Gin Poker: Rules and Variations
Gin poker is a draw poker game, where players are given a choice to draw a blind card from the deck or to take face-up card from the center of the table.
Gin poker does not have any betting rounds, therefore antes in Gin poker usually are higher than in other games. When all players put their antes into the pot, they are dealt five face-down cards each. Another card is dealt face-up into the center of the table, after which the drawing round begins. All players in the clockwise direction take either the face-up card or blind card from the top of the deck. Each player must have five cards during the whole game, therefore, after a player takes the cards of his choice, he must discard one the cards from his hand. This card is turned face up, and either replaces the face-up card in the center of the table, if the player has chosen to take it, or is placed above this card if the player has chosen a blind card. However, the next and subsequent players will now choose whether to take this discarded card or to take a blind one from the deck.
There are no fixed rounds in Gin poker. When the last player draws his card, the first player receives his turn and the games proceeds around the table until one of the players feels ready to play his hand. Such player knocks on the table, after which all other players make one final draw and the game ends up by all players revealing their cards and comparing their hands.
Gin poker can also be played in Guts format, which means that after the initial five cards are dealt, all players declare In or Out. Those who declare out, leave the game, and those who declare In challenge for the pot. In the end, one player wins, and other players, who declared In but lost, place an amount equal to the pot taken by the winner into the new pot. In the beginning of the next game, all players place their antes, and the pot grows at each next game, until only one player declares In. This player wins the pot, but there no one to replace it, and the game starts from the beginning with the initial pot combined of all players antes.
Gin poker can involve a kitty, which is dealt face-down at the beginning and flipped up on the showdown. The game can also be played in High/Low format and include any other optional features applicable to poker games.
