Irish Poker is a fun and exciting combination of OMAHA and Texas Hold’em. This game follows the rules of both Texas Hold’em and OMAHA, but with a twist. Irish Poker is also known as “Bottom Ups” Poker.

So, if you are looking for a site that easily explains the rules and hands to play Irish Poker, then you are on the right page. This article will explain to you how to play Irish poker, and the hands used in the game.

Irish Poker Game

The game Irish Poker is played between 2 to 10 players from one standard deck of cards. The game is a combination of NLHE and PLO-4. The game starts with the dealing of cards. All the players have 4 cards, and their faces are down.

The rounds of betting begin. All the players have to discard any hole card and continue playing with the remaining two cards after the flop. These game rounds are very exciting, as a player needs to make strategic decisions at every level of the game. The river and turn are the same as in the Texas Hold’em. At last, the player with the highest hand wins the game of Irish Poker.

Let’s begin with the Irish Poker game rules:

Traditional Irish Poker Game Rules

In this, there is a step-by-step explanation of the rules of how to play traditional Irish poker:

1. Deal

Like other poker games, the Irish game is also played with a dealer. The dealer shuffled the cards and dealt 4 cards to each player. The faces of the cards are down. You are not allowed to see the cards just yet.

2. Blind Bet

In poker, the blind means the buy-in for each hand. A blind bet means players left to the dealer have to put the money on the table before even seeing their cards. The player to the left of the dealer places a small bet amount, and the player to their left places a bigger bet amount, which is usually twice that amount.

After each round, the minimum bet is equal to or greater than the bigger bet amount. If you are playing at home, discuss the amount of bet with other players before the game starts. Otherwise, in casinos, bet amounts are often predetermined.

3. First Bet

The player left of the dealer places the starting bet. The betting moves in a clockwise direction around the table. You may either raise the bet. Look at your hand you have only three options now. You either raise the bet, fold the bet, or call the bet.

Raise means to bet the bigger amount placed by the last player. Fold means to exit the round, and call means to bet the same amount as the last player. Betting ends when the player's still in the game and “calls” the most recent bet.

4. Flop

The dealer places 3 cards at the centre of the table. The card's face is up, which means it is visible to all players. After each round of betting, a card is added to the flop. In Irish poker, at last, you have only 2 cards from your private hands and any three cards from the flop.

5. Discard

In other poker games, you are allowed to keep all cards in your hand. But in Irish Poker, after the flop, you are not allowed to keep all cards in your hand. From the 4 cards, you have the option to choose only 2 cards to keep and discard the other 2.

Take a look at the cards in the flop cards and the cards in your hands; after that, decide on choosing cards to keep or discard.

6. Second Bet

You have the flop cards on the table and 2 cards in your hand. Now you have a better idea of your possible hands. Until all players “call” the most recent raise, place your bets clockwise around the table.

7. Flop and Bet

The dealer adds a card to the flop cards. Players place their bets again. 4 cards are now on the flop and 2 in your hand. This card placed on the flop is the final card called the "River". All players who haven’t folded place their final bet.

8. End of the round

All players who were still in the game revealed their cards and explained their hands. A combination of 2 cards in the private hand of the player and 3 cards from the flop makes the final hand. The player with the highest hand is the winner of the Irish Poker game.

Reshuffle the cards and start the game again. The next dealer in the game is the player to the left of the current dealer.

Irish Poker Winning Hands

Irish Poker Winning Hands, from highest to lowest:

1. Royal Flush - The cards A (Ace), K (King), Q (Queen), J (Jack), and 10 are of the same suit that come under Royal Flush. For Example: A♣, K♣, Q♣, J♣, and 10♣.

2. Straight Flush - The 5 cards are in ascending order of the same suit that comes under Straight Flush. For Example: 6♥, 7♥, 8♥, 9♥, and 10♥.

3. Four Of A Kind - The 4 cards are of the same rank that comes under Four Of A Kind. For Example: 7♦, 7♠, 7♥, 7♣, and Q♦.

4. Full House - The 3 cards of the same rank and the other 2 cards of the same rank that come under Full House. For Example: k♦, k♠, k♣, 5♦, and 5♠.

5. Flush - Any 5 cards of the same suit that come under Flush. For example: 2♦, 4♦, 7♦, 9♦, and Q♦.

6. Straight - The 5 cards are in ascending order of the different suits that come under Straight. For Example: 7♣, 8♥, 9♠, 10♦, J♠.

7. Three Of A Kind - The 3 cards of the same rank that come under Three Of A Kind. For Example: 2♥, 2♣, 2♠, 5♦, 8♠.

8. Two Pair - The 2 cards of the same rank and the other 2 cards of the same rank. For Example: 8♠, 8♥, 2♠, A♦, and A♠.

9. Jacks or Better - The pair of Ace, King, Queen, and Jack that come under Jacks or Better. For Example: Q♣, Q♥, 3♦, 7♠, and 10♥.

10. Pair - The pair of 2 cards of the same rank that come under Pair. For Example: 9♦, 9♣, 2♦, 4♠, and 7♦.Irish Poker Drinking Game

The Irish poker game is also an exciting game to play. It is divided into 4 parts, and each part has its own set of rules. Let's start:

Round 1:- Red or Black

The game starts with the shuffling of cards. The dealer dealt 4 cards to each player. The faces of the cards are down. The players left to the dealer to start the game.

In round 1, players have to guess the colour of the first card. Either it is red or black. Once done, they face up the card to see if the guess is correct or not. If they are right, then they choose 2 players to take a sip of the drinks. And if they are wrong, they need to take 2 sips of the drinks. In this round, there are 2 drinks. This round continues till all the players have played their turn.

2. Round 2:- Higher or Lower

In round 2, players have to guess whether the value of the second card is higher or lower than the first face-up card. Once done, they face up the card to see if the guess is correct or not. In this round, two more drinks are added. If they are right, then they choose 4 players this time to take a sip of all 4 drinks. And if they are wrong, they need to take all 4 shots themselves. This round continues till all the players have played their turn.

3. Round 3:- Inside or outside

In round 3, players have to guess whether the value of the third card is inside or outside the value of the last two face-up hole cards. Once done, they face up the card to see if the guess is correct or not. In this round, two more drinks are added. If they are right, then they choose 6 players this time to take a sip of all 6 drinks. And if they are wrong, they need to take all 6 shots themselves. This round continues till all the players have played their turn.

4. Which Suit?

This round is the fourth and final round. The players are slightly drunk. In this round, players have to guess the suit of the fourth card. The fourth card belongs to which suit—whether it is a diamond, spade, club, or heart. Once done, they face up the card to see if the guess is correct or not. In this round, two more drinks are added. If they are right, then they choose 8 players this time to take a sip of all 8 drinks. And if they are wrong, they need to take all 8 shots themselves.

This game is your kind of game, which means you can change the rules also. You can change the number of drinks and the number of players chosen for the drink. You can also choose the drinks according to you. You can even add some gifts for the players who win the rounds. So, you can change everything according to you.

Conclusion

As we discussed above in the article, Irish poker is fun to play. And the Irish poker rules are very easy to learn. You just need to believe in yourself and continue playing. Also, you need to keep in mind the ranking of poker-winning hands. The drinking version of Irish poker is more fun and very popular among friends for playing.

You can play poker online also. There are many Poker App Development Companies that develop user-friendly poker game apps for playing. You have to just download the app from the Play Store and start playing