Poker Launch

Any of the above games can be modified in many ways upon player whim, by designating additional wild cards, betting rounds, more or fewer cards, altered hand values, and any other change agreed upon by all players prior to each deal. You can announce such a game by using the name of an existing game and specifying the variations, for example "Three-card Triple-draw California lowball, Kings wild" (a surprisingly good game head up). Many times this will result in a game that does not play well, but occasionally will produce a game that is well-suited to a particular group of players. Even if it doesn't, such games can be used sparingly to enliven an otherwise serious game.

Here are some general guidelines:

• If you want to designate some normal suited cards as wild, choose cards that would otherwise be bad for the game being played. For example, deuces wild for high-hand games, kings wild for lowball, 9-spots wild for High-low split (where an 8-high or lower is necessary to win low).
• High-low split games play best with more than four players.
• When playing high-low split, it is necessary to have either a Declaration phase or a qualifier (but not both). The most common form is 8-high or better to qualify low, but also common is any pair/no pair (that is, a pair or better is required to win high, and no pair or better low is required to win low), and 9-high for low.
• Designating more than four wild cards (or possibly six) will result in considerable confusion and many ties.
• Two to five betting rounds makes a good game. One round or more than five rounds reduces the amount of skill involved.
• Giving each player more than eight or nine cards usually makes a bad game. (Note that in Anaconda, each player will have seen up to thirteen cards!)