Cincinnati Rules

The object of the game is to win the pot, either by holding the best five-card hand at showdown or by making a bet that no other player calls.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck without jokers. Hands rank according to the standard poker hand rankings. In the basic game there are no wild cards.

Each player receives five private cards, and five table cards are shared by everyone. Because each player needs five cards and five go to the table, one deck serves at most nine players.

A player's hand is the best five cards chosen from their five hole cards and the five table cards, in any combination. A player may use all, some or none of the table cards.

Before the deal, each player puts in the ante agreed for the game.

The dealer deals five cards face down to each player, one at a time and clockwise, and five cards face down in the centre of the table.

Players may look at their own five cards. The table cards remain face down until the dealer turns them.

After the players have looked at their hands, the dealer turns the first table card face up, and there is a round of betting.

The dealer then turns each remaining table card face up in turn, and a round of betting follows each one.

Betting follows the group's usual structure and order of play. Unless the group has agreed otherwise, the first active player to the dealer's left acts first in each round. See betting structures for the common limits.

If all but one player folds at any point, the remaining player wins the pot without showing their cards.

After the fifth betting round, the players still in the hand show their cards. The highest five-card hand, made from any combination of the player's hole cards and the table cards, wins the pot.

Cards outside a player's best five do not count. If two best hands are identical, the pot is split equally.

Split with the high card in a suit. The highest hand splits the pot with the player holding the highest card in the suit of a named table card. The named card is usually the last table card turned, and sometimes the third.

High or low in the suit. As in 5.1, except that if the named table card is an eight or higher the split goes to the highest card of its suit, and if it is a seven or lower it goes to the lowest card of its suit.

Last card wild. The last table card turned, and every card of the same rank, is wild. Five of a kind then becomes possible and normally ranks above a straight flush.

Low Hole Cincinnati. Each player's lowest hole card, and any other card of the same rank, is wild for that player only.