FOUR OF A KIND

OBJECT OF FOUR OF A KIND: The object of Four of a Kind is to gain four of a kind or have the lowest-ranked hand at the end of the round to win. 

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4+ players

MATERIALS: One standard 52-card deck, Chips or other forms of bidding material, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Betting Card Game

AUDIENCE: All Ages

OVERVIEW OF FOUR OF A KIND

Four of a Kind is a family-style bidding game. It’s playable with 4 or more players and is usually played for small stakes such as nickels or dimes if any money at all.

The goal of each round is to either have four of a kind or the lowest-ranked hand to take part in the pot. Antes will need to be established before the game.

SETUP AND BIDDING

All players will place their initial antes in the pot. Then a random dealer will shuffle the deck and allow another player to cut. The deal can either pass to the left or be the winner of the previous round in future rounds. 

The dealer will then deal each player a single faceup card. If a player is dealt a card of the same rank as a previous player their card is taken back into the deck and reshuffled and dealt a new card. This is done until all players have a different rank of a single card. 

After players receive their cards the betting begins. The player holding the highest ranked card begins. The options are the same as other poker games where a player may check, bet, raise, fold, or call. 

The first player may check or bet. Once a player bets the options become to call, raise, or fold. The bidding ends when everyone who has not folded has equal stakes in the pot.  

In this particular game, there are only three raises permitted. After that players must call or fold. 

Card Ranking 

Cards are ranked Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 (low). 

GAMEPLAY

After the betting is completed the dealer will take the remaining deck and start to reveal cards one at a time from the top of the deck. If the card revealed matched the rank of a player’s card that player takes the card. Each time a player receives another card then a new round of betting begins with the player with the highest-ranked hand starting the bidding. 

If a card does not match a player’s cards, then it is discarded, and a new card is flipped. This continues until a player has four of a kind. 

Note when a player folds, they are out of the round and do not receive cards. 

RESOLVE

Once a player has a four of a kind the round ends. The player with the four of a kind and the player with the lowest-ranked hand (first by the number of cards, then by rank of the cards held) split the pot evenly. If not able to split evenly the four of a kind player receives a higher share. 

END OF GAME

The game ends when players wish to stop playing. 

Amber Crook
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