Big Two - Variations

Variations

1. Smack Down: The Smack Down can be played to defeat the "Big Two" only when the Two of Spades is played as a single. A Smack Down is either 4 of a kind or a run of pairs (Example: 4-4-5-5-6-6). The run of pairs may be any length of at least 3. After a Smack Down has been played, any player is allowed to "Smack Back" with a higher 4 of a kind or run of pairs of equal length as the Smack Down. "The Smack Down" and "The Smack Back" originated on the first floor of the Chemistry Building at UMBC and is often culminated with a violent smack of the playing surface.
2. If a player leads off with three 3's, you are required to play three 2's if no other play is possible
3. Some allow four-of-a-kind without extra card; twos rank high, as usual.
4. Some variations allowing four-of-a-kind without extra card do not allow for two pairs.
5. Some allow four-card combinations (two pairs or four cards alone, without an odd card). Four of a kind beats two pairs (this rule is extremely rare)
6. Some allow a sixth five-card combination called "two pair-junk" or "Butterfly", consisting of two pairs (of different ranks) and one odd card ("junk"); Rank is determined by the highest pair. This combination ranks below the straight.
7. Some allow the three-of-a-kind poker hand, consisting of a triple and two junk cards. This combination ranks below the straight.

   Or it can be more specific, known as sisters, where two consecutive pairs are played, with any random card. This combo is lower than a straight, making it the weakest 5 card combo in the game, if it is played. An example of sisters is double Jack, double Queen and a single Nine. This would be beaten by a double King, double Ace and a three (only the 'sisters' count, not the random card.)

   3-K-K-A-A > 9-J-J-Q-Q (tie-breaker rules vary)

8. Some variations allow for straights longer than five cards, or even as short as three cards.
9. There are many variations on ranking straights, suit of last card is tie-breaker unless otherwise stated.
   • A-2-3-4-5 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < 2-3-4-5-6 (Singaporean variant)
   • 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < A-2-3-4-5 < 2-3-4-5-6 (Suit of 2 is tiebreaker) (Malaysian variant)
   • 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < J-Q-K-A-2 (Vietnamese & Indonesian variant)
   • 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < 2-3-4-5-6 (Suit of 2 is tiebreaker) < A-2-3-4-5 (Suit of 2 is tiebreaker) (Hong Kong variant)
   • 2-3-4-5-6 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 9-10-J-Q-K < 10-J-Q-K-A < A-2-3-4-5 (Suit of A is tiebreaker)
   • 2-3-4-5-6 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 9-10-J-Q-K < A-2-3-4-5 (Suit of A is tiebreaker) < 10-J-Q-K-A
   • 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A
   • A-2-3-4-5 < 2-3-4-5-6 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < J-Q-K-A-2
   • Q-K-A-2-3 < K-A-2-3-4 < … < 10-J-Q-K-A < J-Q-K-A-2 (Depending on variant, suit of last or highest card is tiebreaker)
10. Some rank flushes by highest suit, K-Q-J-10-8 in spades defeating A-6-5-4-3 of diamonds.
11. Some discard the extra cards. Some play that the lowest cards are consciously removed to avoid having the spade two, the highest card, in the kitty. Yet others give the kitty to the holder of the lowest diamond (not necessarily the lowest card).

    Whereas sometimes in a 3-player game, the extra card is not revealed (or is revealed), and the holder of 3♦ is given a chance to make a decision to or not to trade his/her 3♦ for the extra card. If he/she does, the starting player will be 3♣ holder, or the previous winner depending on the rules.

12. Some switch ♦ and ♣, to conform to contract bridge tradition, and play begins with the 3♣. Another variation rearranges the suit ranks from (lowest to highest) ♣, ♦, ♠, ♥. Another variation of suit ranks is (lowest to highest) ♣, ♠, ♥, ♦.
13. In some variations, suit rankings are not used, for example, a 3-single cannot be used to beat any other 3-single, and an 8-high straight cannot be used to beat any other 8-high straight.
14. A variant to discourage passing disallows a player from playing any further cards to a trick after he passes.
15. A rare variation involves a 3-player game, where each is dealt 17 cards. A "Dragon" consists of 13 cards in straight (A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2), is considered a valid combination and may be played once the player has gained control of the game. Suit of 2 is tie-breaker.
16. In Malta, a "Dragun" or "Dragon" is not a 13 card straight, but it is the initial 13 cards that he is dealt, consisting of 6 pairs and any other single card. When a person is dealt a "Dragon" he immediately wins the game. However, if the "Dragon" contains a pair of 3s it is called a "Dragun bla-bajd" and the player immediately loses.
17. In tournaments, this is only true for the first round. In subsequent rounds, the winner of the previous round plays first.
18. If only two players are available, deal 13 cards each and play as normal. When one player passes he is forced to pick up one card from the remaining deck and add it to his hand. This variation is taken from the card game Go Fish.
19. If three people are playing, deal four 13-card hands as if a fourth players were present. The hand to receive the last card that would normally become the dealer's now becomes the "ghost hand". No one plays the ghost hand and its cards are not shown, play continues as normal.
20. If three people are playing, deal three 17-card hands, leaving one left over. The one card is placed in the middle, and whichever player possesses the two of spades or three of diamonds receives that card.
21. In some places, owning 4 Twos is also a condition for Immediate Win. Some play Immediate Win rule in 3-player game too. There are more cards involved, the chance of occurring and points transfer is therefore very high. On the contrary, some variations said that it's an automatic draw when 1 player has all 4 twos, as having all 4 twos gives the player amazing amount of power.
    The chance of getting 4 Twos is games.
22. In some rules, four of a kind + one card and straight flush can also be played on a pair or a single card, regardless of value.
23. Some players rank all poker hand with traditional poker rules, except for the full house 2, which is higher than full house Ace, and you must win a hand exactly, not just by a tiebreaker of suit.
24. In some rules, a single spade of 2 is not allowed to be played as the last card. Others do not allow any combination that includes the 2 of spades to be played as the last hand.
25. A four of a kind can be used to beat all card combinations without a four of a kind.
26. Some require the person to call "Last Card" when he/she only have one card left right after the last play. If the person holding the last card won, but forgot to call "Last Card" beforehand, he/she will take the penalty of all the other player's remaining cards, while other players will score 0.
27. In some variations, a straight is considered higher than a flush. This can be determined beforehand.
28. In Hawai'i, the game Penning is played similarly to Big Two. The main difference is that the ranking of cards is Diamonds high, followed by Hearts, then Spades, and Clubs as lowest. When playing with three or four people, the 2nd and 3rd place titles are done by person with the lowest card going first.
29. Joker Rules: Jokers are added to the deck, and they can be played as any card with any suit. Also, the jokers are deemed higher than the Two of Spades, but the black joker is considered higher than the red joker. These variations allow for more in depth and strategic game play.
30. No Poker Rules (AKA No Soccer Ball Rules): The players are not allowed to play a different type of 5 card hand over the current. For example, a Full House can not be played over a Straight.
31. In some variations, any five-card combination can be played on top of any other five-card combination with a lower card value, e.g. 4-5-6-7-8 can be played on top of 7-7-7-6-6 even though full house is higher than straight in standard Big Two.
32. Some variants do not score; rather, play continues till all but one person have rid all cards, and at the end, players are ranked according to the order they got rid of their cards, e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.
33. The direction of play (clockwise or anti-clockwise) can be determined by a race between the two players on either side of the leader (previous round winner, or holder of diamond 3).
34. Playing with 2 decks: this enables up to 8 players per game. In this case, five-of-a-kind defeats four-of-a-kind, but may or may not defeat a straight flush. Players may or may not be allowed to play a hand equivalent to the previous hand, such as diamond 3 followed by the other diamond 3.