Non-standard poker hands are hands which are not recognized by official poker rules but are made by house rules. Non-standard hands usually appear in games using wild cards or bugs. Other terms for nonstandard hands are special hands or freak hands. Because the hands are defined by house rules, the composition and ranking of these hands is subject to variation. Any player participating in a game with non-standard hands should be sure to determine the exact rules of the game before play begins.
Types
The usual hierarchy of poker hands from highest to lowest runs as follows :
Skeet flush: The same cards as a skeet but all in the same suit.
Straight flush: The highest straight flush, A-K-Q-J-10 suited, is also called a royal flush. When wild cards are used, a wild card becomes whichever card is necessary to complete the straight flush, or the higher of the two cards that can complete an open-ended straight flush. For example, in the hand10♠ 9♠ 7♠ 6♠, it becomes the 8♠, and in the hand Q♦ J♦ 10♦ 9♦, it plays as the K♦.
Four of a kind: Between two equal sets of four of a kind, the kicker determines the winner.
Big bobtail: A four card straight flush.
Full house
Flush: When wild cards are used, a wild card contained in a flush is considered to be of the highest rank not already present in the hand. For example, in the hand 10♥ 8♥ 5♥ 4♥, the wild card plays as the A♥, but in the hand A♣ K♣ 9♣ 6♣, it plays as the Q♣. A variation is the double-ace flush rule, in which a wild card in a flush always plays as an ace, even if one is already present. In such a game, the hand A♠ 9♠ 5♠ 2♠ would defeat A♦ K♦ Q♦ 10♦ 8♦, whereas by the standard rules it would lose.
Straight Flush House: Same as Flush House, but all cards are in consecutive order.
Big cat: See [|cats and dogs] below.
Little cat: See cats and dogs below.
Big dog: See cats and dogs below.
Little dog: See cats and dogs below.
Straight: When wild cards are used, the wild card becomes whichever rank is necessary to complete the straight. If two different ranks would complete a straight, it becomes the higher. For example, in the hand J♦ 10♠ 9♣ 7♠, the wild card plays as an 8. In the hand 6♥ 5♦ 4♥ 3♦, it plays as a 7.
Wrap-around straight: Also called a round-the-corner straight, consecutive cards including an ace which counts as both the high and low card..
Skip straight: Also called alternate straight, Dutch straight, skipper, or kangaroo straight, Cards are in consecutive order, skipping every second rank.
Blaze: Also called blazer, all cards are jacks, queens, and/or kings.
Two pair
Bobtail flush: Also called four flush, Four cards of the same suit.
Flush house: Three cards of one suit and two cards of another.
Bobtail straight: Also called four straight, four cards in consecutive order.
One pair
High card
Some poker games are played with a deck that has been stripped of certain cards, usually low-ranking ones. For example, the Australian game of Manila uses a 32-card deck in which all cards below the rank of 7 are removed, and Mexican Stud removes the 8s, 9s, and 10s. In both of these games, a flush ranks above a full house, because having fewer cards of each suit available makes full houses more common.
Cats and dogs
"Cats" and "dogs" are types of no-pair hands defined by their highest and lowest cards. The remaining three cards are kickers. Dogs and cats rank above straights and below Straight Flush houses. Usually, when cats and dogs are played, they are the only unconventional hands allowed.
Little dog: Seven high, two low. It ranks just above a straight, and below a Straight Flush House or any other cat or dog. In standard poker seven high is the lowest hand possible.
Big dog: Ace high, nine low. Ranks above a straight or little dog, and below a Straight Flush House or cat.
Little cat : Eight high, three low. Ranks above a straight or any dog, but below a Straight Flush House or big cat.
Big cat : King high, eight low. It ranks just below a Straight Flush House, and above a straight or any other cat or dog.
Some play that dog or cat flushes beat a straight flush, under the reasoning that a plain dog or cat beats a plain straight. This makes the big cat flush the highest hand in the game.
Kilters
A Kilter, also called Kelter, is a generic term for a number of different non-standard hands. Depending on house rules, a Kilter may be a Skeet, a Little Cat, a Skip Straight, or some variation of one of these hands.
