Anaconda “Pass the Trash” Poker Game

Anaconda or “Pass the Trash” is one of those games you play with your friends when you’re drunk. It’s not a very skillful game especially when played with a rollout phase which we’ll go into at the end of the basic rules.  Anaconda is a form of draw poker.

Basic Rules of Anaconda

Pass the trash is a variation of Seven Card Stud where players are dealt seven cards to begin with. Players will look at their cards and must get rid of 3 of their cards. The cards are not put into a muck pile like most games. Players will give these 3 cards to their neighbors sitting to their LEFT hence the name, “Pass the Trash”.

After the first trash cards are passed and players evaluate their new hands the first betting round occurs. Once player bet a second passing of cards happens. Players will find two cards they would like to get rid of and pass them to their RIGHT. Players then evaluate their hands once again and another betting round occurs. The third betting round occurs and then players will discard one more card passing it to their LEFT. The last betting round commences and the player with the best five cards will win. The players will still have a total of seven cards but only five are used.

Many times people like to play this game with a “rollout phase”. Doing this means that there are 8 betting rounds instead of four. When played like this the game becomes all luck and skill is not an issue. Most people choose to play it this way during drinking games.

Best Strategy for Anaconda “Pass the Trash”

There is no real great strategy to use for this game. If you know the basics of draw poker you can apply them here. To win you must remember what cards you pass and which cards your opponents use. It’s very similar to Gin Rummy when you think about it. Whoever has the best memory combined with some basic Stud principles will usually win.

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