How to Play Follow the Queen

Follow the Queen is an interesting twist the your standard Seven Card Stud game. The overall format of how the game is played is the same however it makes use of wild cards which only apply to certain rules. If you like games that can keep you guessing and can change very quickly you will definitely like playing Follow the Queen.

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Instructions for Follow the Queen

Before the game begins, each player will be forced to ante. Once antes are in, the dealer will deal two cards face down to each player as well as one up card. Normally the player with the highest up card would start the betting. Once the first betting round is complete, the dealer will then deal each player another up card. A second betting round will take place with the player with the highest two card poker hand. The same process will continue until each player has two down cards and four up cards. The dealer will ask each player if they want to receive their 7th card face down or face up. Usually it’s in your best interest to take it down.

Once the players have all seven cards a final betting round will take place followed by a showdown. The player with the best five card poker wins the pot.

Follow the Queen Wild Cards

The wild cards in this game change depending on the queen. All queens dealt face up are wild but a player has to receive a queen face up in order to make any queens dealt down wild. Each time a queen is dealt to a player, the next subsequent card will become a wild card. If another queen falls, the previous wild card is no longer wild and the next card following the second queen is now wild.

This continues until the game ends or all four queens are in play. Some games require a queen in order to play, meaning “No Queen No Game”. This rule forces you to play the game, however if a queen does not show in one of the up cards, nobody wins the pot and the game starts again with each player anteing.

Example of how to play Follow the Queen
Player 1 – (x – x) Aspades
Player 2 – (x – x)10diamonds
Player 3 – (x – x) 8spades
Player 4 – (x – x) 3clubs

4th Street
Player 1 – (x – x) Aspades 5hearts
Player 2 – (x – x)10diamonds Qspades
Player 3 – (x – x) 8spades 8hearts
Player 4 – (x – x) 3clubs 8clubs

By looking at the example above, player 2 received a Queen which has set the game up for wild cards. Player 2 will pay the ante for that Queen. Player 3 has an 8 which becomes a wild card because it falls after the Queen. Player 3 will pay for his 8 and because he holds a second 8, that card to is now wild. (He only has to pay for the 8 that was dealt to him). At best he’s already holding three of a kind of the wild card sticks. Player 4 was also dealt an 8 and will pay for his card.

5th Street
Player 1 – (x – x) Aspades 5hearts 5spades
Player 2 – (x – x)10diamonds Qspades Jclubs
Player 3 – (x – x) 8spades 8hearts 7spades
Player 4 – (x – x) 3clubs 8clubs Qhearts

Now the game has changed. Player 4 received the next Queen which he has to pay for. Because he received a Queen, 8’s are no longer wild. Player 1 will receive the next wild card after the betting round is complete because it’s the next card to follow the queen.

6th Street
Player 1 – (x – x) Aspades 5hearts 5spades 6spades
Player 2 – (x – x)10diamonds Qspades Jclubs 6clubs
Player 3 – (x – x) 8spades 8hearts 7spades 9hearts
Player 4 – (x – x) 3clubs 8clubs Qhearts Jhearts

Player 1 was dealt a 6 and because it’s the next card to follow the queen it’s now the second wild card and he will pay for it. Player 2 was also dealt a 6 which is wild and he too will need to pay for his card.  At this stage each player has received six cards, two down and four face up. There are no more wild cards that can be dealt face up and because of this 6’s will now hold as the final wild card. 7th street will continue as normal and any six or queen that was dealt face down will be used as wild cards.

Pay Cards in Follow the Queen

Wild cards are considered pay cards in this game which means if you receive a wild card you will have to pay for it by placing a chip equivalent to the amount of the ante into the pot. Even though the second set of wild cards change throughout the game you are still forced to pay for your card.

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