How to play
The Strain Deck.

No-Limit Hold’em

1. Each player gets two private hole cards. The dealer button identifies the dealer position; the next positions post the small and big blinds. Heads-up, the dealer posts the small blind.
2. Bet before the flop. Three shared community cards make the flop, followed by another betting round.
3. A fourth community card is the turn, and a fifth is the river, each followed by betting.
4. At showdown, make the best five-card hand from your two hole cards and the five community cards. You may use two, one or none of your hole cards. If everyone else folds, the last remaining player wins without a showdown.

Hold’em tables allow a bet or raise up to your remaining stack, subject to the displayed minimum raise.

Pot-Limit Crazy Pineapple

1. Start with three hole cards instead of two, and bet before the flop.
2. See the flop and finish the flop betting round.
3. Every remaining player discards one hole card at the same time, including players who are all-in. Your selection stays private; the game waits for the other discards before continuing.
4. Play the turn and river with the two cards you kept. Showdown uses the best five-card hand, just as in Hold’em.

Betting is pot-limit. To calculate a pot-sized raise, first call the current bet, then add the size of the pot after that call. In an unopened 250/500 game with no ante, the maximum preflop open is 1,750. The action controls calculate the legal maximum for the actual pot and stack.

Betting, blinds & all-in pots

• Check: stay in without adding chips when you owe no call. Call: match the outstanding bet, or go all-in for less if your stack cannot cover it.
• Bet or raise: put more chips in. A full raise must be at least as large as the last full raise. A shorter all-in does not always reopen raising for players who already acted.
• Fold: give up your chance to win the current hand. Chips already committed remain in the pot.
• The dealer button moves between hands. Small-blind and big-blind markers show the positions for that hand; a departing player can leave a dealer position without a seated dealer.
• All-in players can win only pots they contributed to. Additional contributions form side pots. Tied hands split the eligible pot; an unmatched excess bet is returned.
• The table displays each seat’s remaining chip balance and exact current wager, plus the pot and whose turn it is. If an action timer expires, the game checks when legal and otherwise folds; an expired discard is selected automatically.

Poker hand rankings

Highest to lowest: straight flush (including a royal flush), four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. Ties compare the relevant ranks and kickers. An ace can be high, or low in A–2–3–4–5. Suits do not break ties.

Poker games use the standard 52-card deck. Jokers and wild collection cards do not enter a poker hand.

Four Families, one Album

The four suits are Classics, Gas & Kush, Fruit and Dessert. Strain-card Family bonuses can stack, but never change who wins a poker pot.

An eligible collection win requires a human table with at least three people dealt in and a voluntary contribution from an opponent. At showdown, eligible held cards unlock automatically; after a fold win, you must choose to show them. A same-Family collection win can make the held cards foil. Bot hands do not unlock cards, Family Points or prize progress.

Family Pick ’em lets players choose the daily Families. Fantasy leagues let signed-in players create a league and draft during testing, with a start date on any weekday. Testing rank data can be simulated; outside testing, access and settlement depend on the published requirements and approved data. Check the game’s current status before making a pick or joining a league.