[monroe]

There are several variants that are playable, just like standard poker. The biggies are CP with all hands high, and CP with 2-7 low in the middle.

We sometimes play CP high with the front hand being evaluated by total points (Aces are eleven, face cards ten) making 33 points the nuts.

The 17-card version mentioned above also gets some play in mid-high stakes games.

And there's no reason why you couldn't play a version with A-5 low in the middle. In fact, I wonder why this isn't more popular than 2-7 Chinese. Of course, the necessary avoidance of straights and flushes (near locks to be losers) in the middle adds a notch to the strategy of 2-7 Chinese.

But, in A-5 Chinese, the fact that Aces are key cards in the middle (though perhaps not as vital as deuces in 2-7) and the front as well (where a pair of Aces is still strong) could very well add more to the strategy than the straight/flush issue in 2-7 Chinese.

I imagine there are many situations where the Ace is critical to making a decent low in the middle, but also useful as part of a pair in front (or even A-high) and your choice (taking into account your back and the cards your opponent might have) can push your EV more than an insignificant ammount in one direction or the other.

Then again, perhaps some rule of thumb could be devised which would effectively negate the advantages a player who correctly played those types of hands would have.

As for other common variations, I will follow the format of the poster above:

Likes:

2/4 scoring.

Natural hands. It is true that they don't add anything to strategy, but they may be rare enough not to matter that much. After about 1200 hands I have only had 11 naturals. We play with 3 flushes, 3 straights, 6 pair, 12 colors (12 of your 13 cards of a single color), 13 colors (all of your cards of a single color), and Dragons (one card of each rank).

Royalties with 1/6 scoring (1/6 scoring gives 1 point for winning 2 of 3 hand segments and 6 points for sweeping). This introduces more strategy, I believe, because in 2/4 scoring it will almost always be an easy decision to put quads or a straight flush in back for the 4 or 5 guaranteed points. With 1/6 scoring, it is more likely that you will have an oppurtunity to break your back hand and gain EV with a 6 point sweep possibility. This is more true the less points you give for royalties (say 2 and 3 for quads and straight flush, respectively).

Dislikes:

Royalties with standard 2/4 scoring. (We play this way anyway, though.) Usually, you will receive bonus points for the following hands: Straight Flush in back (5) or middle (10), Quads in back (4) or middle (8), Trips in front (3), and Full House in the middle (2). How many bonus points you receive can vary from house to house, though.

Breaking ties using suits.

Any variant involving a badugi hand, especially the 17-card version. Doesn't it take too long to set your hand?

No opinon yet:

1/3 scoring. I've played it. That's all.

12-card CP. With a two-card front. Obviously not as deep as 13-card CP. May be good to throw in a CP mix game from time to time to have an advantage over others, like some wild-card games that aren't particularly deep but are profitable thanks to inexperienced opponents.

Super-novel variants like the Prock one above (which I just read about for the first time) or the Phat Mack variant with a community card/cribbage hand in front.