OT - Poker?

[Dave Bryce]

Ahhh, Friday night. Soon, it'll be 8:30 and six guys will show up at my house (it's my week to host), ready to play poker until about 2 in the morning...

 

Anybody else like to play poker and/or have a regular game in which they participate? Got a particular game you like to deal/play more than any other?

 

It should be interesting to see who the forum poker-heads are...

 

dB

[shniggens]

I used to love it . . . until I realized that it's more addictive than crack. Now I just use it in moderation. (Poker that is:))

[Florin Andrei]

Originally posted by Dave Bryce:

Anybody else like to play poker and/or have a regular game in which they participate? Got a particular game you like to deal/play more than any other?

The game i like could be defined as the opposite of poker. I'll tell you, you only have to promise not to laugh.

 

Ok... it's charades.

 

Why the opposite of poker? Because, when playing poker, you have to disclose as little info as possible. While with charades, it's the opposite.

I used to play charades a lot in college. Too bad i can't play it enough nowadays - for some strange incomprehensible reason, people seem to think it's childish.

 

Ah well... It's a fun game anyway.

[Dave Horne]

This is a solo game - concentration, a form of solitaire.

 

You have four working piles and four discard piles. Suits don't matter and the four working piles are Ace, duece, three and four. The Ace pile goes by 'ones' - A,2,3,4 ...etc. The 'two or duece' pile goes by 'twos' ...2,4,6,8,10,Q,A,3,5,7,9 ... etc.

 

The 'three' pile goes by 'threes' ... 3,6,9,Q,2,5,8,J ... etc.

 

... and the four pile goes by 'fours' ... 4,8,Q,3,7,J ... etc.

 

The four discard piles - you can only use the top card of each pile to use on the working pile. You really have to ... concentrate. Great game.

 

I'm sure I could have explained this better, but thisis the first post of the day.

[Dave Pierce]

I used to play a lot of poker when I wore a younger man's shoes. Been a long time though.

 

7-card stud's my game.

 

--Dave

[Magpel]

I'd love to be part of a low stakes poker game. Even when it's nickel/dime/quarter/ it's surprising how big those pots can become.

 

One of my college favorites was Mariah, which was just straight five card draw but to win the pot you had to had best hand, high spade, and low spade. And the pot would keep growing until someone did...

 

We played a cool game called Bluff that had all kinds of pot-matching sidebets. Some Bluff pots would reach 20 bucks--in penny poker!

 

Acey Duecey is always fun.

 

Baseball and Night Baseball are two of my favorites, too.

[marino]

I used to enjoy to relax by playing a couple of hands... I like poker enough to feel involved in the game, but not enough to endure night-long sessions.

In Italy, we call the set of cards that's used for poker the "French" cards. Then we have another kind of set, that we call "Italian", which have variations according to which region you're in. There are a few amazing and convolute games for Italian cards, like Scopone Scientifico, really too complex to explain here.

[Max Ventura]

DAVE:

I'm sorry to say that I cancelled Frankfurt this year because of flight inconveniencies. And also because we have the Italian Music Show about two weeks before, that's odd.

Ready anyhow to have you here for a vacation anytime you like, no questions asked.

 

MARINO:

ci vieni al Disma quest'anno? 13-16 Marzo a Rimini.

[Dave Bryce]

Originally posted by Max Ventura:

DAVE:

I'm sorry to say that I cancelled Frankfurt this year because of flight inconveniencies. And also because we have the Italian Music Show about two weeks before, that's odd.

Ready anyhow to have you here for a vacation anytime you like, no questions asked.

Sorry to hear that, Max, but thanks for the invitation!

 

MARINO:

ci vieni al Disma quest'anno? 13-16 Marzo a Rimini.

I've been to the Disma show - Rimini is beautiful...

 

dB

[Llarion]

I'm a pokerhead from ages past...

 

When I'm feeling gritty, I like 5 or 7 card stud.

 

When I'm feeling like some junky fun, I like to deal "Pass the Trash" (Deal 7 cards to each, you pick up your hands, bet, pass 3 you don't like to the right or left , bet, pass 2, bet, pass 1, bet, drop 2 cards, arrange your five in the order you want them to come up , then everyone flips a card, bet, flip, bet, and so on until everyone has to reveal their last card.

 

and "Night Baseball" - 9 card no-peek, 3s and 9s wild, 4 gets you an extra card down, you can very it with having wild cards cost money. You flip a card, bet it. The next guy flips till he beats you, he bets. and so on until the last man standing.

 

Blackjack is my favorite... used to be I could count a 2 deck shoe with no problems, back when they used em... If you play it with discipline, on a 6 deck shoe, you can get the odds to 51.4% in your favor. But you have to be disciplined and play the long haul. And you also have to sit the farthest to the dealer's right so you can watch what's going on upstream.

 

I can't stand "jacks or better" and other such minimum entry, progressive games.

 

Another junky fun one is "99". It's not usually a betting game, but it can be. You ante big, like $1.00 in a nickel-dime-quarter game. Everyone gets 3 cards, and the rest of the deck is face down in the middle. First man starts by discarding one card, calling the additive total out loud, and drawing from the pile. (If you forget to draw, and the next guy goes, you lose that card and have to play with two!) Aces are 1, everyting numeric is face value, face cards are 10. The object is to run the total up to 99, and if it's your turn, and you're forced over 99, you're out. There are 4 special defensive cards: 4 is skip me, 9 is reverse direction, 10 is subtract 10 from the total, and K is take the total to 99 right away. Using that can backfire on you if you don't also have a defensive card to backup the possible boomerang effect. You play a round, one guy drops, that roudn stiop as soon as one guy loses. (in the non-betting game, you just move to the next guy, until nobody can defend agaisnt the 99) Everyone antes again, and so on until the last man standing takes it.

[Dave Bryce]

Originally posted by Llarion:

When I'm feeling like some junky fun, I like to deal "Pass the Trash" (Deal 7 cards to each, you pick up your hands, bet, pass 3 you don't like to the right or left (determined at the deal), bet, pass 2, bet, pass 1, bet, drop 2 cards, arrange your five in the order you want them to come up (bluffer's paradise);, then everyone flips a card, bet, flip, bet, and so on until everyone has to reveal their last card.

We call that game Anaconda.

 

To us, Pass The Trash is a lighter version - deal, bet, pass three, discard two, arrange and then flip and bet. It goes quicker than Anaconda.

 

We also play those as a hi-lo split.

 

My other current fave is seven card substitution stud, which is played just like seven card stud, except you get to swap out a card at the end of the deal, but it costs you ($1 for an up card, $2 for a down card). This game is also played as a hi-lo split, which is interesting because it's not so easy to tell which way someone is going based on their four up cards.

 

I also like playing Omaha Hold 'em, which is played similarly to Texas Hold 'em, except you're dealt four cards (not two) and you MUST use exactly two of the cards in your hand along with three of the five cards on the table - no more, no less.

 

dB

[marino]

Originally posted by Dave Bryce:

MARINO:

ci vieni al Disma quest'anno? 13-16 Marzo a Rimini.

I've been to the Disma show - Rimini is beautiful...

 

dB

Rimini is my place of origin - all my family comes from there.

I'll try to be at the Disma for one day. I'll let you know, Max, so we can meet!

[jackpine]

I play poker about once a month with the guys. But up here in the northwoods the game every one is into is Euchre.

 

Now I'm even playing online....

[Dan South]

How do you guys keep track of all of these variations? The old draw five/discard three formula doesn't cut it anymore?

 

Question about seven card stud - do you only have to get a five-card hand, e.g. full house, or do all seven cards have to fall into some scorable configuration.

 

Also, how do you deal with wildcards? Can a wildcard make an otherwise impossible hand, such as five of a kind? Or can it only act as a substitute for another card in the deck?

 

I like to play Guts. Fast. Exciting. Let's you win a whole night of poker losses back in ten minutes or less.

[Max Ventura]

MARINO

la mia mail: max@galassia303.it

[DJDM]

I've been attending or hosting poker at various tables for about 7 years now and I have to say it is one of my favorite ways to kill time. I tend to break even or come out slightly ahead at nickel ante.

My favorite games? Mexican Standoff and Acey Ducy. Fun and can get a little crazy.

Recently an old friend of mine has become obsessed with Texas Hold 'em (thanks to all of the press it is getting) so we have been playing that. In fact he is holding a tournament and has invited a big crowd (looks like he's expecting two tables) with clay chips a couple of dealers and everything. Should be fun.

 

- DJDM

[Kaptain Karl]

Hmmm...Interesting I too played some poker on Friday night. Its been a long time. We tried a new one, to me anyways, called Texas hold em. Fun game.

 

-k

[Chas]

I play in a Thursday night (once a month)game. Poker hands only- no wild cards or novelty games: draw, five and seven card stud, seven card stud hi-low, Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha (a truly wild game) Jacks or Back. Pot limit.

 

One of the the group is a PHD Statistician and the only guy I've ever known who consistently draws to an inside straight. Curiously, he frequently makes it.

 

Chas

[Llarion]

Originally posted by Dan South:

How do you guys keep track of all of these variations? The old draw five/discard three formula doesn't cut it anymore?

 

Question about seven card stud - do you only have to get a five-card hand, e.g. full house, or do all seven cards have to fall into some scorable configuration.

 

Also, how do you deal with wildcards? Can a wildcard make an otherwise impossible hand, such as five of a kind? Or can it only act as a substitute for another card in the deck?

 

I like to play Guts. Fast. Exciting. Let's you win a whole night of poker losses back in ten minutes or less.

If you're playing no wildcards, or "man's poker"... then you play your best 5 in a 7 card game. If you are playing wildcards, then generally, "impossible" hands go, and the extea 2 are "kickers", or you let them count. <"seven nines??? Yeah, I call it a "borg" hand!">

[Jimmy jym Ghym]

Played a lot of poker and blackjack at school, but now i'm a big FiveHundred fan... anyone play? It's probably got different names, but is too complicated to explain here. Not exactly designed as a betting game but it works... as long as everyone's fairly sober (yes you actually have to think).

 

I've always wanted to learn bridge or something hardout, does anyone play? Sounds suave, posh and ponsy...

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by Dave Bryce:

Ahhh, Friday night. Soon, it'll be 8:30 and six guys will show up at my house (it's my week to host), ready to play poker until about 2 in the morning...

 

6 guys playing polkas until 2 in the morning - the neighbors must love you.