How To Play Criss Cross Poker
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Criss poker is a variant of Texas Holdem with a few differences that I’ll teach you throughout this guide. You need a full deck of cards in order to play Criss Cross poker and it’s also best to only play with 5-6 players if possible since you need to use a lot of cards in the deck. The first thing that players in the hand need to do is put their ante into the pot so that there is money in the pot before the hand is dealt.
The main difference between Texas Holdem and Criss Cross poker is that players are dealt five cards face down to begin the hand rather then only two. With everyone receiving five cards in the hand you can see why you need to limit the number of players that play this game. After the dealer is finished dealing everyone in the hand five cards the player to the left of the dealer starts the first round of betting.
Here is where the game gets a little tricky so make sure you’re paying attention closely in this section. Once the 1st betting round is over in Criss Cross poker the dealer needs to take five cards face down and make a cross with them. You’ll end up having two lines of three cards that make a cross symbol and it’s important that you set-up the cards this way or else you won’t be able to play the game properly.
Once the dealer is finished making the cross symbol with the community cards he/she needs to flip over one of the cards in the cross except it can’t be the middle card. You always need to save the middle card until the very end of the hand and we’ll talk about why later on. After the 1st card is flipped over by the dealer in Criss Cross poker there is a round of betting and then the dealer flips over another card. This continues until there is only one player left in the hand or until you’ve flipped over all of the cards except the middle card.
Once you get to the middle card you flip it over and there is one last betting round that takes place. If there are still multiple players left in the hand then the hand will go down to what’s known as the showdown. The middle card in the cross is always a wild card, which means you can use it as a wild card. If you also have the same card in your hand then you can use it as a wild as well, which means if the wild card is an 8, every 8 in the deck is wild for that hand.
Players need to make the best 5-card poker hand using two cards from their hand and three of the community cards. You aren’t allowed to choose any of the community cards though. You need to choose between the 3 horizontal cards or the 3 vertical cards. Since the middle card is wild you’ll always be able to use the wild so you don’t need to worry about not being able to use it.
The hand rankings are the same in Criss Cross poker as they are in other poker games such as Holdem. Make sure you study a hand rankings chart if you’ve never played poker before or else you’ll be completely lost. Criss Cross poker isn’t a poker game that you’ll find available in any online poker sites or online casinos, but you could play it with your friends if you’d like.
Criss Cross poker is a great poker game because of the fact there is a wild card in every hand for everyone to use. It often means people stick around to the end of the hand to see if the wild card is one of the cards they have in their hand. This ensures that you’ll be playing for plenty of huge pots and without question having tons of fun with your buddies.
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