Here are a few guidelines we tend to follow. Most were written up by Kevin and Mike, with some stolen directly from the Poker FAQ. :)
Please familiarize yourself with and be mindful of 8-2 poker etiquette.
Check-raising is allowed. It wouldn't be real poker otherwise.
One chip rule: If the bet is $2 to you, and you set down a single $5 chip without saying anything, your action is only a call.
- Unless otherwise specified:
In structured-limit games (e.g. Texas Hold'em), the betting is $3/$6. In spread-limit games, minimum bet is $1 and maximum bet is $5. White chips are $1 and red chips are $5. And if we use them, green chips are $25, black chips are $100, and purple chips are $500. Buy-in is typically for $100 or more. Most players bring anywhere from $100-$300, in case they want to buy in again.
SPECIAL HOUSE RULE: When we're playing limit poker, we do not play table stakes. If you do not have enough chips to cover a bet, you may dig into your pocket in the middle of a hand for more money, or even borrow from another player. You cannot go "all-in" and we will not typically create side pots. Exception: if a player has reached his personal buy-in limit for the evening (and it is understood that if he loses the current hand, he is out for the night), then we will allow the player to go all-in. To put it another way, you cannot go all-in in a hand, lose the hand, and then buy more chips.
When we play No-Limit poker, we do play table stakes, because there's always a maximum buy-in.
8-Low, or "8 or better" - means that all five cards in your low hand must be less than or equal to an eight. If the best low hand you can make contains a card higher than an eight, you do not have a valid low hand in games designated as "8 or better".
In some High/Low split-pot games the best low hand is A2345 (a.k.a. the wheel), and in others it is A2346 (a.k.a. a sixty-four) not all the same suit. Usually the distinction is that the wheel is the perfect low in games played in a casino (like Omaha Hi-Lo and 7-Stud, Eight or Better) and a sixty-four is the perfect low in other games like Pass The Trash and Suffecool. Remember, when comparing low hands to see who wins, you start with the "highest" card first. Therefore, a 7432A would lose to a 6543A. Here are the top ten best "low" hands:
- 6432A (best possible low; known as a "Sixty-Four")
- 6532A
- 6542A
- 6543A
- 7432A
- 7532A
- 7542A
- 7543A
- 75432
- 7632A
Bring In: In most 7-Card Stud games, the player with the lowest initial up card is the "bring-in". That player must open the betting with a bet of at least $1, but may bet any amount up to the maximum of $5. In low-only games (like Razz), the highest initial up card is the forced bring-in. Note that certain games have an ante instead (such as 42nd Street and Pass The Trash), but most do not. In the event of a tie when determining who brings in, we use the Bridge-style suit ranking: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades (from lowest to highest - easy to remember; they're in alphabetical order). Therefore, if you get dealt the Deuce of Clubs, get your white chip out there. :)
SPECIAL HOUSE RULE: There's no cap to betting. There is unlimited raising, with a "freeze". After three raises, any person afterwards (still in the game) may call the current size of the bet and state "I freeze." This stops the raising for that round only. You cannot raise and freeze at the same time (e.g. if yours was the third raise).
Extra Chip: In split-pot games, or in games where the pot is divided among two or more players, if there is an "extra chip" when splitting the pot, it is given to the first player to the left of the dealer. There will be no pot-sweetener for the next game.
Wild cards, unless otherwise stated, can stand for any card. In wild card games, an extra hand of Five-of-a-Kind is possible, and such a hand will beat a Straight Flush. In addition, "natural" hands are not superior to the same hand consisting of wild cards; therefore, if we were playing Deuces wild, a natural Straight [56789] would tie with a wild-card Straight [56722].
Use chip declare (see photo example) to determine which way you are going: high, low, or pig. Everyone puts two chips in his hand. Under the table, he secretly conceals zero, one, or two chips in one hand and brings a closed fist above table. All players open their hands at once, palm facing up. If your hand:
is empty you are "going low", meaning you are competing for the low hand only has one chip you are "going high", meaning you are competing for the high hand only has two chips you are "going pig", meaning you are competing for both the high hand and the low hand When going pig, you must either win or tie both ways, or else you lose everything.
Example 1: Player A declares high, Player B declares low, and you declare pig. Your high hand beats Player A, but Player B has a better low hand than you. Because you lost the battle for low, you forfeit your win for high. Player A wins half the pot as the true high hand (now that you've been eliminated), and Player B wins half the pot for low.
Example 2: Players A and B declare low, and you declare pig. You beat player A's low, but tie Player B for low. You win half the pot as the sole winner for high. Both you and Player B split the remaining half of the pot since you both tied for low. Final tally: you got 75% of the pot, and Player B only gets 25%. You do not have to show what your high hand was, since nobody challenged you for high.
In hands played for low, aces are always considered low. Therefore, a pair of Aces is lower than (and therefore beats) a pair of Deuces.
In split pot games, there is no betting round after the declare.
Half-bet Rule when betting and raising - All bets and raises must be equal to the limit for the round, with the exception of the forced bet in stud, unless a player is going all-in. An all-in bet or raise of less than half a full bet is regarded as a 'no bet' and may not be raised by any player who has already checked or called. The bet or raise of less than half a full bet does not count towards the one bet and three raise limit. Players facing an all-in bet of less than half a full bet may call or complete the bet to a full bet. A bet or raise of one half or more of a full bet is regarded as a 'full bet'. Players facing an all-in bet or raise of one half or more of a full bet may call or make a full raise.
Standard Direction: In push or passing games, (e.g. Suffecool or Pass the Trash) cards are always passed to the left, unless otherwise specified.
