Poker Games- Community Card Games

Community Card Games
Last updated 10-16-2001

Games:

Bingo
Bundles
Church (var)
Cincinnati
Crazy Pineapple (var)
Criss-Cross (var)
Elevator
Extreme Opposites (var)
Fiery Cross (var)
Heaven and Hell
Iron Cross (var)
Iron Cross (var #2)
Kankakee
La Crosse (var)
Lamebrain Pete (var)
Little Opposite
Omaha
Padre (var)
Phlegm in the Ocean (var)
Pineapple (var)
Pyramid
Southern Cross (var)
Spit in the Ocean
Stormy Weather (var)
Super Hold'em (var)
Tahoe (var)
Texas Hold'em
Tic Tac Toe
Upstairs/Downstairs (var)
Utah (var)
Z

NAME: Bingo (similar to Tic Tac Toe)
TYPE: Stud, Community Cards
PLAYERS: Up to 8.
INITIAL DEAL: Five cards down to each player, nine cards face down in a 3 X 3 grid in the center of the table. Dealer exposes the four corner cards.
PLAY: Bet. Dealer exposes the three o'clock card (based on dealer's perspective). Bet. Dealer continues exposing clockwise and players keep betting after each until all four points are exposed. Bet. Dealer exposes the center card. Bet. Declare. Bet. Showdown.
WINNER: High and low split the pot. Hands are constructed from the best five among the five in player's hand plus the three cards in any row, column, or diagonal in the center grid. Player who wishes to win both high and low ends may take advantage of different three card series in grid.
VARIATIONS: None

NAME: Bundles
TYPE: Stud; Community Cards
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 8
INITIAL DEAL: 5 down to players, 2 rows of 6 cards each in center of table.
PLAY: Cards in middle are exposed as "pairs" or "bundles" (cards are paired per column) followed by a round of betting. Continue until all 6 "bundles" are exposed. Hands can be composed of just the 5 hole cards or one "bundle" and 3 hole cards. No more that one "bundle" can compose a hand.
WINNER: High/Low split the pot.
VARIATIONS:

Wild cards.

NAME: Cincinnati
TYPE: Stud; Community Card
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-9
INITIAL DEAL: Five cards down to each player, five cards down to center of the table.
PLAY: Bet. Dealer exposes a center card. Bet. Repeat until all five center cards have been exposed. Bet. Showdown.
WINNER: High hand comprised of any combination of the 5 player's cards and the 5 community cards.
VARIATIONS:

Whoever has the highest card of the same suit as a specified table card (usually the 3rd or 5th) gets half the pot. If you use the 3rd card, expect someone to raise the maximum every time during the last 3 betting rounds.
Lamebrain Pete- 3 cards down to players. Lowest up card on table and all like it are wild.
Criss-Cross (a.k.a. Southern Cross, Iron Cross, Church, La Crosse)- The 5 cards in the center are placed in the form of a cross. The outside cards are flipped (top, right, bottom, left) and then the center card is flipped. Players can pull cards from their hand and either across (left, center, right) or up-down (top, center, bottom) to form their hand.
Fiery Cross: Center card in cross and all like it are wild. High and low hands split.
Utah- Last card turned up on table and all like it are wild.

NAME: Elevator
TYPE: Stud, Community Cards
PLAYERS: 4-11
INITIAL DEAL: Four cards to each player and seven down on the table, arranged in two columns of three (the shafts) with one in between (the elevator car).
PLAY: Table cards are turned up one at a time, followed by betting rounds. The player will use the four cards in his hand along with three on the table to create a seven card hand. The player must use the elevator and one card from each shaft, and the three cards must be in a line, though the elevator can be in any of the three possible positions. For example, the * cards in the following table cards could be used:

So the middle card can be thought of to be on any "floor". The order of determining which card to flip is such that the elevator car is turned over last and no two shaft cards which can be used in the same hand be turned up until necessary. After all seven cards have been turned up, there is a final betting round and then each player must declare whether they are going high, low or both. If going for both, both hands must be made up of the four cards in their hand and the SAME set of three from the table. They may not use one set for high and one for low.
WINNER: High and low hands split.
VARIATIONS:

The elevator card is wild.
Different rows can be used for high and low hands when going both ways.

NAME: Heaven and Hell (a.k.a. Upstairs/Downstairs)
TYPE: Stud, Community cards
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-8
INITIAL DEAL: Five cards down to players, ten cards in center of table arranged in two rows of five.
PLAY: Cards in the top row (Heaven) are community cards in everyone's hand. Cards in the bottom row (Hell) are the cards banished from player's hands. Round of betting prior to turning of center cards. Dealer turns up one card from each row. Players must discard any card that matches a card in the bottom row. Round of betting. Any cards in the top row matching cards in the bottom row are banished as well and placed in the bottom row. Continue each round with turning up one card in each row followed by a round of betting. The winning hands must contain at least one of player's down cards. A player that loses all his cards to Hell must fold (rare but it happens). After last round of betting, declare. Bet. Showdown.
WINNER: High and Low hand split pot.
VARIATIONS:

Low card down in player's hand and all like it are wild for high hand only.
Low hand based on PIP count (Blackjack style).
Replace cards in upper row when others are matched to lower row. Replace cards in lower row when others are matched to previously exposed cards in lower row. Maintains five unique cards in both rows.

NAME: Iron Cross (#2)
TYPE: Stud; Community Cards
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 15
INITIAL DEAL: 3 down to each player, 6 down in center of table arranged as follows:

			3
5	1	2	6
4

PLAY: Turn cards # 1 & 2 in center of table up, followed by a round of betting. Turn cards # 3 & 4 in center of table up, followed by a round of betting.Turn card # 5 in center of table up, followed by a round of betting. Turn cards # 6 in center of table up, followed by a round of betting. The #5 and #6 cards are the intersection cards. Players make their best 5 card hand using any 3 of their hole cards and any 5 of the community cards consisting of the 4 middle cards (1,2,5,& 6) plus their choice of the two adjacent cards (# 3 & 4) but not both. Only one may be chosen.
WINNER: High/Low hands split pot.
VARIATIONS:

Both intersect cards (# 5 & 6), and matching cards, are wild.
Only the intersect card (# 5 OR 6) that is common to the row and column of the adjacent card chosen is wild for that player.

NAME: Kankakee
TYPE: Stud; Community Cards
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: Up to eight.
INITIAL DEAL: Two down to each player, plus a joker displayed in the center of the table.
PLAY: Same as seven card stud, except everyone shares their third card, which is the joker. The joker is wild.
WINNER: High hand
VARIATIONS:

Instead of using a joker as the community third card, deal a regular, non- wild card from the deck for everyone to share.

NAME: Little Opposite
TYPE: Stud, Community Cards
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-9
INITIAL DEAL: Five down to players, five down in center of table.
PLAY: Initial round of betting after the deal. Dealer exposes one of the five community cards in the center. Round of betting. Alternate exposing center cards and betting. The two cards of the opposite color of the lowest center card exposed are the wild cards. If another center card is lower than a previous card then the wild card changes. If the lowest center card is matched in the center by it's opposite color then nothing is wild. Winning hand must contain at least one card from player's down cards.
WINNER: High hand.
VARIATIONS:

Extreme Opposites- High/Low split. The cards of the opposite color of the lowest center card are wild only in a high hand and the opposite color of the highest center card are wild only in a low hand. (Total of 4 wild cards possible).

NAME: Omaha
TYPE: Stud, Community Cards
PLAYERS: 3-11
INITIAL DEAL: 4 cards down to each player, five cards down to the table
PLAY: Identical to Texas Hold 'Em, but final hands must include exactly 2 of the player's four cards and exactly 3 of the table's five cards.
WINNER: High hand.
VARIATIONS:

Padre- Play identical to Omaha. High hand and low hands split, but the low must be 8-high or better (lower) or the high takes whole pot.
Stormy Weather- Similar to Padre with an option to draw up to 2 cards after the first betting round and only 4 community cards rather than 5.
Players may use all 4 of their down cards in any combination for high and/or low hands. Cards speak for themselves.
Wild cards.

NAME: Peabody Hold'em
TYPE: Stud, Community Card
PLAYERS: 3-11
INITIAL DEAL: 5 cards down to each player, five cards down to the table
PLAY: Identical to Omaha. A pair of Jacks or better to open betting. If there are no openers, the hand is dead and is cards are reshuffled and redealt to those players that did not drop out.
WINNER: High hand.
VARIATION:

Wild cards

NAME: Pyramid
TYPE: Stud; Community Cards
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 11
INITIAL DEAL: 4 down to each player, 6 down in the center of table arranged as shown:

		4
	1		2
6		3		5

PLAY: Turn center cards #1, 2, & 3 up followed by a round of betting. Then turn center card #4 followed by a round of betting. Continue rolling center cards followed by a bet and then showdown. Players' hands will be their best 5 cards from the three cards of their choice from one side of the pyramid plus their 4 hole cards.
WINNER: High and Low split the pot. In the event that a player declares both high and low hand, the cards forming both hands must be from the same side of pyramid.
VARIATIONS:

Add wild cards.

NAME: Spit in the Ocean
TYPE: Draw; Community Card
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: up to 8 with a 3 card draw; up to 12 with no draw.
INITIAL DEAL: 4 cards down to each player, one card up in the middle.
PLAY: As in 5 card draw, but each player receives only 4 cards. The fifth card is dealt in the middle, is shared by all players and, along with all other cards of the same rank, is wild.
WINNER: High hand
VARIATIONS:

Have a player call "SPIT" at anytime during the deal to determine the wild card in the middle.
Deal three cards in the center of the table. Players can use only one of the three cards in their hand. The card is wild along with all samed ranked cards in player's hand.
Phlegm in the Ocean (stud variation)- Same as Spit, but cards are rolled at the end, with a bet after each roll.

NAME: Texas Hold'Em
TYPE: Stud, Community Card
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-20
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down to players. Five down in center of table
PLAY: Bet. Dealer exposes three center cards on the table. Bet. Dealer exposes a fourth card on the table. Bet. Dealer exposes a fifth card on the table. Bet. Showdown.
WINNER: Player with the highest hand constructed from the seven visible to player.
VARIATIONS:

Instead of exposing three cards in the center at once, all five are exposed individually with a bet after each.
Super Hold'em- 3 cards down instead of 2, all of which may be used.
Tahoe- 3 cards down instead of 2. No more than 2 hole cards can be used in final hand.
Pineapple- 3 card down instead of 2. Each player must discard one before the first 3 table cards are flipped.
Crazy Pineapple: same as Pineapple, but each player discards AFTER the first 3 table cards are flipped.

NAME: Tic Tac Toe (similar to Bingo)
TYPE: Stud
PLAYERS: 3-20
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down to each player, nine cards up on the table arranged in a 3 x 3 grid.
PLAY: All players place three blue chips in front of them (henceforth called "posts"). Betting starts to the dealer's left. At the showdown, players announce their best hand using their two cards plus any vertical, diagonal, or horizontal row of three cards from the table. Note that you must announce your hand-- if you miss a better one, too bad. High hand takes the pot, and all other players must toss one of their posts (if any still remain) into a separate pot. All cards are then discarded and a new hand dealt (without shuffling the deck if enough cards remain) to all players who still have posts. Play continues in this manner until only one player has posts left. That player collects the post pot and the game ends.
WINNER: High hand gets the betting pot; last player with posts gets the posts' pot.
VARIATIONS: None

NAME: Z
TYPE: Stud, Community Cards
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-9
INITIAL DEAL: Five cards down to each player, four cards down to the table arranged in a Z:

1	3
4	2

PLAY: The game begins with a betting round, the lead of which rotates each round. After each betting round, flip one of the table cards in the order indicated above (card 1 in the first round, card 2 in the second, etc.). After the last card is flipped there is one more round of betting, and then players form a hand from three of their own cards and any two orthogonally adjacent table cards (1&3, 3&4, 4&2), which they reveal in the showdown.
WINNER: High and low hands split, but the low must be 8-high or better (lower) or else the high hand gets the whole pot.
VARIATIONS: None.

Back to Main

This website is hosted for free by

. Get your own Free Website now!