2 Card Poker

Out here in Colorado, the Golden Gates Casino is running a trial on a new game called Two Card Poker. The player and the dealer both get four cards to make their best two card hand. A pair is the highest, followed by a straight flush, followed by a flush. The dealer qualifies with a J-High flush.

There's a bonus bet available on pairs, beginning with 7s. There's bonuses for getting different kinds of Ace pairs.
A second bonus bet combines the players two cards with the dealers two cards; starting at two pair. A straight doesn't pay anything. The top payout, I believe is 1000:1 for a A-K-Q-J royal.

Apologies if something else got posted about this here, I didn't find anything in the search function.

I'd be interested in the rules in their entirety.

I really liked the two card poker that the wiz had.

So for those of us who think of Texas Hold'em when we see two-card hands, the ranking of hands goes Pocket Pair, Suited-Connectors, Suited, Off-suit. That means a 3-2 suited beats an A-K off-suit?

Sounds right to me since suited connectors is a two card straight-flush while unsuited connectors is just a straight.

Mind you we're not talking about starting hands but a two card hand, period.

Correct. So you get four cards and pick two. Obviously you grab the highest pair or suited (-connected) cards that you can. Is this a raise-or-fold type game, where you can throw away a Badugi (four unique, unsuited cards)?

If you have a hand you don't wish to play, you can simply fold. I seem to recall being able to tuck two cards for purposes of the 4 card bet if you had made it, though now I can't remember clearly, so I'll obtain clarification.

Where this game turns me off is in scenarios similar to this:

Your hand: 6h 6s, 2d, 10c
Dealer's hand: 6c, Ah, 10s, 5s

The dealer will play the 10 of spades and the 5 of spades and forgo the six, costing a player the 4-card bonus bet if they had made it.

In responding to a couple of other posters--straights are worthless in this game. I played it for about 15 minutes and didn't particularly enjoy my experience, though I did manage to break even.

Sounds like another one of those fly-by-night games that will be popular for a minute or two but not gain any real traction.

Quote: Deucekies

Sounds like another one of those fly-by-night games that will be popular for a minute or two but not gain any real traction.

Colorado has had a ton of these in recent times. The worst was a jacked up blackjack variant called "3 Card 21" where the player got 3 cards to start with and had two break them off into a two card hand and a one card hand, unless he got trips, in which case he could make three hands. I wish I still had the rules card for this game--the house way was convoluted and confusing. It was also rumored that a dealer got fired because she dissed the game in front of the creator.

Quote: PGBuster

It was also rumored that a dealer got fired because she dissed the game in front of the creator.

Whoops!

Hopefully the last post from me on this particular game--
You are able to forfeit your ante bet and tuck for purposes of the four card bet.

This sounds like this game from AGS: 2 Card Poker

You can demo the game here: 2 Card Poker Demo

FWIW, I think the game is pretty good, a simple 3 Card Poker type decision against the dealer with a qualifying hand. I do agree the Four Card Bonus (based on your and the dealer's final two card hands) is not nearly as compelling as the Two Card Bonus (based solely on your final two card hand) for the reason cited above. That is the card you want the dealer to include in their Two Card hand for you to hit the pay table won't always be the one used by the Dealer and that will be frustrating when it happens.

Think about this hand:

Player: 6h, 6c, Qh, Ks
Dealer: 6s, 6d, 10c, 10s

Sure you are going to hit the pay table when you play the pair of sixes and the dealer plays the pair of tens, but two pair pays even money. If you could use the dealer's pair of sixes you would have 4OAK which pays 50-1.......big difference. Of course the pay table is built recognizing this fact so the revised pay table would need to be reduced, but I bet 4OAK pays 40-1 in the revised pay table if you can use any two dealer's cards and not just the two in the dealer's best two card hand.

Minor change or they could just make the four card bonus based on your first four cards only as it is also a bit irritating to be dealt your own three of a kind and get nothing if the trips are made up of two's through sixes. You could pay four card flushes, four card straights, trips, two pair, etc. All based on your four cards only. Seems easier, but I am sure they thought of this. They may run up against some Four Card Poker/Crazy Four Poker IP issues that prevent them from doing this.

Still, a very simple game that is easy to play, allows a four card "squeeze", my vote is "pretty good" and may well find a niche.

But not as good as what they had at the Table Games Conference last year: "Open Stud Poker".....OSP has more strategic decisions and is more engaging than Two Card, more of a Miss Stud type decision process. You can check out all they offer at www.playags.com (and no, I am not being compensated for the plug :-), just think they have some decent novel premium poker game product!). I wonder if OPS has any installs anywhere?