Shifting Sands?

[CurryLover]

This is a big longshot, but does anyone know anything about the basic strategy/starting hands for this game (I'm assuming it'll be UK players, but a variation of it might be played in the US)?

The game is called 'Shifting Sands' and, in case you know it by a different name, I'll briefly describe the rules...

It's PL 7 card stud with a twist which is that the lowest of your downcards is wild. So you can get screwed on 7th street by catching a low card that counterfeits, say your pair of 4s in the hole.

There is a high low variation where the highest card in your hand is wild for your low hand, and the lowest card in your hand is wild for high (Aces are neutral).

I know this sounds like a silly home game, but a few players have started calling it in the Dealer's Choice game that I play in so I need to get to grips with it. I lost a £3,000 pot earlier in the week when my 5 Jacks were beating a straight flush until I got counterfeited by receiving a 2 on 7th street and so ended up with only quad 3s (if you can work out my hand from that description then you understand the rules of the game).

Like I said, I know it's a longshot but can anyone offer any help or advice?

[Runner Runner]

Obviously low pairs in the hole rule in this game.....and the lower the better. You need to tread very carefully in games like this and how loose you play should really depend on your opponents play. Often times in games with wildcards, the other players are giving far too much action, and all you have to do is sit back, wait for a monster and get paid. Bad luck catching the counterfeiting card on 7th, but this is part of the added variance of a game like this.

[lefunque]

Insist on playing with rule that you can pay to have your last card up instead of down. The price is the total of the antes in my limit game, but maybe in PL it can be a quarter of the pot or something.

[Phat Mack]

In the US, Shifting Sands is 5-card stud, low hole card wild, roll your own.

The game you describe is often just called "low hole card wild". Far from being a silly game, it requires a great deal of skill to play. As lefunque mentioned, it is sometimes played with the option of buying the last card up, but I don't think that this makes it a better game. For me, the more complications the better.

The lower your lowest down card, the less your chance of being dinked on the end. It's important to track dinking cards during the play of the game so that you will know the odds of being couterfeited on the end. Also understand how everyone having wild cards affects hand values.

There's been some discussion of this game on RGP in the past, you might want to do a search there. Here a thread from Seattle Russ:

RGP thread

Please post some interesting hands--this is a great game.

[Soviet Exile]

Phat Mack,

Do you play TD on UB??

Soviet Exile

[Phat Mack]

[ QUOTE ]
Phat Mack,

Do you play TD on UB??

Soviet Exile

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really. I've played a few hands under my wife's account, but don't find limit triple draw that interesting.

[sirpupnyc]

[ QUOTE ]
In the US, Shifting Sands is 5-card stud, low hole card wild, roll your own.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or 5-card stud, hi-lo, no wilds, no rolling, but with the option to pass your up cards. (Second card dealt, keep it or pass left and take the next off the top; third card dealt, keep it or pass either up card and take the next off the top; etc.

You asked for complications, right? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Phat Mack]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In the US, Shifting Sands is 5-card stud, low hole card wild, roll your own.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or 5-card stud, hi-lo, no wilds, no rolling, but with the option to pass your up cards. (Second card dealt, keep it or pass left and take the next off the top; third card dealt, keep it or pass either up card and take the next off the top; etc.

You asked for complications, right? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Excellent game; we call it Push. When you can pass either an up card or down card, we call it Super Push.