CINCINNATI POKER



OBJECTIVE OF CINCINNATI POKER: Be the player with the most chips at the end of the game

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 or more

NUMBER OF CARDS: Standard 52 card deck

RANK OF CARDS: 2 (low) – A (high)

TYPE OF GAME: Poker

AUDIENCE: Adults


INTRODUCTION OF CINCINNATI POKER

Cincinnati is a popular version of poker which finds its roots in Cincinnati, Ohio.  This is a very popular version of poker to play at home because of the heavy dependence on luck.  In this game there are five rounds of betting, and players are trying to win the pot with the best hand of five cards.  Hands are built using personal cards and a community set.

This game is typically played with each player getting four cards and four cards being dealt to the community pool.  However, Cincinnati is also played with five cards being dealt to each player and the community pool.  This limits the amount of players that can play and completely removes any element of strategy from the game.

THE CARDS & THE DEAL

The dealer creates the ante for each hand.  The ante must be met by any player who wishes to play this round.

Shuffle the deck and deal each player who met the ante four cards one at a time.  Players may look at their hand.  Once each player has their hand, deal four more cards face down in a row on the table.  This is the community pool of cards.

THE PLAY

Based on the cards they are dealt, the player to the left of the dealer may check (leave the pot as it is), raise (add more to the pot), or fold (quit the round and turn in their cards).  Each player gets a turn during the first round of betting.  If a player raises the pot, each following player must meet the raise or fold.

Once the first betting round has taken place, the dealer flips over the first community card.  Another betting round is then completed.

Play like this continues until all of the community cards have been flipped up.  Once this occurs, it is time for the showdown.

SHOWDOWN

During the showdown, any player who remains in the round will show their hand. The player with the highest hand (using cards from their hand and the community pool) wins the pot.

Deal passes to the next player, and the game continues until either one player has all of the chips or the designated amount of deals have been played. 

POKER HAND RANKING

1. Royal Flush – A five card hand built with a 10, J, Q, K, A in the same suit

2. Straight Flush – A five card hand built out of number cards in sequential order and the same suit. 

3. Four of a Kind – A hand built out of four cards of the same rank

4. Full House – A five card hand built out of three cards of the same rank, and two other cards of the same rank

5. Flush – A five card hand with every card in the same suit

6. Straight – A five card hand built out of cards from different suits in sequential order

7. Three of a Kind – A hand built out of three cards of the same rank

8. Two Pairs – A hand built out of two pairs of differently ranked cards

9. One Pair – A hand built out of a single pair of cards that are the same rank

WINNING

The player with the most chips at the end of the game wins.

Mark Ball
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