Whiskey Poker

Goal

Finish with the best 5-card poker hand by exchanging cards with a spare hand in the middle of the table. The first knock ends the game, and the best hand shown wins.

Cards

The pack depends on the number of players. With 2 players, use the 24 cards from Ace down to 9 in each suit. Add the next rank down for each extra player: the 8s with 3 players, the 7s with 4, and so on, up to the full 52-card pack with 9 players.

Starting hand

Deal 5 cards to each player, and 5 more face down in the middle. Those 5 are the spare hand, and nobody looks at them.

Play

1. Play goes to the left, starting with the player on the dealer’s left, so the dealer is last in each round.
2. Phase 1, the spare hand face down. On your turn, do one of three things.
   • Pass. Keep your cards and your right to exchange later.
   • Take the unseen spare. Put your whole hand face up in the middle as the new spare hand, and take the old one without looking at it first. Phase 2 begins.
   • Knock. Keep your cards and give up exchanging.
   If nobody has taken the spare hand when the dealer’s turn ends, turn it face up. Phase 2 begins.
3. Phase 2, the spare hand face up. On your turn, do one of three things. You can’t pass.
   • Exchange one card. Discard one card face up to the spare hand and take one card from it.
   • Take all five. Discard your whole hand face up to the middle and take the whole spare hand.
   • Knock. Keep your cards and give up exchanging.
4. The first knock ends the game. Every other player gets exactly one more turn, and then everybody shows their hand. Knocking after somebody else has knocked changes nothing. A knock in phase 1 can end the game before the spare hand is ever turned face up.
5. Repetition. In phase 2, if the same position comes up a third time, the game ends at once as a draw. A position is the player to move, the cards in every hand, and the cards in the spare hand.

Scoring

When the hands are shown, rank them from strongest to weakest. The best hand wins the game. Players with equal best hands share the win.

Variants

• Jokers. Add 1 Joker with 2 to 4 players, or 2 Jokers with 5 or more. What a Joker can do is set out under Hand rankings.

Hand rankings

Hands rank from strongest, at the top, to weakest. The Joker rules apply only when you play with Jokers.

How this version differs

• The pack is shortened to fit the table. With 2 players it’s 24 cards, Ace down to 9, and each extra player adds a rank. The published rules use the full 52-card pack at every table size, and list a shortened variation that starts at 20 cards, Ace down to 10.
• One deal is the whole game. The best hand wins it. The published rules play deal after deal, and the best hand takes a pool of chips each time.
• A position that comes up 3 times is a draw. The published rules have no limit, so two players could keep exchanging forever.

Open the rules page