Kings and Little Men – Wild Card Madness!
I hate wild card poker games. I’ll tolerate them if we are playing dealer calls and someone wants to play, like 5 card draw with 2’s, or one-eyed jacks wild. Amateurs love to call one-eyed jacks or the suicide king wild. It makes them sound so “cool”.
Anyway, when they start getting into games with tons of wild cards that can change, or whatever, I get up and leave. If they say 8’s and 3’s are wild, I leave. If they play a game called “baseball”, I leave. When you ask them why, they tell you it’s to increase the action. In my opinion, it’s to help bad players win, but that’s me!
The crown jewel of dim-witted poker games is Kings and Little Men.
This is a guts style game in which the lowest card in you hand, as well as and king is automatically wild.
Here is the way it is played. Each player is dealt five cards. You can now exchange 3 cards from the deck. No the way I was first taught, you had to commit to being “in” or “out” before exchanging cards. I’ve since learned that any people play in after the draw, which is better, but still stupid. Once everyone gets their cards, the ones that decided to they are “in” show their cards. The best hand wins. The losers matches the pot. This game gets expensive quick.
Here is the thing. I’ve been dealt three queens in this game, which gives me 4 queens, due to the fact that my lowest card is wild. I exchanged the one card. Another player kept to cards. I didn’t improved. He, on the other hand, kept a pair of sevens. He drew two fives and a king. That gives him five of a kind. Four queens aren’t good enough in this game.
Four of a kind in the minimum you can stay in with. Usually the winner will have five of a kind or a straight flush. You’ll find yourself on a decision for a huge pot on weather your four of a kind is good enough and folding boats. That’s not poker, that ridiculousness!
Do yourself a favor, drop these games and becomes a real poker player! Friends don’t let friends play wild cards!
