How to Play Murder Poker

Finding different variations of poker can be a challenge. A bigger challenge can be finding unique versions of poker games for your home poker game. Here is a game that most of your friends probably have not played before. It is called murder poker

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• playing cards
• poker table, poker table top, or standard table
• chairs
• opponents
• poker chips

1. Gather your friends for a home poker night. The ideal number of players for a game of murder poker is between five and seven players. Explain the rules to your friends before you deal the game. Sometimes, dealing a practice hand without wagering is the best way to explain the game.

2. Deal two cards face down to each player and one card face up to each player. This is exactly the same as the standard deal for seven card stud. Just like in seven card stud, you have a betting round at this point with the player with the highest face up card starting the wagering. The other players bet in turn in a clockwise rotation.

3. Deal one card face up to each player. If any player receives a face up card that matches one of his other face up cards, he must match the pot or fold. That is why the game is called murder. It results in players folding quickly if they don't think their hand is good enough to win the hand early on.

4. Play three more rounds with one card dealt face up in each round. Any time a player has a face up card match one of his other face up cards, once again he must match the pot or fold. This can happen multiple times to one player. This means with a few face up pairs, you can either be down to very few players or have a very large pot. After each round of face up cards, a betting round is started by the player with the best face up hand.

5. Examine the face up cards after each player has received six cards. If a face up pair was not dealt to at least one player, the hand is canceled. The pot remains in the middle of the table and the hand is dealt again, following the same pattern. Any player that folded earlier is not allowed to participate in this new hand. Therefore, he can not win the pot.

6. Deal the seventh card face down to each player who has not folded. Those that have folded receive no additional cards. There is one final betting round after the seventh card is dealt. Then the hands are revealed and the player with the best poker hand wins the entire pot.

Tips & Warnings

• Set low betting limits in murder poker. That way when you have to match the pot it is not a huge amount. This keeps the game friendly.
• Be careful about folding if no face up pairs have appeared yet. You don't want to be left out of the new hand if it has to be dealt again.