Trips to Win Rules

The object of the game is to win the pot with a hand of three of a kind or better.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, and hands rank according to the standard poker hand rankings. A joker may be added as a bug if agreed (see article 6).

As in any Jacks or Better game, at least four players make the best game, and six is a comfortable maximum.

Except where this page says otherwise, the rules of Jacks or Better apply, as set out on the Five Card Draw page.

Before the deal every player places the agreed ante in the pot. Each player is then dealt five cards face down, one at a time.

The first betting round begins with the player to the dealer's left. A player may open the betting only with a pair of jacks or better. Until the pot is opened, players may only check.

Once the pot is opened, any player may call or raise, whatever they hold.

If no one opens, the cards are thrown in, the antes stay in the pot, and the deal passes to the left.

The rules on splitting and proving openers are the same as in Jacks or Better.

Each active player in turn may discard and draw replacement cards, under the draw limit used for Five Card Draw (usually three cards).

After the draw there is a second betting round, begun by the opener.

A hand must be three of a kind or better to win the pot.

At showdown, the best hand among those shown wins, provided it is at least three of a kind.

If the pot is won without a showdown, because every other player folded, the winner shall still show enough cards to prove a hand of three of a kind or better.

The requirement to win is separate from the requirement to open. The opener must still prove openers, and a player who holds trips but did not open wins the pot in the normal way.

If no player remaining after the draw holds three of a kind or better, the pot is not won. It stays on the table for a new deal.

Players who folded before the draw take no further part in that pot. The players who did not fold each ante again, and the new deal is dealt to them only.

The replayed deal follows the same rules: jacks or better to open and trips to win. The published rules do not say whether players who fold in the replay keep any claim; the dealer shall announce the group's practice before play.