Criss-Cross Poker Online Free is a poker variation by In Bet Gaming. In 2014, I started to hear reports of the game in several casinos in the eastern United States. The thrust of the game is the player bets on two hands. In part using five community cards placed in a cross pattern.
Criss-Cross Poker Online Free Rules
- Play begins with the player making Ante Across and Ante Down bets of equal size. The player may also make an optional Five Card Bonus Bet.
- The dealer gives the player two hole cards and places five community cards face down in a cross pattern.
- The player may make an Across Bet. Based on the Across Hand, equal to 1x to 3x the Ante Across bet, or fold.
- The dealer will reveal the two outside cards on the horizontal row of the cross.
- The player may make a Down bet. Based on the Down Hand, equal to 1x to 3x the Ante Down bet, or fold.
- The dealer will reveal the two outside cards on the vertical column of the cross.
- The player may make a Middle Bet of 1x to 3x either Ante bet or fold.
- The dealer will reveal the middle card.
- The player uses his two hole cards and the three cards on the horizontal row of the cross to form the Across Hand.
- Likewise, the player uses his two hole cards and the three cards on the vertical column of the cross to form the Down Hand.
- The Middle Bet pays according to the higher ranking of the Across and Down hands.
- All bets pay according to the pay table below. Wins expressed on a “to one” basis.
- The Five Card Bonus bet pays according to the five community cards in the cross pattern and following pay table.
How To Play Criss-Cross Poker Online Free
Criss-Cross Poker Online Free is a variant of Texas Holdem with a few differences that I’ll teach you throughout this guide. You need a full deck of cards in order to play Criss Cross poker and it’s also best to only play with 5-6 players if possible since you need to use a lot of cards in the deck. The first thing that players in the hand need to do is put their ante into the pot. So that there is money in the pot before the hand dealt.
Difference Between Texas Holdem and Criss-Cross Poker Online Free
The main difference between Texas Holdem and Criss-Cross Poker Online Free is that players dealt five cards face down to begin the hand rather than only two. With everyone receiving five cards in the hand you can see why you need to limit the number of players that play this game. After the dealer finished dealing everyone in the hand five cards the player to the left of the dealer starts the first round of betting.
Step 1
Here is where the game gets a little tricky so make sure you’re paying attention closely in this section. Once the 1st betting round is over in Criss-Cross Poker Online Free the dealer needs to take five cards face down and make a cross with them. You’ll end up having two lines of three cards that make a cross symbol. And, it’s important that you set up the cards this way or else you won’t be able to play the game properly.
Criss-Cross Poker Online Free: Step 2
Once the dealer finished making the cross symbol with the community cards. He/she needs to flip over one of the cards in the cross except it can’t be the middle card. You always need to save the middle card until the very end of the hand and we’ll talk about why later on. After the 1st card flipped over by the dealer in Criss-Cross Poker Online Free there is a round of betting and then the dealer flips over another card. This continues until there is only one player left in the hand or until you’ve flipped over all of the cards except the middle card.
Step 3
Once you get to the middle card you flip it over and there is one last betting round that takes place. If there are still multiple players left in the hand then the hand will go down to what known as the showdown. The middle card in the cross is always a wild card. This means you can use it as a wild card. If you also have the same card in your hand then you can use it as a wild as well. This means if the wild card is an 8. Every 8 in the deck is wild for that hand.
Step 4
Players need to make the best 5-card poker hand using two cards from their hand and three of the community cards. You aren’t allowed to choose any of the community cards though. You need to choose between the 3 horizontal cards or the 3 vertical cards. Since the middle card is wild you’ll always be able to use the wild. So, you don’t need to worry about not being able to use it.
Criss-Cross Poker Online Free: Step 5
The hand rankings are the same in Criss-Cross Poker Online Free as they are in other poker games such as Holdem. Make sure you study a hand rankings chart if you never played poker before or else you’ll be completely lost. Criss Cross Poker isn’t a poker game that you’ll find available on any online poker sites or online casinos. But, you could play it with your friends if you’d like.
Step 6
Criss-Cross Poker Online Free is a great poker game because of the fact there is a wild card in every hand for everyone to use. It often means people stick around to the end of the hand to see if the wild card is one of the cards they have in their hand. This ensures that you’ll be playing for plenty of huge pots. And, without question having tons of fun with your buddies.
Instructions for Criss Cross Poker
Each player required to ante before the deal. Once the players have placed their antes into the pot, the dealer can begin to give each player five cards faced down. Players are able to look at their cards but must keep them hidden from the other players. Once all of the cards dealt with, the first betting round will begin. The player to the left of the dealer will open the betting. After the initial betting round is complete, the dealer will deal five cards face down in the center of the table. These cards called the “community cards”. And, will be used by all of the players at the table with their hands to make the best poker hand possible.
Criss-Cross Poker Online Free: How to Deal with Five Cards?
The cards will be placed in a cross formation with one top, one bottom, one right, one left and one middle card.
The dealer will flip over the first card on the table. The first card can be any card except the middle card. The middle card is always the last card to be turned over. A betting round will start with the same rules applying as before. All betting must start with the first player to the left of the dealer. The dealer will turn over the second card on the table, and again another round of betting will take place. This pattern continues until all of the outer cards have been turned over. And, each card followed up with a round of betting.
The final card turned over in the middle card. This card is wild and can be used in combination with the player’s hands and the board. Any player who has the same ranked card in their hand can use that card as wild to complete their best poker hand. A final betting round will take place and the player with the best five-card poker hand wins the pot. When using the board, players can only use three cards that are directly related. This means either the horizontal row or vertical row. You can’t mix and match the cards.
Criss-Cross Poker Online Free Strategy
With all decision points, the only viable options are to fold, minimum 1x raise, or maximum 3x raise. Never raise anything between 1x and 3x.
Across Strategy
- If the hole cards unsuited, unpaired, and the largest one is five or less, then fold.
- If the hole cards suited J/Q or any pair, then make the large raise.
- With all other hole cards, make the small raise.
Down Strategy
This is a very similar decision to raising on the Across hand. However, the player has the benefit of seeing two extra cards. This can help in borderline situations. I have not implicitly identified these deviations from the Across strategy. However, I can say that knowing them. Whatever they are, will increase the expected return by 0.29% the amount of the Ante Down bet, or lower the house edge by 0.15%.
Criss-Cross Poker Online Free: Middle Strategy
With four cards seen, there are thousands of possible situations in terms of a Middle bet strategy. However, a perfect decision made by averaging the win overall possibly 46 cards left in the deck under both a small and large Middle bet. I can say that if the player made either 3x bet, then he shouldn’t fold. I can also say that 4.5% of the time the player will make both a small Across and Down bet and then fold the Middle bet. (Source: Play Poker Online)