How to Play Shifting Sands

Shifting Sands is very similar to Roll Your Own, and is a variation of Seven Card Stud.  The biggest difference between Shifting Sands and shifting sands is the use of wild cards. For this reason only you should familiarize yourself with what actually qualifies as a winning hand. When wild cards are used in card games, the hands taken to showdown are significantly stronger than your standard poker game and can go as high as five of a kind. Very rarely will a straight ever win in a game like Shifting Sands.

Instructions for Shifting Sands

Shifting Sands uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards and is limited to seven players max. Once each player has placed their initial ante into the pot, the dealer will begin to deal each player three cards face down. A betting round will take place after the players have had a chance to view their hole cards. Once betting is complete the dealer will instruct the players to choose one card from their hand and lay it face up at the table. This step must be done simultaneously. The first card they expose will become the wild card for their hand only. Any additional cards of the same rank dealt to them will also be used as wild cards.

The second betting round begins by the second player to the left of the dealer. Once the betting has finished, each player will then receive another card face down. The same step as earlier will take place whereby players will be instructed to choose one of their face down cards and expose it to the rest of the table at the same time. This process will continue until each player has received a total of six cards.

The final card will be dealt face down. Players don’t need to show any additional cards during the final round. A final betting round will take place, whereby players will then turn over all cards and show their best five card hand using five of the seven cards received. Remember your first up card is a wild card along with any additional cards of the same rank.

To Summarize;

  1. Each player needs to ante into the pot.
  2. The dealer will deal each player 3 cards face down.
  3. A round of betting will take place
  4. The dealer will then ask each player to turn one of their cards face-up at the same time as a group. This is now the wild card for each players hand.
  5. Two more rounds of betting and a card being dealt face up will take place. Players will be able to choose which card they want turned up (only the first face up card is wild)
  6. A final card is dealt face down.
  7. Best 5 card poker hand wins.

Shifting Sands Strategy

In Shifting Sands players receive wild cards. Your best strategy is to avoid exposing any of those wild cards if you receive them face down. You want to keep the strength of your hand hidden from the other players at the table so you can extract the most from the final betting round.