Football Rules

Football was contributed to pagat.com by Tim Beaulieu, whose group plays it on poker nights as a break from ordinary poker. It is based on the scoring of American football. It is not played with poker hands.

A standard 52-card deck is used.

Each player is dealt four stacks of cards face down. Each stack represents one quarter of a football game. A stack holds two or three cards. The published rules do not fix which, so the dealer shall announce the number before the deal.

The object is to have the highest total score after all four quarters have been turned over.

Each scoring card is worth the points shown. No other card scores.

A quarter's score is the total of the scoring cards in its stack. A player's score is the total of all four quarters.

The first player turns over their first stack, the first quarter. The published rules do not fix the seat that begins. The usual practice is to start at the dealer's left and go clockwise.

Betting takes place in the usual poker style, and all bets go into one pot for the eventual winner. The dealer shall announce before the deal which of these applies:

3.2(a) a betting round after each stack is turned over; or

3.2(b) a betting round only after every player has turned over the same quarter.

Players may fold during any betting round. A player who folds loses any claim to the pot.

Play continues until all four quarters have been turned over, or until only one player remains.

When all four quarters have been played, the player still in with the highest total score wins the pot.

If all but one player folds, the remaining player wins the pot.

The published rules do not cover ties. The usual practice is to split the pot between the tied players.

Ace conversion. An ace may count as a 1-point conversion, but only in a quarter that also contains a 6. A touchdown can be converted only once, so a 6 with two aces scores 7, not 8.

Overtime. A designated card, such as a 10, or the ace if the conversion rule is not used, lets its holder buy overtime: an extra set of two or three cards, for a fee usually set at half the maximum raise. The buyer may turn the overtime cards face up at any time, which starts an extra betting round.