Things You'll Need:
- Playing cards
- Poker table, poker tabletop, or standard table
- Opponents
- Chairs
- Poker chips
-
Step 1
Gather all your friends and try a practice game of auction poker before playing it for real. You should have anywhere from four to six players. In the practice game, have the players keep their played chips in front of them instead of throwing them into the pot.
-
Step 2
Deal two face-down cards to each player. As the dealer, you can now decide if there will be a betting round. If there is a betting round, it begins with the player to the left of the dealer.
-
Step 3
Flip one card face-up in the middle of the table for each player who is participating in the hand. Each player is able to see all of the face-up cards. Instruct each player to place a "bid" in his closed fist. Set a maximum of three times the highest value poker chip that each player can bid in each auction round. Tell the players that whoever makes the highest bid gets first choice of face-up cards. The second-highest bid gets second choice, down to the player with the lowest bid, who gets the last face-up card.
-
Step 4
Settle any ties by declaring that the player closest to the seat to the left of the dealer is the winner of that tie.
-
Step 5
Continue the auction process for four rounds, until each player has two face-down cards and four face-up cards. In auction poker, there is no betting after each round of face-up cards. The pot grows by receiving the chips bid by each player for his face-up card.
-
Step 6
Deal the seventh card to each player, face-down. After the face-down card, there is a betting round. The betting round is started by the player who has the best face-up hand.
-
Step 7
Reveal the hands. Any player who has not folded now reveals his hand, and a winner is determined based on the best poker hand.
