Every poker crowd has its own set of quirks, whether it be games that they favor or hands that they like to play. That is what this page is dedicated to. If, on the other hand, you would like to read about all of the poker games we've played during MBBB, then visit our poker proposal. Each game listed often includes variations such as card count and wilds as well as diagrams where applicable.
Money
1. Each poker game we play requires a $5 entry fee. Big stakes!
2. Each game begins with a nickel ante.
3. The largest raise you can make is 50 cents.
4. Even with the small stakes at hand, you'll often see multiple people bow out of a hand on a nickel bet.
5. Despite a number of self-professed math geniuses (Marc, Dave, and Span were on the Math Team in high school together with Marc as Captain), it often takes us up to 10 minutes to settle up after the game is over.
6. We've played separate games with poker chips, real money (?), and even Monopoly money!
Favorite Games
1. Eugene plays 5-card draw, deuces wild so often, we've come to call it the "Euge-ual". (Check with Eugene that this is still his favorite.)
2. Likewise, Span chooses 7-card stud, deuces wild so regularly that we've labeled it the "Spandard". (Check with Span that this is still accurate.) Span is also the only one who ever suggests 9-burner, though we haven't done it in a while because, in 9-burner, when you have a full house, Aces over Kings, you fold.
3. Mehr doesn't play Criss-Cross because his name is Chris, just because he likes it. He also favors Follow the Queen and occasionally whips out the dreaded Drop 'Em.
4. Marc prefers playing any game that doesn't have wilds and so often turns to Texas Hold 'Em and Omaha.
Game Tendencies
1. Generally speaking, most of us enjoy playing with wild cards and so a lot of the games played either have called wild cards (before the deal) or wilds implicit in the rules, such as Follow the Queen.
2. The game chosen most often is 7 card stud, deuces wild.
3. The most popular pre-deal wild card called is the deuce; in fact, we can go all night without a different card being chosen as wild.
4. It's tough to say if, collectively, we're poor readers, poor bluffers, or both. It's extremely rare for someone to be called on a big bet and have them be bluffing.
Personal Tendencies
1. When Eugene first started playing poker with us, he wasn't particularly familiar with the rules. Therefore, he used a cheat sheet which showed the ranking order for each poker hand. Every time he stopped the game to check his sheet, it was pretty obvious that he had a great hand. Since then, Eugene has become a very respectable poker player which is helped by the fact that he tends to be a wild hoarder.
2. Originally, Marc didn't play poker with the other MBBB members because he was anti-gambling, even for something as small as nickel-ante poker. That all changed at Mehr's bachelor party (what was the date?); Mehr wanted to play poker and who was Marc to argue? Marc enjoyed it so much that he has played poker at every MBBB since.
3. Brian is pretty new to poker (as of MBBB15) and can be slow to decide what to do, whether it be to check, bet, or raise. Oftentimes, we have to lay out the scenario for him. For example: "If you have a good hand, then you should probably bet because he didn't bet on the flop."
4. Russ had the habit of grabbing a handful of chips and shaking them in his hand before betting.
Best Hands
1. On the final game of MBBB8, David pulled out five Aces (does David remember what game it was?), the best five-card hand possible. (Does David remember how many wilds he had?)
2. During MBBB15, Eugene got a natural (no wilds!) Royal Flush in seven card stud, the first and only time we've seen that hand whether during MBBB or not. (Ask Eugene if he remembers what suit and what was his hole card.)