Manila poker is a poker variation wherein you’ll never have a card lower than a 7. Compared to traditional Hold’em poker games, Manila game tends to have high-ranking hands. It requires between six and nine players.

The first thing you need to do is remove all cards with a value of two to six. Before you start playing, all players need to ante in on the pot. Everyone receives two facedown cards (known as hole) and view them. A first round of betting would take place, usually starting from the player on the left side of the dealer.

The dealer would place 3 face up cards (known as ‘the flop’) on the center table. Each player would now have a total of five cards – two from their hole and 3 from the community cards that they choose to use. A second betting round would take place, which is started by the player sitting on the left side from the first bidder.

A fourth community card (known as ‘the turn’) is flipped over on the center of the table. Another round of betting would occur before the fifth and final community card (known as ‘the river’) is revealed on the table. The final betting would begin. From the five community cards and the two holes each player has, they would make a five-card hand using their holes and three community cards of their choice. Each player would now reveal his or her hands to determine who wins the pot.

Be aware that in Manila poker, flushes always rank above full house since the lower value cards are in the deck; it is very hard to acquire flushes with the existing deck. Unlike other poker variations, don’t get too excited if you have high cards because it’s more than likely that most of your opponents have high cards as well. However, Aces cannot be used as a low card in making a straight hand in Manila poker.