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In Zoot, each player antes and is dealt five cards. After each deal a player may lay down their hand as a challenge; if nobody does, everyone antes again and exchanges one card. Hands are ranked first by how few suits they contain, and a player who lays down and is beaten must match the pot.
Zoot was contributed to pagat.com by Alan Kross-Vinson. It is a guts game in which the object is to win the pot with the highest-ranking hand, using the special ranking in article 4.
The game is played with a standard 52-card deck and no wild cards. Up to ten players may take part.
When the stock has fewer cards than there are players, the discards are shuffled and added to it.
Each player pays an agreed ante to the pot. A small ante is advisable, because the pot can grow large.
The dealer deals five cards face down to each player.
After the deal, any player may lay down their hand face up as a challenge, which forces a showdown (article 3).
If nobody lays down, every player antes again, discards one card face down to the dealer, and is dealt one replacement card. Each player still holds five cards.
Rules 2.3 and 2.4 are repeated after every exchange until a player lays down.
The source does not say in what order players are offered the chance to lay down, or what happens if two players try to lay down at once. The dealer shall announce the procedure before play.
When a player lays down, every player's hand is compared with it.
If the player who laid down has the best hand, or ties for the best hand, they take the whole pot.
If another player has a better hand, the best hand takes the pot, and the player who laid down must pay into the pot an amount equal to what it held. If two or more players tie for the best hand, they share the pot.
Only the player who laid down risks a payment. The other players never have to match the pot.
After each showdown a new game starts. A player who has just matched the pot may be excused from the first ante of the next game, if the players so agree.
Hands are ranked first by the number of different suits they contain. Any hand with fewer suits beats any hand with more. Hands with the same number of suits are ranked by the standard poker order.
| Suits in the hand | Hands possible, highest first |
|---|---|
| One | Royal flush, straight flush, flush |
| Two | Straight, two pair, one pair, high card |
| Three | Full house, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card |
| Four | Four of a kind, full house, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card |
Hands of the same number of suits and the same type are compared as in standard poker. See hand rankings.
Some hands cannot occur with a given number of suits. Three of a kind needs three suits and four of a kind needs four, so, for example, a two-suited hand can never contain three of a kind.
A flush beats a full house
Player A lays down 9♠8♠6♠3♠2♠, a nine-high flush in one suit.
Player B holds K♥K♦K♣7♥7♦, a full house in three suits.
A one-suited hand beats any three-suited hand, so Player A's flush wins, even though a full house would beat a flush in standard poker. A takes the pot.
A royal flush. Any one-suited hand beats every hand with two or more suits, so even a low flush beats four of a kind.
Yes. A flush has only one suit, and a full house must have at least three, so the flush always wins.
Only the player who laid down. If someone beats them, they pay an amount equal to the pot. No other player risks anything beyond their antes.
Yes. Wheelers, by the same contributor, uses the same procedure but ranks hands by straights.
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.
Zoot Rules · OPR-631 · officialpokerrules.com/zoot/