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Playing Tips for Bummer Poker
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Bummer Poker: Deal 5 hole cards to each player. Place 2 cards face down on the table. Bummer poker has a requirement that you MUST either bet (or raise) or fold. No checking is allowed. Board cards are exposed one at a time after rounds of betting. The second board card (and any like ranked cards) is wild. May be played high-low split. The mandatory bets can be fixed (ie. the same bet amount on each round) or may be progressive. In progressive betting the required bet increases on each round. (eg. 1st round = $1, 2nd round = $2, 3rd = $3, 4th = $4).
As in most wild card poker games, the winning hands for Bummer will need to be excellent. For high, expect a high 4 of a kind to be the minimum needed to win. For low, the nuts or second-best nuts, with much depending on the board cards. Low board cards also make a tie for the low likely.
Additionally, since there is no checking and you must either bet or fold this is not a game to be chasing. A good solid starting hand is mandatory.
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Starting Hands
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Starting hands fall into 2 broad categories based upon what you are originally dealt: made hands and drawing hands.
Powerful made hands are 4 of a kind and 4 to a straight flush (including one-gapper) for high and 4 unmatched cards of 5 or less for low. With a guaranteed wild card you already have 5 of a kind, a straight flush or the nut low.
A slightly less powerful made hand is 3 of a kind, since you will have 4 of a kind at a minimum and a draw to 5 of a kind. However, the higher the trips you start with the better. A final hand of 4 aces or kings may stand up, while a low or medium 4 of a kind may not.
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Drawing hands include 3 to a straight flush, 2 big pairs, a single big pair (aces or kings), 3 (unmatched) cards of 4 or less. To become a winner, each of these starting hands is going to need additional improvement beyond just the one wild card. Be especially wary of 2 pair. While you have a guaranteed full house, that is often not good enough to win unless there are only a few players and/or no one is showing much strength by raising.
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If you play Bummer as the progresive betting version, the drawing hands become more attractive. You have the opportunity to see the board cards at the lowest betting limits. If you should catch your hand you will be able to make more money as the betting limits increase.
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The Board Cards
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The second exposed board card is wild as well as the other 3 like-ranked cards. While this means you have at least one wild card for your hand, it also means that so does everyone else. You must not think of this game as having just 4 wild cards. You need to think of it as having one wild card for each active player, plus 3 other wild cards. If there are 5 players remaining in the hand that is a total of 8 wild cards. Should the other board card match the wild card there would be a total of 12 wild cards. Obviously, the more active players and the more wild cards the better the hand you will need to win.
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