Polish poker also known as Golf is a unique variation of poker. Polish poker will be a great option for people who want to experience poker differently. Playing Golf you will see that it is pretty different and similar to the Texas Hold’em version at the same time. So let’s find out how to play polish poker.

Polish Poker Rules

Polish poker or Six Card Golf is one of the poker versions. However, the objective is different here: you need to get the lowest possible hand instead of running for the royal flush after the dealer has dealt cards nine times. That is where the Golf name came from.

Golf has a simple scoring system:

  • Ace: 1 point
  • Two: – 2 points
  • From three to ten: remain with their value
  • J and Q: 10 points
  • K: 0 points
  • Any pair: 0 
  • Pair of Jokers: 6 points

The suits of the cards don’t have any worth in Golf. Polish poker is played with 52 card deck. The participants’ limitation is also different here with the maximum number of 4 people. The game with more people is possible if take more decks.

Polish Poker Deal

The dealer distributes 6 cards to each player faces down. The cards should be placed in two rows. The first three cards build the first row and should lay face up, and the other three cards build the second row and should lay face down. The rest of the cards build the draw pile. Then players draw a card face up and put it close to the pile to start the discard pile. After that players choose any two cards and turn them face up.

How to Play Polish Poker?

Players need to get the lowest score matching their cards. The player can swap his high cards for the low cards. It is also possible to pair cards to change their value. All the players draw one card from the draw or discard pile. You start your turn when you draw the top card from the pile. The queue start from the left side of the dealer. The player can discard or exchange each card the drawn card for any of his 6 cards. If the player exchanges a face-down card for the drawn it should remain face-up. Players should necessarily replace the card taken from the drawing pile with their hands. The top cards can only be replaced in case no other cards are facing up. In addition, the top cards become untouchable till the end of the round if someone has changed 4 cards from the bottom of the pile. 

You should make the lowest score hands each round if you want to win. The winner is defined when the cards of all players are turned face up. The participant who has the lowest score after the nine rounds becomes a winner. Polish poker also has many variations with different numbers of people at the table. There is also a possibility to play more than 9 rounds. You can choose the Polish Poker type you like more and start playing.