Greatest Games You've Never Heard of: Guts

8 years ago
Guts poker hand
10:52
04 Sep

Guts is a high-hand poker game that removes some of the mental calculation of more complex games in favor of increased focus on reading your fellow players. The game also trades direct betting for an intriguing ante system that continually increases until one player stands alone at the end of a round. The game is played as follows.

Maximum Players: 26

Win: High Hand

  1. All players ante
  2. Deal 2 cards face down to each player
  3. Each player determines whether they will stay in by secretly palming a chip or fold by leaving their hand empty.
  4. Players open their hand simultaneously. Those with a chip are in, those without fold.
  5. Players reveal their cards. If only 1 player stayed in, they win the pot. If more than 1 player stayed in, the winning player takes the pot and ALL losing players must match the pot.
  6. Play repeats for all players with the pot increasing until only 1 player stays and the round is over.

Notes:

  • Players who previously folded still play during hands where the pot has been filled by losing players.
  • Guts can also be played with 3 or 4 cards.
  • There are no straights or flushes in 2-Card Guts.
  • If all players fold simultaneously, players reveal their cards and the player with the highest hand must match the pot as the ante for the next hand.

Because of its quick nature and increasing risk, Guts makes for a great party game. With each player that joins the game, the pot fills faster, and the challenge of reading your opponents gets harder. The game also benefits from being extremely easy to pick up so new and veteran poker players can sit down at the same table.

Understanding your odds is crucial to pulling ahead in a game of Guts. The most important statistic to note is that the odds of being dealt a pair in 2-Card Guts are about 5.9% or 17-1. This means that at a small table, any pocket pair has a strong chance of taking the pot. The calculations become more challenging if you are dealt nothing but a high card. Because you have two unmatched cards, the number of possible pairs at the table decreases slightly; any player has about 5.7% of having one. This statistic is enough to gamble with if you have an ace down. If not, the math gets more challenging. Generally speaking, I don't recommend throwing in with less than a queen for a small table and less than a king for a large one.


Guts can also be played with a healthy number of variations. Moving up to 3 or 4 card Guts changes the odds and provides a number of possibilities. If you choose to use more cards, consider trying Guts with straights and flushes. Another fun option involves flipping a single community card from the top card of the deck after cards are dealt. As a final possibility, try Guts with players declaring in or out in order as opposed to all at the same time. Its quite a lot of fun if you enjoy staring your friends down across a table.

No matter how you play, Guts will make a fun addition to your regular home game. Get out there and find your luck!


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Paul Nirenberg is a burgeoning author and long time fan of games of skill and chance. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, he has been an avid poker player since he was given The Little Black Book of Poker at age 13. He now spends his time writing freelance while accruing short stories for a science ...Read more

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