Is This Poker? (1 Viewer)

[Jimulacrum]

Put six guys around a table and give them a set of cards numbered 1 through 20. No suits or anything, just the numbers. Deal one card face-down to each player.

Small blind, big blind, no-limit betting. One betting round, optional draw, next betting round, showdown. High card wins the pot.*

Is this or is this not a poker variant?

Spoiler: *

Feeling adventurous? Low card wins half.

 

[ttmmxx]

no

 

[TheOffalo]

Not to me. For me, there needs to be some kind of poker hand ranking involved. So Acey-Ducey, 7-27, Booray/Bourré, etc. are not poker games. Still fun games and I like playing them in dealer's choice.

But I feel like (3- or 4-card) Guts, 3-5-7, Fours, etc. where pairs beats Ace high, two pair beats one pair, trips beats that, etc. is poker, or at least more poker-adjacent than other games that don't involve hand rankings (not single card rankings). Just my opinion.

Though I could be swayed by the fact that that your variant has the trappings of poker, including blinds, betting, draw, etc. So maybe I could change my mind...

 

[ekricket]

Sound reminiscent of this game, and if your is poker so is this one

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12942/no-thanks

 

[Lil Tuna]

Sound reminiscent of this game, and if your is poker so is this one

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12942/no-thanks

I was kinda thinking it sounded more like this.

 

[springbox]

To be honest, I don't see why not. Players are dealt cards that are hidden information, and make wagers if they think their hand is the best or they can bluff their opponent. There's a hand ranking system that determines the winner when you reach showdown.

It sounds awful to play, but I don't see why you couldn't call it a poker variant. Isn't this basically Blind Man's Bluff with information reversed and a drawing round added?

Sound reminiscent of this game, and if your is poker so is this one

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12942/no-thanks

Eh, in no thanks you aren't dealt any cards. You have tokens you use to pass cards to opponents, with a scoring system based on how many tokens and what cards you end the game with. There's no wagering or hidden information either.

 

[ArielVer18]

I would say no. There's barely any skill required. Why would anyone draw?

 

[JMC9389]

It's poker as much as baseball or guts is poker. No. But it sounds like fun

 

[Jimulacrum]

I would say no. There's barely any skill required. Why would anyone draw?

The skill is mainly in the betting choices and in estimating the probability that your hand is highest (or lowest in the high-low version).

In other words, exactly the same points of skill you'd observe in Five Card Draw, just simplified. It arguably even uses the same poker hand-ranking scale, but limited to high card because you only get one card.

You probably wouldn't choose to draw very much in this game, but occasionally you might realize your hand is beaten after you've made a bet (e.g., a super-nit cold-calls your raise), and trying for another card in the second round is your only chance.

 

[Jimulacrum]

It's poker as much as baseball or guts is poker. No. But it sounds like fun

By "baseball," do you mean the Seven Card Stud variant with 3s and 9s wild, 4 gets an extra card?

 

[JMC9389]

By "baseball," do you mean the Seven Card Stud variant with 3s and 9s wild, 4 gets an extra card?

Yes. Any game with a wild card is officially not poker any more to me. I'll play follow the queen, but limit only.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Yes. Any game with a wild card is officially not poker any more to me. I'll play follow the queen, but limit only.

Fair enough.

I don't agree that they're not poker by this criterion alone, but I also don't love wild-card games.

There's so much you can do with poker without issuing super-cards that overrun the game.

 

[allforcharity]

Put six guys around a table and give them a set of cards numbered 1 through 20. No suits or anything, just the numbers. Deal one card face-down to each player.

Small blind, big blind, no-limit betting. One betting round, optional draw, next betting round, showdown. High card wins the pot.*

Is this or is this not a poker variant?

Spoiler: *

Feeling adventurous? Low card wins half.

It's as much a variant as Indian Poker, I suppose.

 

[detroitdad]

In

 

[Goldfish]

By "baseball," do you mean the Seven Card Stud variant with 3s and 9s wild, 4 gets an extra card?

This is my favorite kind of flip.

 

[Natskule]

No, at least not to me. Poker involves a 5 card poker hand.

 

[andrebttx]

To the folks that have mentioned 5 card poker rankings as a defining feature, where are we on Badugi then? Because that one is poker enough for the WSOP, haha.