Monte Carlo Poker: Rules and Variations

Monte Carlo is a three card guts poker. After all players ante and receive their three face-down cards they declare In or Out. Those who declare Out, fold their cards and do not participate in the game. Those who declare In, show their hands and compare them without any drawing or betting. The player with the best hand takes the pot, while other player who declared In, but did not win, match the pot placing an amount of the previous pot each to create a new, normally a larger pot.

Monte Carlo is completely equal to standard Guts poker with the only difference of three cards dealt to each player instead of two. However, this third card makes the game a little different. The difference is the number of possible poker hands. There are still less possible hands than in classic five card poker games. It is obvious that hands like full house or four of a kind can not be composed of three cards, but unlike two card Guts, where only high card and pair hands are possible, Monte Carlo includes three of a kind, three card straights and three card flushes into its hands ranking.

Three card straight is simply three consecutive cards; three card flush is three cards of the same suit, and three card straight flush is three consecutive cards of the same suit. For example, a Monte Carlo hand 10-J-Q is a Queen high straight, and if all these cards are of the same suit it is a straight flush.

Monte Carlo hands ranking from highest to lowest:

• Straight Flush
• Three of A Kind
• Pair
• Flush
• Straight
• High Card

At some Monte Carlo tables a slightly different hands ranking is used. The main difference is the positions of Straight Flush and Three of a Kind. Some house rules may define Three of a Kind as the highest Monte Carlo hand with Straight Flush following at the second place. Ask the dealer what beats what before you play the game.

Kryptonite is a variation of Monte Carlo game played with a kitty. A kitty is an additional hand that belongs to the bank. A player must beat all other players and the kitty to win the pot. If no one at the table can beat the kitty, all players who went In, match the pot, and no one wins it. In Kryptonite, the kitty is dealt face-down into the center of the table and one of its cards is flipped face-up. This card is wild for all players and for the kitty, which automatically gives the kitty at least one pair and makes it quite difficult to beat. If no players go In, the same kitty remains in the game with the same exposed wild card, and a new kitty is dealt face-up near the old one. Now players have to beat two kitties to win the pot. If nobody calls In for the second time, the third kitty is dealt, and so on, until someone goes In and reveals the first kitty.

Two and One is another Monte Carlo variation. In a Two and One game players are dealt only two cards in the beginning. The players who call In show their two cards and receive a third face-up card from the dealer to form normal Monte Carlo three card hands that are then compared according to the Monte Carlo hands ranking.