No Holds Barred Poker Rules

No Holds Barred is played by five to seven players with a standard 52-card deck.

After the antes, the dealer deals four cards face down to each player, then eight community cards face down in the centre of the table, arranged as the outline of a square: three cards along each side, with the four corner cards shared by two sides and the centre left empty.

The square has four rows: the top, the bottom, the left side and the right side. Each row is three cards in a line and contains two corner cards and one middle card.

The four corner cards are wild.

Because every row contains two corners, every player's final hand includes two wild cards. Five of a kind is possible, and the usual practice is that it ranks above a straight flush. See hand rankings.

After the deal, the first betting round begins with the player to the dealer's left.

The dealer then turns the community cards face up one at a time, choosing among them at random, with a betting round after each card. The four middle cards are turned first; the four corner cards shall be the last four cards turned.

The source states that each later betting round is opened by the player with the highest-ranking card. As all players' cards are concealed, the dealer shall announce before the deal how the first bettor on these rounds is decided.

When every card is face up and the last betting round is complete, the showdown follows.

Each player's hand shall be made from exactly two of their four hole cards and all three cards of one row of the square.

Cards may not be mixed between rows. The three board cards must lie in a single line along one side of the square.

The best five-card hand wins the pot.

Row by row. To speed the game up, the dealer may turn over a complete row at a time instead of single cards. There is then an initial betting round and one betting round per row: five in all.