A Guide to Playing Manila Poker
Played with a 32 card deck (eights or better), Manila poker (also known as “Seven Up Poker”) is common in Asia and Australia where it is a unique variant on traditional Texas Holdem. Similar to standard Holdem, each player is dealt two cards although there are major differences in the game. Increasingly popular in Australian casinos, the game is relatively rare in online games and is commonly used as a variant in home games to mix up the play.
How Manila Poker Works
In the game, there are five rounds of betting with one card revealed at each turn, and players must use both of their cards in the showdown to build the best five card hand. Additionally, the odds of making hands change with the deck structure and a flush beats a full house and aces are only counted as high cards for purposes of making a straight. The game is most commonly played with a fixed limit betting structure and there may be unique regional variants with only three betting rounds. With five betting rounds, the game can take a bit longer and requires more intricate reading of strategy and hand expectations.
Optimal Manila Poker Strategy
With a truncated deck, you should be drawing to strong hands (full houses or better) so position is crucial to determining how to properly play the game. In the game, you should play pair cards in early position or high suited connectors (Jack-Ten suited has the most possible draws since this combination is in every single straight in the game.) Since you’re competing against players with large hands be selective in your hands, playing pairs, high suited connectors and draw hands in good position (you can discard any hand below a King-Jack suited in most cases.) Most winning hands rank at least a full house although drawing to a flush can be common as well.
Often times, it’s a good idea to discard straight draws since the board will commonly pair, beating your straight even if you hit your draw properly. Pay close attention to the betting patterns of your opponents across the rounds as well. Often times, players are drawing to a full house, so when the board pairs or a player gets aggressive try to pin him or her on a particular hand. Most players are highly selective with their opening hand selection, unless there are good pot odds for a strong draw to a flush or better. In these cases, the five betting rounds give you even more information to update your expectation of the winning hand.
Bluffing in the game can be challenging since players will often remain in the pot given the limit betting format and the relative ease of hitting a strong hand. Therefore, be cautious when playing aggressive in a multi-way pot unless you are confident you have the best possible hand (the “nuts”). If you have good pot odds, consider remaining on a strong draw given the fixed limit structure although you should be weary of getting involved in multi way betting wars.
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