Whiskey Poker Dictionary (poker)
A widow game, usually played only in home games by players
while waiting for a "real" poker session to start.
Each player receives five cards face down and five cards (the
widow) are dealt face down in the center of the table. The player
to the left of the dealer has three choices: knock, pass, or
exchange his cards for the widow. If he passes, the next player
has the same three choices. When any player exchanges his cards
for the widow, the next player can discard anywhere from one
to five of his cards, select cards (without looking at them)
from the widow as replacements, and put his replacements in
the widow. Once someone has taken the widow, players may no
longer pass: they must either knock or exchange one or more
cards with cards from the widow. If no one exchanges on the
first round, the dealer turns the widow face up, and play continues
as before, with cards this time drawn from the face-up cards
of the widow. If a player feels that he has the best poker hand
at any point when it is his turn, he can knock. At such point,
play continues for one more round until just before the player
who knocked, at which point there is a showdown. If his hand
is indeed best, he collects one chip (or some other agreed-upon
amount) from each player; if it is not, he loses two chips (or,
again, some other agreed-upon amount) to the player whose hand
beats his. Sometimes the lowest hand at the showdown then buys
everyone drinks (whence the name of the game). Obviously (or
not so obviously), the further the game progresses without someone
knocking, the better the hand needed to knock. Several variations
exist to this game; the preceding description is the most common.
