How to Play Guts

Objective

Win pots and avoid paying for them. There is no betting round and no raising. Each deal comes down to one choice: are you in or out? Players who go out lose nothing more. Players who go in either win the pot or pay an amount equal to the whole pot, which is what makes the game exciting and fast.

Setup

Agree on the ante and on a limit before the first deal. Every player puts the ante into the middle to start the pot. The dealer deals two cards face down to each player, one at a time (three cards each in Three-Card Guts). Aces are high. The deal passes to the left after each pot is won outright.

How to play

Look at your cards and decide whether you are in or out. In the basic game, players declare in turn, starting left of the dealer and ending with the dealer. Many tables prefer a simultaneous declaration instead: everyone holds a closed fist over the table, with a chip inside to mean in or an empty hand to mean out, and all hands open together.

If only one player is in, that player takes the pot without showing their cards. Everyone antes again for a fresh pot and the next player deals.

If two or more players are in, they show their cards. The best hand wins the pot. Every other player who was in then pays an amount equal to the pot they just lost, and those payments make up the pot for the next deal. Ties split the pot.

If nobody goes in, most tables leave the pot where it is and simply deal again.

1. 1Ante and deal two (or three) cards each
2. 2Declare in or out, in turn or all at once
3. 3Players who are out drop their cards and pay nothing more
4. 4Best hand among the players who are in wins the pot
5. 5Each other player who was in pays the pot’s size into the next one

Scoring

Two-card Guts uses a very short ranking. Any pair beats any two unpaired cards, and a higher pair beats a lower pair. Between two unpaired hands, the higher top card wins; if those tie, compare the second card. The lowest possible hand is 3-2. Straights and flushes do not count with two cards.

Three-card Guts uses its own ranking, shown below from best to worst.

With three cards, a straight is harder to make than a flush, so it ranks higher, which is the reverse of five-card poker. Some home games put three of a kind above the straight flush and some swap the straight and flush back, so settle the order before you play.

Variations

The ghost hand: deal one extra hand face down that nobody owns, and turn it up at the showdown. If it beats every player who went in, they all pay the pot.

Only the worst pays: to keep pots smaller, only the player with the lowest hand among those who went in pays, and everyone antes on every deal.

Two plus one: deal two cards, declare, then give each player who is in a third card before the showdown.

Five-card Guts: deal five cards and rank them as ordinary poker hands. Some tables allow one draw before the declaration.

Tips from the table

Decide on your own limit before the pot gets big. Guts can turn a small ante into a serious pot in three or four deals.

When players declare in turn, the last seat has the best information. If several players are already in, you need a strong hand to join them.

In two-card Guts with a full table, a pair is a strong hand and an ace-high hand is a borderline one. With only a few players, ace-high wins more often than you might expect.

With a simultaneous drop, watch for habits. Some players go in every time the pot is small and almost never when it is large.

Frequently asked