Online Poker

One card is dealt to each player. Kings are high, aces are low. After the deal, each player decides whether they will keep their card or exchange with the person to their left. After this decision, the next player to the left has the same choice. When it comes to the dealer, he can either keep his card or cut for a new one from the deck. The player with the lowest card at the table loses one of three turns.

Description

First, the dealer determines how much money is at stake. Each player will have three equal piles of money in front of them, representing the three turns that they have in this game. At a low stakes table, it is typical that the three piles are three quarters or three piles of two quarters in each pile. The dealer must bear in mind that the winner of this long-winded game will win the total amount of money at the table, so it needs to be enough money that it is worth the time.

One card is dealt to each player. Aces are low, and kings are high. The first player (Player #1) has the option to either card the card that he has been dealt or exchange with the player to his left (Player #2). If Player #1 chooses to exchange, Player #2 has no choice but to exchange his card for Player #1's card. Now, Player #2 has the same choice, to either keep the card he has or exchange it with the player to his left.

The game is called Chase the Ace because a player that is dealt an ace will no doubt choose to exchange it, as will every player at the table who gets that ace passed to them. Once the round of exchanging has reached the dealer, the dealer has nobody to exchange with. Therefore, he can either keep his card or cut for a new one from the remaining cards in the deck. After the dealer has made his choice, all players throw down their card.

The player with the lowest card at the table throws the first of his piles of money into the center of the table...that player has lost his first round and now only has two rounds left. If two players have the same card and it is the lowest card at the table, then both players have lost the round and must put one of their piles into the pot.

Now, the player to the left of the dealer deals out the exact same thing. When a player loses all three of his piles of money (and chances), he is out of the game and the other players continue. The game ends when there is only one player remaining, that player collects the money that has accumulated in the center of the table. It is not that bad of a game, so long as it is only played once in the course of a night.

Variations

I have never played at two poker tables where this game was played the same way...there are always variations, because this is essentially a children's game, only with money on the line.

- Grace (or welfare) Round: Most tables play that each player has not 3 rounds but 4 rounds. When a player has lost all 3 of his piles, he is still in for one more chance, he is on his Grace Round. A player on his Grace Round who loses yet another round is then out of the game.

- King stops play: Another popular stipulation is that any player holding a King can throw it down face-up at any point in the round. This automatically stops the round and every player is stuck with the card that they are holding when the King is thrown down. This can be done to stop a particular player from exchanging their card for another, or to stop the dealer from cutting from the deck. The King thrown down brings a complete stop to the round.

- "The Stayner Rule": This one stipulates that if it should happen that two players remain and both of them on their Grace Round, if at the end of their round, they are holding the same card, two jacks for example, then the game is reset and replayed with every player back in the game with three piles of money in front of them. The money that had accumulated in the pot remains there and the winner will now win twice as much as a normal game...of course, that winner must now also play this game for twice as long.

- Dealer Double Burn: If the dealer cuts from the deck and cuts the same card as he had, for example, if he has a four and cuts another four, and if that card is the lowest at the table, the dealer pays not once but twice.