People Are Arguing Like Crazy Over This

[Dave H.]

First, my apologies for posting this question, but we have a "paycheck" poker question over which some folks are arguing vociferously. I've been named the "poker expert" and so they came to me. I gave them my opinion and then told them I'd go to the experts on the forum (YOU GUYS/GALS) so please help me if you can and stop the arguments. By the way, I am NOT a participant in this.

The office plays "paycheck poker". A warrant number containing 6 digits is used. Whoever gets the best 5 card hand wins. A zero is a ten and a one is an ace. SEVENs are wild. The following hands were presented by three different people this week. The question is "who wins?". Please explain if you can take the time.

Hand 1: 000078
Hand 2: 000776
Hand 3: 000005

P.S. We have NO provision for a tie breaker at this time. One individual (holding hand 3) claims that this hand is a "natural" and therefore beats hands 1 and 2. None of us know how to respond.

Thanx VEEERRRRYYYY Much!

5 tens wins. It's a clear 3-way tie.

[STLantny]

Its hard to say, since someoen can have 5 "natural aces". Usually though, if you have 4 of a kind, up against 4 of a kind, the one w/o wilds wins. But if you have 4 of a kind that is all wilds, that wins. I would say the guy with 00000 wins.

[AaronBrown]

You can appeal to two principles.

(1) Absent specific clear agreement, a tie is a tie. This is a general Poker principle that covers many situations. I would rely upon it myself.

(2) Games with multiple wildcards rank natural hands above hands with wildcards, if they make a distinction. Games with one wildcard do the reverse. Since there are no "cards" here, it's not clear which principle applies. I would mention this so the person with the "natural" argument realizes it can be used against him.

Carry the pot over to next week. That's always fun. Oh, and decide on the rule.

[ QUOTE ]
First, my apologies for posting this question, but we have a "paycheck" poker question over which some folks are arguing vociferously. I've been named the "poker expert" and so they came to me. I gave them my opinion and then told them I'd go to the experts on the forum (YOU GUYS/GALS) so please help me if you can and stop the arguments. By the way, I am NOT a participant in this.

The office plays "paycheck poker". A warrant number containing 6 digits is used. Whoever gets the best 5 card hand wins. A zero is a ten and a one is an ace. SEVENs are wild. The following hands were presented by three different people this week. The question is "who wins?". Please explain if you can take the time.

Hand 1: 000078
Hand 2: 000776
Hand 3: 000005

P.S. We have NO provision for a tie breaker at this time. One individual (holding hand 3) claims that this hand is a "natural" and therefore beats hands 1 and 2. None of us know how to respond.

Thanx VEEERRRRYYYY Much!

[/ QUOTE ]

Its a tie. Naturals vs. wild cards don't matter unless you have that as a specific rule. In most cases, they are considered to be equal.

[ayecappy]

isnt it a two way split, two players have four tens with a wildcard(ace kicker?) ?

[ QUOTE ]
Its hard to say, since someoen can have 5 "natural aces". Usually though, if you have 4 of a kind, up against 4 of a kind, the one w/o wilds wins. But if you have 4 of a kind that is all wilds, that wins. I would say the guy with 00000 wins.

[/ QUOTE ]

But what they all have is, basically, 5 aces - or 5 of whatever the highest denomination is.

I say tie.

[Runner Runner]

[ QUOTE ]
We have NO provision for a tie breaker at this time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Absent a provision for naturals winning in the event of ties, this hand is a clear 3 way split. Chop it up, and change the rules so that zero's are dead cards, that way you don't have everyone making monster's every week. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
isnt it a two way split, two players have four tens with a wildcard(ace kicker?) ?

[/ QUOTE ]

You should also make a rule clearing up whether 5-of-a-kind is actually a valid hand in this game, since it's not a standard poker hand except in home games.

[Dave H.]

Thanx everyone! I did eventually go to this site:

Hand Rankings although I don't know how "official" it is.

Here is an excerpt:

[ QUOTE ]
Although true wild cards are rarely seen in a casino, they are a popular way to add excitement to a home game. They are treated as whatever card the player chooses them to be, even if that card is already held by the player. Wild cards allow more Five of a Kind hands than the joker. They can also cause confusion when two players hold the same hand composed of different wild card combinations. The standard rules of poker do not distinguish between such hands, but some players prefer to rank hands using fewer wild cards above less "natural" versions of the same hand.

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