Cincinnati (5 hole cards)

[davim1]

Has anyone ever played this? I heard of it once before and thought about trying it out in a home game sometime.

Same format as Holdem, except you get 5 hole cards, and instead of having a flop, only one community card at a time is exposed.

What makes this sound interesting to me is that you are allowed to use ANY 5 cards to make your hand.

To me, this sounds like nut peddler's paradise, which wouldn't bother me so much, but I don't think that most of my buddies would like it. Any one have any thoughts?

[Mrage]

I've played this in a home game before. The pots are big because there are so many streets to bet. It's similar to Omaha in that usually someone has the absolute nuts. It's fun but not a game worth ever playing seriously (imho.)

[Gamblor]

I've played this but not with the same rules...

we played in our home game as follows:

4 hole cards, 4 board cards with a round of betting after each one. 5 rounds in total. split pot game, with the 3rd card determining which suit's nut card gets half the pot. if the third card is 8+ the person holding that suit's highest card (A is nut, followed by K) gets half the pot, if it's =< 7 then the low card (A is nut followed by 2) gets half the pot. All 4 cards play for hand.

It's only a good game because it's very difficult for beginners to figure out the nuts given a particular board.

[Vidocq]

To make the pots even bigger, play it hi-lo.

I agree with the above. It's a fun home game but not much more.

[fnord_too]

When we did split determination games, 2s were always nut on the low end, this gives more excuses for people to chase.

[Phat Mack]

This game can be murderous. The pots get huge because of the extra betting rounds, even more so when it is played hi-lo, bet-declare-bet.

The hand strengths will be greater than in 4-card and 5-card omaha. I've seen steel wheels get quartered in this game. Best thing to do is to make your hand early and hang on for dear life. A good game for gamb00lers.