Non-standard poker hands are hands which are not recognized by official poker rules but are made by house rules. Non-standard 🫦 hands usually appear in games using wild cards or bugs. Other terms for nonstandard hands are special hands or freak 🫦 hands.[1] Because the hands are defined by house rules, the composition and ranking of these hands is subject to variation. 🫦 Any player participating in a game with non-standard hands should be sure to determine the exact rules of the game 🫦 before play begins.[2]
Types [ edit ]
The usual hierarchy of poker hands from highest to lowest runs as follows (standard poker 🫦 hands are in italics):[3]
Royal Flush : The highest straight flush, A-K-Q-J-10 suited.
: The highest straight flush, A-K-Q-J-10 suited. Skeet flush 🫦 : The same cards as a skeet (see below) but all in the same suit. [4]
: The same cards as 🫦 a skeet (see below) but all in the same suit. Straight flush : When wild cards are used, a wild 🫦 card becomes whichever card is necessary to complete the straight flush, or the higher of the two cards that can 🫦 complete an open-ended straight flush. For example, in the hand 10♠ 9♠ (Wild) 7♠ 6♠ , it becomes the 8♠ 🫦 , and in the hand (Wild) Q♦ J♦ 10♦ 9♦ , it plays as the K♦ (even though the 8♦ 🫦 would also make a straight flush).
: When wild cards are used, a wild card becomes whichever card is necessary to 🫦 complete the straight flush, or the higher of the two cards that can complete an open-ended straight flush. For example, 🫦 in the hand , it becomes the , and in the hand , it plays as the (even though the 🫦 would also make a straight flush). Four of a kind : Between two equal sets of four of a kind 🫦 (possible in wild card and community card poker games or with multiple or extended decks), the kicker determines the winner.
: 🫦 Between two equal sets of four of a kind (possible in wild card and community card poker games or with 🫦 multiple or extended decks), the kicker determines the winner. Big bobtail : A four card straight flush (four cards of 🫦 the same suit in consecutive order). [3] [5]
: A four card straight flush (four cards of the same suit in 🫦 consecutive order). Full house
Flush: When wild cards are used, a wild card contained in a flush is considered to be 🫦 of the highest rank not already present in the hand. For example, in the hand (Wild) 10♥ 8♥ 5♥ 4♥ 🫦 , the wild card plays as the A♥ , but in the hand A♣ K♣ (Wild) 9♣ 6♣, it plays 🫦 as the Q♣. (As noted above, if a wild card would complete a straight flush, it will play as the 🫦 card that would make the highest possible hand.) A variation is the double-ace flush rule, in which a wild card 🫦 in a flush always plays as an ace, even if one is already present (unless the wild card would complete 🫦 a straight flush). In such a game, the hand A♠ (Wild) 9♠ 5♠ 2♠ would defeat A♦ K♦ Q♦ 10♦ 🫦 8♦ (the wild card playing as an imaginary second A♠), whereas by the standard rules it would lose (because even 🫦 with the wild card playing as a K♠, the latter hand's Q♦ outranks the former's 9♠).
Five and Dime
Skeet
Bobtail Flush
Flush House
Flush 🫦 House
Some poker games are played with a deck that has been stripped of certain cards, usually low-ranking ones. For example, 🫦 the Australian game of Manila uses a 32-card deck in which all cards below the rank of 7 are removed, 🫦 and Mexican Stud removes the 8s, 9s, and 10s. In both of these games, a flush ranks above a full 🫦 house, because having fewer cards of each suit available makes full houses more common.
Cats and dogs [ edit ]
"Cats" (or 🫦 "tigers") and "dogs" are types of no-pair hands defined by their highest and lowest cards. The remaining three cards are 🫦 kickers. Dogs and cats rank above straights and below Straight Flush houses. Usually, when cats and dogs are played, they 🫦 are the only unconventional hands allowed.
Little dog : Seven high, two low (for example, 7-6-4-3-2). It ranks just above a 🫦 straight, and below a Straight Flush House or any other cat or dog. In standard poker seven high is the 🫦 lowest hand possible. [6] [2]
: Seven high, two low (for example, 7-6-4-3-2). It ranks just above a straight, and below 🫦 a Straight Flush House or any other cat or dog. In standard poker seven high is the lowest hand possible. 🫦 Big dog : Ace high, nine low (for example, A-K-J-10-9). Ranks above a straight or little dog, and below a 🫦 Straight Flush House or cat. [6] [2]
: Ace high, nine low (for example, A-K-J-10-9). Ranks above a straight or little 🫦 dog, and below a Straight Flush House or cat. Little cat (or little tiger ): Eight high, three low. Ranks 🫦 above a straight or any dog, but below a Straight Flush House or big cat. [6] [2]
(or ): Eight high, 🫦 three low. Ranks above a straight or any dog, but below a Straight Flush House or big cat. Big cat 🫦 (or big tiger): King high, eight low. It ranks just below a Straight Flush House, and above a straight or 🫦 any other cat or dog.[6][2]
Some play that dog or cat flushes beat a straight flush, under the reasoning that a 🫦 plain dog or cat beats a plain straight. This makes the big cat flush the highest hand in the game.[5]
Kilters 🫦 [ edit ]
A Kilter, also called Kelter, is a generic term for a number of different non-standard hands. Depending on 🫦 house rules, a Kilter may be a Skeet, a Little Cat, a Skip Straight, or some variation of one of 🫦 these hands.[5] According to Paul Anthony Jones, it can simply mean a hand of little value.[6] According to Penn Jillette 🫦 and Mickey D. Lynn, a Kelter is "a nonstandard hand given value in home games."[3]
See also [ edit ]
