Saint Poker Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components Required
• Rules
  • Hand Ranking Order
• Example Round
• Game Setup
• Playing a Round
  • River Setup Phase
  • Reveal and Score Phase
  • Pickup
• Notes
• Example Table Layout

Components Required

• Standard deck of 52 cards.
• Pen and paper for keeping score.

Rules

At the end of each round of play, each player will make a poker hand of 5 cards according to the standard poker Texas hold'em rules. The 5 cards may be made from any combination of cards in the river (the communal cards in the middle of the table) and the 2 individual cards the player has selected. Each player's poker hand is then ranked to determine which player won.

Hand Ranking Order

• Straight flush. Five cards in a sequence, all in the same suit.
• Four of a kind. All four cards of the same rank.
• Full house. Three of a kind with a pair.
• Flush. Same suit.
• Straight. Any mixture of suits.
• Three of a kind. Three of the same number.
• Two pairs. Two pairs.
• One pair. One pair.
• High. None of the above, the highest card.

Note 1: To settle ties for similar tricks like flushes, the rank of the highest card is used. Ace high.

Note 2: To settle ties for tricks requiring less than 5 cards, the number rank of the kicker (the other card) is used.

Example Round

The original rules document illustrates this example with card images; the card faces are omitted here but the outcome text is transcribed in full.

The 5 river cards are shown, along with each player's 2 selected cards:

• Winner: Player B wins with a straight flush.
• 2nd: Player C has a king flush with hearts.
• 3rd: Player A comes next with a straight.
• 4th: Player D comes last with a (lower) straight.

Game Setup

1. Shuffle the deck.
2. Deal 10 cards to each player.
3. Next, turn over a number of cards face up depending on the number of players; these are the "Future river" cards.
   • 3 cards in a 2-player game.
   • 2 cards for 3 players.
   • 1 card for 4 players.
   • 0 cards for 5 players.
4. The remaining cards become the "deck".

Playing a Round

River Setup Phase

1. Move the face-up cards from the future river and place them in the middle to make the start of the current river.
2. From the deck, place face up the same number of cards to one side to make a new future river.
3. To complete the current river, each player must select 1 card from their hand and simultaneously reveal them. This will make a total of 5 face-up cards now showing the complete current river.

Reveal and Score Phase

Each player selects 2 cards from their hand. Simultaneously, players reveal their 2 cards.

According to poker rules, determine the winner order. The winner receives points equal to the current round number. So 1 point in the 1st round, 2 points in the 2nd round, etc. Everyone else receives 0 points for their hand. Tie hands receive an equal share of the points, fractions are rounded up. Keep a running total score; anyone is allowed to know the current score at any time.

Pickup

Following the reverse winning order, take a card back from either the river or any of the players' revealed cards, and place it in your hand, the winner being the last to take a card. Repeat the process again so everyone picks up a total of 2 cards.

Discard the remaining 5 cards; they will no longer be used.

Repeat for 8 rounds.

Notes

Winner has the most points at the end of the game.

Some hand rankings may tie; points are to be shared equally, rounded up. As for the Pickup phase, the player with the most points selects last; if that is a tie, the youngest player picks up first.

Example Table Layout

A 3-player game, at the end of a round. The original rules document illustrates the future river, deck, and river with card images, omitted here as in the example round above.

• Future River: (illustrated in the original document)
• Deck of cards: (illustrated in the original document)
• River: Player A, Player B, Player C — each shown with their revealed cards (illustrated in the original document).