Starting the game
The game starts with one of the players dealing the cards. The cards are usually dealt anti-clockwise. Before starting the game, usually an agreed number of card(s) is/are picked or dealt to decide the dealer for the opening hand. After the first/opening hand, the winner of any hand will be the dealer for the next hand. Before playing it is necessary to agree on the value of the minimum stake known as
ante or
boot (which we will call one unit). Everyone places this minimum stake in the
Pot - a collection of money in the centre of the table, which will be won by one of the players. The dealer deals out the cards one at a time until everyone has three cards. The players then bet on who has the best three-card hand (see
Hand Ranking). Each has the option to look at their three-card hand before betting (playing
seen) or to leave their cards face down on the table (playing
blind).
The betting process
The betting starts with the player to the left of the dealer, and continues with players taking turns in clockwise order around the table, for as many circuits as are needed. Each player in turn can either put an additional bet into the pot to stay in, or pay nothing further and
pack. When you pack you drop out of that deal and forfeit any money you have already put into the pot during that deal.
The amount that you have to put in at your turn in order to stay in the game depends on the
‘current stake’, and whether you are playing blind or seen - seen players have to bet twice as much as blind players to stay in. At the start of the betting the current stake is one unit (i.e. the amount that each player put in the pot as an
ante – a compulsory fee to play the hand).
- If you are a blind player (you have not looked at your cards), you must put in at least the current stake and not more than twice the current stake. The current stake for the next player is then the amount that you put in.
- If you are a seen player you must bet at least twice the current stake and not more than four times the current stake. The current stake for the next player becomes half the amount that you bet.
If you are a blind player, you may choose to look at your cards when your turn comes to bet. You then become a seen player and from that turn onwards you must bet at least twice the current stake (or fold).
The Show
The betting continues in this way until one of the following things happens:
- All except one player have folded. In that case the last surviving player wins all the money in the pot, irrespective of the cards held.
- All except two players have folded and one of these players at their turn pays for a show. In that case the cards of both players are exposed and compared.
The rules for a
show are as follows:
- A show cannot occur until all but two players have dropped out.
- If you are a blind player, the cost of a show is the current stake, paid into the pot, irrespective of whether the other player is blind or seen. You do not look at your own cards until after you have paid for the show.
- If you are a seen player and the other player is blind, you are not allowed to demand a show. The seen player can only continue betting or drop out.
- If both players are seen, either player in turn may pay twice the current stake for a show.
- In a show, both players' cards are exposed, and the player whose hand is higher ranking wins the pot. If the hands are equal, the player who did not pay for the show wins the pot.
Side Show
If
all the players are seen, then at your turn, immediately after betting the minimum amount (twice the current stake), you can ask the player who bet immediately before you for a
compromise or a
side show. That player can accept or refuse the compromise.
- If the compromise is accepted, the two players involved privately compare their cards, and the player with the lower ranking cards must immediately fold. If they are equal, the player who asked for the compromise must fold.
- If the compromise is refused, the betting continues as usual with the player after the one who asked for the compromise.
