How to Play Three Legged Race Poker

Three-Legged Race Poker is a unique version of draw poker. There is not guarantee that the pot will be won at the end of a single hand of poker. As a matter of fact it is impossible to win the pot in Three-Legged Race Poker at the end of one hand. This contributes to much larger pots. Three-Legged Race Poker is a high/low version of poker. Meaning you can win a “leg” by having the highest hand at the table, or by having the lowest hand at the table. To win the entire pot in Three-Legged Race Poker you must be the first player to win three “legs." When playing with a large group of players, this can take several hands for a winner to be determined. It is possible though to win two legs in one deal if you have both the high and low hand at the table.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Playing cards
• Poker Table, poker tabletop or standard table
• Chairs
• Opponents
• Poker chips

How To Play Three-Legged Race Poker

1. Gather your friends together to play Three-Legged Race Poker at your home poker night. There can only be six players in a game of Three-Legged Race Poker due to the fact that it is a variation of five card draw poker.

2. Deal five cards face down to each player. After all the players have received their five face down cards, they may look at their own cards.

3. Conduct a betting round. The player to the left of the dealer should be the player to start the wagering.

4. Discard your cards. Each player has the option to discard up to three cards from their hand. Unlike other variations of five card draw, even if you have an Ace in your hand you may only discard three cards from your hand.

5. Deal an equal number of face down cards to each player as the number of cards they discarded. After all players have received their face down cards, each player may view their own cards.

6. Conduct a second betting round. The second wagering round is started by the player two seats to the left of the dealer. The person starting a wagering round continues to rotate clockwise around the table in future hands.

7. Reveal your hand and declare. Players that have not folded declare their hand in Three-Legged Race Poker. Determine the winner of the high poker hand at the table, and the low poker hand at the table. Those are considered “legs."

8. Repeat steps 2 through 7 until a player has won three legs. The first player to win three legs in Three-Legged Race Poker wins the pot. If two players win three “legs” on the same hand, the pot is split between them.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind that one hand will never give you the winner in Three-Legged Race Poker. This usually results in low wagering early in the game. It allows more players to stay in the pot and to have a chance to win “legs”.
• If another player is betting high in later hands after winning one or two legs, be very careful about calling them. It could cost you a lot of money if you call and win a leg but the other player wins their third leg to win the pot. Bluffing is costly in this game, so not many people will do it.