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poker with around straight

AROUND STRAIGHT IN POKER

AROUND STRAIGHT is a card game term, the name of a hand in poker games. Around Straights are as follows: 4 3 2 A K, 3 2 A K Q and 2 A K Q J. According to official poker rules, Around Straight is not a combination, but is sometimes allowed as additional rules upon decision of the game organizer.

REASONS OF APPEARANCE

In the fight for clients, some casino owners introduce additional benefits for players to their rules. One of such benefits has become Around Straight (hereinafter AS). Availability of additional number of straights makes the game more exciting and dynamic.

MATHEMATICAL JUSTIFICATION

If we arrange poker deck cards in succession according to their rank, it will be as follows: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. It is known that Ace can take part in two kinds of Straights only: A,K,Q,J,10 and 5,4,3,2,A. Similar to Ace, King can be found in two Straights only: A,K,Q,J,10 and K,Q,J,10,9. Deuce also makes Straight in two ways only: 6,5,4,3,2 and 5,4,3,2,A. Other cards – Queen, Jack, 3, 4, 5 – can make less number of Straights than cards 6,7,8,9, each of them takes part in five types of Straight.

In order for each card of the deck to form the same number of Straights, it was proposed to consider Deuce and Ace neighbours and thus a kind of close the sequence of thirteen cards around, and consider any five neighbouring card as Straight. Thus, 3 new hands formed: 4 3 2 A K, 3 2 A K Q and 2 A K Q J, named Around Straights.

In case such Straights are accepted in the rules, they are valid and paid, but are the lowest in their group and lose to any common Straight. The higher of Around Straights is 4 3 2 A K, as it ends with Four. Availability of AS in particular rules does not constitute the existence of such a concept as Around Straight Flush.

The introduction of Around Straight to the rules significantly increases the number of strong hands, and this entails (in case of an adequate strategy of buying) the improvement in mathematical expectation of the player. The reason why AS is not so widespread in online casinos is unwillingness to provide a player additional opportunities which could improve his play.

Despite its numerosity, online casinos do not hurry to introduce Around Straight in their games because most of them use standard store-bought software which lacks the option to change game rules.

P.S. In our casino, Around Straight PLAYS in Russian Poker. We have made this kind of poker as a separate game so named – Russian Poker with Round Straight. Around Straight Flushes are also paid in this game.