How To Play Manila Poker
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Most of you have probably never heard of the poker game Manila before, but if you happen to be from Australia then you should know exactly what game I’m talking about. Manila poker is very popular in Australia and can be played in most of the land-based casinos in the continent. You won’t find this poker game played in any casinos outside of Australia though, but if you want to play the game with your friends we have all of the rules you need to learn.
Before you can even begin playing Manila poker you need to take out some of the cards from the deck. All of the cards that are 7 or below are taken out of the deck, which leaves you with a deck of cards from 8-A. You need to leave the aces in the deck since they’re the highest cards in the game. In most poker games you can actually use the ace as a high card or low card in straights, but you can only use the ace in high straights when playing Manila poker.
Once you’ve separated the deck you need to shuffle up the cards and place the blinds and antes into the pot. Every player is dealt two cards in Manila poker with both of the cards being dealt face down. After everyone has been dealt his or her cards the dealer can flip over the first community card for everyone to see. Every player in the hand will be able to use the community cards to improve their hand.
After the first community card is flipped over there is a betting round between the players in the hand. Just like in most poker games the players have the option of checking, calling, raising or folding. After the round of betting is done the dealer can flip over the 2nd community card. Once the card is flipped over the players left in the pot will all bet again and then the 3rd community card is turned over. The betting rounds continue after each community card is flipped over and there are a total of 5 community cards.
After the 5th community card is revealed anyone left in the hand will commence in one final betting round. If there are still players left in the pot then the players go to the showdown where everyone reveals their hand. In Manila poker the goal is to make the best 5-card poker hand using your two hole cards and three community cards. The rule is that you must use both of your hole cards (dealt cards) in your hand with exactly 3 community cards.
Another rule change in Manila poker that is different from most poker games is the fact that flushes beat a full house. The reason a flush beats a full house is because of the way the deck is set-up. It’s easier to hit a full house when playing Manila poker then it is to hit a flush since a lot of the cards are taken out of the deck. The player with the best 5-card hand using the guidelines above will win the pot.
Manila poker is a great card game and very easy to play. If you’ve played Texas Holdem or Omaha poker in the past then there will be parts of Manila poker that resemble both of those games and it shouldn’t take long to pick up on the strategy. If you plan on traveling down south anytime soon and want to play poker then you’ll definitely want to check out Manila poker in one of the many Australian casinos.
Many professional poker players are actually learning how to play Manila poker because it’s an event at the Aussie Millions Australian Poker Championship. Over the past couple years this tournaments has grown in attendance and it’s actually one of the most popular tournaments out of all the Aussie Millions tourneys. You can’t play Manila poker online anywhere for real money from what I know, but that’ll hopefully change in the future once the game gains more attention.
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