Grocery Store Dots Rules

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck without jokers. There are no wild cards. The deal follows seven-card stud except where these rules say otherwise.

The pot is split between two winners:

1.2(a) the player with the best five-card high hand, ranked by the standard poker hand rankings; and

1.2(b) the player whose seven cards hold the most dots.

A card's dots are the suit symbols in the middle column of its face, counted as follows:

A unit is a fixed amount agreed before play. Store prices are expressed in units.

Each player antes. The dealer deals two cards face down and one face up to each player, as in seven-card stud, and the first betting round follows.

After the first betting round, the dealer sets out the grocery store: a row of three face-up cards in the centre. A chip or other marker is placed on the leftmost card.

The marked card costs 1 unit, the card next to it 2 units and the third card 3 units.

On fourth, fifth and sixth streets, a player about to be dealt a face-up card may instead buy one of the store's cards, paying its price into the pot. A player who does not buy is dealt the next card from the deck face up, as normal.

When a card is bought, the store is restocked from the deck just before the next player's decision. So if the dealer buys a card, the store is not restocked until after the betting round that follows.

When every player has four face-up cards, the remaining store cards are discarded. After the betting round on sixth street, each player is dealt a final card face down, and the last betting round follows.

There is a betting round after each street, making five in all. Betting order follows the usual seven-card stud practice.

After the final betting round, the remaining players show their hands. Half the pot goes to the best five-card high hand and half to the player with the most dots across all seven cards.

All seven cards count towards dots, whether or not they are part of the player's best poker hand.

The source rules do not say how a tie for most dots is settled. The usual practice in split-pot games is to share that half equally; the dealer shall confirm this before the deal.