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Casinos> Gambling Articles > Gin Poker
Gin Poker
All card games have their own
individual origins, but very few were borne as a result of boredom combined with
an almost sad lack of imagination. Gin
poker came into being as a result of bored gamblers who couldn’t think of
anything else to do with their time when faced with a lack of enough players for
a game of poker. Gin poker is a game
played by two players that combines elements of both poker and gin rummy. Hybrid is buzzword today, usually used in
relation to vehicles that cut back somewhat on your gasoline bill. But gin poker is also an example of a
hybrid; a hybrid card game.
How do you play gin poker? Simple. The goal of gin poker is to draw the best
complete poker hand which means a hand that can’t be improved upon with a second
draw. Therefore the best hand in gin
poker would be a royal flush, then a straight flush and so on down to a
straight. A four of a kind is acceptable because it cannot be improved upon, but
a three of a kind or pairs would not constitute a winning hand.
The game begins with an opening
ante as in regular poker, although the ante is typically substantially more than
in regular poker. Then five cards are
dealt—face down—to each player. The
player who didn’t deal removes a card from the stack, which he may either retain
or discard on a separate face-up pile.
Should he decide to keep the card, he must discard one from the hand he
was dealt. The dealer can then pick a
card from the stack from the top of the discard pile. The game continues thusly until one of the
players gets a complete hand. Before
announcing victory, however, he must discard his unused card, giving the other
player a chance to draw a complete hand.
At that point, if the other player doesn’t draw a complete hand that
beats his own, it is traditional to announce victory with a hearty cry of “Gin
Poker!” Depending on the circumstances,
it is also acceptable at this point to jump up, do a little victory dance, and
spike the deck.
Although traditionally played with
just the ante as the winner’s pot, others prefer to add a little extra incentive
by allowing players to place bets and raises after evaluating their initial hand.
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