Cash Game The Wild World of Scarney (3 Viewers)

[MatB]

Scarney 0
Scarney 49

Try em

I would try those.

 

[RocAFella1]

I would try those.

Then Scarailment.

 

[MatB]

Then Scarailment.

 

[ekricket]

Then Scarailment.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Scarney 0
Scarney 49

Try em

I believe I understand Scarney 49 (mechanically the same but high points take half, where A = 1, 2–10 = face value, and face cards = 0), but what is Scarney 0?

 

[ekricket]

I believe I understand Scarney 49 (mechanically the same but high points take half, where A = 1, 2–10 = face value, and face cards = 0), but what is Scarney 0?

I played a split pot game once, called 747. It was split by whoever hit closest to 7 or 47. You couldn’t go over. So for the low you had to have 4 aces and a two. It was stupid.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Then Scarailment.

So three 3-2-1 boards, bottom board is the kill board, and whichever live board gets the lowest river is killed?

 

[RocAFella1]

I believe I understand Scarney 49 (mechanically the same but high points take half, where A = 1, 2–10 = face value, and face cards = 0), but what is Scarney 0?

Face cards are 0, lowest points takes half.

 

[Jimulacrum]

I played a split pot game once, called 747. It was split by whoever hit closest to 7 or 47. You couldn’t go over. So for the low you had to have 4 aces and a two. It was stupid.

We play a game somewhat like that where the posts are 4 1/2 and 21 1/2 (face cards = 1/2 point, all other cards = Blackjack values). Hand must be at least 4 1/2 and at most 21 1/2 to qualify. Players start one up and one down, then betting round, then take a card if you want one, then betting around, etc., until no one draws. Then last betting round and showdown. We play it 1–3 spread limit with a 3-bet cap, but it's a weird structure inherited from the guy who introduced the game. Could easily be played with a more traditional structure. It can build up some substantial pots. Lots of strategic thinking involved. Even so, I'm not really big on this game. I'd rather play actual Blackjack with the guy who pays 2:1 on blackjack.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Face cards are 0, lowest points takes half.

Oh. That's an interesting twist. So two-way monsters no longer exclude big boats made with paint, and they may even do better than the usual AAxxxx types of hands that dominate in normal Scarney. I would play it.

 

[RocAFella1]

So three 3-2-1 boards, bottom board is the kill board, and whichever live board gets the lowest river is killed?

3 - 5 card boards for derailment portion
1 - 5 card board for Scarney discarding portion
No longer Omaha rules for derailment portion

 

[Jimulacrum]

3 - 5 card boards for derailment portion
1 - 5 card board for Scarney discarding portion
No longer Omaha rules for derailment portion

How does the pot split? In thirds? Or does it just turn into Double Board Hold'em without the Scarney points component?

 

[Poker Zombie]

Also,, In my humble opinion, all Scarney variations should be played as a bomb pot.

The focal point of good scarney strategy is preflop. If you aren't discarding a percentage of your scarney hands, you are just flipping. Cut out all the other cards and just draw for high card. You will get in more hands per hour.

 

[Jimulacrum]

The focal point of good scarney strategy is preflop. If you aren't discarding a percentage of your scarney hands, you are just flipping. Cut out all the other cards and just draw for high card. You will get in more hands per hour.

Hard disagree. There's a ton of space for strategic decision making in the flop and later rounds in Scarney. The discard board alone gives you a ton of information. Hand reading on both the low and high sides is robust in this game. Choosing openers is a valid point of skill, but the game is great even without it.

 

[MatB]

The focal point of good scarney strategy is preflop. If you aren't discarding a percentage of your scarney hands, you are just flipping. Cut out all the other cards and just draw for high card. You will get in more hands per hour.

I sometimes joke that the game begins AFTER the flop for most poker variants.

But for Scarney it's true.

You also want 3 players at showdown. Bomb pots help with that.

 

[Jimulacrum]

I sometimes joke that the game begins AFTER the flop for most poker variants.

But for Scarney it's true.

You also want 3 players at showdown. Bomb pots help with that.

The more I play bomb pots, the more I wonder if preflop-less flop games are the way of the future. You miss one betting round but set up so much more action and give nits fewer places to hide.

 

[allforcharity]

Fold, people, fold!

 

[Jimulacrum]

Fold, people, fold!

Sounds like nit talk to me.

 

[MatB]

Fold, people, fold!

Fold so they can lament the hand that could have been if they'd just called the min raise !!

 

[grandmeme]

Love scarney as a bomb pot, played pot limit. Also love derailment, drawmaha and its variants, ultimate hi lo double board plo, sohe, sheshe, scrotum, etc as pot limit bomb pots... maybe I'm just a helpless degen

 

[Marc Hedrick]

The focal point of good scarney strategy is preflop. If you aren't discarding a percentage of your scarney hands, you are just flipping. Cut out all the other cards and just draw for high card. You will get in more hands per hour.

The fact that people are disagreeing with you on this means......welllll never mind.

I knew there was a reason I liked this game.

 

[BarrieJ3]

You haven’t played Scarney until you think you’ve locked up the low with 2 cards in your hand worth 3 points, and @wonderpuddle shows up with -4 points

 

[MatB]

I’m ok with the nit brigade folding.

But Scarney is probably the game with the most information of ANY of the circus games at the turn and river
Not even sure there’s a close second.

Why would you fold before the board tells you everything you need to know ?

Each to their own I guess

 

[Marc Hedrick]

Both folding and three betting are huge in Scarney. Building a pot with a monster preflop is super important when ranges are wide.

People playing 2 5 8 9 Q badugi preflop and hitting bottom boat and 13 is how you make money in Scarney IMO.

 

[Jimulacrum]

But Scarney is probably the game with the most information of ANY of the circus games at the turn and river
Not even sure there’s a close second.

I agree, across basically all poker games, not just circus.

The next-closest second would be 7 Card Stud variants, which can display as many as 24 upcards when 7-handed, aside from the player's own (though in practice it's usually far fewer than 24).

The Scarney kill board is also capped at 24 maximum cards (and 6 maximum ranks), but the information is typically a lot more useful in hand analysis. Just one ace being on that kill board means no one can have hidden aces full, and no one going low can have any 1-point cards. Just one 9 rules out a long list of possible straights.

Being able to determine the nut low by number of cards is especially important. Some players may not pay attention and will end up undervaluing lows that look so-so but are actually powerful because the kill board rules out so many low cards.