Diablo

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Hand ranking
3. Betting in short
4. Setup
5. Playing a hand
6. The Diablo rule
7. Winning the game
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants

Overview

Diablo is a five-card draw poker game for home games. Everyone gets five secret cards, bets, may swap up to two of them, and bets again; the best five-card poker hand wins the pot – all the chips bet in that deal. All four 2s (deuces) are wild. The devilish twist: the player who opens – makes the first bet – must win the pot. If anyone else wins it, the opener has to pay for a new pot of the same size, and the game goes on until an opener wins.

• Players: 3–7, each for themselves.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and chips (or counters, matches, buttons) – the same amount for everyone at the start, e.g. 100 each. You play for chips, not money.

Hand ranking

Cards rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; the Ace can also be low in the straight 5-4-3-2-A. Suits are all equal. From best to worst:

Any hand of a higher kind beats any hand of a lower kind. Between hands of the same kind, the higher cards win: first the most important cards (the four, the three, the higher pair …), then the rest from the top. If all five are equal, the hands tie and share the pot.

Wild cards: every 2 is wild – it stands for any card you like. It may not copy a card you already hold (with a natural A♥ in a heart flush, a 2 cannot be a second A♥), except to make five of a kind, the best hand of all.

Betting in short

All chips bet go into the pot in the middle. Before a deal everyone pays a small ante (e.g. 1 chip) into the pot. When it is your turn in a betting round, you can:

• Check – bet nothing, if nobody has bet yet in this round.
• Bet – put in chips. The first bet in the first round is called opening.
• Call – put in just enough to match the highest bet so far.
• Raise – match the highest bet and add more.
• Fold – give up: put your cards away face down. You lose what you have already put in.

A betting round ends when everyone still in has put in the same amount. Agree limits before you start, for example: bets and raises of 1–5 chips (double after the draw), at most four raises per round.

Setup

1. Everyone gets the same number of chips. Choose a dealer; the deal passes to the left after every hand.
2. Everyone pays the ante. The dealer shuffles and deals five cards face down to each player, one at a time clockwise starting on the left. Look at your cards but keep them hidden.

Playing a hand

1. First betting round, begun by the player to the dealer's left. Whoever makes the first bet is the opener. If everyone checks, the cards are thrown in, the pot stays, everyone antes again (except during a Diablo pot, see below) and the next player deals.
2. The draw: starting on the dealer's left, each player still in says how many cards they want to swap – 0, 1 or 2 – puts them face down on a discard pile, and gets the same number of new cards from the dealer. Keeping all five is called standing pat.
3. Second betting round, begun by the opener (if the opener has folded, by the next player still in, to their left).
4. Showdown: if two or more players are still in, they show their hands. The best hand wins the pot. If everyone else folds, the last player wins it without showing.

The Diablo rule

If the opener wins the pot, all is well: the deal passes left and a normal new hand starts. If the opener ties for the best hand and shares the pot, that also counts as a win.

If anyone else wins – including when the opener folds – the opener must pay a new pot equal to the pot just won. The deal passes to the left, and the next hand is played for this new pot without antes. Whoever opens that hand faces the same rule. This goes on until a hand in which the opener wins. An opener who hasn't enough chips pays all they have (or use the pot cap from the Variants).

Example: Four players ante 1 chip each (pot 4). Anna opens with 2, Ben and Carla call, Dan folds. Anna draws 1 card, Ben 2, Carla 2. After the draw Anna bets 4, Ben raises to 8, Carla folds, Anna calls. Pot: 4 + 6 + 8 + 8 = 26. Ben shows 9 9 2 2 K – four nines – and beats Anna's flush. Ben takes 26 chips, and Anna must put 26 chips into a new pot. Carla opens the next hand; if she doesn't win it, she pays the next pot.

Winning the game

Play as many deals as you like, or until an agreed time – but finish a running Diablo first. Whoever has the most chips at the end wins; anyone who runs out of chips drops out.

Tips for beginners

• Opening is dangerous: open only with a hand that is likely to win, such as three of a kind or better.
• Every 2 you hold is gold. Two pair without a 2 is weak here.
• You can draw at most two cards, so a lone pair improves less often than in ordinary draw poker – count on the cards you were dealt.
• Watch the opener: they have a lot to lose, so they rarely bluff.

Variants

All optional – agree beforehand.

• Pot cap: the new pot the opener must pay is limited to an agreed maximum.
• Bigger draw: players may swap up to three cards (four if the one kept is an Ace).
• Jacks or better: you may only open with at least a pair of Jacks.
• Declare your hand: at the showdown each player must name their hand; the cards don't "speak for themselves".
• Deuces Wild: play without the Diablo rule – plain five-card draw with 2s wild.
• Dealer's choice: if Diablo is one game in a dealer's-choice evening, it continues until an opener wins; then the player to the left of whoever called Diablo chooses the next game.