A very good example of this is the game of Indian Poker. This is a very simple variation of Guts, and it is so simple that it could pass off as a practical joke that you can play on a group. The main idea in Indian Poker is simple: the player with the highest card wins the game. The game begins with the antes being placed in the pot. Each player is then dealt a single card by the dealer. They do not get to see these cards; instead, their cards are placed face-up on their foreheads, so that everyone else sees the cards of others but they do not get to see their own cards. The players get a look at the other players’ cards, and they try to see if they can outdo these cards; a declaration stage takes place, where each of the players must indicate whether they are in or out. If there is more than one player in, then these players go through a throw down, where they take the cards from their forehead and find out who has the higher card; the one with the highest card takes the pot, and the rest of the players who were in will place the same amount as the pot when they lost in the next pot. The game goes on until only one player calls in and takes the whole pot.

If you took away the pot money and the betting, then this could very well be just another simple, fun game you can introduce in a children’s party, or it could be a practical joke you can play on your friends. But if you are to play this as a serious game, then take note that you should be skilled in bluffing in order to be able to pull this off effectively, as it is very simple and you risk to lose a lot with this kind of game.

Anyway, let’s go back to the game: the players go through a round of declaration, and those who decide to play run the risk of paying up if they lose; we will get to that later on. Those who decided to play and stay in will then draw as many cards as they want, unless there is a modification that says there is a limit to the number of cards that a player can draw. The players then go through a round of betting. A showdown takes place, and the player with the best hand takes the pot. Those who lost have to place money in the pot, and this amount is the amount that was in the pot when they lost. This raises the stakes pretty quickly, so it is best to start betting in this game really low. The game is repeated until only one person declares in, and this person takes home the pot. That is the only time the game ends. It can be lengthy or quick depending on the players and the cards that they get, and so make sure you have enough time to spare when trying this out.

The game begins with the players placing their antes. The antes for the 357 are higher than the antes placed for other Guts games, because there are no betting rounds in the 357. After these antes are placed, the players are dealt three cards initially, and then they have to declare whether or not they’re in. Those who are out stay out for the rest of this leg of the game, except if the player next to them declares in; then they have the choice of changing their mind before the next move takes place. Players who are in then exchange their hands with the other players who are in, being careful not to show these cards to those who are out; the losers pay the winner directly with the same amount as the money in the pot. The players are then dealt two more cards, and then another declaration round takes place, with the rules for the first round followed as well. Two more cards are dealt after the winner for the second round is paid; this time, the players show their cards to the table to determine who wins, and the losers pay the winner the same amount as the pot. Then the game starts over, beginning with three cards.

Of course, this game is not just that simple. For starters, a person only wins the pot when he wins five consecutive legs of the game, which is only won when he is the only one left standing in and the rest have opted out. Then there is the element of the wild cards, which is where the name of the game was derived. For the first round the number 3 is considered a wild card; for the second round, the 3s are no longer wild and are replaced by the 5s; and for the final round of the game, the 5s are replaced by the 7s as the wild cards of the game. This game takes a long time to play but is very interesting, and so you should try it if you have the time.

Each player is initially dealt four cards for the game. As with the other Guts games, this is done after the antes have been placed in the pot. Then a declaration round takes place, where players decide whether they are in or they are out; those who are out no longer get the cards that those who are in will be receiving. Those who are in will place their bets, and then they will be dealt three more cards. The players then have to declare whether they are playing for a high hand, a low hand, or both – as you can see, this is a high-low variation of Guts. What follows next is that the showdown takes place. They have to make the best five-card hand that they can, depending on what they declared they would play, in order to win their fair share of the pot. A player playing Four Three, then, has to make himself familiar with the different poker hands that are used in poker games in order to be able to keep up with their opponents.

As mentioned, the players may decide to add an extra betting round, which would make this similar to certain poker variants. This additional betting round may be added after the additional three cards are dealt to the players. Try it out, and you could just take the leap to poker afterwards very easily.

Take for instance this chain: We have the basic game of Guts, where players are dealt two cards. This evolved to the Monte Carlo, wherein players are dealt three cards instead of two, and so four more hands were made possible to achieve. This eventually evolved to the Consecutive Guts, where players are dealt five cards but have to form a hand with only three cards, like the Monte Carlo, except the concept of wild cards has been introduced already. Now comes another evolution of the game: the Alternating Guts.

The Alternating Guts is played just like the Consecutive Guts. Each player is dealt five cards, and they have to make the best three-card hand that they can out of the five cards that they are dealt. A player may also use wild cards in Alternating Guts. Of course, the difference lies in what cards are considering wild cards. In Consecutive Guts, the name suggests that consecutive numbers may be used as the wild cards; the same follows with Alternating Guts, where the name suggests a person may use alternating numbers as their wild cards. These alternating numbers are cards that are once removed from one another. For instance, you have a hand of 3-5-J-J-8. The cards 3 and 5 are once removed from each other, and so you can use them as a wild card to create a jack-high three of a kind. Because getting alternating cards happens more often than getting consecutive cards, this really puts a spin to the game by giving every player an advantage. This is why, as in Consecutive Guts, the only hands allowed to be played here are the high cards, the pairs, and the three of a kind combinations.

There is a variation of Guts, known as Consecutive Guts, which is very interesting to play. The game is played like your basic game of Guts – the players are dealt cards at the beginning of the game, and they decide whether they are in or out before placing bets and getting to the showdown. However, players are dealt five cards instead of three for this game, and while their goal remains to be making the highest hand out of the cards that they have, they only get to make a three-card hand, similar to that of the Monte Carlo and the Two and One.

A very good twist is added to the game, though: If a player ends up with two consecutive cards in his hand, then he can use those cards together as a wild card. To illustrate: let’s say you have a hand comprised of a 5-6-A-A-9. Because the 5 and the 6 are consecutive numbers, you can use them as a wild card together, so you will end up playing a hand with four cards, but the 5 and 6 will be considered as one card – in this case, you declare it to be an ace, so that you have a three of a kind. Because the chances of a player getting a pair of consecutive cards are quite high, this should really change up the dynamic of the game, making it easier for the players to come up with higher hands to beat their opponents.

There is just a thing though: a player can only play a high card, a pair, or a three of a kind for this variation of Guts. This is an added challenge, because it would be easier to come up with straights if this system were observed. Try it out for you to determine whether or not it is easier for you. One thing is certain: this certainly adds to the excitement that the game brings.

Card games are no exception to the rule. There are many things that a person can do to a basic card game to make it as exciting as ever, if not more. Take for example the basic Guts game. Because the game is so simple, people have developed different varieties to spice things up a bit. One of these varieties is the Monte Carlo, wherein instead of using two cards, the players use three cards each. Yet even this is simple for the players, and so they further developed the game into something even more interesting and thrilling. Hence came the Two and One.

The Two and One is like the Monte Carlo in that it is played with three cards and not two. The mechanics of the game follow the same mechanics as that of the basic Guts game, and at the end of the round, the people rank their hands based on the same ranking as the Monte Carlo follows. What makes it different, though, is that in the Two and One, instead of having the dealer deal the players three cards each at the start of the game, the dealer has to deal two cards to each player at the beginning of the game. The twist comes next: to be able to receive the third card, a player must decide to stay in the game; if he opts out, then he forfeits his claim to the pot, and he does not get the third card that was meant for him. This introduces the element of tactics in the game because they now have to strategize based on the initial cards that they are dealt. The players know that the final card can change their hand dramatically, so they have to think twice before staying in the game. You can try it if you want to introduce some strategizing to your game.

The Monte Carlo is also known as the three-card Guts, and as the name suggests, instead of being dealt two cards, as in the case of the basic game, the players are dealt three cards each. This has great repercussions, as the number of hands that may be played by each player increases as well. If before, a player can only get a pair and a high card for his hands, this time, a player can get four additional hands: a three of a kind, a straight, a flush, and a straight flush. The order of the hands follow the usual order of the poker hands; however, as there is no hand as a three of a kind in poker games, the three of a kind in the Monte Carlo takes the place of the four of a kind in poker hands. Given that, the order of the hands from lowest to highest would be as follows:

The high card would be the lowest;

The pair would come next;

The straight would be third;

The flush would follow;

The three of a kind would be fifth;

And finally, the straight flush would be the highest hand.

The gameplay is the same as the basic game, so if you are already familiar with basic Guts then you have nothing to worry about in that department. Try it out if you find the game of basic Guts too easy, and you just might be ready to make that transition to poker anytime soon.

The game of basic Guts is very easy and simple, and does not require a lot of thinking. The game usually begins with the players posting antes. Each player is then dealt two cards each, and there are two possible hands that each player can have – a high card and a pair. Of course, the one with the pair wins if no one else has a pair, but if everyone does not get a pair, then the winner is determined based on who has the highest card. Let’s go back where we left off: After each player is dealt two cards, they then decide whether they are in or out of the game depending on what cards they have. Those who are in place their bets in the pot, and the person with the highest hand wins the contents of the pot. Those who were in but have lost will be forced to place money in the pot for the next round, and because bets for this kind of game are usually small, the money that they have to put in the pot for the next round is equal to the amount of the pot for the round that they lost. This way, the pot keeps growing, and the game gets more interesting.

It’s very easy and uncomplicated, and so if you don’t want to be confused by poker games just yet, then you might want to try playing the basic game of Guts. As the name suggests, all you need is to have the guts to play. Still, it’s a simple and fun way to pass time.