Mike's Rules To Community Poker Variants

General Rules

1. The board is a group of cards in the middle of the table that are shared by all players.
2. These games listed here are community games that did not fit into other categories.

Criss-Cross

• Maximum Number of Players: 10
• Wild Cards: None
• High-Low Split
• The Game:
  1. Deal 4 cards down to each player, and 9 cards face-down to the board in a 3x3 square.
  2. Flip over the card in the 3 o'clock position.
  3. Bet, flip over the card in the 6 o'clock position.
  4. Bet, flip over the card in the 9 o'clock position.
  5. Bet, flip over the card in the 12 o'clock position.
  6. Bet, flip over the card in the bottom right position.
  7. Bet, flip over the card in the bottom left position.
  8. Bet, flip over the card in the top left position.
  9. Bet, flip over the card in the top right position.
  10. Bet, flip over the card in the center.
  11. Bet, declare, and show. The high and low hands split the pot. Players may use any 3 horizontal, 3 vertical, or 3 diagonal cards along with the cards they were dealt to create their best 5 card hand. Players can use any number of cards dealt with any number of board cards. Players can also use different rows/columns/diagonals to create their high and low hands.
  The following is a diagram of the board, the numbers in the middle of the ASCII cards represent the order that the cards should be flipped.

              +---+ +---+ +---+
              |   | |   | |   |
              | 7 | | 4 | | 8 |
              |   | |   | |   |
              +---+ +---+ +---+
              +---+ +---+ +---+
              |   | |   | |   |
              | 3 | | 9 | | 1 |
              |   | |   | |   |
              +---+ +---+ +---+
              +---+ +---+ +---+
              |   | |   | |   |
              | 6 | | 2 | | 5 |
              |   | |   | |   |
              +---+ +---+ +---+
           

  Note: Players may use any of the following with the cards they were dealt to create their hand:
  • The 7-4-8, 3-9-1, or 6-2-5 rows
  • The 7-3-6, 4-9-2, or 8-1-5 columns
  • The 7-9-5 or 6-9-8 diagonal
• Variants:
  • Instead of revealing the cards one at a time, reveal them in groups. First, reveal cards 1, 2, 3, and 4 at the same time, and then bet. Then reveal cards 5, 6, 7, and 8; bet. Then reveal the last card, bet, declare, etc..
  • Make the last card wild.
  Thank you Jessica for supplying me with the two variations, but more importantly, for pointing out my mistakes regarding which cards players could use to create hands.

Death Wheel

• Maximum Number of Players: 11
• Wild Cards: None
• The Game:
  1. Deal 4 cards down to each player, and 8 cards face-down to the board in the shape of a circle.
  2. Flip over the card in the 3 o'clock position.
  3. Bet, flip over the next card clockwise.
  4. Bet, flip over the card in the 6 o'clock position.
  5. Bet, flip over the next card clockwise.
  6. Bet, flip over the card in the 9 o'clock position.
  7. Bet, flip over the next card clockwise.
  8. Bet, flip over the card in the 12 o'clock position.
  9. Bet, flip over the last card.
  10. Bet and show. The player with the high hand takes the pot. Players may use any 3 adjacent cards along with the cards they were dealt to create their best 5 card hand. Players can use any number of cards dealt with any number of the 3 cards from board cards.
  The following is a diagram of the board, the numbers in the middle of the ASCII cards represent the order that the cards should be flipped.

                       +---+
                       |   |
                       | 7 |
                 +---+ |   | +---+
                 |   | +---+ |   |
                 | 6 |       | 8 |
                 |   |       |   |
                 +---+       +---+
              +---+             +---+
              |   |             |   |
              | 5 |             | 1 |
              |   |             |   |
              +---+             +---+
                 +---+       +---+
                 |   |       |   |
                 | 4 |       | 2 |
                 |   | +---+ |   |
                 +---+ |   | +---+
                       | 3 |
                       |   |
                       +---+
           

  Note: Players may use any of the following with the cards they were dealt to create their hand:
  • 1-2-3
  • 2-3-4
  • 3-4-5
  • 4-5-6
  • 5-6-7
  • 6-7-8
  • 7-8-1
  • 8-1-2
• Variants:
  • Wheel Of Fortune: The Queen-of-Diamonds (Vanna) and the Ace-of-Diamonds (Pat) are wild.

Iron Cross

• Maximum Number of Players: 11
• Wild Cards: None
• The Game:
  1. Deal 4 cards down to each player, and 5 cards face-down to the board in the shape of a cross.
  2. Flip over the card in the 3 o'clock position.
  3. Bet, flip over the card in the 6 o'clock position.
  4. Bet, flip over the card in the 9 o'clock position.
  5. Bet, flip over the card in the 12 o'clock position.
  6. Bet, flip over the card in the center.
  7. Bet and show. The player with the high hand takes the pot. Players may use either the 3 horizontal or the 3 vertical cards along with the cards they were dealt to create their best 5 card hand. Players can use any number of cards dealt with any number of board cards.
  The following is a diagram of the board, the numbers in the middle of the ASCII cards represent the order that the cards should be flipped.

                    +---+
                    |   |
                    | 4 |
                    |   |
                    +---+
              +---+ +---+ +---+
              |   | |   | |   |
              | 3 | | 5 | | 1 |
              |   | |   | |   |
              +---+ +---+ +---+
                    +---+
                    |   |
                    | 2 |
                    |   |
                    +---+
           

  Note: Players may use either the 3-5-1 row or the 4-5-2 column with the cards they were dealt to create their hand.

No Holds Barred

• Maximum Number of Players: 11
• Wild Cards: None
• The Game:
  1. Deal 4 cards down to each player, and 8 cards face-down to the board in a hollow 3x3 square.
  2. Flip over the card in the 3 o'clock position.
  3. Bet, flip over the card in the 6 o'clock position.
  4. Bet, flip over the card in the 9 o'clock position.
  5. Bet, flip over the card in the 12 o'clock position.
  6. Bet, flip over the card in the bottom right position.
  7. Bet, flip over the card in the bottom left position.
  8. Bet, flip over the card in the top left position.
  9. Bet, flip over the card in the top right position.
  10. Bet and show. The high hand takes the pot. Players may use any 3 adjacent cards (including ones that turn corners) along with the cards they were dealt to create their best 5 card hand. Players can use any number of cards dealt with any number of the 3 board cards.
  The following is a diagram of the board, the numbers in the middle of the ASCII cards represent the order that the cards should be flipped.

              +---+ +---+ +---+
              |   | |   | |   |
              | 7 | | 4 | | 8 |
              |   | |   | |   |
              +---+ +---+ +---+
              +---+       +---+
              |   |       |   |
              | 3 |       | 1 |
              |   |       |   |
              +---+       +---+
              +---+ +---+ +---+
              |   | |   | |   |
              | 6 | | 2 | | 5 |
              |   | |   | |   |
              +---+ +---+ +---+
           

  Note: Players may use any of the following with the cards they were dealt to create their hand:
  • 1-5-2
  • 5-2-6
  • 2-6-3
  • 6-3-7
  • 3-7-4
  • 7-4-8
  • 4-8-1
  • 8-1-5
• Variants:
  • Cage Match: The corner cards that a player uses are wild, and so are all others of the same rank in his hand. Note: if a player is not using a particular corner, then cards of equal rank as that corner are not wild for that player.

Pyramid

• Maximum Number of Players: 8
• Wild Cards: See below
• The Game:
  1. Deal 5 cards down to each player, and 9 cards face-down to the board in the shape of a pyramid -- 2, 3, 4.
  2. Bet, then flip the first 2 board cards. Cards of equal rank to these 2 cards are wild, but these cards only mark what is wild, they are not shared by players.
  3. Bet, then flip the middle 3 board cards. These are the community cards, and are shared by all players.
  4. Bet, then flip the last 4 board cards. Any player holding a card of equal rank to these 4 cards must discard them. Additionally, any of the community cards of equal rank must also be discarded. Nothing special is done if there is a pair in these 4 cards.
  5. Bet, then showdown.
• Variants:
  • If there is a pair in the discard cards (the last 4 cards), replace one of the cards in the pair with a fresh card from the deck. In other words, the last 4 cards must be unique by rank.
  • Flip the discard cards (the last 4 cards) one at a time with a betting round after each flip.

Texas Hold'Em

• Maximum Number of Players: 23
• Wild Cards: None
• The Game:
  1. Deal 2 cards down to each player, and 5 cards face-down to the board -- 3, 1, 1.
  2. Bet, then flip the first 3 board cards.
  3. Bet, then flip the next board card.
  4. Bet, then flip the last board card.
  5. Bet, then showdown.
• Variants:
  • Omaha: High-Low Split, 8 or better low, Cards Talk, goal-posting, deal 4 cards, players must use exactly 2 cards from their hands. Note that this changes the maximum number of players to 11.
  • Padre: Deal 5 cards to each player instead of 2. Players may use any number of cards from the board with their cards to create their hands. Note that this changes the maximum number of players to 9.
  • Cincinnati: Deal 5 cards to each player instead of 2, and flip the board cards over one at a time, with a betting round after each flip. Players may use any number of cards from the board with their cards to create their hands. Note that this changes the maximum number of players to 9.