Straight Poker

Straight Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck with anywhere from 2 to 14 players; the ideal number of players is 7 or 8. Aces are high and there are no high or low ranking suits. Jokers are often used as wild cards.

The object of Poker is to form the cards into “structures.” The structures consist of card combinations of two or more cards of one rank or sequences of cards of the same suit.

In Straight Poker each player is dealt five cards. (Five cards are also dealt in Five-Card Stud and Draw Poker while seven cards are dealt in Seven-Card Stud.) The object of any Poker game is to take the cards you are dealt and make them into the best possible card combination in an effort to beat the other players.

In Straight Poker you must make the best of the cards you are dealt with no chance of improving them. (Draw Poker allows you to exchange cards and therefore make the betting a little more interesting.) Straight Poker is a game of luck and—if you're clever enough—a game that involves a good deal of bluffing, in the hope of fooling the other players into thinking you have a better hand than you actually do.

Succeeding at a good bluff can depend on the quality of your poker face. If your hand is a Royal Flush, you don't want your opponents to know that. If your hand is atrocious, but you want to stay in the game, you can try smirking a little throughout the betting process to fool other players into thinking you have a good hand. Bluffing relies heavily on your poker face.

Rank and File

Here are the ranking orders of card combinations:

• Five of a Kind: Four cards of same rank plus a wild card—the highest possible hand. Example: four Kings plus a Joker.
• Straight Flush: Five cards in a sequence in the same suit. This is the best hand you can have without a wild card (the best “natural” hand). Example: 7-8-9-10-J in the same suit. Note: Aces can be high or low, but do not wrap around—meaning you can have A-K-Q-J-10, or A-2-3-4-5, but you cannot have K-A-2-3-4. An Ace high straight (A-K-Q-J-10) is called Royal Flush and it is the highest natural hand you can have.
• Four of a Kind: Four cards of one rank, plus any fifth card of any rank or suit. Example: 4-4-4-4-8.
• Full House: Three of a Kind and a Pair. Example: Q-Q-Q-3-3. If there are two Full Houses on the table, you have to look at the cards as three of a kind. So if you have Q-Q-Q-3-3 and your opponent has J-J-J-2-2, your hand wins because your Three of a Kind (the three Queens) is higher than you opponent's Three of a Kind (the three Jacks). If you both have three Queens, you have to look at the Pairs to determine the winner. In the example I've given, if your hands both had three Queens, you would still win because a pair of 3s is higher than a pair of 2s.
• Flush: All cards of the same suit. Example: K-A-7-J-2 of one suit. In the case of a tie, you would have to use the rule for High Card to determine the winner.
• Straight: Five cards in ranking order, but not of the same suit. Example: 2-3-4-5-6 of different suits. Aces can be high or low, but cannot wrap around (K-A-2-3-4). In a tie, the Straight with the highest cards wins. If the cards are the same, you would split the winnings.
• Three of a Kind: Three cards of equal rank plus any other two cards of different ranks. Example: Q-Q-Q-4-5. (If the last two cards were the same, it would count as a Full House.) In a tie, the highest ranking Three of a Kind wins. So if you have Q-Q-Q-4-5 and your opponent has J-J-J-2-3, you win. If the cards are of equal value (this would only apply in wild card situations), use the High Card rules to determine the winner.
• Two Pair: Two pairs of equal rank plus any fifth card. Example: 2-2-4-4-6. In a tie situation, the highest ranking pairs win. If the cards have the same value, use the High Card rule to determine the winner.
• One Pair: Two cards of the same rank plus any other three cards that do not combine with the other two to form any other hands listed here. Example: Q-Q-7-6-4 (you would refer to this hand as a “Pair of Queens”).
• High Card (also called “No Pair”): This is the lowest ranking hand, but is used as a tie-breaker. It consists of five cards that do not make up any particular combination of cards listed here.

The cards are shuffled by any player and cut by the player to the shuffler's right. The person who shuffles the cards then deals the cards face-up (starting with the person on his or her left). This preliminary dealer keeps dealing until a Jack turns up. The person who receives the Jack becomes the first game dealer. The cards are then reshuffled—by any player—and should be shuffled at least three times. The player on the dealer's right cuts the cards. The cards are then dealt, face-down, one at a time to each player, starting on the dealer's left. Each player is dealt five cards.

The Bets Are On!

You bet against other players to determine who has the best hand of cards. Each new deal is a separate game, so you are betting on your current hand—there are no points to be added up at the end. You win if you keep betting and your hand beats every other hand. When the cards are redealt, you start a fresh game with fresh bets. The object of the game is to win the pot!

The amount of betting intervals depends on the game you are playing. One betting interval consists of every active player having had a chance to bid.

Some people will start a hand of Poker with an ante before the cards are even dealt. Antes are used in hands of Draw Poker—less so in Straight Poker.

Betting and folding must be done in turn. Betting goes around the table in a clockwise direction, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. There are three options when it comes to betting:

• Call: This means that you have to contribute to the pot (your bet) as much as—but no more than—any other player per betting interval. So if the betting starts with two chips—you must match the two-chip bet by tossing two chips into the pot. This is called the “call.” You must “call” to stay in the game. If you don't think your hand is worth the chips, you can fold (give up your hand).

Three Strikes

Most Poker games will have a cap on the amount of money you can bet. This is a good idea, or you could lose your shirt. A word of wisdom—no one makes a fortune on small-stakes games, so try to play for fun, not money. If you are playing for higher stakes, remember—this is gambling—never bet the farm!

• Raise: This means that not only do you call, but you may throw in a few more chips to emphasize that you have confidence in your hand. The next person to bet must call by matching the total amount of chips contributed by the previous player—but is not obligated to raise. So if the last player called with two chips and raised another two chips, you must put in four chips to call. If that player wants to raise, he or she would put in the four chips plus one or more chips to raise. That means the next player would have to put in five or more chips.
• Fold (or drop): If you don't want to participate in the betting, you lay your cards face-down on the table and say, “I fold.” This means the betting skips over you and moves to the next player in turn. Once you fold, you cannot return to that round and you lose the chips you contributed to the pot.

If you are playing Straight Poker with one betting round, all players must contribute what they owe the pot before revealing their cards. When all the bets are in, everyone reveals their cards and the highest hand wins the pot. You do not need to announce your hand when you lay it down—as often seen in the movies or on TV—the cards will speak for themselves. However, if you are using a wild card, you must announce what card the wild card is representing.

The people who folded during the game are not included in this final phase.

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Family Games © 2002 by BookEnds, LLC. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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