How to play Whiskey Poker ♠

What you see

• Your five cards at the bottom, and the name of your hand (for example "Pair of Nines").
• Rosie, Dev and Mags across the top, with their cards face down.
• The five cards in the middle, called the widow, and the pot: the chips everyone has put in.
• The D badge marks the dealer. It moves one place each hand.

What happens automatically

• At the start of each hand everyone puts 10 chips in the pot. It's fixed, nobody chooses it, and there is no other betting.
• Five cards each are dealt, plus five face down in the middle.
• If nobody takes the face-down middle cards by the end of the dealer's first turn, they are turned face up.
• When the turn comes back round to the player who knocked, all hands are shown and the best one takes the pot. Equal hands share it.

How a hand goes

1. The player left of the dealer goes first, then round the table.
2. While the middle cards are face down, you may pass, take them without looking (your own five go face up in the middle), or knock.
3. Once they are face up, you may swap one of your cards for one of them, swap all five, or knock.
4. After a knock, everyone else gets exactly one more turn. Then everyone shows.

Your moves

• Pass: keep your cards for now (only while the middle is face down).
• Take the middle cards: a gamble. You don't know what you're getting, but it's an average hand on average.
• Swap one card: tap one of yours, then the middle card you want. Your card goes into the middle, where the next player can take it.
• Swap all five: take the whole middle, leaving your hand there.
• Knock: you are happy with your hand. You can't change it after knocking.

Scoring

Hands rank exactly as in poker: see the list below, strongest first. The winner takes all the chips in the pot. There are no wild cards.

Why it works like this

• Five cards sit in the middle. They are the shared pool everyone fishes from, so every swap is a choice between your card and one everybody can see.
• The middle starts face down. It lets a player with a hopeless hand gamble on five unknown cards, and makes the first round a guessing game.
• Your swapped-out card goes into the middle. What you give away can help the next player, so you have to think about them, not just yourself.
• After a knock, everyone else gets one more turn. It's fair to the players after the knocker, and it stops a lucky first card from ending the hand before others have played.
• Everyone puts in 10 at the start. It gives every hand a prize without any betting rounds, which keeps the game simple.

Common questions

• Can I play with friends? Yes. Press Play with friends to make a room, then send the link. The table has four seats; computer players fill any empty seat, and a friend who arrives later can take one over. Each player has their own coach, which only sees their own cards.
• Do I bet? No. Everyone puts in 10 chips automatically, and that's the only betting.
• Can I pass when the middle is face up? No. Then you must swap one card, swap all five, or knock.
• When should I knock? When your hand is well above average and the middle has nothing that helps. The coach shows how often your hand would win.
• What if nobody knocks? At this table, after ten rounds everyone shows anyway.

At this table

Four players: you, Rosie, Dev and Mags, with 1,000 chips each. Use Opponents to make them easier or harder. Rules follow the classic Whisky Poker described at pagat.com.