Online Poker » Dealers Choice Games » West Cincinatti

West Cincinnati is a variation on the poker game of Cincinnati, an unusual community card game. The game is played with betting rounds interspersed with the unveiling of community cards, much like a game of Texas Hold'em or Omaha. However, West Cincinnati uses a different community card structure from what you'd find in these classic card games. In West Cincinnati and standard Cincinnati, only four board cards are used. In addition, the game can be played with Hi Lo split rules much like Omaha Hi Lo.

West Cincinnati Antes

Before a hand of West Cincinnati begins, every player pays an ante. If you're playing fixed limit West Cincinnati, each player must pay 10% of the betting limit as an ante. If you're playing no limit West Cincinnati, you'll use a blind system similar to in Texas Hold'em.

West Cincinnati Rules

To begin a game of West Cincinnati, a player must first be designated as the dealer for that hand. The dealer then deals five hole cards to each player. A round of betting then follows, and the game can follow a fixed limit, pot limit or no limit betting structure. Next, four community cards are placed face down on the table. Following the first round of betting, a single community card is revealed by the dealer. Another round of betting takes place, followed by the revealing of another community card. This process repeats until all four community cards have been revealed.

In West Cincinnati, the fourth and final community card to be flipped over is considered wild. In addition, all other cards with that ranking are considered wild as well. This can apply to previously revealed community cards and hole cards as well. A final round of betting occurs, followed immediately by the showdown. Any players who have not yet folded must show their cards as part of the showdown.

Completing a West Cincinnati Poker Hand

In order to put together your poker hand in West Cincinnati, you can choose any combination of community cards and hole cards. This is different than in Omaha, where you must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards. In West Cincinnati, you even have the option of playing the board, or using exclusively community cards.

West Cincinnati Poker Variations

West Cincinnati can be played with a few variations, at your discretion. First, you can play standard Cincinnati, which does not involve any wild cards. You can also alter the number of hole cards and community cards used. Some West Cincinnati players use five community cards and five hole cards per player. Other West Cincinnati game variations include four hole cards and four community cards. Because of this, West Cincinnati players can have either 8, 9 or 10 total cards to choose from when completing their hands, depending on the chosen rules.

Regardless of the number of community and hole cards you choose to use, the game can not be referred to as West Cincinnati unless the final community card is wild.