Online Poker » Dealers Choice Games » Outhouse

If you enjoy playing different variants of poker, Outhouse poker could be for you. As a dealer's choice style of poker, which means that each player may deal his or her own variant, Outhouse is quite popular among home poker games. What makes Outhouse poker so unique is its ability to award players four separate chances of winning the entire pot. Even though Outhouse is like standard poker games in that it is played with a regular 52-card deck and up to seven players, there are two pots in Outhouse.

One pot is considered the main pot that is awarded to whoever has the best hand at the end of the game. The other pot is referred to as a side pot and is awarded to the player who has the best 2-card hand at the end of every round. Any time a bet is wagered by any player, one half of the bet is put into the side pot and the remaining half is set into the main pot.

Outhouse - Understanding the Rules of the Game

Before the game is put into motion, every player will need to ante his or her bet into the pots. Once that is complete, it will be up to the dealer to give out five hole cards to every player. After the dealer has dealt each player a third card, however, the first round of betting will begin. Two more betting rounds will occur after all players have received their fourth and fifth cards, respectively.

After everyone has all five of their hole cards, they may then choose two of those cards to expose to the other players. Whoever has the best 2-card hand will win the side pot. Those cards that were exposed must then be put back into the deck so they may be shuffled into the next round.

To continue, everyone will be dealt an additional three hole cards, with a betting round in between each dealt card. Remember that the bets made during this round must be automatically split and placed into the main and side pots. By this stage of the game, every player should have six hole cards in his or her possession. As done before, players will again choose two of their cards to be exposed so the best 2-card hand can be awarded and the side pot assigned. The main pot should by now have the contents of two betting rounds.

Outhouse - The Final Stages

By this point, the dealer must deal out three hole cards to every player with betting rounds done in between each deal. The bets will still be split into a side pot and the main pot. All players will make their final 2-card hand and the third side pot will be given. The five cards that are left will also be exposed so the best 5-card hand can be determined. The winner of the 5-card hand is awarded the contents of the main pot. Only straight flushes are allowed in Outhouse; common flushes are not counted.