Seven Card Stud

Rules: Deal two cards down and one up to each player; bet. Do three rounds of dealing one card up and then betting each time. Deal one more card down, and final bet.

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Addition: Number cards can be added together, to make larger number cards. Aces are not number cards, nor are royals.

Auction: Similar to Choose Your Own, but instead of the low card choosing first, you instead hold an auction. Everyone palms some chips as their bid, and reveals simultaneously; choose cards in order from highest bid down to lowest. Ties go to the eldest player. Maximum bid is the maximum bet.

Avarice: The player who has the most diamonds (no ties) at the showdown gets half the pot.

Bargain Basement: Instead of dealing the face-up cards directly to players, place three face-up cards out. The receiving player can take the first for free, the second for five cents, or the third for ten cents. After he makes his selection, the remaining cards "slide down", with the five-cent sliding into the free slot if open, and the ten-cent into the five. The ten-cent slot is filled from the deck, and the next player chooses. At the end of the round, the visible options remain available for the player who gets to choose first next time. After the final up round, the remaining two cards are burned to the bottom of the deck.

Big Pig: Seven stud, but after each up card and bet, you have the option to discard one or both down cards, and then there is another betting round. Many, many rounds of betting.

Blackjack v1: High hand splits the pot with the best face-down Blackjack hand. You can pay 50 cents to get your last card face-up. Variation: roll your own first up card.

Blind Jedi: An attempt at a less annoying version of Jedi Mind Trick. Get dealt each card face down, then from low showing to high, choose which player (including yourself) gets the card. Simultaneous reveal of the passed cards.

Camelot: Queens can pair with either Kings or Jacks. (And can make trips, boats, etc, with them.)

Canary in a Coal Mine: Like Secret Squirrel, but you get to roll all your face-up cards. Last card is always down.

Centipede: Each player has an assigned wild rank - the player to the dealer's left is 2, the next 3, and so on. Wilds do not change as players drop out.

Chicago: Seven Stud, but the high hand splits the pot with the highest face-down ("hole") Spade.

Choose Your Own: The first three cards are dealt as normal, and the first betting round happens. In the next three ("up") rounds, deal one card face-up to the table for each remaining player. Take turns choosing a card, starting with the lowest showing hand, then the next-lowest and so on. Betting happens as normal, and this is a high game. The last card happens normally.

Confidence: When anyone folds, go around the table immediately and pay ten cents each. If someone folds during this, it becomes another ten cents each.

Detroit: Like Chicago, but the low hand splits with the low Spade in the hole. Other variations happen occasionally, varying the high-low combinations and suit.

Detroit 6 5000: 5s and 6s are constrained wild - they can become any other 5 or 6.

Duck Duck Goose: Six-or-seven stud, essentially. After the first two cards are dealt, deal the two ducks into the middle of the table. After the fourth up card is dealt, declare one of the duck ranks as wild for you, or take the goose - an extra down card.

Evil Twin: If you have a cross-color pair in your seven cards, the black card becomes wild and the red is dead.

Eye of the Beholder: Shove the Junk, split high-low.

Fallen Heroes: When you fold, leave your up cards visible. In the showdown, you may use the up cards from one folded hand. Paying another player to fold is not allowed.

Femme Fatale: Like Follow the Queens, but the rank after the last up Queen is dead instead of wild. If the final up card is a Queen, the game becomes lowball.

Fifty Two: Seven Stud, but after the last round of betting, everyone takes in their hands, makes one five-card hand and one two-card hand, and reveals simultaneously. The best five-card splits with the best two-card. There is no additional round of betting after you split your hand, since there is no new information.

Follow the Queens: Seven Stud, but the rank that is faced after the last faced Queen is wild. That is, if a Queen is dealt face-up, and the next face-up card is a 3, then 3s are wild. However, if another Queen comes up, followed by a 6, then 6s are wild instead of Queens. If the last face card is a Queen, nothing is wild.

Friday the 13th: Every face up round, the lowest rank dealt that round is killed. (Previous cards of that rank are untouched.) Dead cards are set aside to form a 'ghost hand'. If the ghost hand is the best hand, the pot stays and you play a 'sequel' hand of Friday the 13th. (Designed by the group on Wave, at Halloween.)

Game of Thrones Season Two: When a face card is dealt up, that suit's face cards become wild a la Follow the Queens. When an Ace is dealt up, it must immediately kill a face card. (Your own, if that is the only one showing.) You may reveal a down Ace to kill a royal any time before the last betting round. Killing a royal does not change which suit is currently wild, however.

Games of Thrones Season One: The vicious version of Camelot. Queens can pair with Jacks or Kings. When an Ace is faced, it assassinates any visible face card, which is immediately removed from the game. It must assassinate if possible - if the assassin has the only royal, he must kill it. If no royals are showing, the Ace has no effect. You may flip a down Ace at any time to kill a royal.

Garter Snake: Sidewinder, played high-low. As usual, the declaration comes at the end, and there is another round of betting afterwards.

Gold Leader: Seven stud. At game start, deal four up and one down in the center of the table; this forms the target hand. Split the pot between the two hands closest to the target hand, above and below it. The final card of the target is not shown until just before showdown. There is no declaration; cards speak.

Grad Student Funding: After dealing the sixth card, before betting, the highest potential showing hand claims half the pot. That is, your four showing cards plus any card you can claim to have. You can not claim a currently showing card, but you can claim one that has folded.

Harvey Dent: Same game as Queens Choice, but toggles on the 2s instead.

James Bond: Seven stud, sevens in the hole are wild. If you get an up Q (Queen), your next card is dealt down.

Jedi Mind Trick: Choose Your Own, but show the cards one at a time; from lowest showing to highest, choose which other player gets the card. At the end, declare and split the pot high-low.

Johannesburg: Pairs and straights must be a single color, trips (and thus boats) are illegal. (Because it is impossible to make trips in a single color.) High hand splits with the high diamond in the hole.

Katamari: The normal winning hand takes half the pot, and leaves half for the next game of Katamari to be played. The winning player must add one rule that, had it been in effect, would have resulted in someone else winning; these rules accumulate during the evening. The final game of Katamari takes the entire pot.

Kneecapper: On rounds 2 and 4, before the bet, you palm some chips as your "protection money"; everyone reveals their protection in advance. In turn, each player may choose to match someone else's protection money to whack any of their cards; in this case, the victim gets their protection money back. If they are not whacked, they must pay their protection into the pot. You can only be whacked once per round.

Liege Lord: Sidewinder, but the winner splits with the remaining player to his right. (The one who was passing to him at the end.)

Madison Avenue: Similar to Bargain Basement, but the person downstream from you can pay 10 to choose your card for you. If they don't, you get to choose for free.

Marilyn Monroe: Seven stud. High hand splits with the largest number of diamond pips. Face cards do not have any pips.

Math Club: In the showdown, clubs may each be used to kick another card up or down by one. Each club may only be used this way once.

Men in Black: Seven stud high-low. If you have a black jack or king, at any time before declare, you may tap him in order to exchange any card for a new one in same orientation. You may reveal a man in black to use him, but he stays up. You may trade in your man in black.

Moose and Squirrel: Like Secret Squirrel, but if you have a visible pair you don't get any wild cards.

Mutiny: A Seven Card Stud version of Drunken Sailor -- that is, deal it like Seven Stud, but pip cards can go up or down like Drunken Sailor. But you can pay 20 to replace a face card when it is dealt. If you get another face card, you may do this again.

My Private Omaha: Seven Stud. Deal 2-3-2. At the showdown, you use your three up cards, and two of your down cards.

Occupy Chicago: Chicago, but after the fifth card is dealt (before betting), have a vote of all remaining players. If all, or all but one, vote for it, the game becomes Detroit instead. (That is, it becomes low/low.) Use standard high/low vote with chips.

Oracle: Seven stud, but before betting deal one card per player face up to the center. Bet, then collect those cards, shuffle and deal those. If there are leftovers due to folds, they get put on top of the deck and redealt next time.

Over under: Seven stud high-low, plus deal a dummy (an extra hand) in the middle. If the table wins one direction, the winner of the other way takes it all. If the table wins both ways, leave the pot and play again. Hands speak in the showdown -- there is no declare round.

Peter and Paul: After the fourth card, steal one card from the player on your left. (In player order, around the table.) After your sixth, give a card to the player on your left.

Primary Season: The last royal rank dealt is wild, a la Follow the Queens. So if a jack is dealt, jacks are wild, but if a queen is subsequently dealt, queens become wild instead. (Note that, whereas in Follow the Queens it is the card after the Queen that becomes wild, here it is the royal rank itself that becomes wild.)

Queens Choice: Starts out as normal Seven Stud, but when a face-up Queen is dealt, the game toggles between high and low.

Red and Black: Eight card stud, dealt 2-4-2. The best red only hand splits with the best black only hand. (That is, think of your red cards and black cards as two entirely separate hands.)

Retcon: Similar to Follow the Queens, but after an up Queen is dealt, the player who received it gets to choose which rank is now wild.

Rlyeh: Chicago, but a down card is dealt to the center. At end of game, that card is flipped; all cards of that rank are wild.

Running Mates: The top two hands split the pot.

Russian Bride: Seven stud, queens are wild. When a queen is dealt face up, go once all the way around to the left - you may bid for the queen, with a maximum 50 cent raise. The highest bid gets to exchange the queen for their card in this round, paying their bid to the original recipient. The recipient may overbid, paying the money to the pot to keep the queen.

Saks Fifth Avenue: Bargain Basement, but you may call for a rank or suit. Deal cards one at a time until that is faced, five cents per card. If you reach fifty cents, you stop, but get to choose anything faced. All but the last three are burned. Shuffle discards if necessary.

Schroedingers: Seven stud, high-low, fifth card is common. Aces round the corner; the common card is the high/low instead of the ace.

Less concisely: this is dealt and played mostly like Seven Card Stud. However, instead of dealing a fifth card to each player (what would normally be the third face-up card), it is revealed as a common card for the entire table. That rank is now "high", and the number just above it is now the "low" -- so if the common card was a 9, then the high straight is now 9-8-7-6-5, and 10s are now the low card. To make this work, Aces are "round the corner", so a straight can pass through the Ace. (That is, 3-2-A-K-Q is a legal straight.)

Variation: Amusingly horrible if played as an Omaha Eights.

Variation: Try as high only, because figuring the lie is a nuisance.

Secret Squirrel: Played as normal, but each player's low down card, and all others of that rank in his hand, count as wild cards for him. (So if your low down card is a 7, all 7s in your hand are wild.) Common Variation: if the dealer declares it in advance, you may pay 50 cents in order to receive your last card face-up.

Shove the Junk: Normal Seven Stud, but instead of simply dealing the face-up cards, the dealer offers them to the players in turn. If you want the card, you get it; if not, the offer passes to the left. As soon as someone takes the offered card, the folks who passed immediately get a random card from the deck. If the offer passes all the way around, the card is burned to the bottom of the deck and everyone remaining gets a random card. The first offer rotates one seat to the left each round.

Sidewinder: 7 stud, pass one, roll your own. That is: start by dealing two cards down to each player (as usual for Seven Stud). Then do the four usual Seven Stud face-up rounds, except that: each players gets a card dealt face-down, then each player passes a face-down card to the left, then each reveals a card. The final card is passed, but not revealed, so you wind up with four up, three down, like Seven Stud.

Spittoon: Seven Stud, but before the up cards are dealt, an up card is placed in the center. After receiving your up card, you may trade it for the card in the center.

Splitsville: Randomized Chicago. After first betting round, reveal a card; if 8 or higher, the game is high. After next, reveal another; if 8 or higher, high down card splits, else low. After next, reveal to show the target down suit.

Star Wars: 4s are wild. If you are dealt an up black king, you may immediately kill one other card.

Stirling Cooper: Like Bargain Basement, but the cards are 5, 10, 15, and the player ahead of you always buys your card. (The Dealer buys the first player's card.)

Swap Meet: Deal first three cards, then show top three on deck. After each up card, go around: each player has the option of exchanging one card with one in the middle. You may trade in a down card, but it gets flipped up, and your new card is always up.

The Screw: For the up rounds, if N players are still in, give N cards to the first player, who takes one and passes the rest around, everyone choosing their own card. Who gets to start rotates left around the table. Your last card is dealt face-up.

Upcycling: Broadly in the same family as Crapper, but played seven stud. Only flushes and straights count. The best five card flush beats the best five card straight beats the best four card flush, and so on. On your bet (on up card deals) if you have a showing pair you may trade one of them for a new up card. If you have trips, you may do this again. You may reveal a down card to do this; the replacement card is up.

Venn: This is a curious seven stud variant. After dealing the two down cards, have a round of betting. All up cards are dealt between the players, not directly to them, and you share the cards on both sides of you. Therefore, there are only two rounds of up cards. (At the end of which you now have four up cards available to you, two on the left and two on the right.)

When a player drops, the piles to his left and right are unaffected; they do not merge, and remain active for players on the other side of the pile.

Volcano: When the betting comes to you, you may sacrifice a face card to the volcano god, and get a new card. If you get another face card, the volcano god is angry, and you must toss in three times the current bet. (This does not count as a raise.) Otherwise, the volcano god is happy, and you get to call for free.

Wanted: Normal seven stud, but after an Ace is dealt face-up, the next face-up face card is killed by the bullet. (Automatically, unlike the choice in Game of Thrones Season Two.)

Who Shot First?: Seven stud in the family of Follow the Queens. If a red Ace shows, red Kings become wild; if a black Ace, black Kings are wild. As usual, only the last shown is effective at the end.

Wonder Twins: Similar to Follow the Queens, but instead whenever a visible pair is made, the Dealer burns a card from the top of the deck to make the new wild rank.

Yankee Swap 1: After the sixth card, everyone (in table order) puts one card in the middle, either face up or down as it was. In the same lowest-first way as Choose Your Own, each player picks one card from the middle; bet. Play the last card as usual.

Variation: this can be played as Five Card Stud, but the final card must be played down (thus, you deal 1-3-1).

Zombie Apocalypse: When a player folds (dies), the remaining players immediately scavenge their cards, before betting continues. Going in clockwise order, beginning with the dead player's position, each player can pick one card from the dead player's carcass. Face-up/down orientation remains the same. No one chooses more than one card from the carcass.

Variation: might be worth trying with roll-your-own, so you can hide information about what you're going for.