Peel Back

Three stakes and two decisions

Peel Back is five-card poker against a fixed pay table rather than against other people. When you deal, three equal stakes go down and you see three cards. Two shared cards lie face down beside them. Before the first shared card turns, you can peel the first stake back into your sparks or let it ride. Before the second turns, you get the same choice for the second stake. The third stake always stays.

When both shared cards are face up, your three cards and the two shared cards form one hand. A pair of tens or better pays every stake still down; anything less loses them.

When to let it ride

Most hands are folded down to one stake, and that is correct. Let the first stake ride if your three cards already hold a pair of tens or better, three of a kind, or three cards of one suit that could make a straight flush with high cards among them. Let the second ride with a paying pair, four cards to a flush, or four cards in a row that are open at both ends. Everything else is usually better peeled back. The pay table below shows what each hand returns.