Mole Poker
Mole Poker Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 41 Cards
- 36 Mole cards (6 each of A-F)
- 5 Summary cards
Game Setup
- Divide the cards from A to F, shuffle them face down, and create 6 decks.
- Choose the starting player in any way you like (e.g., the person who has most recently seen a mole).
- The game begins with that player.
How to Play
On your turn, draw a card from one of the decks (A-F).
- For the first and fifth cards, draw them face down and secretly check their numbers.
- For the second, third, and fourth cards, turn them face up for everyone to see.
After drawing a card, your turn ends, and the player to your left takes their turn. The game ends when each player has five cards in front of them.
Check the Hand
At the end of the game, each player reveals their face-down cards and determines which hand can be made with their five cards. If a player has more than one combination, the strongest one is considered their hand; One Pair is the weakest, and Five of a Kind is the strongest.
The hands, from weakest to strongest, are:
- One Pair (XX)
- Two Pair (XX YY)
- Three of a Kind (XXX)
- Full House (XXX YY)
- Four of a Kind (XXXX)
- Straight 12345 (regardless of order drawn)
- Five of a Kind (XXXXX)
Multiple Three of a Kind (example): With three of a kind on a hand of 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, X is 1. A second hand of 4, 4, 4, 2, 1 has X as 4. The hand with the higher X wins (the 4s hand is the Winner).
Winning the Game
The player with the strongest hand wins the game. If multiple players have that hand and their cards are exactly the same, they all win. Otherwise, the player with the highest X wins. If there is a tie, the player with the highest Y wins.
If there is still a tie, or if there is no Y, the player with the higher number on the remaining card wins.
In case of multiple Straights, the higher number on the fifth card drawn wins. If those are equal, compare the fourth card drawn, then the third, and so on.
If You Want to Enjoy It for Longer...
You can play the game in multiple matches. The winner of each match flips over their summary card and becomes the starting player for the next match. A player wins the game if they win another match after their summary card has been flipped over.
However, if a player makes a weaker hand than anyone else, they must turn over their summary card and forfeit their win.
To help settle the game more easily, consider adding this rule: If no player wins two matches by the end of the fourth match, the winner of the fifth match wins the game.
FAQs
I accidentally revealed the first or fifth card. What should I do? Place the cards face down in front of you regardless. Mistakes like this can happen easily in the game, so please be mindful when drawing cards.
For the longer game rule, "make a weaker hand than anyone else", what happens when multiple players have the weakest hand? Use the reverse of the tiebreaker rule for determining the winner. If the tied players have identical hands, both forfeit their wins (if possible).
When playing the longer game for two players, do I have to win two matches in a row to win the game? Yes, or you can determine the game's winner based on the fifth match.
What if all players have the same hand, the cards are exactly the same, and no one can make the strongest or weakest hand? This is a rare situation and will almost never happen. However, if it does, you should call it a tie and continue with the next match.
If there are multiple winners in the previous match, who starts the next match? It is quite rare to have more than one winner. In such a case, the players should agree on who will start the next match.