turn the cards over to see who has won. This is because if you ever bet in this position, it is unlikely that you will get a call from a player that we have beat, but it is likely that we are going to get a call from a player that has us beat. So just check it down and hope that your hand is the winning one after they have been turned over.

Don't bet marginal hands on the river. You are only going to get called by better hands the majority of the time.

If your opponent is betting into you on the river in this spot.

If our opponent is betting into us, once again we have to make the decision about whether or not we should call based upon the information we have gathered from previous betting rounds.

You may also need to factor in the odds that your opponent is giving you to call, because if your opponent makes a very small bet, you may well be given the correct odds to call because of the likelihood that your hand will sometimes win. But at the end of the day, there are no concrete rules for these situations and it is just a part of poker that will take time, patience and a thorough understanding of the game to master.

Playing the river out of position.

- You are confident you have the best hand.

It is nice to feel that you have the best hand, but unfortunately we do not have position to help maximize our winnings in these situations. If you feel that your opponent has a half decent hand, you should look to make a decent bet and hope that they will call, as it is not likely that they will bet if they are unsure about whether they have the best hand.

If you think that your opponent missed a draw and has a very weak hand, it may be more profitable to check in an attempt to induce a bluff. If you bet and it turns out they have no hand at all, then you are not going to win any more money because they are just going to fold. If you check however, you are giving them the opportunity to make a bluff and squeeze out that little extra money from them at the end.

- You are confident you have the worst hand.

It's pretty unfortunate to have the worst hand and be out of position, but its not all that bad. At least in these situations you will have a clear idea about what to do… check and fold to any action. It is rarely a good idea to try and bluff when out of position in these spots, so save your money for another time. Only bet if you are incredibly sure that you can get your opponent off the hand, otherwise betting out here is not going to be profitable at all.

- You are unsure about whether you have the best hand.

Although this might seem like a bit of a dilemma, its not as bad you think. The last thing you want to do here is bet out… its one of the biggest mistakes you can make in poker when you think about it logically. When you bet out not knowing if you have the best hand or not, you are only going to get calls from hands that beat you, and you are not going to get calls from hands that you are beating. It is a completely lose-lose situation, so never bet out if you are unsure about whether you hold the best hand or not.

Never bet out when first to act on the river if you have a hand that could easily be either the best or worst hand.

The only hard part in these spots is when your opponent comes back at you with a bet. In these situations you have to once again consider the way the hand has been played out up to that point, as well as think about they way your opponent has been playing in other hands as well as this one.

If you think you have a decent chance of winning because your opponent is loose and bluffs frequently, then you have a good reason to call. However if you are not confident that you are ahead, you should be looking to fold unless you are being given good enough pot odds to make the call to see if you are ahead. It's all about practice and a good knowledge of your opponent's playing style.

Other river strategy tips.

Don't bet on the river if you are unsure about whether or not you have the best hand. I know I have mentioned it before, but it is something that you should always remember. You are only going to get a call from a better hand and a fold from a worse hand, so don't make that bet!

Always think about each play that led up to this point into the hand, and use it to influence the decisions that you make on the river. There is no better tell than the way an opponent has played their hand and the information they have given you by the way they have checked, bet or raised.

Always bet around the size of the pot when you want a call when you hold the best hand. Even though you may well get called less often than if you made small bets, you will be winning more in the long run. Its more profitable to win $50 1 in 10 times than it is to win $5 8 out of 10 times. It's all about maximizing value from your hands over the long run.

Useful river strategy articles:

• Playing Styles (Intermediate)
• Taking Player Notes (Intermediate)
• The Blocking Bet (Intermediate)
• Maximizing Value (Value Betting) (Advanced)
• Putting Opponents On A Hand (Advanced)
• Thin Value (Advanced)

Go back to the thorough hand guide.

• We play dealer's choice, with the deal passing clockwise around thetable.
• Unless the game rules state otherwise, aces can only be low in astraight of A-2-3-4-5.
• The order of hands, from lowest to highest, is:
  • high card
  • one pair
  • two pair
  • three of a kind
  • straight
  • flush
  • full house
  • four of a kind
  • straight flush
  • (five of a kind, if wilds are present)
  The presence of wild cards does not alter this order.
• This is a casual game, for extremely low stakes (usually). Commentssuch as 'He's bluffing' or 'This hand is crap' are common, and should beexpected. So accept it, relax, and enjoy yourself.
• For more specific rules of poker games visit some online poker sites.

We play the following games, some of which you may know by anothername. If a description sounds familiar, read the whole thinganyway. Our versions can be a bit eccentric.

Basic games and their variations:

• Five-card Draw
• Seven-card Stud

Other games:

• Cincinnati

There are some standard variations that we apply to many of the games:

Five-card Draw

The Game After an initial ante each player is dealtfive cards face down. There is a round of betting, then each playerdiscards up to three cards from his hand. If a player holds an Ace he hasthe option of discarding four cards and keeping the Ace. Players aredealt new cards face down to replace their discards, and there is a finalround of betting.

Variations:

• Croaker Discarded cards arecollected by the dealer and set aside. When the hand is over, the winningplayer must beat the best five-card hand that can be made from thediscards. (If there are not five cards, additional cards are drawn fromthe top of the deck.) If the player does not beat the discards, allplayers re-ante and another hand is dealt and played as before. Thiscontinues until the winning player beats the discards. This game isusually played with a wild card.

• Red and Black Hands arescored as follows. Aces are worth 1 point, face cards are 10, and allothers are their face value. A player sums the values of his red cards,sums the values of his black cards, and subtracts the lower value from thehigher. For example, a hand with a red J, red 7, black K, black 10, andblack A is '4 black' (21 black minus 17 red). A hand with red K, two redQ's, red 8, and black 5 is '33 red' (38 red minus 5 black). The highestred hand and highest black hand split the pot.

• Shotgun Three of theface-down cards are dealt, followed by a round of betting. The fourth cardis dealt face-down, followed by another round of betting. The fifth cardis likewise dealt face-down, followed by a round of betting. There is adraw round, followed by a final bet.

• Up Your Draws Drawn cardsare placed in front of each player, face down. When all players havedrawn, all drawn cards are turned face-up, and remain on the table untilthe end of the game. This game can be played low cardwild, with the lowest of all five cards being wild, regardless oforientation.

Seven-card Stud

The Game After an initial ante each player is dealtthree cards, the first two face down and the third face up. There is around of betting, and the fourth card is dealt face up. Another round ofbetting, and the fifth card is dealt face up. Another round of betting,and the sixth card is dealt face up. Another round of betting, and theseventh card is dealt face down. There is a final round ofbetting.

Variations:

• Baseball All 3's and 9'sare wild. If a player is dealt a 4 he has the option to buy an additionalcard for twice the ante. If the 4 was face up his new card will be faceup too. If it was face down he must turn it up, and he receives his newcard face down. The 4 remains an active card in his hand. In the 'minorleague' variation 4's have no special significance, they're just4's.

• Blo-Jo Each player's downcards form a blackjack hand. This includes the first two cards dealt andthe last. However, before the seventh card is dealt each player has theoption of receiving it face up so that it does not count towards hisblackjack hand. He must pay a penalty for this privilege, usually doublethe ante. At the end of the game the players with the best blackjack handand the best poker hand (the best five-card hand taken from all sevencards, as usual) split the pot, with any extra nickel going to the pokerwinner.

• Chase the Lady As the face-upcards are dealt, if a Queen is dealt the next card to be dealt face up iswild. If another Queen is dealt later on, the card that follows it is thenew wild card and the original wild card is no longer wild. Ifconsecutive Queens are dealt, the card that follows the last Queen iswild. If a Queen is the last card to be dealt face up, no cards are wild. Sometimes this game is played with the Queens being wild as well.

• Chicago The player with thehighest spade among his face-down cards splits the pot with the playerwith the best poker hand.

• Follow the Queen This game isplayed like Chase the Lady, except that Queens arewild too, and remain wild regardless of the cards that come up. Also, ifthe last up card is a queen, the card that had been wild before remainswild.

• Football This game isplayed like Baseball, except that all 6's and 4'sare wild, and a 2 dealt face up entitles the player to anothercard.

• (Pick Your) Poison After thefirst round of betting, the dealer places a card for each player face upin the center of the table. Each player one of these and adds it to hishand, starting with the player that had the lowest hand showingat the beginning of the round, then the player that had the next lowest,and so on. When all players have chosen their cards there is a round ofbetting, with the player with the highest hand now showingbetting first, as usual. This process is repeated for the remaining upcards. Finally, players get their seventh card face down and finish outthe game as usual.

Acey-Deucey

The Game This game is played like In Between (the Sheets), with some rule changes:

• The first time around the table players may only wager up to half thetotal in the pot. Thereafter the game ends when someone wins the entirepot. There is no re-anteing.
• If a player is dealt a pair he does not pay a penalty.
• If a player is not dealt a pair he must bet something.

Anaconda

Setup After an initial ante the dealer either givesfive cards to each player ('Little Anaconda') or seven ('Big Anaconda'),all face down.

The Play After a round of betting, each player passesthree cards to the player on his left. There is another round of betting,then each player passes two cards to the player two places to the left. There is another round of betting, then each player passes one card to theplayer three places to the left. After a final round of betting, theplayer with the best hand wins the pot.

Counting Places When passing cards, any player who hasfolded is not counted. Also, players do not count themselves. Forexample, say there are four players, A, B, C, and D, seated in orderclockwise around the table. Say also that B has folded, and it is thethird round, so each player is passing one card three places to the left. Player A skips B, counts C as one, D as two, skips himself, skips B again,and gives his card to C. The other players do likewise, so Player C giveshis card to D, and Player D gives his card to A.

Auctioneer

Setup After an initial ante the dealer gives fivecards to each player, then deals five cards in a pile in the middle of thetable, and flips over the top card.

The Play Players go around the table bidding, auctionstyle, on the face-up card on the table. The winning bidder pays theamount into the pot, takes the card, and replaces it with another cardfrom his hand. All players except the one who laid the card then bid onthis card in the same way. This continues until no one wants to bid onthe face-up card. The player who laid it down then flips over the nextcard in the pile, on which all players may now bid. Players may not bidon any other cards on the table. This continues through the third,fourth, and fifth cards in the pile.

Ending the Game Once the players have bid on all cardson the table, the player to the dealer's left begins a final round ofbetting.

Blackjack

The Game If the dealer wants to deal Blackjack, hemust first specify how many hands he will deal in total (five iscustomary), and set the limit on bets (usually fifty cents). He maychange the limit between hands.

The Play Blackjack is played in the same way as incasinos. Each player plays one-on-one against the dealer, with the dealerpaying all wins and receiving all losses. The dealer must hit on 16 orless, and must stand on 17 or greater (including 'soft' totals). Blackjack pays 1.5 to 1, rounded to the next nickel in favor of theplayer. It is the dealer's choice to allow splitting, doubling down,insurance, and/or surrender, but he must specify before any hand isdealt.

Butcher Boy

The Game After an initial ante the dealer startsdealing cards face up to each player. When a card is dealt that is thesame rank as a card that has already been dealt the play stops. The cardis transferred to the owner of the first of that rank, and a round ofbetting is done (starting with the person that received that card).Dealing continues starting with the person who would have otherwise gottenthat card.

The Play Play continues until a player has four of akind. That player takes half the pot, and the other half is taken by theperson with the lowest hand. If a player has more than five cards, theymay choose which five make up their lowest hand. If a player has less thanfive cards the empty slots are filled with 'nulls', which rank lower than2's. For example, the hand 8-5-4 would be considered 8-5-4-X-X (but theX's are not considered to be a pair). This hand would beat (i.e.would be lower than) a natural 8-5-4-3-2.

Cincinnati

The Game After an initial ante each player is dealtfive cards face down. The dealer then deals five 'community' cards facedown into the middle of the table.

The Play Each round consists of one of the centercards being flipped up, followed by a round of betting. Each player makesthe best five-card hand he can out of the cards he holds and the cards inthe middle.

Variations:

• Floater: Ten cards are dealtinto the community, two rows of five, and are flipped in pairs. Aneleventh community card is also dealt, called the 'floater', which isflipped last. Players may use any one of the five pairs, plus thefloater, in their hand.

• Good Cards Bad Cards: Tencards are dealt into the community, two rows of five, and are flipped inpairs. The cards in one row are 'good', meaning they can be used inplayers' hands. The other cards are 'bad', meaning those cards and allothers of the same rank cannot be used in players' hands. Any bad cardsheld must be discarded immediately. Bad cards take precedence over goodcards.

• (Texas) Hold 'Em: The playersare dealt only two cards. The first three community cards are flipped uptogether. The fourth and fifth are flipped up individually, with bettingrounds after each flipping.

• Lamebrain Pete: The lowest exposed card, and all cards of its rank, are wild.

• Omaha: The players are dealtfour cards. Hands must be made using exactly two of the held cards andexactly three of the community cards. The community cards are flipped asin Texas Hold 'Em.

• Scott's Slots: Two cards aredealt to each player, and nine table cards are arranged in a three bythree grid and flipped over by column. Hands are formed using the two heldcards and three from any row, column, or diagonal. This is often played high-low, without wilds.

• Southern Cross: The tablecards are arranged in a cross, and are flipped over in the order top,right, bottom, left, center. The players may only choose cards from thecross which are in a line with each other (but they are not required touse all of the cards in that line). This is sometimes played with thecenter card (and all other cards of that rank) wild.

Dick Your Buddy

The Game Each player places a dealer-specified numberof coins (often four dimes) in front of him. The game consists of aseries of hands, with the deck being shuffled only when necessary. At theend of each hand, the player with the lowest hand pays one of his coinsinto the pot. When a player runs out of coins he is out of the game. Play proceeds until only one player is left with coins. He then takes thepot, and the game ends.

The Play In each hand, the dealer gives one card toeach player. The player to the dealer's left goes first, and decideswhether to keep his card or trade it. If he decides to keep he says so,and play continues to his left. If he decides to trade he gives his cardto the player to his left, who must give up his card (but see 'Kings'below). Either way it is now the second player's turn, who makes the samedecision and follows the same procedure, trading with the player to hisleft, if desired. Play continues around the table, with the dealertrading with the top card on the deck, if desired. Then all players showtheir cards, and the player (or players, in the event of a tie) with thelowest card pays a coin into the pot.

Kings In this game Aces are low, making Kings thehighest card. If a player holds a King and another player tries to trade,the King need not be traded away. The player holding the King shouldrebuff the requesting player in some amusing way, and display his King forall to see.

Strategy The goal of each hand is not to have thehighest card, but to not have the lowest. For example, if thefirst player holds a 2 and the second player holds an Ace, the firstplayer will probably trade his 2, hoping to get something better. Thesecond player now holds the 2, and knows that the first player holds anAce (a lower card). He should thus keep the 2, since he knows that he atleast has the first player beat and therefore won't have to pay anythingthis round.

The Dealer The dealer decides how many coins of whichdenomination will be used, and how often to reshuffle the deck. He isresponsible for ensuring that there are enough cards in the deck to playeach hand (at least one for each player, plus one in case the dealer wantsto trade with the deck). If the dealer runs out of coins before the endof the game, he passes the deal to the next (still active) player to hisright, thus keeping the same first player throughout thegame.

Elevator Shaft

The Game After an initial ante the dealer gives fourcards to each player, and then seven cards to the middle of the table,arranged in two columns of three (the 'shaft') and one in the middle (the'elevator').

The Play Table cards are turned up one at a timesuch that no series of three playable cards (see below) is given awaysooner than necessary. The elevator is turned up last. After each cardis turned up, a round of betting occurs. Usually played high-low. A nasty variation has the elevator cardwild.

Playable Cards A player's hand must be made up ofexactly two of the cards they are holding, and exactly three of the cardson the table. The three table cards must be a row or diagonal(not a column), with the elevator card 'sliding' to any of thethree floors, as shown here:

Forty-two Radical

The Game After an initial ante all players receivethree cards. 4's and 2's are wild (hence the name). Straights andflushes are not allowed, so the only possible hands are high card, pair,and three of a kind. As usual, natural hands beat wild hands, and secondand third cards are used to break any remaining ties.

The Play Once all players have received their cards,they must hold them out, face down, in the center of the table. Thedealer then says, 'one, two, three, drop!' On the word 'drop', any playerwishing to fold drops his cards, and is out of the hand (but still in thegame). The remaining players show their hands. The winner takes the pot,then all (non-folding) losers must match what was in the pot. Forexample, if there is fifty cents in the pot and three people stay in, thewinner takes the fifty cents, and the losers each put in fifty cents,making the total one dollar. After the losers have paid the dealercollects the cards, shuffles, and deals again.

Ending the Game If all players but one drop, theremaining player shows his hand, then the dealer reveals the top threecards on the deck. If the player's hand beats the deck's, the playertakes the pot and the game is over. If the deck wins, the player matchesthe total in the pot, and the game continues.

Guts

The Game In this variation of Forty-twoRadical there are no wilds.

In Between (the Sheets)

The Game After an initial ante the dealer lays the toptwo cards face up on the table, with space for a third card in between. The player to the dealer's left may, if he wants, bet that the next cardwill be 'between' the two cards shown. For example, if the cards are a 7and a Jack, any 8, 9, or 10 is considered between.

The Play The player may wager any amount up to thetotal in the pot, or pass his turn. Once the player announces his wager,if any, the dealer places a third card between the other two. If theplayer was right he takes the amount from the pot, if he was wrong he paysit into the pot. Play continues clockwise to each player around thetable, including the dealer, and keeps going around until the game ends(see below).

Pairs If a player is dealt a 'pair' (e.g. two 6's),his turn ends and he must pay an amount equal to the ante into thepot.

Matching If a player places a bet and his third card matches one of the other two, he must pay double what he bet.

Aces If an Ace is dealt as the first of the two cards,the player must declare it to be 'high' (i.e. higher than a King), or'low' (i.e. lower than a 2), before he sees the second card. An Ace inthe second position or middle is always high. Thus if a player calls hisfirst Ace high, and receives a second Ace, he has a pair (see above). Ifa player has, e.g., a 5 and a high Ace, and the third card is an Ace, hehas matched and must pay double his bet. If a player calls his first Acelow, and gets a (high) Ace as his second card, and his third card is alsoan Ace, he must pay triple what he bet.

The End of the Deck If, between players, the dealerfinds he has only one or two cards left in the deck, he must reshuffle.

Ending the Game If a player takes the entire pot, allplayers re-ante and the game continues, unless the dealer has been throughthe entire deck at least once. The game ends when a player takes theentire pot and the deck has been reshuffled at least once.

Indian Poker

The Game After an initial ante each player is dealtone card, face down. Each player places his card, without looking at it,on his forehead so that everyone can see it but him. There is a round ofbetting (during which players may fold, as usual), then the players lookat their cards. The player with the highest card wins the pot.

Knock

The Game Each player places a dealer-specified numberof coins (often four dimes) in front of him. The game consists of aseries of rounds, with the deck being shuffled between rounds. At the endof each round, the player with the lowest hand pays one of his coins intothe pot, and must deal the next round. If two or more players tie forlowest hand, all must pay. When a player runs out of coins he is out ofthe game (though he must still deal the next round). Play proceeds untilonly one player is left with coins. He then takes the pot, and the gameends.

The Play In each round, each player receives threecards from the dealer. The dealer then places the remainder of the deckin the center of the table, and flips over the first card (but see'Knocking Early', below). In the first round, the player to the dealer'sleft goes first. In subsequent rounds, the player who had the highesthand in the previous round goes first. Each player, in turn, either takesthe face-up card and replaces it with a different card from hishand, or flips up the next card in the stack for the next player. Thisprocess continues around the table until a player 'knocks'.

Knocking On his turn, any player may elect to 'knock'. He does so by knocking on the table, then flipping up the next card in thestack. Play continues once more around the table, with players exchangingor flipping a card, as usual. When play gets back to the player whoknocked, he does not have the opportunity to exchange with the deck. Instead, all players show their hands, and the lowest hand pays.

Scoring Hands are compared on the basis of points. Each numbered card is worth that number of points, with face cardscounting ten and aces counting eleven. However, a player may only add uppoints from one of the four suits. For example, if a player holds the5 and King of diamonds, and the Ace of clubs, he should choose diamondsto represent his hand, and score fifteen. The highest hand is worth 31points, consisting of an Ace and two face cards or tens, all of the samesuit. An exception to this is when a player holds three cards of the samerank (three of a kind). This hand is worth 30 ¹/₂points.

Knocking Early The first player in each round has theoption of knocking as soon as all players have received their cards, thatis, before the dealer has flipped the top card of the deck face up. Thedealer must give the first player the opportunity to knock early. If hedoes, the round ends immediately, and all players compare their hands, asusual. No player has the opportunity to exchange cards with the deck.

Midnight Baseball

Setup After an initial ante each player is dealt sevencards face down. The players may not look at the cards, they must remainon the table. The dealer flips the next card face up, this is the 'besthand'.

The Play The first player begins flipping his cardsover one at a time until he has beaten the best hand. 3's and 9's arewild and 4's get another card, as in Baseball. Newcards for 4's are given face down, and may be played at any time. After aplayer has beaten the best hand he may elect to bet. All players mustmatch the bet or fold, then the next player must flip his cards until hebeats the (new) best hand. If a player cannot beat the best hand he mustfold.

Ending the Game Play continues clockwise until allplayers are folded or out of cards. The player with the best (five-card)hand wins the pot.

Poker Dice

Setup This game is played with five dice instead ofcards. Two bowls are placed in the center of the table, and each playerantes a nickel into each. These form the 'pot' and the 'jackpot'. Players then roll one die each to see who goes first (highest wins).

The Play The first player rolls all five dice, tryingto make the best poker hand he can. Flushes are not allowed, but five ofa kind is. After the player's initial roll he may elect to re-roll any orall of the dice, or to stop. After the second roll (if any) the player mayagain elect to re-roll any or all of the dice or to stop. He must stopafter three rolls. Once the first player has established his roll, thedice pass to his left. Each player in turn tries to beat the best hand sofar. Once all players have rolled, the player with the best hand takesthe pot, and all players re-ante into both the pot and the jackpot. Thewinning player from the last hand goes first in the next. Play continuesuntil someone wins the jackpot.

Stopping Early The first player has the option to stopafter one or two rolls. If he does, all other players are limited to thesame number of rolls in their attempts to roll the best hand.

Comparing Hands Unlike standard poker, if two playersboth have, say, three Kings, they do not compare their fourth 'cards' todetermine the winner. Instead they are tied. If a hand ends in a tie,the tied players each roll all five dice once to determine the winner.

Winning the Jackpot If a player wins the hand withfive of a kind, he takes both the pot and the jackpot, ending thegame.

7/27

The River Poker Tournament

The Game After an initial ante each player is givenone card face down, and one card face up. The value of the cards is one oreleven for Aces (player's choice), ¹/₂ for face cards,and face value for all other cards.

The Play On each player's turn they may opt to take acard or stand with what they have. Players may always take a card, even ifthey decided to stand on a previous round. New cards are always dealtface-up. Play ends when no players decide to take a card in a round. Handsthat are inside 7 and 27 beat hands that are outside (that is, a 7¹/₂ beatsa 6 ¹/₂ a26 ¹/₂beats a 27 ¹/₂). The players closest to 7 and to 27 split thepot.

Shawnahoma

The Game After an initial ante the dealer gives eachplayer seven cards. The players make the best five-card hand they can,then reveal their cards one at a time, betting after each of the firstfour cards. This game is usually played high-low,with a wild.

The Play After examining his hand each player discardstwo cards and places the rest in a stack on the table, face-down. Theplayers reveal their cards in the order they are stacked and bet aftereach, stopping after the fourth round of betting. The players declarehigh or low, then reveal their final card.

Spit in the Ocean

The Game After an initial ante each player is dealtfour face-down cards. One face-up card is dealt into the middle of thetable. This card is wild, as are any other cards of the same rank. Thereis one betting round, followed by the showdown. Variants include dealingthree cards face-up (where players get to choose which is in their handand is wild), or having alternating rounds of each player flipping one oftheir cards face-up and betting.

Three-card Poker

The Game After an initial ante each player is dealtthree face-down cards. There is a round of betting after each of the threecards. The order of possible hands, from high to low, is: straight flush,three-card flush, three-card straight, pair, high card.

Down The River Poker

Two-card Poker

The Game This is played like Three-card Poker, but with only two cards dealt. Theonly possible hands are a pair or high card. Often played high-low, with the Ace high in the high hand or low inthe low hand.

Up and Down (the River)

Setup The dealer gives five cards to each player, but not himself, face-up.

Live Dealer Poker

Going 'Up the River' The dealer flips over the topcard in the deck and announces, 'Pay five cents for ___'s,' where ___ isthe rank of the card flipped. For example, if the card is the 7 ofspades, the dealer says, 'Pay five cents for sevens.' Each player mustthen put five cents into the pot for each 7 he holds, of any suit. If aplayer has no 7's, he does nothing. Then the dealer flips over the nextcard in the deck, and says, 'Pay ten cents for ___'s,' with the playerspaying ten cents for each matching card. This continues through fifteen,twenty, and twenty five cents.

Coming 'Down the River' Then this process is reversed,with players taking twenty five cents from the pot for each cardthat matches the next card in the deck, then twenty, fifteen, ten, andfive cents in the same fashion. After five cents, the game is over.

The Pot If at any point the pot runs out, the dealermust pay the players what they are owed from his own money. However, ifat the end of the game there is money left in the pot, the dealer takesit.

High-Low

The Game When playing high-low, players win if theyhave the highest hand or the lowest hand (or both). There comes a point in every high-low game when players must declare whether they are trying for the highest hand, the lowest hand, or both. The players each hold out two coins, and the dealer says, 'One, two, three, drop!' On the word 'drop' each player drops:

• No coins if he is trying for the lowest hand
• One coin if he is trying for the highest hand
• Both coins if he is trying for both the highest and lowest hand

If a player declares he is trying for both he must win both, otherwise he loses both.

Splitting the Pot If a player wins both he takes the whole pot. If all players try for high or all try for low, the winner takes the whole pot. Otherwise the pot is split evenly between the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest hand, with any extra nickel going to the high-hand player.

AcesEven when going for low, an Ace is always high. Thus the lowest possible hand is 2-3-4-5-7, not A-2-3-4-6.

Rivers Casino Poker Tournament

Wilds High-low is often played with 2's wild. If so,they are only wild when a player is trying to make a high hand. If he istrying for a low hand, a 2 is just a 2.

Low Card Wild

The Game Under this variation, the lowest ranking cardin each player's hand, and any others of that rank, are wild (for thatplayer's hand only). In games where players have cards face up and facedown, it's usually the lowest card among the face-down cards.

Lowball

Up And Down The River Poker

The Game This twist is usually played with five carddraw, no wilds. The object is to get the lowest hand instead of thehighest. The player with the worst hand at the end of the game takes thepot. The worst possible hand is 2-3-4-5-7.

Last Updated: Feb 23, 2004