Shift Deck Poker

Players: 2-9
Deck(s): 2 x 26
Betting structure: No Limit
Hand ranking: 95% confirmed for 5 cards and 7 cards (same results)
Game structure: same as Texas Hold'em
My opinion: "very deep no limit poker game"

Hand ranking is based on 26 card deck (two suits) but the game uses actually two of those. To play it you'll need one of those dual deck sets that contain 2 identical decks that have different colors on the back design. First one is used to deal all the hole cards and the second one is for dealing the community cards (Flop, Turn and River). The dealer has to change decks before dealing the flop.

Deck A ( 26 cards) - hole card deck
Deck B ( 26 cards) - community card deck

HAND RANKING (5 cards):

1. HIGH CARD
2. PAIR
3. FLUSH
4. TWO PAIR
5. STRAIGHT
6. STRAIGHT FLUSH
7. ROYAL FLUSH

Game uses the same mechanics as Texas Hold'em -> 2 hole cards + Flop(3), Turn(1) and River(1). Best 5 out of 7 cards make your poker hand.
- cards can repeat (example: JJ965 all hearts is a flush)
- maximum of two cards of the same rank can be in one hand, if there's more than two cards of the same rank the third (and 4th) card never plays

...and that's it. If you have 2 identical decks of cards at home you can try to look at this game from your own perspective. I couldn't find a single flaw or a weak spot, if you can find one let me know. It's probably a great NLH variant. Have fun

game author: Grzegorz Jakubowicz

It's a Pot Limit game. Sorry, my mistake. I realized that a moment ago ... but don't worry, it's still a great game !!

This is at least more intriguing than your last idea. I could see someone playing this variant in a home game dealer's choice kind of setup. I think the lack of trips, boats and quads as a part of play would confuse most people to start. I think you have significantly changed the game enough to make it interesting though quirky.

Thanks for your opinion, I appreciate it. Did you use the cards ?

I don't play a dealer's choice home game anymore. I only play at my local room. They have Limit and NL Texas Holdem and Omaha.

Years ago they would get a 7 card stud game going but that game hasn't been dealt in 10 years. It was the old guys that came in on weekday mornings who would get that game going. Same 8 guys every day and would play for 6-8 hours a day.

You don't have to play it. I mean, it's good to use the cards and try some example hands on your own with all cards face up. It's probably necessary if you want to witness all the good stuff the game does deliver

Four benefits of using 2 decks instead of just one:

- there's no drawing dead pre-flop
- you get a pair more often and flushes or draws are often combined with a pair
- you can get the same pair as your opponent and the kicker plays
- third card of the same rank sometimes is the 1 outer savior card on the river where normally you would be drawing dead

I hope that someone has a double deck set and can get a closer look at this amazing pot limit game at home. Such opinion would be priceless to me.

Sorry once again for the mistake, the fact there are 2 hole cards made me think it was a NL game and of course it's not.

In which poker variant is drawing dead pre-flop an issue?

None that I know, except one of my previous projects I made 2 or 3 years ago which was a 26 card hold'em. It would be definitely sort of issue for any community card variant to be drawing dead before the board comes.

I was just comparing 2 decks game to 1 deck game. Someone might think: "Why use two decks if the game can be played with one deck ? It would be more convenient, simple and the hand ranking would be the same." It's just much better option to use two decks.

This is how I came up with the idea of Shift Deck Poker - I was trying to fix that drawing dead pre-flop problem in my past project. You can never be drawing dead pre-flop in NLHE and it's obviously one of the game's positive factors.

You can definitely be drawing dead in NLHE.

Thanks, I didn't know that.

Guys, yesterday I made a game that finally isn't quirky, odd or unplayable. There won't be any shifting decks rule or reversing card values - so don't worry. All of your comments, opinions and sometimes silence made me think a lot and re-study the whole thing. It will be a 6 max NL Texas Hold'em variant with 10 hands ranking. The deck and the ranking will be completely new though. I don't want to post a new thread right now, so I'll wait a couple of days or more. It will be extremely hard to confirm the hand ranking, because the differences between hands are small. It's relatively easy to hit any of the 10 hands and this makes the game super dynamic. Something like a sequel to Short Deck Poker. I must check the whole game first to avoid mistakes, so just give me some time and get ready. I really hope this will be my last project this time because I'm too exhausted after 14 years long quest Thanks for the support.