Boo Ray Draw Poker
What the heck is Boo Ray?
Well it’s a game devised from the Draw Poker game but is not really a true variant. It’s only popular in some parts and many have never heard of it. Like most games it can be very confusing if you’ve never played before. It’s actually a really strange game.Here are the general rules to the game of Boo Ray.
Basic Rules of Boo-Ray
The game can be played with numerous people but with a maximum of 8. It is a better game if you play with less than 6 players because of the deck size. Five cards are first dealt to each player. The card of the top is then flipped over and becomes what is called the “Trump” suit for the hand. The “Trump” suit basically means that the best possible hand is to have all four suits of that “Trump” card with the ace being the best.
Play or Fold
Players then must choose whether they want to play or fold. Many times players will do this by the following.The players will put a poker chip into their hand if they want to play. If they do not want to play they do not put a chip in their hand. This is all done to oneself without letting anyone see. After this is done players open their fists at the same time to show if they want to play or fold. There is really no point in doing this but some people like to play this way to show if they are going to play or fold. Players who decide they would like to play the hand can now draw up to 5 cards and replace them with the ones they are holding.
Play Begins
Starting to the left of the dealer players put out a card in front of them from their hand they would like to play. Players to follow need to match the same suit of that card. When players can not match that suit they can “Trump” the card played by the first acting player. The best card that is played will win what is called a “Trick”. A trick is basically just a point or something to keep track of the fact that you won that hand. The way you tell who wins the trick is by whoever places the highest card. Because everyone holds five cards there will be 5 possible “Tricks” to win. Anytime you do not have the same suit as is played in front of you and decide to “Trump” the board you will win the trick. I know it’s kind of confusing. Let me give you an example.
The trump card is a 4 of diamond. The first player to act puts a 7 of hearts on the board. The second player plays the 9 of hearts because he has a heart. The third player declares they do not have a heart so they can “Trump” the board if they have a diamond. The third player puts down a 10 of diamonds and wins the trick. Play stops for that trick. The play will resume with the last player who won the trick. They must now place a new trump card on the board and play resumes similar to before until all 5 tricks are won.
As you can see whoever wins the most tricks will win the pot. Payouts are played a little differently and they don’t just win a certain amount every time. If the player with the most tricks wins 3 and their opponents win 1 a piece then the player with the most tricks will win the pot. Anytime there is a player with no tricks that player must pay the full size of the pot. So the trick winner will win the pot and the pot will get paid the same amount. If two players get no tricks they both have to pay the size of the pot and so on and so on. When two players have the same amount of tricks such as 2-2-1-0 in a four person game then the pot is split and the player with 0 tricks still pays the size of the pot.
Basic Strategy
The entire strategy of the game is to hope and pray to get dealt a bunch of the “Trump” suits. This will ensure that you win plenty of tricks and don’t have to pay the pot. Ideally you would like to get dealt the A,K,Q,J of whatever suit the Trump card is.
Boo Ray “Draw Poker Variant” Conclusion
This game can be pretty fun and pots can end up getting quite large. Play with your friends and remember that you can make up different variations of this game very easily. The rules can be altered to fit your desires before the game starts.
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