Crazy Pineapple and Tahoe are usually played high-low split.

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• It is easy to learn.
• Anyone who knows the rank of Poker hands can begin playing after a few minutes of instruction.
• There is a large element of luck, so that a beginner has a real chance of winning, even against experienced opponents. Also, it is plausible for poor players to attribute bad results to their cards rather than their plays.
• There is still enough skill in the game that experts have a significant advantage when playing poor players.

Although it is basically a four player game, it can be played with 2 or 3 players. It is fun to play. Unexpected results and interesting hands are common.

Playing a Hand

In Chinese Poker, each player receives a 13 card hand from a standard 52 card deck. He then has to divide his cards into three Poker hands, two containing five cards each and one three card hand. The only restriction is that both five card hands must outrank the three card hand (Note: straights and flushes do not count in the three card hand). The higher ranking of the five card hands, called the Back hand, is placed face down on the table in front of the player. Then the other five card hand, called the Middle hand, is placed face down in front of the Back hand. Finally, the three card hand, called the Front hand, is placed (again face down) in front of the middle hand. When all four players have set their hands, the cards are turned face up and the deal is scored.

Variant

The game can be played with the middle hand being low, rather than high.

Scoring

The basic scoring rule is that comparisons are done head-to-head and that a player wins one unit for each hand (of the three) which outranks the corresponding hand of each opponent. Thus, unlike most poker games, being second-best at the table is good enough to win money. Also, due to the head-to-head nature of the comparisons, it’s possible for different players to play for different stakes. For example, A and B could play for $10/unit, while all other pairs play for $1/unit. Many variations of scoring are in common use. Refer to the external links for more information.

Links

• Chinese poker overview
• Chinese poker rules
• Chinese poker FAQ
• Chinese poker instruction

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Hand scores

The backbone of the game is that each poker hand has its own point value, as given in this table:

One pair – 1 point.
Two pair – 2 points.
Three of a kind – 3 points.
Straight – 4 points.
Flush – 5 points.
Full House – 6 points.
Four of a kind – 7 points (but see Variations below).
Straight flush – 8 points (but see Variations below).

Basic rules

Chicago is played with a standard 52-card deck. Each player is dealt five cards. The objective is to reach 52 points.

Exchanges and hand scoring

The players are allowed to exchange any number of their cards. If a player chooses to exchange one card only, he may choose “one up”, meaning that he is dealt one card faced up, which he can either accept, or instead take the next card unseen. After the exchanges, the player with the best hand (and only one player) gets points for his hand. Then follows another round of exchanges, but no hand scoring.

The game

Now, the first player begins by playing one card. Ordinary whist rules apply, but the players keep their cards collected by themselves. The player who wins the last trick gets 5 points. Also, the player with the best hand (whether it is the same player or not) gets points for his hand.

Chicago

After the second exchange, any player can choose to play Chicago. In this case, he pledges himself to win all the tricks of the game. If he does, he is awarded 15 points, but if he fails, the penalty is just as harsh: -15 points.

Variations

• Sometimes, a player given five cards below ten (either inclusive or exclusive) is allowed to replace them before the exchanges begin.
• Some play with 3 exchanges instead of 2. Then of course, scoring for hands will be made after both the first and the second exchange.
• Some do not use the “one up” rule.
• Often, one wants to give higher rewards than 7 or 8 points for Four of a kind and Straight flush respectively. There are several ways to achieve this, most notably by elevating the player immediately to 52 points, or lowering either all players or one player of the holder’s choice to 0 points, or a combination of these. Holding a Royal flush usually means immediate victory.
• The confusion is great as to what scores are appointed in the case of Chicago. Some will argue that no player will get any points at all besides the +15 or -15, whilst others will allow almost any points. The +5 for the game, however, can never be stacked with the +15 for Chicago.
• Some prescribe that any player with 45 points or more is not allowed to replace any cards.
• Some require that after (and not in the same hand as) a player reaches 52 points, he must win the game once more before he actually wins. This handles the possibility that more than one player reach 52 points in the same hand.

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WinHoldEm is an online Texas hold ‘em bot, created by Ray Bornert. Bots of this kind can sometimes be used in online poker play, but this is considered cheating by poker rooms, and grounds for account termination. The bot is loaded, and will play in lieu of a real human, calculating pot odds and making betting decisions based on these calculations. There is no way to accurately estimate the extent to which these bots are used.

The bot works through installing client software on your machine which interfaces with the poker room, i.e. it is able to read what cards have been dealt, what bets have been made, etc. The bot’s ‘intelligence’ ends there. Whether the bot wins, or no

Links

• Official site
• Wired 13.09 article with Bornert interview

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Rules

• The game is played with a standard 52 card deck.
• Each player makes an ante bet of 1 unit and may make an optional bonus bet.
• The player and dealer are both delt 2 cards (face down).
• After checking his/her cards, the player may decide to fold with no further play losing the ante bet or make a flop bet of 2 units.
cards are then dealt to the board.
• The player may decide to check or make a turn bet of 1 unit.
• Another card is dealt to the board (making 4 cards in total on the board).
• The player may decide to check to make a river bet of 1 unit.
• One more card is dealt to the board(making 5 in total).
• The player and dealer make their best 5 card poker hand from their own hand and 5 board cards.

• If the dealer’s hand is better than the player’s hand the player loses all bets.
• If the dealer’s hand is equal to the player’s hand, all bets are a push.
• If the player’s hand is better than the dealer’s hand, the player wins even money on the flop, turn and river bets. The player also wins even money on the ante bet if his best hand is a straight or better, otherwise the ante bet pushes.
• If a players hole cards are a pair, A-K, A-Q, or A-J, the player wins the bonus bet according to the paytable. This bet pays even if the player does not beat the dealers hand.

Player Strategy

The optimal strategy for the flop bet is to call all hands except for 2-3 offsuit, 2-4 offsuit, 2-5 offsuit, 2-6 offsuit and 2-7 offsuit.

Because of the large number and variety of combinations, it is impossible to list a basic strategy for the turn and river bets.

Links

• Mikohn Gaming official site
• Wizard of Odds detailed analysis
• Optimal Strategy Calculator

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

There is a way to compute the Skalansky Malmuth table for those people who have trouble memorizing. The results are almost identical to those generated using the Chen Point Count.^[1] To compute the point count the following formula should apply:

1. Take the high card and score it. A=10,K=8,Q=7,J=6,T-2 = 1/2 value shown.
2. If the 2nd card pairs the first the value is either twice the high card point or 5 which ever is greater.
3. If they are not paired then calculate the gap for the lower card and subtract off a gap penalty:.
   1. For a 0 gapper subtract 0,
   2. For a 1 gapper subtract 1
   3. For a 2 gapper subtract 2
   4. For a 3 gapper subtract 4
   5. For a 4 gapper or more subtract 5 (includes A2,A3,A4).
4. If the cards are of the same suit apply a flush bonus of +2 pts.
5. If the cards are a 0 or 1 gap and the top card is a J or lower apply a +1 straight bonus
6. Round 1/2 point up

Then 12 – Chen Point Count in general is the SM hand grouping. Examples:

• 8♣ 8♠: 4 pts for the first 8, double for the pair is 8 Chen points. This puts it in S&M group 4.
• 9♣ 7♣: 4.5 points for the 9, -1 for the 1 gapper, +2 for the same suit and +1 for the straight bonus. Round up to 7 Chen points which is in S&M group 5.

The following hands are the exceptions (off by 1): 55, AQs, A9, AX, 96s, 32s, 98, 97, 76.

Notes

1. ^ Lou Krieger, Hold’em Excellence, ch Power Rating ISBN 1886070148

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth ^[1] assigned each hand to a group, and proposed all hands in the group could normally be played similarly. Stronger starting hands are identified by a lower number. Hands without a number are the weakest starting hands.

• Note: Unsuited on the bottom left, suited on the top right.

Chen Point Count

There is a way to compute the Skalansky Malmuth table for those people who have trouble memorizing. The results are almost identical to those generated using the Chen Point Count.^[2] To compute the point count the following formula should apply:

1. Take the high card and score it. A=10,K=8,Q=7,J=6,T-2 = 1/2 value shown.
2. If the 2nd card pairs the first the value is either twice the high card point or 5 which ever is greater.
3. If they are not paired then calculate the gap for the lower card and subtract off a gap penalty:.
   1. For a 0 gapper subtract 0,
   2. For a 1 gapper subtract 1
   3. For a 2 gapper subtract 2
   4. For a 3 gapper subtract 4
   5. For a 4 gapper or more subtract 5 (includes A2,A3,A4).
4. If the cards are of the same suit apply a flush bonus of +2 pts.
5. If the cards are a 0 or 1 gap and the top card is a J or lower apply a +1 straight bonus
6. Round 1/2 point up

Then 12 – Chen Point Count in general is the SM hand grouping. Examples:

• 8♣ 8♠: 4 pts for the first 8, double for the pair is 8 Chen points. This puts it in S&M group 4.
• 9♣ 7♣: 4.5 points for the 9, -1 for the 1 gapper, +2 for the same suit and +1 for the straight bonus. Round up to 7 Chen points which is in S&M group 5.

The following hands are the exceptions (off by 1): 55, AQs, A9, AX, 96s, 32s, 98, 97, 76.

Notes

1. ^ David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth (1999). Hold ‘em Poker for Advanced Players. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN 1880685221
2. ^ Lou Krieger, Hold’em Excellence, ch Power Rating ISBN 1886070148

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

One can replace any round of (or add a round to) a stud poker game with a twist round, in which each player is offered the option to replace exactly one card in his hand with a new one from the remaining deck stub. This is similar to the draw phase of draw poker, differing in the following way: if the player chooses to replace a downcard, he discards it and is dealt a replacement card also face down; if he wishes to replace an upcard, he discards it and receives the replacement face up. On a twist round, players make the decision of which card to replace in turn starting with the player who bet first on the preceding round (usually the player whose upcards make the best hand), discarding the card they choose to replace, if any. After everyone has made their decision, the replacement cards are dealt starting at the dealer’s left as usual.

Sometimes replacement cards are “bought” by requiring a player to add a fixed amount to the pot to be able to get a replacement.

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• Pairs, (or “pocket pairs”), which consist of two cards of the same rank (e.g. 9♠9♣). One hand in 17 will be a pair, each occurring with individual probability 1/221 (P(pair) = 3/51 = 1/17).

• Suited hands, which contain two cards of the same suit (e.g. A♠6♠). Four hands out of 17 will be suited, and each suited configuration occurs with probability 2/663 (P(suited) = 12/51 = 4/17).

• Offsuit hands, which contain two cards of different suit and rank (e.g. K♠J♥). Twelve out of 17 hands will be nonpair, offsuit hands, each of which occurs with probability 2/221 (P(offsuit non-pair) = 3*(13-1)/51 = 12/17).

It is typical to abbreviate suited hands in hold ‘em by affixing an “s” to the hand, as well as to abbreviate non-suited hands with an “o” (for offsuit). That is,

QQ represents any pair of queens,

AK (or, sometimes, AKo) represents any ace and king of different suits, and

JTs represents any jack and ten of the same suit.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

In the poker game Texas hold ‘em, a player’s hand consists of two hole cards, which belong solely to the player and remain hidden from the other players. Five community cards are also dealt into play. Betting begins before any of the community cards are exposed, and continues throughout the hand.

The player’s “playing hand”, which will be compared against that of each competing player, is the best 5-card poker hand available from his two hole cards and the five community cards.

Unless otherwise specified, here the term hand applies to the player’s two hole cards, or starting hand.

Links

• Percentage of Pots Won with Hold’em Hands Ranked by Percent
• More Detailed look at Starting Hand Statistics
• Essay discussing the different hand groups
• Texas Hold’em Poker

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.