How to Play The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a distinctive seven card stud poker game. This game is one of the few card games where the hand is good and turns bad quickly. Even with good starting hands, players won’t know what the outcome of the game is till the final round which makes betting at the table interesting. This game can be played with no more than seven players.

Instructions for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Poker

Each player will ante first for the game to begin. The dealer will deal each player two cards face down followed by a round of betting. The initial betting round should start with the first player to the left of the dealer. Each subsequent betting round should start with player showing the best poker hand using up cards.

Following the initial betting round, the dealer will deal three cards in the center of the table and turn up the first card. This card is called “The Good”. Any player who has that card in their hand can use it as a wild card. Once the first card is placed face up in the middle of the table, the dealer will deal each player a third card face up. Another round of betting will take place.

The dealer will now turn up the second card on the table. This card is “The Bad” and any player holding this card in their hand will discard it. Each player receives another face up card and a round of betting takes place.

The final card in the center of the table is now flipped up. This card is called “The Ugly” and can be very costly for any player holding the same ranked card. The Ugly card is a kill card and any player holding the same card will be forced to fold, with their hand dead.

A final card is dealt to the remaining players face down followed up with the last betting round.

Players will expose their hands and the player with the best five card poker hand wins the pot.

As a general rule of thumb – since this game can change quickly its best to hold off any heavy betting until you know your hand is safe. Betting on your hand holding a wild card means nothing when the “Bad” or “Ugly” cards have yet to be exposed. These cards can quickly take you from winner to loser in a matter of seconds. If you enjoy this game you may also like Burn the Biffel which uses the same principles but is played with community cards.

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