poker variant

I'm searching for the name and the rules of a poker variant I played years ago with my Asian friends.

4 Players 13 cards each, making three hands (5 foot, 5 middle and 3 head), then comparing those three hands paying a fixed amount. Can anyone help?

In Hawaii, this game used to be popular in the bars. It was called "pepito" or "pipito". Don't know the origin or ethnicity of the name, but it sounds Philippino to me.


The way we played it, the first hand of 5 cards had to beat the second hand of 5 cards which in turn had to beat the last hand of 3 cards. You played the first hand of 5 cards against the other 3 players' first 5 card hands, and so on. The set bets were graduated downward, with the first 5 card hand worth, say, $1, the second 5 card hand worth 75 cents and the 3 card hand worth 50 cents. It was a fun game - not designed to make or lose much money, just to pass the time and have some fun.


Papio

Sounds like pai-gow, with more cards.


My friends and I decided to play pai-gow as an actual poker game (for play money - some of them are tight-a$$es). We dealt 4 cards to each player, had a round of betting, then 3 cards to each, bet again, then show down the top 5 and bottom 2 (with the same rule about the 5-card hand beating the 2-card hand), and the best of each took half the pot. It was a pretty interesting game as a way of passing the time with a few people. I wonder if it would work as a real form of poker...

n/t

I know the game as "Pusoy". I don't play it butI'll try to explain the rules the best I can. Arrange the cards as 'good' for head, 'better' for the middle 5, and 'best'for the foot. That is, the head can be any 3 cards with trips as the best as there are no 3 card flush or straight. The middle should be better than the head, so you cannot put 2 pairs or lower trips than the head. The foot should be the best 5 cards (better than the middle). If the cards are not arrange as such you automatically bust. On showdown you should beat 2 out of 3 of the other players' arrangement in order to win. The game is mentally challenging because of numerous possibilities but not money-making IMHO as it is very slow and your odds are fixed to 3 to 1. I hope my explanation is clear enough.

P.S.

Did not read Papio's reply before I posted mine. I forgot to add that you have to compare head-to-head, middle-to-middle, and foot-to-foot and beat the other players two out of 3 arrangement. Yes, it's very popular with the Filipino community. It is similar to but much more complicated than Pai Gow as there are more possible combinations.