Big 2 Rules

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Big 2 Poker can be played with up to 4 players. Each player receives 13 cards. The winner is the first player to discard all their cards by making up ‘sets’ and discarding them.

Card, Suit, and Set Ranks

2s are ranked as the highest card (hence the name Big 2 Poker). Other than that, ace is the second highest and 3 the lowest.

Suits are also ranked. In descending order, suits are ranked spades ♠, hearts ♥, clubs ♣, diamonds ♦ (so 3♦ is the lowest card). Card rank supersedes suit (suit only affects a hand’s value if two identical hands need to be compared). Hands are ranked according to standard poker hand ranks.

Cards are discarded in ‘sets’, which generally correspond to regular poker hands. The exceptions are three of a kinds, pairs, and high cards—these sets only contain the actual cards that make up the hand, not the extra ‘kicker’ cards. For example, a pair of 2s would be just the two 2s, not two 2s and three other cards as you would have in poker. In contrast, a four of a kind hand must contain the ‘kicker’ (the extra card that completes the poker hand).

Here is a list of the possible sets: Straight flush, e.g. [5♠ 6♠ 7♠ 8♠ 9♠] Four-of-a-kind, e.g. [3♥ 3♠ 3♣ 3♦ 6♥] Full house, e.g. [J♥ J♠ J♦ 5♣ 5♠] Flush, e.g. [2♥ 5♥ 7♥ K♥ A♥] Straight, e.g. [8♣ 9♠ 10♦ J♥ Q♣3] Three-of-a-kind, e.g. [7♥ 7♦ 7♠ 2] Pair, e.g. [2♣ 2♦] High card, e.g. [A♠]

The 2s When the 2♠ is played by itself or in a pair or three-of-a-kind, all players automatically pass that round. This is because the 2♠ is the highest-ranked single card and no hand can beat it with three cards or less.

The Deal Players first post their bets, a set amount, which is the only bet made during the game.

Each player is dealt 13 cards. The player holding the lowest ranked card starts by discarding a card set.

Play

Each player in turn discards a higher-rank card set or passes. For example, if the first player discards [5♣ 5♠ 5♥ 5♦ 8♠] (four-of-a-kind 5s), players must discard four-of-a-kind 6s or better or pass. All hands in that round must have the same number of cards as the opening hand, but can be a different type of set (for example, a straight flush can be played after a full house, but a pair can not).

Players may pass if they wish to hold onto cards to form higher sets later in the game, but cannot pass if they have a hand that can prevent a player from winning.

When a player has only one card left, the player before them must play the best possible set to prevent that player from winning. If possible, they must play a multi-card hand so the leading player cannot play that round.

Play continues until all players pass. The last player to have discarded a set starts a new round with any card set.

The End The game ends when a player has discarded all of their cards. They win all of the bets.