List maintained by Peter Sarrett at http://www.gamereport.com/poker. Last modified: Aug. 23, 1995 (8/23/95).
Seven Twenty Seven (7/27) PLAYERS: 4-10 INITIAL DEAL: two cards down, one card up to each player PLAY: The object is to get as close to 7 or 27 as possible. As in Blackjack, Aces are worth 1 or 11 and numbers are worth their face value. Face cards, however, are worth half a point (.5). The player to the dealer's left is the lead player, with the lead rotating each round. Each round, each player starting with the lead has the opportunity to take one additional card. The lead then starts a round of betting. This continues until nobody takes an additional card. After a final betting round, players declare high/low/both and hold a showdown. WINNER: Closest to 7 and closest to 27 split the pot. 5-A-A wins the entire pot, even if other players have 7 or 27. 6 and 8 are equidistant from 7 and would split half of the pot. STANDARD VARIATIONS:
Numbers
PLAYERS: 4-8
INITIAL DEAL: five cards to each player and seven down cards on
the table
PLAY: A card on the table is turned over. Anyone holding cards
of the same rank must discard them. There follows a round of betting
(each round uses a rotating lead, beginning with the player to
the dealer's left). After each round another card is flipped over
and like cards discarded. If a card of the same rank as a previously
flipped card is turned over, a new card is flipped from the top
of the deck until an undiscarded rank is revealed. Thus, seven
different ranks will always be discarded. If anyone loses all
his cards, they instantly win the pot. Otherwise, after all cards
have been turned up and the last betting round concludes, players
declare high, low or both and have a showdown. Aces are worth
1 or 15, face cards are worth 10, and all other cards are worth
their face value.
WINNER: Highest and lowest totals split the pot.
Screw Your Neighbor PLAYERS: 4-8 (more possible, but it would be a LONG game) INITIAL DEAL: 1 card down to each player. PLAY: This game has no ante. Instead, each player places three of the highest-ranking chips in front of him. The lead begins to the left of the dealer and rotates with each hand. Each player in turn may opt to keep his current card or exchange it with the player to his left. If someone tries to take your card and you have a King, you may stop him from doing so by revealing your King. The last player may keep his card or exchange it for the top one from the deck. When all players have gone, everyone reveals their cards and the lowest card (Aces are high) tosses a chip into the pot. When you run out of chips, you're out of the game. WINNER: The last person remaining gets the pot. STANDARD VARIATIONS:
Boo Ray PLAYERS: 4-10 INITIAL DEAL: 5 cards down to each player. PLAY: Top card of the deck is flipped over, and the suit of the flipped card becomes the trump suit for the hand. Players secretly put a chip in their fist if they want to stay in, or form an empty fist if they don't. Players open their fists simultaneously. Players who stayed in may then exchange cards (as many as can be allowed by the remaining deck size and number of players who stayed in). Boo Ray is a trick-taking game. The lead player (which rotates each hand, starting with the player to the dealer's left) leads by playing a card from his hand. All other players do the same in turn. If they can, players must play a card of the same suit as the card which began the trick. If a player has no cards of that suit, he may play any card. The highest card of the led suit takes the trick, unless a card of the trump suit is played in which case the highest trump card wins the trick. The winner of the trick begins the next trick. Whoever takes the most tricks wins the pot. Anyone who stayed in but took no tricks must pay the Boo Ray amount ($1.00, $2.00, or whatever you agree on at the start of the game) to the pot. If tricks are split 2-2-1, nobody takes the pot. The game continues, with new hands dealt to all players, until the pot is gone. WINNER: Taker of the most tricks
This list is maintained by Peter Sarrett (editor@gamereport.com). Thanks to CMU's Gaming Club for getting me started with their list.