Guts

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Hand ranking
3. Betting in short
4. Setup and deal
5. Declaring
6. Who wins
7. Winning the game
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants
10. Shelby and Psycho Shelby

Overview

Guts is a quick, nerve-racking relative of poker. Everyone gets just two cards and then decides – all at the same time – whether they are in or out. Of the players who are in, the best hand wins the pot (the chips in the middle), and every other player who was in must match the pot: pay in as many chips as it held. So the pot can grow very fast, and it takes guts to stay in.

• Players: best with 5–10, each for themselves.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and chips (or counters, matches) – the same amount for everyone, e.g. 100 each. Everyone also needs a way to hide one chip in their fist. You play for chips, not money.

Hand ranking

Cards rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Suits don't count, and there are no straights or flushes in two-card Guts. From best to worst:

Any pair beats any two unequal cards. Two unequal-card hands are compared by their higher card first; if those are equal, the lower card decides. Hands of the same ranks tie.

Betting in short

There are no bets, calls or raises as in ordinary poker. Instead:

• Ante: a fixed amount that every player puts into the pot to start it, e.g. 1 chip.
• In or out: after looking at your cards, you declare whether you are in (playing for the pot) or out (giving up this deal at no further cost).
• Match the pot: every player who was in but does not win pays an amount equal to the whole pot. These payments make up the pot for the next deal.

Agree before playing on the ante and on a limit – the most anyone can win or lose in a single deal, e.g. 100 times the ante.

Setup and deal

1. If the pot is empty, everyone puts in the ante.
2. The dealer shuffles and deals two cards face down to each player, one at a time. The deal passes to the left after each hand.
3. Look at your own two cards without showing them.

Declaring

Everyone declares at the same time:

1. Each player takes a chip under the table (or behind their back) and brings their closed fist over the table – with a chip in it if they want to be in, empty if they want to be out.
2. When everyone is ready, all open their fists together. A chip means in, an empty hand means out. (The chip in your fist is not a bet – take it back afterwards.)

Who wins

• Two or more players are in: they show their cards. The best hand takes the whole pot. Every other player who was in must pay an amount equal to that pot – these payments form the next pot. If several players tie for best hand, they share the pot equally.
• Only one player is in: that player takes the whole pot without showing their cards. The pot is now empty.
• Nobody is in: the pot stays for the next deal. Many groups play that everyone adds another ante.
• Players who were out neither win nor pay.

Example: There are 10 chips in the pot. Anna, Ben and Carla open their fists with a chip; Dan and Eva are out. Anna shows 7-7, Ben A-K, Carla 3-3. Anna's pair of 7s is best and she takes the 10 chips. Ben and Carla each pay 10, so the next pot holds 20.

Limit: if the payments would make the pot bigger than the agreed limit, the extra chips go into a reserve beside it. The next deal is played for the limit; once that pot is won, chips from the reserve form the new pot.

Example: The limit is 100. Four players are in for a pot of 80. The winner takes 80, the three losers each pay 80 – 240 in total. The new pot is 100, and 140 go into the reserve.

Winning the game

The pot is empty only after someone wins it alone (or everyone who was in tied). Play for an agreed time and stop at the next moment the pot is empty. The player with the most chips wins.

Tips for beginners

• With many players, a hand like A-5 is rarely the best – the more players, the stronger a hand you need.
• Watch the pot: the bigger it is, the more it costs to lose, so stay in only when your hand is strong.
• If the pot is small, being the only one who is in can win it cheaply – but others may think the same.
• Never go in with more at stake than you can afford in chips.

Variants

• Declaring in turn: instead of all at once, each player says "in" or "out" in turn, starting left of the dealer and ending with the dealer. This allows bluffing, but if everyone before the dealer is out, the dealer takes the pot.
• Drop: players hold their cards over the table; the dealer counts "1 – 2 – 3 – drop!" and those who want to be out drop their cards.
• Single loser: only the player with the worst hand among those who were in must match the pot; everyone antes on every deal.
• No split pots: tied best hands neither win nor pay; the pot stays for the next deal.
• Ghost hand: an extra hand is dealt that belongs to nobody. To win, you must also beat the ghost; if it wins, everyone who was in matches the pot.
• Three-card Guts: three cards each. Straights and flushes count; usual order: three of a kind, straight flush, straight, flush, pair, high card (some rank a straight flush above three of a kind or a flush above a straight – agree beforehand).

Shelby and Psycho Shelby

Two multi-round versions from Scott McNeely's Ultimate Book of Card Games, played with the drop (see Variants). Unlike ordinary Guts, a player who drops is not out of the game: they may hold again in the next round. Aces count high or low. Everyone antes before the deal.

Shelby is played in four rounds. In each round everyone gets more cards face down, then everyone holds or drops together:

After each drop:

• Only one player holds: they get a marker, a Shelby. Whoever collects three Shelbys wins the whole pot and the game ends.
• Several hold: they compare hands, passing them face down so only those who held see them. Each loser pays an amount equal to the pot, up to an agreed limit, directly to the winner – not into the pot, which stays until someone has three Shelbys.
• Nobody holds: everyone antes again.

After round 4, everyone antes again and new cards are dealt.

Psycho Shelby has no limit: each loser pays the winner directly – not into the pot – as much as the pot held at the start of the round. It has three rounds:

1. Three cards face down: highest hand using only two of them (A-A best).
2. Two more cards: lowest hand using only three of your five (3-2-A best).
3. Two more cards: highest five-card poker hand under Baseball rules – 3s and 9s are wild, and a 4 lets you buy an extra card for an agreed price.

The book does not say everything, for example how to break ties or whether suits count in the low rounds. Agree on these before you play.