Dealer's Choice Poker Games: 10-15-20

10-15-20 is a Dealer’s Choice game that incorporates many different facets of the game of poker. It has many advantages over other Dealers Choice games for a variety of reasons. There are many rounds of betting, which dramatically increases the pot size. And it is a split pot game, in which the best poker hand splits the winnings with the worst poker hand. That’s right – the worst hand. That is merely one aspect of 10-15-20 that makes it so exciting.

10-15-20 is named so, because in place of dealing out cards to each player, cards are chosen and bought by each player in turn.   To start, the dealer deals out two cards to each player, face down, then places three cards, face up and in a row, next to the deck. As in other Dealer’s Choice poker games, the player to the left of the dealer starts. He has to decide if he wants one of the cards showing or if he wants to try his luck with the deck. And the game is called 10-15-20, because the face up cards cost 10 cents, 15 cents, or 20 cents, respectively. If you want a card face down off of the deck, it is 30 cents. Each player, in turn, buys one card at a time until all players have seven cards.

Any time a card is bought from the row of cards, the dealer flips up a new card from the deck to replace it, therefore always having three cards to choose from (i.e., if a player buys the 15 cent card, the dealer replaces it with a new card from the top of the deck). Also, when a player pays for one of the row cards (one of the exposed, face up cards), he must keep it exposed for all players to see until every player has all seven of their cards. However, if a card is purchased off the deck for 30 cents, it remains hidden in the player’s hand.

Keep in mind that since 10-15-20 is a split pot, Dealers Choice poker game, you will want to consider buying cards to make the worst hand possible, not just the best. Having an Ace,2,3,4,6 (This is the lowest poker hand possible. Ace,2,3,4,5 would be a straight.) will win you just as much of the pot in 10-15-20 as a royal flush will.

Once every player has seven cards, the real fun begins. Each player collects his seven cards and keeps the five he wants to play, discarding the two extras. The players then place their five cards face down in a pile in front of them and secretly declare (usually with a spare coin) whether they are going for the high hand or the low hand (heads on your declare coin should signify a high hand, whereas tails should indicate a low one).

From there, all players together flip over just one card (as in “roll your own” games), with a round of betting to follow. The highest card flipped over bets first. For wagering purposes, since an Ace is the highest card in the deck, an Ace will bet first even if it is being used as a low card for the player’s hand. Then all players expose a second card, then bet. This repeats until all five cards have been flipped up, therefore determining the two winners. Remember that in 10-15-20 Dealer’s Choice, the highest and lowest hands split the pot. Usually, after a couple of cards have been rolled, and with a little skill, a player can deduce whether other players are going high or low. For instance, if a player’s first two cards showing are a 2,4 off suit, then he is probably going low. On the other hand, if someone has a pair showing (even deuces), that player is most assuredly going high, or he is going to lose. You will never win a low hand in 10-15-20 with any kind of pair, whatsoever. A pair is simply too powerful for a low hand win.