Gamified Poker Variation: Trinity Poker

I offer a new variation on the poker card game for anyone that wants a more rewarding challenge. The mechanics are simple and gamified to give more choice to the players. By relying less on luck and opening up more ways in which a player can bluff, Trinity Poker gives the players more control over the game.

Need:

·         1 deck of cards

·         Chips to represent bets

·         2 or more players

**If you are playing with real money, please gamble responsibly. 18+ or find out your countries age restrictions.

Set up:

Make sure to take out the joker cards.

Rules:

Each player is dealt 5 cards.

Then each player must put 1 or more cards from their hand face down in front of them in a pile. This pile is their bet. From there each player will have three rounds of actions, and on each round people can fold, bet, or raise the betting pool.

In each round, players have a choice of 4 actions:

1)      Discard a card from your hand and draw a new card from the deck

2)      Put 1 or more cards from your hand into your bet

3)      Take the top card from your discard pile and putting it into your bet

(alternatively, you can do this to another player)

4)      Take the top card from your bet and put it into the discard pile

(alternatively, you can do this to another player)

During these round players will have the deck, and 3 piles of cards to work with.

·         Cards in hand

·         Discard pile

·         Bet pile

Players can play defensively, moving cards around to create the best bet for themselves. Or they can go on the offensive and move the other players cards around to jumble their opponents bet. It is also possible to have more than 5 cards in your bet pile, but players can counter that strategy with action (4).

By now you might have realised that there is some strategy to the arrangement of the piles. For example, if you have two Kings and a Jack having the two Kings at the bottom of your betting pile will make it harder for the opponent to remove the Kings from your bet (using action 4).

The only time a player cannot shuffle their bet or their opponent’s bet is when a player is so confident in their hand that they bet all 5 cards before round one starts. This excludes them from the 4 possible actions in the 3 rounds, but also prevents other players from changing their bet. After the rounds are all over and the bets are in, people show their cards, and best set wins.

I have tested Trinity Poker and it takes about 7 minutes per deal. The rounds go quicker as players understand the power of choice in each round. I really enjoyed being able to modify my bet or the opponent’s bet each round. However, it is a more nuanced gameplay experience. I would love more people to test the game out and let me know what you think in an email or on social media.