Strip Poker Rules

Although Strip Poker might seem like an adolescent game, a way of persuading your potential partner to ‘get their kit off’, or a drink-fuelled fun way to end (or start) the evening, it is in fact a surprisingly well-documented subject!

The rules can vary, of course, depending on how many people are involved and what the ‘goal’ of the game is, but here’s a pretty common set of strip poker rules to get you started.

The Goal

Very simply put, to get everyone else naked (or almost naked) while retaining as much of your own clothing (and therefore dignity) as possible!

How to Play

You don’t have to be a poker genius to take part, and it’s best to use a simple format of the game so that nobody gets totally confused as to why their boxers or bras are being thrown on the heap!

Some version of a 5-card draw game is simplest, and with Texas Hold’em being the most popular variant around just stick to that. Easy to explain to new players and no complex rules to understand which might lead to arguments.

Of course, make sure that everyone involved knows the basics, and also that they are all comfortable with the level of ‘stripping’ involved. Totally naked, underwear, whatever – set the guidelines early on - it’s no fun if people feel too embarrassed or uncomfortable to take part.

Betting

Depending on how knowledgeable about poker your soon-to-be-stripping friends are, you can either stick with the usual ‘1 item of clothing per loss’, or introduce something like ‘Pot limit’ betting per round.

Of course, this might see somebody running about naked very quickly. No limit-style ‘All-ins’, of course, would speed this up even further!

Rules

Usually all the strip poker players would be dressed normally at the start of the game, but you’ll find there’s always one person in the group who has put on 5 pairs of socks and are generally dressed for arctic conditions! There’s also usually one who starts with just their boxers and a smile (hint: this one is the exhibitionist!)

Normally, whoever loses the hand has to take off something - or rather the winner of the hand does not have to strip down - but this can changed to suit the mood or the company.

If you want, add something like ‘anyone who gets dealt AA can choose which piece of clothing comes off next’, or ‘A Royal Flush’ allows you to actually remove the other person’s clothes!

Once people are down to the bare minimum of clothing (be it bare OR minimum!) some games allow that person to sit out, or put clothes back on for every hand they win, or even get dressed and start over again. This is up to the group to decide, but the win-a-hand-to-get-dressed rule has the bonus of keeping everyone playing.

The one big rule, of course, is that if somebody suddenly feels too uncomfortable, they can leave with no problems. It is, after all, meant to be a fun and sexy game – not a ritual embarrassment!

The Winner

Of course, in strip poker rules, the person who gets to see everyone else desperately trying to hide their bits and pieces! Cheating, of course, is not allowed ;)