Irish Poker

It’s like Omaha at the start, except you end up playing Hold’em

You get four hole cards like Omaha, and you bet the pre-flop and the flop with all four. Then, before the turn, you throw two away and finish the hand as ordinary Hold’em with the two you kept. It’s like Crazy Pineapple, except you start with four cards instead of three.

Rarity: low. The sources call it a home or party game that is “not as widely spread in casinos or online” as Hold’em or PLO. It is not in the WSOP live-action rules, so there is no official house text. If someone calls it at your table, ask them to confirm the rules below.

30-second cheat sheet

• Four hole cards each. Normal blinds and button.
• Bet pre-flop, see the flop, bet again, all with four cards.
• After flop betting, before the turn, everybody still in discards two cards face down. Those are gone for good.
• Turn and river are ordinary Hold’em. Best five of your two kept cards plus the five board cards. You can use both, one, or none (playing the board).
• High hand only. Usually no-limit or pot-limit.
• The “exactly two” Omaha rule does not apply.

Full rules

The deal

Button, small blind, big blind, four face-down cards each, burn cards before each street. Pre-flop betting works like Hold’em. Seats: the sources list 2-10 players.

The flop

Three cards face up, then a betting round. You still hold all four cards, so you are weighing which two you will want to keep.

The discard

When the flop betting is finished, every player still in the hand discards two of their four cards, face down, into the muck. This happens before the turn card is dealt. Discards are permanent and hidden. Because you see the flop first, you usually know which two cards you want.

Turn, river, showdown

The turn and river come with a normal betting round each. At showdown, you make the best five-card hand from your two kept cards and the board, any combination. Ties split the pot, with the odd chip by position from the button.

Rooms disagree

Pagat, Wikipedia and Card Player all put the discard after the flop betting round and before the turn. One PokerListings paragraph reads as if the discard comes the moment the flop lands, but its full walkthrough agrees with the others. This page uses “after flop betting, before the turn”. Also: “Irish Poker” is the name of an unrelated card-guessing drinking game, and the Irish Poker Open is a Dublin tournament series. Neither is this.

Worked examples

Kept 8-6 beats the kept pair of kings

Board

Alice

• Three Kings

Bob

• Nine-high straight✓ wins

Bob scoops the whole pot.

Alice kept a pair of kings and has three of a kind. Bob kept 8-6 and makes 5-6-7-8-9 with the board. A straight beats three of a kind.

The suited ace you kept makes a flush

Board

Alice

• Ace-high flush✓ wins

Bob

• Three Kings

Alice scoops the whole pot.

The board has three spades. Alice kept the suited A-Q of spades, so she has an ace-high flush. Bob’s kings give him a set, which loses to the flush.

The examples are scored with two hole cards and three board cards. That is all you can do with only two kept cards in these hands, but the real game would also let a player play the board itself.

How you’ll embarrass yourself

• Discarding before the flop betting is done. The discard is after the flop betting, not before.
• Playing it like Omaha after the discard. You do not need exactly two hole cards. (You only have two left anyway, but playing the board is legal.)
• Keeping the prettiest two cards instead of the best two for this flop. You see the flop first. Keep the cards that connect, and remember the cards you throw away also remove outs for you.
• Forgetting the muck is permanent. There is no changing your mind.

Lore and reputation

The origin is unclear. Card Player says it “originated as a home or party variant, likely with US roots despite its Irish name” and that it shows up in some mixed-game lineups in Europe and online. That is a claim, not a documented history, and we found no casino rule sheet that includes it.