How to Play Have A Heart Poker

The popularity of home poker games continues to grown. In general there are two types of home poker games, the serious ones and the casual ones. Normally the serious games have very few wild cards and the dealer rarely calls a home poker variation. The casual home poker game has become much more popular in recent years though. This games include lots of wild cards and twists and turns in the poker game. Have a Heart Poker doesn't have a lot of wild cards, but it does have some serious twists and turns.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• cards
• poker table, poker tabletop, or standard table
• opponents
• poker chips
• chairs

How To Play Have A Heart Poker

1. Gather your friends at the poker table. The ideal number of players for Have A Heart Poker is five to six players. Make sure each player has a comfortable chair and plenty of poker chips to being the game.

2. Dealing Have A Heart Poker is very similar to dealing 7 card stud poker. During the game there will be two cards dealt face down, four cards dealt face up, and finally one card dealt face down to finish the dealing of the cards.

3. Begin a round of betting after the first two face down cards are dealt to each player. Traditionally, the player to the left of the dealer begins the betting round. In Have A Heart Poker, this first betting round usually just involves players betting the minimum bet. The fun is about to begin.

4. Deal one card face up to each player. Any time a heart is dealt face up, the player who receives the heart has a choice to make. They can claim any face up card they wish from any opponent they wish. The player that takes their opponent's heart must replace it with a card of their own. The card they give to that player does not have to be a heart.

5. Place bets after the first round of face up cards are dealt. The player with the best face up hand gets to begin the betting round. After everyone has matched the bet, or folded the next round of face up cards being dealt begins.

6. Alternate between betting and dealing until each player that remains in the hand has four face up cards. Remember that any time a heart is dealt the player has the option to swap cards with another player, taking the card of their choice. A player is not required to take a card from their opponent. They are permitted to keep the heart they were dealt instead of stealing a heart from an opponent.

7. Deal the final card to each player face down. Nobody can steal a card during a round where a card is dealt face down, they must keep the card they are dealt. Conduct one final betting round and reveal your poker hands. The player with the best standard poker hand wins the pot.

Tips & Warnings

• Typically Have A Heart Poker is won by hands of at least a flush. Quite often it will take a full house or four of a kind to win the hand.
• Be careful about betting big early, or your opponents will definitely try to take one of your cards when they are dealt a face up heart.
• Keep in mind your hand can change very quickly, and go from a great hand to a losing hand.