I play in a dealers choice game a few times a month, for pretty low stakes. We play a lot of community card games, hold em/Omaha variations, and stud variations. Does anyone have any unique games that might be fun to play?

Common games include:
Hold Em
Omaha / Omaha hi-lo
Fourty-four
Fifty-three
Three card poker
Follow the queen (stud)
Cross-cross
Pyramid

I have also played a bunch of games from this site too, http://www.homepokeredge.com/gpage1.html

Kings and low in the Hole (Stud) Kings are wild and cost $x.xx. Also, low card in the hole is wild too. Board cards that match your low are also wild, so if you start with 2K 2, you have three aces. Options include being able to purchase your final card face up to avoid under-cutting a split wilds.

This thread was just started:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/24.../#post38217614

Do we have two threads on the same topic?

Omaha HiHi.

Same as Hi/Lo, but you make your personal nut hand, then play your other two cards for the other half of the pot.

You can't throw your HiHi to get a better LoHi. That is, if your best hand is a flush but loses to someone's boat, you can't choose your cards to claim a straight for your best hand in order to get your two pair for your worst hand. You gotta play your best against their best, then the other hands are what's left over.

Works for any game where you do Omaha hi/lo splits. Omaha 3-2-1 HiHi is good, too.

3-2-1 HiHi is really fun. This will get spread a few times a night at my home game.

My favorite is auction.

Give everyone 7 or 5 cards (depending on how many people you have) then put 4 cards face down on the table. Someone picks a card to start with, and you auction off that card. Whoever buys that card has to discard something that will then be auctioned off. If no one wants the card you turn over a new card.

At the end you can either have one round of betting, or expose your cards one at a time and have a round of betting each time.

Unique... maybe a couple

Mirastiko (me - ras -tic - oh)
Game is played with hole cards, and community cards.
The middle card dictates the money card, pot is usually split 1/2 hi and 1/2 based on money card.

Plays similar to Omaha/Big-O. 4 or 5 cards in your hand, must play exactly 2.
Board is 5 cards, and is pre-dealt face down (although I'd like to change that), with the middle card turned sideways.
First card is exposed. Betting round.
Turn another card. Betting round. Repeat until board is exposed entirely.
High gets half the pot.
Money card gets half the pot.
The money card is the card ranked 1 lower that the middle card, of the same suit. If nobody holds (or can use) the money card, then it goes down in rank to the deuce. The money card must be in your hand. Not shared if it appears on the board.


Options:
We play with 5 cards to each player.
We also run 2 (4-card) boards, with a single middle card. We've done 3 & 4 boards as well.
The middle card does not have to be 'progressive'. If 10c and nobody has the 9c, then hi scoops the pot.
If the middle card is a deuce, can 'go up', 'be dead' or convert to hi/lo (no qualifier). I think going up is best.
Betting limit of 10BB per card. Or 10BB until the river, then 40BB on the river.

We also play that you must use the money card as one of your 2 cards playing for high. It's generated a number of rule extensions, so you may prefer just to ship half the pot to the money card, even if it's not part of the 2 cards you are playing.

If required to use the money card and progressive:
A. If a player can use the money card and also make high hand, then they scoop the pot (or take 1/2 and chop if tied for high).
B. If a player can make the high hand, but can't use the money card to do so, then they must play the high hand if that earns them 1/2 the pot. The other 1/2 pot will go to the next highest card under the middle. This prevents a player from deciding which of 2 players gets the other 1/2 of the pot. (the 2nd high hand or 2nd money card).
C. If a player can make the high hand, but can't use the money card to do so, but playing the high hand would chop (get 1/4 or less of pot), then they play the money card to get 1/2 the pot.

Another popular game for us is

Evil
Based off of a game we used to call Pass-Pass-Hello. Have also heard it referred to as 7 stud build your own.

Each player who remains to showdown will get 7 total cards.
Pot is split hi/lo.
Nut Low for us has always been A2346. I can see valid arguments for letting the wheel be low (A2345) or 23457 be the nut low.

Each player gets 2 down cards.
Dealer turns over top card of stub and offers it to the player on his left.
Player can keep it or pass it. Cards can be passed two times, then "HELLO", the 3rd player must take it.
Player that took the card can check or bet. If checked, nobody may bet.
Dealer turns top card of stub and offers it to the left of the player that took the last card. Can be passed twice, then "HELLO" to the 3rd player.
When a player has 5 upcards (7 total), they are full and no longer offered cards (or counted in the passing).
When down to 2 players needing cards, a player may get a card passed back to themselves.
When down to a single player needing cards, the option to check or bet on each card remains.

We play spread limit SB - 10BB. Bet and 3 raises.
Yes, some players may be putting in money with only 2 down cards.
We play cards speak, no declaring with chips.

Can also be played without down cards, aka F-your-neighbor.

I play in a home game that has a double flop Omaha game with a declare (you don't automatically play both boards, you choose one, the other, or both to scoop). After the river card comes, there's a round of betting. Then a declare, followed another round. Lots. Of. Action.

What is the point in declaring?

Ah, the good old days. They weren't that long ago.



Declare games must seem so foreign to the younger generations of players who grew up playing strictly hold 'em.


The declare adds the twist of going for board #1 or board #2, or both to scoop. We play where you must win both to scoop, otherwise forfeit the pot.

If I understand Troy correctly, it is a high-only game, where you bet, declare, then bet again, then show. That's a little different than normal (usually bet, declare, show).


This way, it's not just cards speak. Two (or more) players can try to play the same board this way. It adds a lot of intrigue to the showdown, and creates action, since you can't always tell which way other players are going to go. More players stay in. As a result, pots can get quite large.

What dissuades me from always declaring for both boards?

This:

O. Well that makes sense.

We used to always play hi-lo games with the declare. One chip for low, two for high, and three to "go pig."

Dislike declare, but was a part of our early games for sure.

None for low, One for high, Two for both (must win outright, ties are no good.) With the number of times we see nut lows in our varieties of games, going to scoop would be dangerous. Plus, I like the best hands winning the pots.

My home game has become almost exclusively a version of this game along with Omaha 3-2-1. Dealers choice pretty much only has 2 choices now.

Our weekly dealers choice games include the following:

Double Flop Hold Em'
Omaha & Omaha H/L
Razz
5 & 7 Card Stud
Razz
7 Card No Peek
Black Mariah
Spit
Follow The Queen
Do Ya
**** On Your Neighbor
5 Card Draw
3-5-7
2 or 22
Badugi
2-7 Low Ball
La La
Pineapple, Crazy, Lazy & Regular
Criss Cross
Shotgun

Those are all I can think of for the moment, but if anyone needs explanation on the unfamilar ones, let me know.

I always post this, because it's the best game ever: 2nd best holdem (limit). 2nd best hand at showdown wins. Can't muck at showdown, cards speak.

This is a curious game. How close does it play to a low game? Wouldn't you take a bad hand and try to get to heads up? I suppose if you do, and get two callers, you could be screwed.

What are good starting hands?

If played at a full table, you're never getting heads up. Again, we have limit betting. The art of the game is trying to figure out what level of hand you need for a particular board texture. QQ can be a great hand for a lot of boards. Weaker two pair hands can often be winners. The fun happens on the crazy flush/straight/paired boards.

Oh yeah, limit. Sounds like fun, and a challenge to rethink the game for this variant.

As for good starting hands, it just depends. Against a few players, dominated hands work well. If you have KJ on a K9543r board, you could get to showdown, because AK/KQ will hope to get beaten by a weak two pair.

Position is most definitely paramount, especially on the river.

My brother came up with "Pittsburgh Hold'em"

3 rivers

What a mind bender. I would be tempted to fold AK/KQ preflop, figuring that if someone caught even a pair on a ragged board, they would fold, leaving you best. There are obviously levels here I don't understand.