Non-standard poker hand

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Non-standard poker hands are hands which are not recognized by official poker rules but are created by house rules. Nonstandard hands usually appear in games of five card draw poker. Other terms for nonstandard hands are special hands or freak hands. Because the hands are defined by house rules, the composition and ranking of these hands is subject to variation. Any player participating in a game with nonstandard hands should be sure to determine the exact rules of the game before play begins.

The usual hierarchy of poker hands from lowest to highest runs as follows (standard poker hands are in italics):

• High card
• Pair
• Bobtail straight - Also called four straight. Four cards in consecutive order.
• Flush house - Three cards of one suit and two cards of another.
• Bobtail flush - Also called four flush. Four cards of the same suit. It is most commonly played in stud poker.
• Russ - Five cards of the same color. Usually played in 5 card stud.
• Two pair
• Blaze - Also called blazer. All cards are jacks, queens, or kings.
• Flash - One card of each suit plus a joker.
• Little bobtail - A three card straight flush (three cards of the same suit in consecutive order).
• Three of a kind
• Skeet - Also called pelter or bracket. A hand with a deuce; a three or a four; a five; a six, a seven, or an eight; and a nine.
• Five and dime - All cards are fives, sixes, sevens, eights, nines, or tens with no pair.
• Skip straight - Also called alternate straight, Dutch straight, or skipper. Cards are in consecutive order, skipping every other card. (Example 3-5-7-9-J).
• Wrap-around straight - Also called round-the-corner straight. Consecutive cards including an ace which counts as both the high and low card. (Example Q-K-A-2-3).
• Wheel - The sequence 5-4-3-2-A. This could technically be considered a round-the-corner straight, but is frequently played even if other round-the-corner straights are not allowed, particularly in pai gow poker. When wheels are recognized as distinct from round-the-corner straights, they are ranked as straights: in most games they are considered five-high, and thus the lowest possible straights, but in pai gow poker they rank between king-high and ace-high straights.
• Straight
• Little dog - See below.
• Big dog - See below.
• Little cat - See below.
• Big cat - See below.
• Flush
• Full house
• Big bobtail - A four card straight flush (four cards of the same suit in consecutive order).
• Four of a kind
• Straight flush - Note that the highest, A-K-Q-J-10 suited, is also called royal flush.
• Skeet flush - The same cards as a skeet and all in the same suit.
• Five of a kind - Five cards of the same rank, only possible using variant rules such as wild cards.

Cats and dogs

"Cats" (or "tigers") and "dogs" are types of no-pair hands defined by their highest and lowest cards. The remaining three cards are kickers. Dogs and cats rank above straights and below flushes. Usually, when cats and dogs are played, they are the only unconventional hands allowed.

• Little dog - Seven high, two low (for example, 7-6-4-3-2). It ranks just above a straight, and below a flush or any other cat or dog.
• Big dog - Ace high, nine low (for example, A-K-J-10-9). Ranks above a straight or little dog, and below a flush or cat.
• Little cat (or little tiger) - Eight high, three low. Ranks above a straight or any dog, but below a flush or big cat.
• Big cat (or big tiger) - King high, eight low. It ranks just below a flush, and above a straight or any other cat or dog.

Some play that dog or cat flushes beat a straight flush, under the reasoning that a plain dog or cat beats a plain straight. This makes the big cat flush the highest hand in the game.

Kilters

A Kilter, also called Kelter, is a generic term for a number of different nonstandard hands. Depending on house rules, a Kilter may be a Skeet, a Little Cat, a Skip Straight, or some variation of one of these hands.sv:Icke-standardpokerhand