Rules of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Poker

The Good the Bad and the Ugly is a Texas Holdem variation and is a unique, fun game to play. It's unique for the reason that the board dictates more on the outcome than the hole cards that are dealt to players - which is unusual. The initial deal is three cards to each player, two face down and one face up (only you should see the two down cards). Three community cards are dealt face down to the board (see board cards), although the images are face up (below) for the purpose of this illustration. You will now see how the Good-Bad-Ugly name relates to the game.

The Board


The Good	The Bad	The Ugly

After you have been dealt your hole cards and the three face down community cards have been dealt there is a round of betting. All other rules relating to a player making a call, raise or fold would be as normal.

The idea is that starting left to right, the cards are turned over with a round of betting after each turn. The first community card turned is called 'The Good' and all cards that have been dealt with the same rank become wild. In this
example, all 10's would become wild. There is another round of betting and players would decide whether to stay in the hand or not.

The middle card is now turned up, known as 'The Bad'. All cards dealt (to everyone) with the same rank, an Ace in the example above, must be thrown away. This includes all cards that are face down.

Another round of betting takes place and the final card,'The Ugly' is turned over. In this case it is a Jack and any players who have a Jack in their up cards must fold their hand.

There is a further round of betting and then all players still in the hand are dealt one more card (face down) followed by a final round of betting and showdown. The winner is determined in the same way as in Hold'em - the player with the best five card hand wins the pot.

This isn't going to be one that cuts the mustard online however, it is good fun to feature in your home game. Check out our listings for the games that are available online.