Tonight was dealer’s choice at my weekly home game, and I got to play several new games. One of those was called 357. And for those who might not know what 357 is, all I can say it is one of the most brutal games I have ever played. With that said, I wanted to share the rules with everyone.
You start by anteing 5 cents. So with 5 ppl you would have 25 cents in the penalty pot to start out.
Then everyone is dealt three cards face down. You are trying to make the best three card hand. At this point, three of a kind=quads, flushes and straights are still good, and 3’s are wild. Now everyone holds their hands over the pot. The dealer counts to 3 and says “drop.” At that point everyone who doesn’t like there hand drops it. Anyone who is left holding cards trades hands with the other ppl still holding cards. Whoever has the best hand gets paid 25 cents from the ppl they beat.
Now everyone picks up their hands, and they get dealt two more cards. Now everyone is trying to make the best five card hand. 3’s are no longer wild, 5′ are. The same thing happens with the drop.
The everyone picks up their hands and gets dealt two more cards. You are still trying to make the best five card hand. 5’s are longer wild, instead 7’s are. The same thing happens with the drop. That is the end of the round.
Now the next round begins, everyone antes 5 cents. Now with the same number of ppl the penalty pot is now 50 cents. The process begins again with three cards and keeps going until you have a winner. The penalty pot in this scenario would increase 25 cents every round. You pay the amount of the penalty pot everytime you lose on a drop.
How do you win? To win, you have to get a predetermined number of markers. (You do that before the game begins.) To get a marker, you have to be the only person who does not drop on a given drop. So if you hold your hand, and the other 4 ppl drop, you get a marker.
This game gets nuts in a hurry. DO NOT play this game with more than 7 ppl. I would recommend 5, tops. It’s a hell of thing when you are wondering if your full house is good on a given drop. At one point tonight, I lost on quad 6’s (two 6’s, two 7’s) to quad Jacks (two Jacks, two 7’s,) Yeah, I was pissed as hell when that happend. And I think it cost me $3.50 to boot. But if you are so inclined, give it a try the next time you have a dealers choice night.
after the river…
, the flop comes giving him trips and sending me out of the SNG on the bubble winning no money. I could have easily called his raise and got out of the hand if he bet the flop with trip queens. With 4 players remaining was I too aggressive with a non-premium pocket pair?
I just remembered a really bad joke I told at the table in the Bahamas. Mike Matusow was talking to Patrik Antonius about a hand they played online for some $20,000+ (cash game) where Patrik sucked out on Mike by catching trips on the river after the money was all in. Mike then said, “I smashed my keyboard against the wall, I’ve got so many holes in my walls from online poker.” This seemed like the perfect time for me to chime in “Did you get a time-out for that?” (get it?!? cause Matusow has frequently been shown at tournaments getting time outs for different things like swearing/arguing/etc)…ok it was a pretty bad joke and only 1 person laughed, the woman sitting to my right who reminded me of skeletor. I guess it didn’t make Mike mad though - he was the only player who shook my hand when I busted out of the tournament.