Non-standard poker hand - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Non-standard poker hands are hands which are not recognized by official poker

Poker

Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...

rules but are created by house rules. Non-standard hands usually appear in games using wild cards or bugs

Bug (poker)

A bug in poker is a limited form of wild card. One or both jokers are often added to the deck and played as bugs.In draw poker played for high and pai gow poker, the bug is considered to be an ace, unless it can be used as a missing card to complete a straight or a flush, in which case it becomes...

. Other terms for nonstandard hands are special hands or freak hands. Because the hands are defined by house rules, the composition and ranking of these hands is subject to variation. Any player participating in a game with non-standard hands should be sure to determine the exact rules of the game before play begins.

Types

The usual hierarchy of poker hands from highest to lowest runs as follows (standard poker hands are in italics):

Five of a kind: Five cards of the same rank, only possible using one or more wild cards or multiple decks.
Royal Flush: See at Straight Flush.
Skeet flush: The same cards as a skeet (see below) but all in the same suit.
Straight flush: The highest straight flush, A-K-Q-J-10 suited, is also called a royal flush. When wild cards are used, a wild card becomes whichever card is necessary to complete the straight flush, or the higher of the two cards that can complete an open-ended straight flush. For example, in the hand 10♠ 9♠ (Wild) 7♠ 6♠, it becomes the 8♠, and in the hand (Wild) Q♦ J♦ 10♦ 9♦, it plays as the K♦ (even though the 8♦ would also make a straight flush).
Four of a kind: Between two equal sets of four of a kind (possible in wild card and community card poker
Community card poker
Community card poker refers to any game of poker that uses community cards , which are cards dealt face up in the center of the table and shared by all players. In these games, each player is dealt privately an incomplete hand , which are then combined with the community cards to make a complete...

games), the kicker
Kicker (poker)
A kicker, also called a side card, is a card in a poker hand that does not itself take part in determining the rank of the hand, but that may be used to break ties between hands of the same rank. For example, the hand Q-Q-10-5-2 is ranked as a pair of queens. The 10, 5, and 2 are kickers...

determines the winner.
Big bobtail: A four card straight flush (four cards of the same suit in consecutive order).
Full house
Flush: When wild cards are used, a wild card contained in a flush is considered to be of the highest rank not already present in the hand. For example, in the hand (Wild) 10♥ 8♥ 5♥ 4♥, the wild card plays as the A♥, but in the hand A♣ K♣ (Wild) 9♣ 6♣, it plays as the Q♣. (As noted above, if a wild card would complete a straight flush, it will play as the card that would make the highest possible hand.) A variation is the double-ace flush rule, in which a wild card in a flush always plays as an ace, even if one is already present (unless the wild card would complete a straight flush). In such a game, the hand A♠ (Wild) 9♠ 5♠ 2♠ would defeat A♦ K♦ Q♦ 10♦ 8♦ (the wild card playing as an imaginary second A♠), whereas by the standard rules it would lose (because even with the wild card playing as a K♠, the latter hand's Q♦ outranks the former's 9♠).
Straight Flush House: Same as Flush House (see below), but all cards are in consecutive order.
Big cat: See cats and dogs below.
Little cat: See cats and dogs below.
Big dog: See cats and dogs below.
Little dog: See cats and dogs below.
Straight: When wild cards are used, the wild card becomes whichever rank is necessary to complete the straight. If two different ranks would complete a straight, it becomes the higher. For example, in the hand J♦ 10♠ 9♣ (Wild) 7♠, the wild card plays as an 8 (of any suit; it doesn't matter). In the hand (Wild) 6♥ 5♦ 4♥ 3♦, it plays as a 7 (even though a 2 would also make a straight).
Wrap-around straight: Also called an round-the-corner straight. Consecutive cards including an ace which counts as both the high and low card. (Example Q-K-A-2-3).
Skip straight: Also called alternate straight, Dutch straight, skipper, or kangaroo straight. Cards are in consecutive order, skipping every second rank. (Example 3-5-7-9-J).
Five and dime: All cards are any five of: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, with no pair.
Skeet: Also called pelter or bracket. A hand with a deuce (2); a 3 or a 4; a 5; a 6, 7, or an 8; and a 9.
Three of a kind
Little bobtail: A three card straight flush (three cards of the same suit in consecutive order).
Flash: One card of each suit plus a joker.
Blaze: Also called blazer. All cards are jacks, queens, and/or kings.
Two pair
Russ: Five cards of the same color.
Bobtail flush: Also called four flush. Four cards of the same suit.
Flush house: Three cards of one suit and two cards of another.
Bobtail straight: Also called four straight. Four cards in consecutive order.
One pair
High card

Some poker games are played with a deck that has been stripped

Stripped deck

A stripped deck is a set of playing cards from which some cards have been removed. The removed cards are usually in the range from 2 to 9. The standard Anglo-French suited deck of 52 cards itself can be regarded as a stripped tarot deck from which the 21 numbered trumps, the fool and the 4 mounted...

of certain cards, usually low-ranking ones. For example, the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n game of Manila uses a 32-card deck in which all cards below the rank of 7 are removed, and Mexican Stud removes the 8s, 9s, and 10s. In both of these games, a flush ranks above a full house, because having fewer cards of each suit available makes full houses more common.

Cats and dogs

"Cats" (or "tigers") and "dogs" are types of no-pair hands defined by their highest and lowest cards. The remaining three cards are kicker

Kicker (poker)

A kicker, also called a side card, is a card in a poker hand that does not itself take part in determining the rank of the hand, but that may be used to break ties between hands of the same rank. For example, the hand Q-Q-10-5-2 is ranked as a pair of queens. The 10, 5, and 2 are kickers...

s. Dogs and cats rank above straights and below Straight Flush houses. Usually, when cats and dogs are played, they are the only unconventional hands allowed.

Little dog: Seven high, two low (for example, 7-6-4-3-2). It ranks just above a straight, and below a Straight Flush House or any other cat or dog.
Big dog: Ace high, nine low (for example, A-K-J-10-9). Ranks above a straight or little dog, and below a Straight Flush House or cat.
Little cat (or little tiger): Eight high, three low. Ranks above a straight or any dog, but below a Straight Flush House or big cat.
Big cat (or big tiger): King high, eight low. It ranks just below a Straight Flush House, and above a straight or any other cat or dog.

Some play that dog or cat flushes beat a straight flush, under the reasoning that a plain dog or cat beats a plain straight. This makes the big cat flush the highest hand in the game.

Kilters

A Kilter, also called Kelter, is a generic term for a number of different non-standard hands. Depending on house rules, a Kilter may be a Skeet, a Little Cat, a Skip Straight, or some variation of one of these hands.

Types

Cats and dogs

Kilters

See also