Poker Games- GUTS

GUTS
last updated 10-16-2001

Guts tends to have a sort of cult following with certain fans of the game and these people view it as a whole different type of game outside of regular poker games. Thus other web sites tend to dedicate a separate web page to Guts. It would normally be classified under the Draw category but why should I be different. Of the few sites I visited, I combined the most popular rules and variations to Guts on this page. I have included some additions as submitted by others that have visited my site. I hope you enjoy these variations. If you have other additions, corrections or interesting variations to the Guts class of Poker please e-mail me. I certainly enjoy a game of Guts but have yet to play a Match the Pot game. I don't think my wife would appreciate me losing a weeks pay over a card game.

GAMES:

Guts (and its many variants)
2 to 5
Bourre
Bunkum (var)
Budda's Folly
Oppression
Three Five Seven

NAME: Guts
TYPE: No Draw
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4-10 (the more the merrier)
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to each player
PLAY: Everyone secretly puts a chip in their hand if they are staying in, otherwise they leave their hand empty. Players then hold their closed hands in front of them and open them simultaneously. Players who held chips (and thus stayed in) reveal their hands. The winner takes the pot and the losers have to match what the pot was. New hands are then dealt. The game continues until only one player stays in, and thus the pot is emptied.
WINNER: Highest hand (No straights and flushes allowed)
VARIATIONS:

Instead of declaring with chips, dealer counts out "one-two-three-drop" while all players hold their cards above the table. On "drop" all players who are dropping out drop their cards. This is faster, but can lead to arguments if one player is slower to drop than the others. (Typically the most popular option used)

Deal 1, 3, 4, or 5 cards to each player.
Redeclare Option- Should only one player declare IN, particularly if it's the dealer after the declaration of In or Out is done by rotation around table rather than 1-2-3 drop rule, then everyone else has an option to redeclare In or Out.

Weenie rule (Nelly rule)- If nobody stays in, everyone reveals their hand and whoever has the best hand (and thus would have won) must match the pot.

Beat the deck- When only one player stays in, one Guts hand is dealt from the top of the deck or (or can be dealt at the time of normal deal). If these cards beat the player's hand, the player loses and must match the pot. Also see Phantom Guts Option below.

Limit match- A limit is set on the amount players must pay if they lose. If the pot is more than this amount, players just pay the limit.

Auction Guts- An additional "mystery hand" is dealt face-down. Before the showdown, players bid for the right to switch hands with the mystery hand. This continues until nobody wants to switch with the new mystery hand.

Hold Your Guts- If nobody stays in, play again with the same hands. Repeat until somebody stays in.

Pass Your Guts- If nobody stays in, everyone passes 1-5 cards (decided beforehand) to the right, until someone stays in.

Progressive Guts- Start with 2 cards. If nobody stays in, everyone gets dealt another card. Repeat until someone stays in. Straights and flushes become legal at 5 cards.

Pinch Guts- Players get three cards, two down and one up. During the deal any player who calls "Pinch" will get their next card up. If they don't call Pinch then their third card will be dealt up. Any player(s) with the highest exposed card cannot fold and must play their hand for that round. Before the game the Dealer will set a "Pinch" value on the pot (eg. The dealer says "Pinch until $8.00.") Once the pot equals or exceeds that amount, no Pinches are allowed and all cards are dealt down. If the pot drops below that amount then Pinches are allowed.

Bloody Sevens- Deal 2 cards down to each player, players still in after Guts get 3 cards up. 7's down are wild. Anyone with a 7 up immediately folds. High hand takes the pot, losers match (someone killed by a 7 does not match).

Hold the Pot- Player with the highest hand is paid an amount equal to one-half the current pot from the losing players who remained "in". Ante and repeat as above. The game continues until only one player declares himself or herself "in." That player wins the entire pot.

Phantom Guts- A ghost hand is also dealt. Play continues as normal but all players must beat the Phantom hand to claim the pot. Losers to the Phantom hand must match the pot. If the Weenie rule is in effect and the Phantom hand is the highest hand, no penalty is levied against players.

Double or Triple Phantom Guts- 2 or 3 extra hands can also be dealt.

Reaper Guts- Same as Phantom Guts but ghost hand has one extra card more than all players hands.

Spit Guts- Two cards to each player plus one card is dealt up in the center as a community card. Center card can be wild.
Blind Guts- No peek. No one looks at their cards. (Are you nuts?)
Big Balls Guts- Deal 2 down, 1 up to all players. Player with highest up card must decide to play either Blind (cannot look at his down cards) or fold his hand. If they fold they must match 1/2 the pot or up to a limit set beforehand.
Monte Carlo Guts- 3 card Guts with the follow rank of hands from highest to lowest:

Three-of-a-kind
Straight
Flush
Straight
Flush Pair
High Card

Force Guts or High-Low Lock- To initially build up the pot the dealer calls a number of hands of Guts that are played requiring at least one person to be "Forced" to play. Prior to each deal the dealer calls the "force card" High or Low and deals the required Guts hands to each player plus an additional up card as the "Force Card" (or the Force Card is also part of your hand). Player with the highest (or Lowest) card as called by the dealer is forced to play . Players that tie on the Force Card are both forced to stay. After the called number of Force Hands are dealt then play resumes to normal play.

Zany Double Death Guts- A High-Low Split Guts game. Players ante Double the normal amount to start game. Insures that pot is easily divisible by 2. Players are dealt 3 cards but use their best 2 for their hand. Declare in or out by the 1-2-3 drop rule. If one person stays in then the Redeclare Rule is in force. Those still in declare High or Low with the Chip-in-Hand rule. High and Low hands split the pot, losers must match DOUBLE the current pot. If two hands tie the high or low in showdown, BOTH hands are losers and must match double the current pot.

NAME: 2 to 5
TYPE: No Draw
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4-10
INITIAL DEAL: 2 cards down to each player.
PLAY: Play as in 2 card Guts. Those that stayed in for the first round of Guts they show their cards only to other players that stayed in. The winner claims the pot and losers match. Deal a 3rd card to every player. Again declare in or out. Showdown between those that stayed in. Deal a 4th card to all players, round of Guts again. Deal a 5th card to all players, round of Guts again (at 5 cards flushes and straights count). Redeal if more than 1 player stayed in on the last round.

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NAME: Buddha's Folly
TYPE: Draw
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4-10
INITIAL DEAL: 5 cards down to each player
PLAY: The lead rotates each hand, starting with the player to the dealer's left. The dealer turns the top card of the deck face up. The lead player has the option of taking that card or passing it to the next player clockwise. If the card is taken, the player
taking it must replace it with a different card from his hand, passing that card clockwise. This continues until a card makes it all the way around without anyone taking it. Play then continues as in Guts.
WINNER: High hand.
VARIATIONS:

Weenie rule- See Guts, above
Limit match- See Guts, above

NAME: Three Five Seven
TYPE: Fixed Draw; Counting;
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 3 cards down to each player
PLAY: Players examine their cards and indicate whether or not they're staying in as described in Guts above. Players who are in determine who has the best hand by examining each other's hands-- players who did not stay in don't get to see these
hands. Threes are wild, and straights and flushes don't count. Players who stayed in but lost must each pay the winner the amount currently in the pot. If two players have equal hands, no money is exchanged between them. All players, including those who didn't stay in earlier, are dealt two more cards down. The above procedure is repeated, but this time fives are wild instead of threes and straights and flushes count. When the winner has been paid, all players again receive two more cards and repeat the procedure with sevens being wild instead of fives, each player creating the best hand using 5 of his 7 cards. If only one player stays in during a hand, that player earns a point. The first player to earn three points takes the pot, ending the game. If no player has three points after the 7 card hand, everyone antes again. The cards are shuffled, and play starts again with 3 cards down to each player.
WINNER: High hand for each individual hand; first player to reach 3 points for the pot itself.
VARIATIONS: None

NAME: Bourre (a.k.a. Bunkum)
TYPE: Draw
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: Up to 10
INITIAL DEAL: Three cards to each player, one up in the middle.
PLAY: Everyone antes 3 chips. As in Guts, players look at their cards and all declare together if they are in or out (either by chip in hand or by a card drop count). The up card in the middle denotes the trump suit. Those players who are in can draw up to three cards. If no players declare in then there is a re-deal. Play starts with the lead player, (with the lead rotating around table throughout game) starting with player to the left of dealer. He begins by leading a card of his choice. Players must match suit if possible, highest card wins unless a trump is played. Winner of trick leads the play of next round. Since each pot is divisible by 3, for each trick a player wins, they take 1/3 of the pot. Those declaring in and losing must match the pot. Those who declared out can re-enter the game by re-ante.
WINNER: Game ends when only one person declares in. They take the whole pot. Or when 2 or 3 players remain in and each take a trick and there are no losers to match the pot.
VARIATIONS: None.

NAME: Oppression
TYPE: Guts and Stud
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: Seven cards down to players.
PLAY: Double the normal ante to start. Players break their hands into two hands, a two card Guts hand and a five card stud hand. Play begins with the Guts hand, with your accepted Guts rules in force. Winner takes the pot. Losers that stayed in must match the pot. Players that dropped out re-ante for second hand. In the second game, players roll their own in the five card stud game with normal betting procedures for stud until showdown.
WINNER: High hand for both games.
VARIATIONS:

Advanced Oppression- Instead of Five Card Stud for the second game, play is Five Card Draw with the discarded Guts cards reshuffled into the deck. Round of betting before and after draw.
The Oppressed Get Even- Same as Advanced Oppression except the winning Guts cards and all like cards are wild.

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