Date: 09/03/1999
From: Jim Geary
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Subject: Re: Help with 3 card man/mouse
Well, I've played 3 card man or mouse for almost 20 years and I think my group has introduced an idea that might spice up the regular version.
There is x money in the pot to start. Everyone is dealt three cards. Starting in order of left of the dealer, players announce "man" or "mouse" indicating their desire to see the hand to the showdown. If only one player says "man," he takes the pot. If more than one says "man," then the hands are shown down, the high hand (no straights or flushes in our game, but one can make up their own rankings, I guess) takes the pot. All losing hands match the pot. Since this sometimes leads to exponentiation to a degree with which some people are uncomfortable, the game may institute a "burn," a maximum amount someone might have to put into the pot. In the event the hand is moused all the way around to the button, the button has to beat a predetermined minimum win hand to take the pot(we usually say an ace). The game then continues with the first to act rotating clockwise one player each hand. The game ends when only one player declares manhood.
Win multiple hands to take the pot. In this version, players have to win more than one hand to take down the pot. Typically we play you have to win 4 "legs" to take down the pot. First to act rotates clockwise from the second hand on. This way the disadvantage of early position is mitigated. At the end, when a player wins his fourth leg, the burn money either remains in the middle for the start of a new iteration of the game or it is given to the player winning the pot. (This is, of course, decided a priori.)
This is the same as the win-multiple-legs version, but one of the four legs must be won BLIND. That is without looking at your cards. Legs are marked by white chips for legs won with sight, and a red chip for the leg won blind. In our game this chip is named "the coveted red chip." No number of white chips can substitute for the coveted red chip. Players who get all their sight legs early before getting a blind leg are said to be afflicted with the "three white chip syndrome," which can prove to be quite costly. This is a great poker game. I recommend every home poker game try this.
Last Modified 2/9/00