It seems that Omaha attracts a little older set of players than Hold ‘Em does. Of course, at the lower limit Seven Stud games it seems all the players are on-break from a geriatric ward.
Sometime back in 1994 or 1995 , I was playing Omaha Hi-Lo at Foxwoods. One of the younger players at the table started a conversation about a home game at which he plays. This game, which he called *Sequence, is not dealer’s choice nor strictly Hold ‘Em nor Omaha. Neither is this game hi-lo.
As far as he knew, the game had been in existence for at least fifteen years before he joined it. *Sequence is a split game: Best high hand splits the pot with best sequence hand. I was fascinated with the prospect of playing this game and introducing it at a Thursday night game in Newton, MA at which I had been playing since sometime in the 1970’s. This Thursday night game was always at the same place, hosted by a fellow player and his wife, an extraordinary cook, who plied us with scrumptious food. She always seemed to know whose birthday it was and managed to prepare the birthday-boy’s favorite dish. The group was composed of a nucleus of five. The balance were transients who stayed as part of the group for anywhere from one week to a few years. At another time I will probably elaborate on this long, on-going game, since defunct and now in its new propagation at my house.
In due respect to what I call Hi-Sequence, it differs from Sequence as defined on various poker web sites. *Sequence as it appears on various web sites is defined as a wild-card game. I have defined that game below the sequence game I was taught which contains no wild cards.
Hi-Sequence
First, let’s define what I refer to as sequence. The lowest possible sequence would be two cards: Ace-deuce of clubs, followed by ace-deuce of diamonds, etc. Therefore, the highest possible sequence would be ten-jack-queen-king-ace–all in spades. Any three-card sequence beats any two-card sequence. Any four-card sequence beats any three-card sequence, etc. Sequence must be a combination of touching cards in the same suit. In most instances, two-card and three-card sequences win the sequence half of the pot. Unlike low portion split hands, there is no possibility of a tie-hand in sequence segment of game. If one plays the game without a common (community) card, there is not always a sequence, and the high hand takes the entire pot. (I prefer the game without a community card.) The beauty of this game is that unlike hi-lo, one is never too sure if someone is betting or raising on a high hand or a sequence hand. The game can be played declare or cards-speak (lay-down). Process: (May be played as a five-, six-, or seven-card game. My preference is as a six-card game.) Each player is dealt two cards, face-down and one card face-up. There is a round of betting. Each remaining player is then dealt another card face-up. There is another round of betting. Each remaining player now receives another card, face-up. There is another round of betting. Each remaining player now receives a final card, face-down. There is a final round of betting. Supposing game is played as non-declare, players show their hands. Best high Poker hand splits with best sequence hand (assuming there is one). As a declare game, this game leaves a reasonable betting round after declaration– if players prefer another betting round—and ample opportunity to bluff a sequence, if in fact, you do not have one and opt to gamble on being the only sequence player. With let’s say a flush for high and a king-ace sequence, a player may opt to swing and win both high and sequence. GAME: Hi-Sequence RANKING: Four ÅÅÅÅ (I would choose to rank it higher because it does get a lot of action. However, due to its lack of popularity, it gets a mediocre ranking.)___________________________________________________________
*Sequence [As defined on some Poker web sites, but not as I play it]
Sequence is a seven card stud poker game with wild cards. If at some moment during the game a two is dealt face-up to one of the players, twos become wild. If after a two has become wild, a three is dealt face-up, threes become wild and twos are not wild anymore, and so on up until the Ace. If two was never dealt face-up until the end of the game, no cards are wild, and the game is played as standard seven card stud.
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