Do you want to organize a poker night for a group of friends? Well here are some suggestions I have for you for versions to play. I have a group of friends that play once a month. We get 5-6 guys together, everyone brings a six-pack of beer and then we all exchange so everyone gets one beer from everybody else. Then we sit down and play poker and either have food delivered half way through or the host has some at the house. Here are the game versions we play.
Follow The Queen – This is our favorite game because it is customizable. The basic game is played just like 7 card stud, but Queens are wild. Also, if a Queen is dealt face up the next card dealt after the queen is wild as well for anyone that has that card. But here’s the kicker, if another queen shows up then that old wildcard is no longer wild, and the new wildcards are the Queen and whatever card was dealt after it. If the last face up card dealt before the final round of cards are dealt face down is a queen then only queens are wild! Here are some ways we customize the game:
High Chicago – whoever has the lowest spade FACE DOWN in their hand automatically splits the pot with the person who has the best hand, if you have both the best hand and highest face down spade you win the entire pot! (this keeps more people in the betting of the hand)
Low Chicago – Same as High Chicago, but the lowest face down spade splits the pot.
Killer Queen – If the Queen of spades is dealt face up, the hand is cancelled. The pot stays as it is and everyone antes again. Next dealer must deal the same game. If anyone folded before the “Killer Queen” was dealt face up, they are not eligible to play the hand when it’s redealt. This can continue until there is a round played with no Queen of Spades dealt face up. Remember if the Queen of spades is face down that is fine, the hand is not redealt.
Give away your high or low card – If you play this way, after the first two cards are dealt face down you choose your lowest card (if playing Low Chicago, and yes this could be the 2 of spades if that’s your lowest card), or your highest card (if you are playing High Chicago, and yes this could be the Ace of spades), and give it back to the dealer, he shuffles those cards and redeals one to each person. Then you play whichever version you had decided you were playing.
It gets real interesting if you play either Follow the Queen with High or Low Chicago and Killer Queen, and Give away your low or high card, can be a lot of fun.
Other poker games we like playing are the following:
Baseball – you get 7 cards face down and DON’T LOOK AT THEM. You go in order flipping cards until you beat the highest hand exposed so far. 3’s and 9’s are wild and usually people have you pay a little money into the pot for each one you get. Also 4’s get you an extra card and you pay for that (you all can set what you pay). Decide before the game starts if you want to play 5 of a kind or not as the top hand, otherwise any hand with 5 of a kind only counts as 4 of a kind! After beating the previous hand you have the option to bet if you want and everyone that wants to stay in must match the bet.
Omaha Hi – This is like Texas Holdem (I’ll assume due to it’s popularity you know how to play Texas Holdem), but instead of 4 “pocket cards” you are dealt 4 of them. The thing is you MUST use 2 and ONLY 2 of your pocket cards and 3 COMMUNITY CARDS (no more, no less) to make your best hand.
Crazy Pineapple – Again like Texas Holdem except you are dealt three pocket cards. The key here is after you bet after the flop, you must discard one of your 3 pocket cards, and then the game is played just like Texas Holdem.
Pineapple – Same as Crazy Pineapple except you discard one of your hole cards before the flop.
I hope by sharing these games with you , that you can have a fun and exciting poker night with your friends as well. Good luck, and hopefully the cards will be nice to you, because you know your opponents won’t *grin*.
