I just thought up this variant while pooping. After dealing a few hands it seems like it would a highly "chess-like" poker variant requiring forward planning from the first street.

You are dealt six cards of which to make a 5 card poker hand. There is a round of preflop betting and then you lay 3 cards of your choice in front of you, the flop, everyone having their own open stud board. Another round of betting and then you place one card down in front for the turn. On the river you put one more card down leaving only one card in your hand and commence the final round of betting.


The first hand I dealt out that seemed playable was 4568QQ. You could decide to play this as a bluff right from the beginning by playing 854 on the flop and then putting one of the Q's down on the turn and then playing the 6 on the river making it seem like you have a 7 remaining, but really having the pair of Q's for backup if you want to check behind and give up based on opponents board or otherwise turning QQ into a bluff by betting the river.

Or you could go more audacious and expose the QQ on the flop and lay down the remaining str8 looking cards on turn and river fully committing to the bluff from the flop, that is unless your opponent is showing four clubs or something.


What do you think, yay or meh?