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Buddha's Folly is a match-pot game like Guts. Each player gets five cards, then a face-up card is offered round the table: each player may swap it for a card in hand, passing their discard on, or reject it. When a card has been rejected by everyone, players declare in or out, and those who stay in and lose must match the pot.
Buddha's Folly is played with a standard 52-card deck with no jokers and no wild cards.
It uses match-pot betting, as in Guts: there are no ordinary betting rounds. Instead, players declare whether they are in or out, and players who stay in and lose must pay the amount of the pot into the pot for the next deal.
The object is to hold the best five-card hand among the players who stay in. Hands are ranked by the standard poker hand rankings.
Each player antes. The dealer deals five cards face down to each player, and players look at their cards.
The dealer turns the next card of the deck face up and offers it to the player on the dealer's left. That player may either:
3.1(a) accept the card, adding it to their hand, and discard one card from their hand face up. The discarded card is then offered to the next player to the left; or
3.1(b) reject the card and pass it on, face up, to the next player to the left.
The next player has the same choice with whichever card is offered to them, and so on round the table. Play may go round the table several times.
The circulation ends when a card has gone all the way round the table without being taken, so that it comes back to the player who discarded it or who first rejected it.
Only one card is in circulation at any time. Each player always holds exactly five cards.
A short circulation
Three players, A, B and C, sit clockwise with C as the dealer. The dealer turns up Q♥ and offers it to A.
A holds Q♠Q♦7♣4♥2♠. A takes the Q♥ and discards the 2♠ face up, offering it to B.
B rejects the 2♠ and passes it to C. C rejects it too, and it comes back to A.
The 2♠ has gone all the way round without being taken and has returned to A, the player who discarded it, so the circulation ends. A holds three queens.
When the circulation ends, every player declares whether they are in or out. The declaration may be made simultaneously or in turn; the method shall be agreed in advance or announced by the dealer before the deal.
Players who stay in show their hands. The best five-card hand among them wins the pot.
Every other player who stayed in must pay an amount equal to the pot that was at stake into the pot for the next deal.
If only one player stays in, that player wins the pot and no one pays.
When declarations are simultaneous, some groups play that if every player drops out, all players show their hands, and the player with the best hand must pay all the antes for the next deal. The dealer shall announce before the deal whether this rule applies.
Paying the pot
The pot is 30 chips. A and B stay in; C drops out. A shows Q♠Q♦Q♥7♣4♥ and B shows J♣J♦8♠8♣3♦.
A's three queens beat B's two pair, so A wins the 30 chips. B pays 30 chips into the pot for the next deal.
Every discard you make is offered face up to your left-hand neighbour, so you give information and possibly a useful card to the next player.
Cards that are passed round are seen by all, so players can often tell which ranks others are collecting.
Because a loser pays the size of the pot, pots can grow quickly. Staying in with a marginal hand against several opponents is costly.
A face-up card is offered to each player in turn. A player can swap it for a card in hand, passing their own discard on face up, or reject it and pass it on. It ends when a card goes all the way round without anyone taking it.
Each player who stayed in but did not win pays an amount equal to the pot into the pot for the next deal.
Yes. It uses the same match-pot betting and in-or-out declaration as Guts, but with five-card hands improved by the circulating card.
Where any doubt remains in the application of this document, Rob is right.
Hand rankings, high to low: royal flush · straight flush · four of a kind · full house · flush · straight · three of a kind · two pair · one pair · high card. Suits never break ties.
Buddha's Folly Rules · OPR-618 · officialpokerrules.com/buddhas-folly/