Domino
Poker
A domino version of the playing-card game Poker, played with a
partial Double-Six domino set,
by two, three or four players. Players play the game with the
double-one and all the blank-suited tiles removed from the domino set,
which leaves only twenty tiles. Hand rankings are different from
playing-card Poker but the game still retains the bluffing aspect of the
original game.
Play:
Before each hand, players ante a predetermined fixed
amount of money into the pot. Players usually agree on
minimum and maximum raising limits on the amount ante'd into the pot.
The dominoes are shuffled, facedown, then the dealer
deals 5 tiles to each player that only they can look at. Players
then in turn do one of the following things:
- Check: This is only permitted on the
initial first round of betting and simply means the player remains in
the game without putting into the pot.
- Fold: This means the player drops out of
the game and takes no further part in play. Players who fold must
not reveal their hand.
- Bet: This is only permitted on the initial
first round of betting and means the player puts a wager amount into the
pot.
- Call: This is when a player has put into
the pot the same amount as the rest of the players still in play and all
players reveal their hands.
- Raise: A player announces and puts in a
greater amount of wager into the pot than all the other players have bet
and any player who wants to stay in play must put in an equal amount or
raise again with a greater amount.
Once a call has been made, players then expose their hands of tiles and the
player with the highest ranked hand is the winner and takes the pot.
Hands rank from high to low as listed below.
- Royal Hand or
Invincible.
Five doubles. 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6
- Straight Sixes.
A sequence of consecutive suits on one end
with all tiles also bearing the suit of six on the other end.
Either (2-6, 3-6, 4-6, 4-6, 5-6) or (1-6, 2-6, 3-6, 4-6, 5-6).
- Four-of-a-Kind.
Four doubles and any other tile.
- Straight Fives.
A sequence of consecutive suits on one end
with all tiles also bearing the suit of five on the other end.
Either (2-5, 3-5, 4-5, 4-5, 5-5, 5-6) or (1-5, 2-5, 3-5, 4-5, 5-5).
- Full House.
Three doubles and two tiles bearing the same suit. For example: (2-2, 4-4,
5-5, 2-4, 5-4).
- Straight Fours.
A sequence of consecutive suits one one
end with all tiles also bearing the suit of four on the other end.
Either (2-4, 3-4, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6) or (1-4, 2-4, 3-4, 4-4, 4-5).
- Three-of-a-Kind or
a Triple.
Three doubles and any other two tiles. Note that it is only
possible for one player to have this hand because there are only 5
doubles in the whole reduced Double-Six domino set.
- Flush.
- Five tiles bearing the same pipped suit value on
either end.
- Single Pair.
Two doubles and any other three tiles. Doubles rank with 6-6
highest and 2-2 lowest with the highest double of the two taking
precedence over the lower double.
- Heaviest Tile.
If no other hands have been made, then the
highest double in a player's hand determines the winner, with doubles
ranking from 6-6 down to 2-2. If no doubles are held, then the tile
bearing the greatest number of pips is used to determine the winner.
Poker players should know local gambling laws or consult a
criminal defense
law firm to see if underground poker is legal in their jurisdiction.
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