Poker News

Jim McKenna

There’s a good reason that you will not likely find any “wild” poker games in casino poker rooms. Good players would not show up. I’ve noticed that the way to neutralize a good poker player is to get him or she to playing in a home game that if laced with what I call “phony poker games.” These are carnival poker games that reduce the game to pure chance. Games like “One-Eyed Jacks (are wild),” “Doctor Pepper (10’s, 2’s, and 4’s are wild),” “Low hole card is wild (and all like it),” and “Follow the Lady (the card dealt after the Queen is wild, but could change if another Queen is dealt up).”

There are some that are close to regular poker such as “Three card poker.” In this game, though, a straight beats a flush. Go figure! It’s explained that it’s harder to get a straight in three cards than a flush. Another “almost poker” game is a game of 7-Card Stud and the high spade in the hole splits the pot. In the carnival version of this, the low hole card is also wild.

Then, there are the carnival games that have nothing remotely to do with poker. Games like “In-between,” where you get two random cards dealt up and bet that the next card will be in between the face value of your up cards. There’s a game called 7/27, where you get one card down and two up and either go for a low hand (7) or a high one (27). If you lose you have to match the pot.

As “home games,” these near poker games can be a lot of fun, don’t take a lot of skill, and can be very costly. These carnival games will build big pots, even though the bets are anywhere from fifty cents to three dollars.Even the purest of these games, such as “Jacks or better, progressive to open,” can build big pots. Even this game is mostly luck, even though some skill can help this type of game. In order to open in a Jacks (progressive) draw poker game everyone antes a dollar. If nobody opens the next round requires a pair of Queens or better to open and everyone antes another dollar. This goes on until someone opens. By the time it gets to Aces to open, the rest of the contributors to the pot are sitting ducks. And, it’s a lot of fun if you draw a set.

With the popularity of poker increasing, there are a lot of home and campus games that are being created. Most of them seem to be regular poker games, a lot are Texas Hold ‘em, and some are these “near poker” games are just an excuse to gamble. If you go to one of these games, be careful if they say that it’s “Dealer’s Choice.” That’s where you could walk into a “turkey shoot” and where you are the turkey. Why? The dealer is likely to choose to play one of these carnival games. In all of them, it’s likely that the dealer has the edge. That is, the dealer will choose to play the game that he does best at. After all, you can find some of these table games in a casino. And, guess who has the edge in “Texas Shoot Out,” or “Blackjack plus 3-Card poker?”

If you go to oneof these home games that are loosely referred to as poker and you are a good poker player, the only edge that you will have is luck. Some dealer’s favorite game may be the first time you even heard of the game. So, if you want a night of surprises go play dealer’s choice at some home game. If you prefer to play more predictable poker, go to your favorite casino or make sure that the home game that you go to is real poker.

Filed under: Poker News