01The goal
You and the dealer each hold five cards. Yours are face up; the dealer shows only the last one. Decide whether your hand is worth playing, improve it if you like, and finish with a better poker hand than the dealer's.
Every player has their own five cards and plays against the dealer alone. Up to 8 hands are dealt each round, from one deck.
02Hand rankings
Best first. Within a rank, the higher cards win: a pair of kings beats a pair of nines.
03How a round runs
Put up an Ante
While betting is open, pick a chip and tap the Ante circle. Add a Bonus too if you like (it needs an Ante beside it).
Five cards each
You get five cards face up. The dealer gets five, and turns the last one over.
Decide
Fold, Call, Buy or Change, before your clock runs out. Each player decides alone.
The dealer shows
The dealer turns the hand over. It needs Ace-King or better to qualify.
Settle
Beat a qualifying dealer and you are paid. If the dealer does not qualify, you choose what happens next (see below).
04Your decisions
- Fold
- Give up the hand. The Ante is lost.
- Call
- Play the hand as dealt: put up twice the Ante on the Play circle.
- Buy
- Take a sixth card, the first of the exchange cards, and play your best five of six. Costs one Ante, on top of the Call.
- Change
- Pick the cards you want to swap; they are replaced, left to right, by the exchange cards in order. Costs one Ante, on top of the Call.
| Decision | Costs | What you play |
|---|---|---|
| Fold | Your Ante | Nothing |
| Call | 2 × Ante | Your five cards |
| Buy | 1 × Ante fee + 2 × Ante Call | Best five of six |
| Change | 1 × Ante fee + 2 × Ante Call | Your five after the swap |
The Buy and Change fees are spent once paid: they are not returned, whatever happens next.
05When the dealer does not qualify
If the dealer's hand is below Ace-King it does not qualify, and you choose:
- Take your bets back
- Your Ante and Call come back to you. Any Buy or Change fee is not returned.
- Buy the dealer a sixth card
- For one more Ante the dealer takes a sixth card and plays the best five. If that qualifies, the hand is settled as normal. If it still does not, your Call comes back and the Ante and the sixth-card stake are lost.
06Payouts
When you beat a qualifying dealer, the Ante pays 1 : 1 and the Call is paid by your hand:
| Hand | Call pays |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 100 : 1 |
| Straight flush | 50 : 1 |
| Four of a kind | 20 : 1 |
| Full house | 7 : 1 |
| Flush | 5 : 1 |
| Straight | 4 : 1 |
| Three of a kind | 3 : 1 |
| Two pair | 2 : 1 |
| One pair | 1 : 1 |
| Ace-King | 1 : 1 |
- A tie with the dealer returns your Ante and Call.
- A qualifying dealer who beats you takes the Ante and the Call.
07The Bonus bet
The Bonus is a side bet on your first five cards alone, paid on a straight or better whatever you or the dealer do next. Below that it loses. It needs an Ante beside it: a Bonus on its own is handed back.
| Hand | Bonus pays |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 100 : 1 |
| Straight flush | 50 : 1 |
| Four of a kind | 20 : 1 |
| Full house | 5 : 1 |
| Flush | 4 : 1 |
| Straight | 3 : 1 |
08Glossary
- Ante
- Your opening bet, placed before the deal.
- Call
- The bet that plays your hand: twice the Ante.
- Qualify
- A dealer hand of Ace-King or better. Below that, the dealer has "no game".
- Exchange cards
- The five shared cards a Buy or Change draws from.
- Kicker
- A card outside the hand's rank that breaks a tie: in A-A-9-6-3, the 9, 6 and 3.
09Questions
Do I play against the other players?
No. Everyone at the table plays their own five cards against the dealer's hand.
Is the Bonus paid if I fold?
Yes. The Bonus is paid on the five cards you are dealt, whatever you do next.
Why is a round limited to a number of players?
It is dealt from one deck: the dealer's hand, the exchange cards and a possible sixth card come from the same 52 cards as yours, which leaves room for 8 hands.
What happens if my clock runs out?
The hand is folded, as if you had chosen Fold.
