The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (181 page)

the relative ranking of the straight and straight flush, but has more

ef ect

when applied to such freaks as Dutch, cherry, and striped straights.

Skeet A hand consisting of 9-(8 or 7)-5-(4 or 3)-2. Said to rank

between threes

and a straight, but, with 6120 possibilities (ignoring the 24 flush

skeets), it

should rank between a straight and a flush.

Skip A Dutch straight.

Squib An Ace (or Jack, or other specified rank) plus exactly one

card of each

suit.

Striped straight See Zebra.

Wheel A low straight, so termed in forms of Lowbal where

straights are

discounted as high hands. The lowest wheel is 5432A, known as a

bicycle.

Zebra Five cards that alternate in colour when arranged in

numerical order, Ace counting high or low –for example, A J

9 4 3 or K Q 7 5 A. There being 113,920 of them, they

rank between two pairs and threes. An additional 640 that are also

in sequence are cal ed striped straights. Another 128 are either

straights or zebras but not both, by virtue of the variable Ace. For

example, A K Q J T is either an Ace-high straight or an Ace-

low zebra.

The relative ranking of these hands depends on which of them are

included in the game being played, as they overlap with one

another as wel as with orthodox hands. Extreme cases of

overlapping can produce such freaks as 4 2 K J 9, which

might conceivably be described as a ‘round-the-corner Dutch zebra’.

Or (afterthought) a Mobius straight, as it forms part of an endless

loop that switches seamlessly between odd and even sides.

Dealer’s Choice games

The fol owing are not real y forms of Poker, but independent and

often trivial bet ing games that are recorded as played in Dealer’s

Choice.

Beat Your Neighbour (Rol over)

Deal five cards each face down in a pile. The first faces his top card

and a bet ing interval ensues. The second turns his top card. If it is

not higher than the previous player’s, he turns his second, and so

on, until he reaches a higher card. If he reaches a higher card, a

second round ensues. If none of his five is higher, he drops out of

play. Each in turn does the same, turning cards until he reaches one

higher than any before, fol owed by a bet ing interval, or dropping

out otherwise. Last in wins the pot.

Best Flush

Draw Poker, but only flushes and part flushes count. The best hand

is the one with most cards flush. Ties are set led on a high-card

basis.

Buddha’s Fol y

Deal five each and turn the next face up. Eldest hand may either

reject the upcard by passing it to the left, or take it and pass a

dif erent card to his left. Each in turn, similarly, either passes or

exchanges the card of ered from the right. Keep going til no one

wants the card on of er, then continue as in Guts (below).

Butcher Boy

Keep dealing cards one at a time face up around the table. When a

second card of the same rank appears, it goes to the player who

second card of the same rank appears, it goes to the player who

received the first. He initiates a round of bet ing, in which players

may drop, check, stay, or raise. More cards are dealt, starting with

the player who was next due for a card when the duplicate

appeared. The pot is won by the last left in, or the first to receive

four of a kind.

Guts

Players receive twocards each and, after examining them, decide

whether or not to compete for best. When al are ready, the

decisions are announced simultaneously. One way of doing this is to

simultaneously unclench fists, showing a chip if you’re in or none if

you fold. Another is for al to hold their cards face down a smal

distance above the table, and either drop them to fold or keep hold

of them to stay. Either way, those who stay in then reveal their

cards. The highest pair wins, or highest card if there are no pairs.

The winner takes the pot and the losers must then stake the amount