Non-standard poker hand
Non-standard poker hands are hands which are not recognized by official poker rules but are created by house rules. Nonstandard hands usually appear in games of five card draw poker. Other terms for nonstandard hands are special hands or freak hands. 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 nonstandard hands should be sure to determine the exact rules of the game before play begins.
The usual heirarchy of poker hands from lowest to highest runs as follows (standard poker hands are in italics):
- High card
- Pair
- Four Straight - Also called Bobtail Straight. Four cards in consecutive order.
- Four Flush - Also called Bobtail Flush. Four cards of the same suit.
- Two Pair
- Blaze - Also called Blazer. All cards are jacks, queens, or kings.
- Flash - One card of each suit plus a joker.
- Little Bobtail - A three card straight flush (three cards of the same suit in consecutive order).
- Three of a Kind
- Skeet - Also called Pelter or Bracket. A hand with a deuce; a three or a four; a five; a six, a seven, or an eight; and a nine.
- Five and Dime - All cards are fives, sixes, sevens, eights, nines, or tens with no pair.
- Skip Straight - Also called Alternate Straight, Dutch Straight, or Skipper. Cards are in consecutive order, skipping every other card. (Example 3-5-7-9-J).
- Round the Corner Straight - Consecutive cards including a ace which counts as both the high and low card. (Example Q-K-A-2-3).
- Straight
- Little Dog - All cards are deuces, threes, fours, fives, sixes, or sevens with no pair.
- Big Dog - All cards are nines, tens, jacks, queens, kings, or aces with no pair.
- Little Tiger - Also called Little Cat. All cards are threes, fours, fives, sixes, sevens, eights, and nines. (Some house rules prohibit nines.)
- Big Tiger - Also called Big Cat. All cards are eights, nines, tens, jacks, queens, or kings with no pair.
- Flush
- Full House
- Big Bobtail - A four card straight flush (four cards of the same suit in consecutive order).
- Four of a Kind
- Straight Flush
- Skeet Flush - The same cards as a Skeet and all in the same suit.
- Five of a Kind - Four of a kind plus a wild card, or three of a kind plus two wild cards.
A Kilter, also called Kelter, is a generic term for a number of different nonstandard hands. Depending on house rules, a Kilter may be a Skeet, a Little Tiger, a Skip Straight, or some variation of one of these hands.
Also see http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/appendixd.html and related poker information on the main website.
