The first rule of Staircase 22 poker:

You do not talk about Staircase 22 poker.

Thursday nights at Balliol; red and white wine preferred.

The other rules:

1.               Straight Flush

5 cards of the same suit in sequence

Lowest flush: 5432A

Highest flush (royal flush): AKQJ10

2.               Four-of-a-kind

4 cards with same number and 1 extra

(If the four cards are the same, player with the highest 5^th card wins)

3.               Full house

Three-of-a-kind and a pair

e.g. QQQ99

4.               Flush

5 cards of the same suit

e.g. AQJ93 (all clubs)

5.               Straight

5 cards in numerical sequence (can be of different suits)

6.               Three-of-a-kind

3 cards with the same number and any two extra cards

7.               Two pairs

Two pairs!

8.               One pair

One pair…

9.               High card

No pairs, no nothing, therefore card with highest value wins (i.e. A, K, Q, etc…)

And, lastly:

BYOB.

© sleepingwithghosts 2005