Home game · Shared card
In the game called 'The', each player antes and receives three cards, and a four-card board is dealt with them. One board card is turned face up for the first betting round, then the other three are turned one at a time with a bet after each. The best five-card hand from a player's three cards and the four board cards wins.
Also known as The
The game called 'The', or simply 'The', was created by a group of home poker players in the late 1980s and named by Ted Eichenlaub. It was contributed to pagat.com by Thomas Yarbrough.
The game uses a standard 52-card deck with no wild cards and the standard hand rankings.
Each player makes the best five-card hand from their three cards and the four board cards, in any combination.
Each player pays an ante before the deal.
The board is dealt in turn with the players' cards. Starting with the player to the dealer's left and ending with the dealer, each player receives one card face down, and then one card is dealt face down to the board. This is repeated twice more, so that each player has three cards and the board has three face-down cards.
The next card is dealt face up to the board, making four board cards in all.
| Round | Board before the round |
|---|---|
| 1 | One card face up, three face down |
| 2 | Two face up |
| 3 | Three face up |
| 4 | All four face up |
The first betting round begins with the player to the dealer's left.
In each later round, the player who made the last bet or raise in the previous round begins the betting. If there was no bet in the previous round, the turn to begin passes one place to the left of the player who began that round.
After the first round, the three face-down board cards are turned up one at a time, each followed by a betting round. There are four betting rounds in all.
Players remaining after the fourth betting round show their hands. The best five-card hand wins the pot. Identical hands split the pot.
Choosing the stronger full house
A player holds 9♣9♦4♠. The board is K♥9♠4♦4♣.
The player could make fours full of nines, 4♠4♦4♣9♣9♦, but the stronger choice is nines full of fours, 9♣9♦9♠4♠4♦. A full house is ranked by its three of a kind, so nines full wins over fours full.
The name was given by Ted Eichenlaub, one of the group of home players who created the game in the late 1980s. The source does not explain its meaning.
Three cards each, plus a four-card shared board. You make the best five-card hand from those seven.
The player to the dealer's left in the first round. After that, the last player to bet or raise in the previous round opens; if nobody bet, the turn to open passes one place to the left.
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.
The Game Called 'The' Rules · OPR-582 · officialpokerrules.com/game-called-the/