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Tips to the Fat One is a two-player poker game with five pots of increasing size. Each player builds five face-down poker hands from cards dealt in batches, then secretly assigns one hand to each pot. The pots are then shown down one by one, and the skill lies in deciding which pots to fight for and which to give away.
Tips to the Fat One was contributed to pagat.com by Alan Kross-Vinson. It is a game for exactly two players, using a standard 52-card deck.
Hands rank according to the standard poker hand rankings. There are no wild cards.
The object is to win as much money as possible from five pots of different sizes.
Five pots, labelled A to E, are placed side by side in a line between the two players, rising in size from pot A to pot E. Pot E is the fat one.
Each player puts the same agreed amount into each pot. Any stakes may be used, but the amounts should follow this pattern, where each letter is one player's contribution to that pot:
2.2(a) A is less than B;
2.2(b) C equals A plus B, minus 1;
2.2(c) D equals B plus C, minus 1;
2.2(d) E equals C plus D, minus 1.
| Pot | Each player pays | Pot total |
|---|---|---|
| A | 2 | 4 |
| B | 3 | 6 |
| C | 4 | 8 |
| D | 6 | 12 |
| E | 9 | 18 |
There is no betting once play begins. The whole of each player's stake is committed when the pots are set up.
The dealer deals ten cards to each player.
Each player makes a five-card poker hand from their cards and lays it face down in front of them. Each player then holds five cards.
The dealer deals five more cards to each player, and each player again lays a five-card hand face down, keeping five cards.
This is repeated until only two cards remain in the deck. Each player then holds ten cards and makes two final hands from them.
Each player now has five face-down hands, and two cards are left undealt.
| Step | Cards dealt to each player | Hands laid down | Cards left in deck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening deal | 10 | 1 | 32 |
| First refill | 5 | 1 | 22 |
| Second refill | 5 | 1 | 12 |
| Third refill | 5 | 2 | 2 |
Each player assigns each of their five hands to a different pot by moving it, still face down, next to that pot. The source does not say whether players assign their hands at the same time or in turn. The dealer shall announce the method before the deal.
The pots are then shown down in order from A to E. At each pot, both hands placed there are turned up, and the better hand wins that pot.
The source does not cover tied hands. Under the usual poker convention, identical hands split that pot.
The natural plan is to place the weakest hand at pot A and the strongest at pot E. A player who fears their best hand will lose pot E may instead place their worst hand there, giving up the largest pot in order to strengthen their hands in the other four.
Sacrificing the fat one
Using the stakes in 2.2, each player has put in 24, and the pots total 4, 6, 8, 12 and 18.
North places hands in the natural order, strongest at E. South expects to lose pot E, so places a worthless hand there and moves each better hand down one pot.
At pot D, South shows K♥J♥8♥6♥3♥, a king-high flush, against North's Q♣10♣7♣5♣2♣, a queen-high flush. South wins.
At pot C, South's 10♦9♠8♦7♠6♦, a ten-high straight, beats North's 9♦8♠7♥6♣5♦, a nine-high straight.
If South also wins pots A and B, South collects 4 + 6 + 8 + 12 = 30 while North's strongest hand, a full house, wins pot E, worth 18. South finishes 6 ahead and North 6 behind.
Community cards for pot E. The last two cards of the deck are placed face up next to pot E. Both hands played at pot E may use them as community cards. The source does not say exactly how a hand combines with them. Making the best five-card hand from the seven cards available is the natural reading, and the dealer shall announce the method before the deal.
Fifteen-card deal. Each player is dealt fifteen cards at the start, and five cards are replaced at a time. This allows far stronger hands, with flushes and full houses common.
Strategy note: the pot sizes are set so that pot E is worth only one less than pots C and D together, and pot D one less than B and C together. Winning pots C and D together is therefore worth slightly more than winning pot E alone.
Two. It is a head-to-head game in which both players build five hands and match them against each other in five pots.
No. Each player puts a fixed amount into each of the five pots before the deal. The skill is in building the hands and choosing which hand to place at which pot.
Not necessarily. If you expect your best hand to lose the biggest pot, you can concede it with your worst hand and use your stronger hands to win the other four pots.
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.
Tips to the Fat One Rules · OPR-647 · officialpokerrules.com/tips-to-the-fat-one/