F&#@ the River

Play pool table poker with us, and you're bound to hear the host exclaim, "F$@# the river!!!" He tends to believe that fifth card is more unfair to him than anyone else. I've been known to suck out on him once or twice, but, as we know, that doesn't make him special.

With that in mind, we decided it might be a little more fair to him if we switched things up a bit. And with that, a new game was born:

F@#$ the River

It's very simple. It's played exactly like Texas Hold 'Em except for one very large difference: it's dealt backwards.

After two cards are dealt, the flop is one card, the turn is one card and the river is three cards. Let's just say that significantly changes the way the game is played.

I won the first hand when I flopped top pair (okay, flopped the only pair). I won the second hand when I rivered two pair (I was on, um, the two pair draw I guess since I had nothing after the turn). I was knocked out on the next hand when my opponent rivered the nut flush (I turned top pair with my J8, but there were two diamonds on the board and his AQd was a favorite... I think).

The hand of the night came when three players went all in preflop. It was ATo vs. KQ vs. JT. The flop was an Ace. The turn was a K. The river was Q-x-x. The ATo went from way ahead to out when both of his opponents caught the same card to beat him.

I think the game was a raging success, but it could use some improvements. I'm thinking maybe we should deal three cards instead of two, but only allow two cards to be used after the river. It might actually create more action on the flop or turn. It's a work in progress, but I think it's destined to be a classic. Take that, Py-nizzle!

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