Here at CustomPokerTables.com we not only bring you the best in custom poker tables, but we also bring you some “custom poker games” that you can play during your next home game.
The first random poker related game we’d like to feature is called “Put and Take”. This game is an instant classic at any home poker night. Actually, to be honest, some guys love it and some guys hate it. It’s more of a gambling game than it is a poker game, but it fits well into any home poker night with the guys.
So how do you play Put and Take? First, the dealer deals out 5 cards “face up” to each player. There are no ante’s to get into this game. After the dealer deals the cards out to each player, he then begins to deal 5 cards, face up, in front of him. If any player has the first card he turns over in front of them, they owe 1 “unit”. Some play a unit as 25 cents, some play $1, some play more. For this example we’ll consider a unit to be $1. So assume for a minute the dealer flipped over an Ace. Player 1 has an Ace in front of him, he now puts $1 in the pot. The dealer continues to flip over cards 2,3,4 and 5. And with each card flipped over, the players must put money into the pot if they have that card. For card number two they would owe 2x the unit bet. Card three is 4x the unit bet. Card four is 8 times the unit bet. And card five is 16 times the unit bet. In our example, if a player had card 5 in front of them they would owe $16 to the pot.
Sounds like a fun game huh? You put a ton of money in! Not so fast. Now it’s time for the “take” portion of the game. The dealer will now deal 5 cards in front of him, face up, one by one. Players now get to take money out of the pot if they have these cards in front of them. The amount they take goes up in the same increments as the put round did. One thing to take note of, if a player has 2 or 3 of the card that is flipped over, they must pay 2 or 3 times the current amount owed. This can hurt if you have 2 Kings and a King is flipped during the “put round”. But on the other hand can be a bonus if flipped on the “take round”.
So once all 10 cards are flipped over, the dealer gets to take any money left in the pot. If the money runs out and there are still people needing to “take” more money. The dealer pays them this money.
That’s it. Put and Take is a very simple game and takes just minutes to play. If you get to call a game at the next home poker night you should have your buddies take a stab at this one.