How to Play Baseball & Blind Baseball

The dealer’s choice game Baseball is played with up to 7 players, however you should have a minimum of four to make the game work well. Each player will receive nine cards in total which represent that nine innings in a game of Baseball. There are no wild cards in the traditional version however this is optional and is usually up to the dealer to decide before the game begins.

Rules for Baseball Dealer’s Choice Game

Each player is required to ante before the game begins. Once the antes have been placed into the pot, the dealer will begin to deal each player nine cards face down. The remaining cards will be placed in the center of the table and will be used as pay cards (as explained below).

Once each player has received their cards they can look at them. The first player to the left of the dealer will open the betting round. Once the betting has completed, the same player will lay down their first card.

The object of the game is to lay down your cards until you’re able to beat the last hand played or you’re out.

The second player would need to select cards from his hole cards to turn over that would beat out the first player. This would be followed up with another round of betting.

As an example let’s assume the first player turned over a Q. The second player would need to flip over their cards till they had a K or better which would beat the Q. Let’s assume he had an A. The third player will need to flip over his cards one by one until he could beat an A with at least a pair.

This pattern will continue until each of the players has had the opportunity to flip over their cards with a betting round in between.

The player at the end of the game with the best five card poker hand wins.

In regular Baseball, players have the advantage of looking at their cards. You can use this as a strategy to select the cards you need to continue in the game without giving away your hand should you hold something fairly strong.

Variations – Blind Baseball is played exactly the same, except one the cards have been dealt to the players they are not allowed to look at them. Players will randomly choose one of the face down cards to turn over. This rule definitely makes the game more challenging.

Pay Cards in Baseball

The remaining cards you placed in the center of the table are used as pay cards. If a player turns over a four at any time in the game, they will pay the ante for that card and will take an extra card from the top of the pile. Four’s are not wild.