Mike's Universal Variant Rules For Poker Games

Variants, In General

Betting Variants

• Pot-limit: The maximum bet/raise allowed is equal to the amount currently in the pot plus the amount to the caller. To clarify, if there's $5.00 in the pot, and you're the first better this round, then you can bet up to $5.00; if you bet $5.00, the next person may raise the bet up to $10.00 (the initial $5.00 + your $5.00 = $10.00). Don't forget to count any lights twice when calculating the amount in the pot.
• Table-limit: The maximum bet/raise allowed is equal to the amount of money, in chips, on the table. This implies that people cannot purchase more chips during the hand, as that would affect the maximum bet/raise.
• Change the maximum bet to some arbitrary dollar amount, preferably something weird, like $2.55.
• Have a minimum bet. Make sure that it's fair, i.e. not too high, and that it is determined by something other than position relative to the dealer.

Play Variants

• Roll Cards: Rolling cards is the act of revealing cards one at a time and betting after each card is rolled. The most well known game that has players roll their cards is Anaconda (Pass The Trash) and all of its variants. Another game that has it is Midnight (Blind, Night) Baseball, although when the betting occurs is slightly different.
• Twist Cards: Players can get rid of a card in exchange for another card. Usually, an up-card is replaced with an up-card, and a down-card with a down-card.
• Split Pot: There are many ways to split the pot, here are some examples from games that we know and love:
  • High-Low Split
  • Highest/lowest hand and the highest/lowest card of a particular suite, as in High Chicago, Low Chicago, High San Francisco , Low San Francisco, etc..
  • Highest/lowest hand and some other player based on the position of the two, as in Love Thy Neighbor or Rich's Taste Of The Unpleasant
• Match Pot/Burn: You can almost always come up with a way to make a game into a match pot or burn game.
• Blind Cards: Players have down cards in their hands that they can't look at. Midnight (Blind, Night) Baseball, Indian Poker, and Indian Poker (Guts Style) are good examples.
• Pass Cards: There are more ways to pass cards than there are particles in the universe, but suffice it to say that you don't always have to pass left or right, 3-2-1, 1, etc.. You could pass across, or Heart's style; you could pass 1-2-3, or any number of cards in any order you want.
• Take It Or Leave It: Based on the popular 5 stud game, Take It Or Leave It. Players get a choice for up cards, they can either take the top card from the deck, which they get to see, or the next card blind.
• Roll Your Own: Based on the popular 7 stud game, Roll-Your-Own. Players get up-cards dealt down, and then must flip a card. The lowest card down is wild for that player.
• Pay for it: Make players pay an amount to the pot in order for that player to do something like Twist or "Leave it" in a Take It Or Leave It game. The amount of money depends on the action being taken, so twisting an up-card or "Leaving It" might be a low payment, like $0.10 to $0.50, whereas twisting a card in 727 or getting a 3 up in Baseball might be as much as pot. Just make sure that the amount equals the action, nobody's going to match put for a 4 in Baseball.
• On event do X: This will be by example:
  • Re-deal, as in: if the Queen-of-Spades shows face up in Black Mariah or Baseball With Rain-outs or as in: if no pairs are dealt face up in No Murder, No Game.
  • End the game, as in: if the Ace-of-Diamonds shows face up in Baseball With Strikes.
  • Force the player to take some action, as in: paying if a 3 shows face-up in Baseball.
• Wild Cards: add wild cards, here are some suggestions for those without an imagination:
  • Duces, Treys, etc.
  • Black Duces, Red Treys, etc.
  • One-Eyed Jacks
  • Suicide King
  • Lowest card in your hand
  • Lowest hole card in your hand
  • Lowest Heart, Spade, Diamond, etc.
  • Anything with a mustache
  • The lowest card in the player's hand to your left
• Board Cards: These are cards that are flipped up in the middle of the table, and have some meaning. Here are some possibilities:
  • Cards on the board are common cards, i.e. they can be used by players to construct hands.
  • Cards on the board mark wild cards, i.e. they may not be common, but they dictate which cards are wild
  • Players that match a card on the board have to fold, discard that card, or perform some other unpleasant action.
  Players act for other players: Have players choose what other players will discard, twist, pass, roll, etc.. Players should not look at each other's hands, but must choose blindly.