How to Play Iron Cross Poker

Last Updated: April 28, 2022

Iron Cross poker is a community card variant where the five shared cards are dealt one-by-one into a cross and players may only play the three horizontal or vertical cards. Home variants of Iron Cross may make the center card wild, which can create a vary chaotic fifth round of betting. Iron Cross definitely tends toward pot-limit betting, rather than limit or no-limit.

Steps

1
Shuffle up a standard 52 card poker deck, blind-in or ante-up, and deal five hole cards to each player.
- Iron Cross may be played with blinds or all-ante - whatever suits your game
- Iron Cross should be played pot-limit or possibly structured limit. As there are five betting rounds, the first two rounds in limit should be the lower frame, while the final three rounds at the upper frame (it is also acceptable for the final round of betting to be at 3x or 4x the initial frame).
2
Place the first community card face up just left of center on the table.
- Dealer note: The community cards will be arranged in a "+" (cross) pattern. This first card is placed as the left point of the cross, the second should be placed as the top card, the third as right, fourth as bottom and finally the river card is placed in the center of the cross. Be sure to leave room for the community cards!
- Player note: Players will select either the horizontal or vertical three community cards at showdown to make his or her best five card hand of the chosen community and five hole cards.
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3
The first round of betting opens to the left of the dealer if playing ante - or after the big blind if playing blinds.
4
Once betting round one is complete, deal the second community card face up above and just to the right of the first community card. As in the dealer note above, the remaining three cards will be dealt as the opposite points of the cross with the final card in the center among the other four.
- Rounds two through five of betting commence with the player to the left of the dealer.
5
After the fifth community card has been dealt, the final round of betting begins.
6
All remaining players after the completion of betting round five enter showdown.
- The last player to place an unraised fifth-round bet must show down first, then each player to his left may fold or showdown in succession.
- In the event of a fifth round checkdown (all remaining players check), the player closest to the dealer's left is the first to showdown.
7
During showdown, compare the value of each hand, and the highest hand value wins the pot.

Community Q&A

Question

The final drop between two players is a tie, what do I do?

Community Answer

Take out a coin. One person should call heads, the other tails. Whichever comes up first wins.

Warnings

Wild cards are definitely ill-advised. The final card is wild variant is acceptable as the field is usually narrowed by the river, so the effects of a late wild are diminished.

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