Seven Twenty-Seven (7/27)

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card values
3. Betting in short
4. Setup
5. Playing a hand
6. Winning the game
7. Tips for beginners
8. Variants

Overview

Seven Twenty-Seven (written 7/27) is a betting game from American dealer's-choice poker nights. There are no poker hands: instead you add up the points of your cards, a little like Blackjack. You start with two cards and may keep taking more. At the end, the player whose total is closest to 7 wins half the pot, and the player closest to 27 wins the other half – all the chips bet in that deal. One player can win both halves.

• Players: 4–10, 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.

Card values

Your total is the sum of all your cards. Suits don't matter. You may count the same Ace as 1 for 7 and as 11 for 27, so 5-A-A is the perfect hand: exactly 7 (5+1+1) and exactly 27 (5+11+11) at once.

Example: 4 Q 2 is 6½ – close to 7. 10 9 8 is 27 exactly. A K 5 is 6½ for 7 or 16½ for 27.

Betting in short

All chips bet go into the pot in the middle. Before each 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 (pass) – bet nothing, if nobody has bet yet in this round.
• Bet – put in chips.
• 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, at most three 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 to each player, clockwise starting on the left, one card face up and then one card face down. Look at your face-down card but keep it hidden.

Playing a hand

1. Betting round: the first player still in to the dealer's left starts; play goes clockwise.
2. Drawing: starting on the dealer's left, each player still in may ask for one more card face down – or keep their hand as it is. Saying no now doesn't stop you from taking a card next time.
3. If nobody took a card, go to the showdown. If anyone took a card, there is another betting round, then another chance to draw, and so on.
4. Showdown: everyone still in shows all their cards. The player whose total is nearest to 7 takes half the pot; the player nearest to 27 takes the other half. It doesn't matter whether you are over or under the target – only the distance counts. Tied players share their half.

If at any time all but one player fold, that player wins the whole pot at once.

If the deck runs out with many players drawing, shuffle the folded players' cards to make a new draw pile.

Example: At the showdown Anna has 3 2 K (5½), Ben 6 J (6½), Carla 10 8 A 7 (26 or 36 – she counts 26), Dan 9 9 8 2 (28). Ben is nearest to 7 (½ away) and takes half the pot. Carla and Dan are both 1 away from 27, so they share the other half.

Winning the game

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

Tips for beginners

• Face cards are worth almost nothing – ideal for fine-tuning a total near 7.
• A low face-up card makes a good start for 7, a high one for 27. Aces are good for both.
• Watch the face-up cards: others' totals are unknown, but a player showing a 10 is probably going for 27.
• Taking a card near 7 is risky – a single 8 ruins it. Stop when you are close.

Variants

All optional – agree beforehand.

• Over is bust: you must be at or below the target to win. You can't win the 7 half with more than 7, and anyone whose total goes over 27 must show their hidden card and fold at once. Many home games play this way.
• Declaration: before the showdown, everyone declares at the same time whether they play for 7, 27 or both. If you declare both, you must win both halves or you get nothing.
• Frozen: if you refuse a card twice in a row, you may not take any more cards.
• Face cards: J, Q and K count ½ or 10, as you choose.
• Under beats over: with equal distance to the target, the total below it beats the one above it.
• Fewer cards win ties: with equal totals, the hand with fewer cards wins.
• Face-up cards: extra cards are dealt face up instead of face down.