Baseball Poker Rules

Baseball is played with a standard 52-card deck without jokers. It is a variant of seven-card stud, and the rules of that game apply except as stated on this page.

No more than six players should take part, because extra cards dealt for fours can exhaust the deck.

All threes and nines are wild, whether dealt face up or face down. A wild card may stand for any card the player does not already hold, or may be used as an additional card of a rank the player holds to make five of a kind.

Five of a kind is the highest hand and ranks above a straight flush. Otherwise hands rank according to the standard poker hand rankings.

The object is to hold the best five-card hand at showdown, chosen from all the cards a player has been dealt, or to be the last player remaining after the others fold.

Each player places an agreed ante in the pot before the deal.

The cards are dealt as in seven-card stud: two cards face down and one face up to each player, then three further upcards one at a time, then a final card face down. There is a betting round after each stage of the deal.

Each betting round is begun by the player whose upcards form the best hand showing at that time. Some groups instead use a forced bring-in on the first round, as in standard stud; the dealer shall announce which method applies.

If the deck runs out before the deal is complete, the usual stud practice applies: the dealer turns up one card in the centre of the table as a community card shared by all remaining players.

A player who is dealt a four face up is immediately dealt an extra card face up, before the next player receives a card. The extra card is dealt even if it is itself a four, in which case the player receives another. A player may therefore hold eight or more cards at showdown.

Groups differ on what happens to a four dealt face down. It may earn an extra card when the player chooses to reveal it, or no extra card at all. The dealer shall announce the rule before the deal.

Many groups play that a player dealt a three face up must immediately either pay an amount equal to the pot or fold. Others require a smaller fixed payment instead of matching the pot. Threes dealt face down carry no penalty. Where no such rule is announced, a face-up three is simply wild.

Some groups require a player to pay a fixed amount for the extra card given for a face-up four. The dealer shall announce the amount before the deal.

After the final betting round, the remaining players show their hands. Each player makes the best five-card hand from all the cards they hold, using wild cards as they choose.

The best hand wins the whole pot. Identical hands split the pot equally.

Wild cards do not break ties. A hand that uses wild cards ranks the same as the same hand made from natural cards, unless the group has agreed otherwise before the deal.