How to Play Midnight Baseball Poker

Midnight Baseball Poker is commonly known by another name that some poker players might be familiar with. That game is called "No Peak." The reason that Midnight Baseball Poker is known as "No Peak" is because none of the players are allowed to look at their cards before the play of the hand begins. Everyone will see the cards from each player at the same time as that player sees them for the first time. Your goal is to be the player with the highest hand.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Playing cards
• Poker opponents
• Poker table, or any table will do

Playing Midnight Baseball Poker

1. The first thing you need to do when playing "Midnight Baseball Poker" is to set the house rules. In "Midnight Baseball Poker" there are three special cards in the deck. Threes and nines are wild cards, and fours allow you to get an additional card from the deck. Typically players must pay for their cards to be wild, if they don't pay then they remain as face value. Players may or may not have to pay for the extra card when they show a four. In general if players pay for an extra card, they cost half as much as a wild card costs.

2. Have each player ante, and then deal seven cards to each player. Instruct the players not to look at their cards. If any player views their cards, they are out of the hand and must pay a penalty to the pot equal to the current pot total.

3. Flip over the top card of the deck. This is the card that the player to the left of the dealer must beat when flipping over his cards.

4. The player to the left of the dealer starts flipping his cards until he beats the top card from the deck. If he draws a wild card or a four, he must pay for the wild (unless he prefers for it to remain face value) or the four if you are paying for extra cards. After he beats the face up card he stops flipping cards and then has the option to bet. Anyone that wishes to stay in the hand must match that bet. There is no raising in "Midnight Baseball" in general, but you can adjust this with house rules if you wish.

5. The next player to the left then starts to flip their cards over. They must beat the hand that was just flipped over in front of them. Once again, they will pay for wild cards and fours as necessary. That player keeps flipping until he beats the hand before them, and then stops flipping. Once again they have the option to bet if they wish.

6. This pattern continues as you go around the table. Anyone remaining in the hand must defeat the hand before them before they can stop flipping cards. If they flip all of their cards over and can't beat the previous hand they are out of that hand and the person to their left starts flipping their own hand next. Any time a player beats the hand before them they have the option to bet, anyone failing to call the bet is out of the hand. This pattern continues until there is one hand on the table that nobody can beat. The owner of that hand wins the pot.

Tips & Warnings

• There is another version of "Midnight Baseball Poker" where if a seven comes up, the player that pulled the seven can declare either the three or nine is no longer wild and flip the top card of a separate deck of cards. That card is the new wild card replacing either the threes or nines that the player announced it would replace.
• In general "Midnight Baseball Poker" takes a flush at the least to win, and more commonly a full house or higher. This is due to the eight wild cards in play.