Privacy Poker Rules

Privacy Poker was contributed to pagat.com by a writer credited as Magnificence. It uses a standard 52-card deck.

At the showdown each player has five cards of their own and there are two community cards. Each player makes the best five-card hand from these seven, ranked by the standard hand rankings. The highest hand wins.

Antes or blinds, the betting structure and any wild cards follow whatever the table agrees. The source's worked example uses an ante, a fixed minimum bet and no wild cards.

Each player is dealt two cards face down. The first betting round begins with the player to the dealer's left.

Each player is then dealt one card face up, and two community cards are placed face up on the table.

The second betting round begins with the player whose showing hand (their face-up cards plus the community cards) is the lowest poker hand. If two or more players tie for lowest, the first of them clockwise from the dealer begins.

Each player is then dealt one more card face down, giving three down cards and one up card.

The privacy round begins with the player who began the second betting round and continues clockwise.

On their turn, each player may either keep their cards or exchange one card. A player who exchanges shall first turn one of their face-down cards face up (not the card being exchanged), then discard one card and receive a replacement from the deck, dealt face up.

The result depends on the choice:

3.3(a) no exchange: three cards down and one up;

3.3(b) exchanging the up card: two cards down and two up;

3.3(c) exchanging a down card: one card down and three up.

The third betting round then begins with the same player who began the privacy round.

Each player is dealt a fifth card face down.

The media round begins with the player whose showing hand is now lowest, with ties broken as in rule 2.3. In turn, each player shall turn one of their face-down cards face up.

The fourth and final betting round begins with the player whose showing hand is lowest, with the same tie rule.

If more than one player remains, there is a showdown and the highest hand wins the pot.

Not exchanging in the privacy round keeps more of your hand hidden. A player who already has a good hand gains by standing pat.

If you do exchange, swapping the face-up card keeps two cards hidden, while swapping a face-down card leaves only one.

In the media round you choose which card to reveal: a low card can disguise a strong hand, and a high card can suggest strength you do not have.