Players
2 or more players.
Equipment
One standard 52-card deck.
Each player needs a piece of paper and a pen or pencil.
Goal
To score the most points by aligning cards vertically and horizontally into Poker hands.
Setup
On each piece of paper, draw a 5x5 grid of squares.
Shuffle the deck thoroughly and set it on the table, face down.
Gameplay
One player draws the top card from the deck and announces it (e.g. "Four of clubs" or "Queen of hearts").
Each player then writes that card’s rank and suit into one of the 25 available squares. It usually makes sense to abbreviate, such as "6-S" to mean "6 of spades" or "J-D" to mean "Jack of diamonds."
Repeat this until 25 cards have been drawn and announced. All 25 squares will be filled on every player's grid.
Scoring
Each column and each row are scored according to the following chart, for a total of 10 scores. No points are awarded for diagonals.
Royal flush, 50
Straight flush, 30
Four of a kind, 16
Straight, 12
Full house, 10
Three of a kind, 6
Flush, 5
Two pairs, 3
One pair, 1
Alternative Scoring
There are many possible variations on scoring. The one below is more in line with traditional Poker hands; however, it does not accurately reflect the unique challenges of Poker Squares.
Royal flush, 100
Straight flush, 75
Four of a kind, 50
Full house, 25
Flush, 20
Straight, 15
Three of a kind, 10
Two pairs, 5
One pair, 2
Winning
Total each player's score. The player with the highest total wins.
