OBJECTIVE OF TELESINA: Win the pot!
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2+ players
NUMBER OF CARDS: standard 52-card with variations
RANK OF CARDS: A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
TYPE OF GAME: Casino
AUDIENCE: Adult
INTRODUCTION TO TELESINA
Telesina is an Italian poker game that is a variant on Five Card Stud.
The cards are taken from the standard 52 card deck and adjusted to correspond to the players at the table. The lowest card in the game is equal to the number of player minus 11. So, in a game of 5 players, the game uses 36 cards. Since 11-5=6 the lowest card is a 6 and the highest card is an Ace.
THE DEAL & THE BETTING
Prior to the game, each player places the mutually agreed upon ante to the pot. The dealer then passes each active player two cards, starting to the left of the dealer and moving clockwise, one face down and one card face-up. After the cards are received there is a round of betting. The betting round starts with the player who has the highest value face-up card. If there is a tie for high card, use suits to break ties: Hearts (high), Diamonds, Clubs, Spades (low).
Once the first round of betting is completed, the dealer passes each active player another face-up card. A second betting round ensues and starts with the player who has the best pair or high card. This is repeated until players have four cards face-up and a single card face-down.
SHOWDOWN
After the last round of betting, all active players enter the showdown. The player with the highest value hand wins the pot. Italian poker uses slightly different hand rankings than American Poker, the value of hands from high to low are:
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind or Poker
- Flush or Colore
- Full House or Full
- Straight or Scala
- Three of a Kind or Tris
- Two Pair or Doppia Coppia
- Pair or Coppia
- High Card or Cara più alta
For more details on poker hands and their rankings click here.
REFERENCES:
https://www.pagat.com/poker/variants/telesina.html
http://www.pokerjunkie.com/poker-rules-rules-of-telesina
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