How to play Fives

Fives is a two-player poker game with one standard 52-card deck. Each player builds five five-card poker hands: four public hands, numbered 1 to 4, and one concealed fifth hand made of the five cards left in their hand at the end.

1. Blinds and the deal

The small blind is 25,000 chips and the big blind 50,000, so the pot starts at 75,000. Each player is dealt five concealed cards, one at a time, starting with the small blind. The dealer is always the small blind.

2. One round of betting

The small blind acts first. You can fold, call, raise or go all in. Checking is allowed only when the bets are equal.
The minimum raise is 50,000, and every bet is a multiple of 5,000. There's no cap on raises.
If someone folds, the other player takes the pot, the cards are reshuffled and a new deal begins with the dealer switched. No public cards are placed before betting is settled.
There is no more betting after this round.

3. Building your hands

The small blind takes the first turn, and players alternate. On each turn:

Draw one card, so you hold six.
Choose any one of the six: the new card or one you were already holding.
Place it on one of your four public hands that isn't full yet, or burn it.

Public cards are face up and can't be moved once placed. Each public hand holds exactly five cards.

4. The burn

Each player must burn exactly one card, face down, on any turn they choose. Burning uses that turn. If all four of your public hands are full and you haven't burned yet, your last turn is the burn. Burned cards don't count in any hand.

5. Scoring

When both players have four full public hands, one burned card and five cards in hand, the hands are compared in order: hand 1 against hand 1, then 2, 3 and 4, and finally both concealed fifth hands are revealed and compared.

Standard poker rankings, highest first: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.
Ties are broken by card ranks and kickers only, never by suit. Aces are high or low (A-2-3-4-5), and straights don't wrap around.
Each matchup won scores 1 point; a tie scores 0 for both.

6. Winning the pot

The player who wins more matchups takes the whole pot. If the points are equal, the pot is split, and any odd 5,000 chip goes to the small blind.

Tip: Your concealed fifth hand is whatever is left in your hand at the end, so plan it as carefully as the four public ones. Watch your opponent's public hands to decide where your cards will win.

Game modes

Casual: online, 72 hours per move. Challenge a friend, or play the next available player.
Showdown: online, 30 seconds per turn, against the next available player.
Practice: against Ai-EasyPeasy, Ai-AverageJoe or Ai-Newton, with practice chips.
Pass and play: two players on one phone, with practice chips.

When no other person is available online, you may play a house player, a computer opponent marked "(House)" that follows the same rules.