CELESTIAL

OBJECTIVE OF CELESTIAL: The objective of Celestial is to win the pot by bluffing everyone out of the game or by having the highest-ranking hand in the game. 

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 5 to 9 Players 

MATERIALS: 1 Standard 52 Card Deck and Poker Chips 

TYPE OF GAME: Poker Card Game 

AUDIENCE: Ages 13 and Up 

OVERVIEW OF CELESTIAL 

Celestial is a split-pot poker game that is the perfect mix of Pot Limit Omaha and Draw Poker, two typical poker games. It is guaranteed to spice up typical poker games that you may play on a normal basis. With many names like Sviten Special and Drawmaha Poker, this game is known all over the world. There is constant degenerate action on each and every hand, requiring strategy, skill, and a bit of luck each time you play. 

SETUP 

To begin setup, shuffle the entire deck, leaving all of the cards in the deck. Once it is shuffled, the group will choose a dealer. A big blind and small blind is posted on the left side of the dealer. The dealer will then deal five cards to each player.  Once everyone has their cards, the game is ready to begin. 

GAMEPLAY 

Once the players have their cards, the first round of betting begins, beginning with the player to the right of the big blind. It will continue around the group until every player has completed their action, and then a flop, or three cards that are facing up, are placed in the center of the playing area. Starting with the small blind and continuing around the group, each player will then bet, check, raise, fold, etc.  

Once that round is complete, the players will change cards. They are permitted to discard as many cards as they wish, up to five cards. They must call out how many cards they want when it is their turn, and the discarded cards are thrown into the discard pile, in the middle. The dealer will deal each player their requested number of cards. If the player chose to only receive one card, then it is handed to them face up, and the player may choose to take that card or request a new one. Their second card is not revealed, and they must collect it.  

Once everyone has their new cards, a fourth card is added to the three in the center of the playing area. Another round of betting will take place. After that round, the fifth, and final, card is added to the middle of the playing area. The final round of betting will then take place. After the final round, the showdown will begin.  

END OF GAME 

The game comes to an end after the final round. A showdown will ensue. Each player will then have two hands that they are able to use during the showdown. One will be used for five card draw, and one will be used for Omaha. The cards that the players are holding after the final round are the ones for the five card draw, and it is ranked by using typical poker standards.  

The Omaha hand consist of two of the cards that the players have in their hand, combining them with two cards that are found on the table to create the best poker hand. The five card draw hand is only awarded half of the pot, and the Omaha hand is awarded the half that is left over. The pot may be split more than two ways, and this is nor uncommon if the players have the same Omaha hand.  

The player with the best five card draw hand will win half the pot, and the player with the best Omaha hand will win the other half of the pot.   

Ellie Phillips
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