How to Play Wild Widow Poker

Objective

Finish with the best five-card poker hand at the showdown, or make a bet that everyone else folds to. The widow card changes what a good hand looks like. With three wild cards in play, straights, flushes, full houses and even five of a kind turn up far more often than in plain draw poker, so a hand that would win at a normal table may be only average here.

Setup

Agree the stakes and give everyone chips. Each player puts an ante in the pot before the deal.

The dealer gives each player four cards, face down, one at a time. Then the dealer turns the next card face up in the center of the table. This is the widow. Finally, each player gets a fifth card face down.

The widow tells you which cards are wild. If it is the 6 of clubs, the 6s of hearts, diamonds and spades are wild in every hand. The widow itself stays in the middle and does not belong to anyone.

How to play

After the deal, there is a betting round, starting with the player to the dealer’s left. Players check, bet, call, raise or fold as in any poker game.

Next comes the draw. Each player still in the hand, in turn, may discard some of their cards and receive the same number of new cards from the dealer. You may also stand pat and keep all five. Most home games allow you to draw up to three cards; agree on the limit before you start. A wild card you draw is just as good as one you were dealt.

After the draw there is a second and final betting round, again starting left of the dealer. Then the players who are left show their hands. Each player names what their wild cards stand for, and the best hand takes the pot.

1. 1Ante, then deal four cards each
2. 2Turn up the widow; its three matching cards are wild
3. 3Deal a fifth card each and bet
4. 4Draw replacements, bet again and show down

Scoring

Hands rank in the standard poker order, with one addition at the top: five of a kind, which only exists in games with wild cards.

Hands of the same type are compared by rank as usual, then by kickers. A hand made with wild cards is worth exactly the same as a natural hand of the same rank, unless your table agrees that a natural hand wins a tie.

Variations

Stud version: some groups play Wild Widow as five-card stud instead of draw, turning up the widow before the last card is dealt. The wild cards work the same way.

Openers: some groups play it like classic draw poker and require a pair of jacks or better to open the betting. With wild cards about, this rarely holds up the game.

Spit in the Ocean: a related game in which each player gets four cards and the face-up card is part of everyone’s hand as their fifth card. That card, and the others of its rank, are wild.

Pot limits: as with any home poker game, you can play fixed-limit, pot-limit or no-limit. Fixed-limit keeps a wild game from getting out of hand.

Tips from the table

Raise your standards. Three of a kind is a decent hand in plain draw poker, but with three wild cards in the deck it often loses. Think of a straight as a starting point.

Count the wild cards you can see. If you hold two of them, only one is left for everyone else. That makes your big hand much safer.

When you draw, always keep your wild cards and the cards that go with them. A wild card plus a pair is already three of a kind, and drawing two gives you a real chance at four.

Frequently asked