Two Dreidel is a poker-like dreidel variant that combines elements from one poker and dominion in an attempt to create a stategic, high stakes gambling game that still feels conceptually like dreidel.
- Each player has their own small deck of cards, from which they draw two-card hands in a semi-controlled way, and which slowly dwindles to 0 before replenishing (Similar to dominion)
- There are no pairs - גה beats הה.
- There are 3 rounds of betting, 2 of which are informed by a dreidel spin
- Dreidel spins set a buy-in bet (called simultaneously by everyone)
- After the dreidel is called, betting proceeds as in no-limit poker from the right of the button
Because Two Dreidel is played with so few chips, and betting is only semi-controlled, a single game is meant to go relatively quickly, with high-stakes hands occuring rather frequently.
- Dreidel
- Dreidel call cards, 2 per person
- Gelt, chips, or tokens
- Dreidel cards. Regular playing cards can be used, But only their suits will matter (ranks borrowed from spades)
Card/symbol ranking:
| Rank | Spin Bet | Dreidel Symbol | Substitute Suit | * Trumps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1* | Whole Pot | ג (Gimel) | ♤ (Spade) | * Trumped by ש (Shin) |
| 2 | Half Pot | ה (Hey) | ♡ (Heart) | |
| 3 | None | נ (Nun) | ♢ (Diamond) | |
| 4* | One Chip | ש (Shin) | ♧ (Club) | * Trumps by ג (Gimel) |
Each player starts with:
4 * playerschips- an individual deck of 12 cards (shuffled), with a
1-5-5-1distribution:
| Count | Dreidel Symbol | Substitute Suit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ג (Gimel) | ♤ (Spade) |
| 5 | ה (Hey) | ♡ (Heart) |
| 5 | נ (Nun) | ♢ (Diamond) |
| 1 | ש (Shin) | ♧ (Club) |
Feel free to experiment please explore with these variables.
Two Dreidel is still experimental, so feel free to experiment with other distributions and starting chip counts. I'm aiming for a game that:
- is relatively fast-paced
- is strategic
- feels high-stakes, sometimes in an out-of-control way
I suspect having 2 shins/gimmels such as in 2-6-6-2 or 2-7-7-2 could be particularly interesting, especially in heads up, but I wanted to keep the gimel/shin mechanics simple for the base game
- Each player has their own small deck of cards, and a discard pile
- Each hand, each player draws 3 cards, then puts 1 on top of their deck.
- If players cannot draw a card, they shuffle their discard, after drawing as much as they can. This should always happen at the same time for all players
- There are no pairs. Hands are always high card + kicker:
- גה beats הה, but is beaten by שנ
- שנ beats גה, but is beaten by שה
- ש trumping ג interactions are evaluated last:
- In שג vs שנ vs ננ:
- ננ loses to שג
- Then the shin in שנ trumps the gimel in שג, winning the hand
- In שג vs שנ vs ננ:
- There are 3 rounds of betting, 2 of which are informed by a dreidel spin (usually spun by the blind, but doesn't really matter)
- Action starts to the left of the blind
- Dreidel spins set a buy-in bet (called simultaneously by everyone)
- Calling the dreidel is done by each player (in action order placing their "dreidel call/fold" card in front of them, face-down.
- You cannot take this action back - this is an opportunity for bluffing
- After the dreidel is called, betting proceeds as in no-limit poker from the left of the button
- If the dreidel is not called by anyone, the pot remains for the next round
- At the end of a hand, each players discard their cards face up on top of their discard pile.
- The top two cards of the discard should ideally be visible
- When players need to draw and there are no cards left in-deck, they shuffle their discard pile.
- Blind is posted by button
- All players draw 3 and replace 1
- If players cannot draw a card, they shuffle their discard into their deck
- Action starts to the left of the blind/button
- The button spins dreidel (1st spin)
- Starting with the player to the left of the dreidel,
each player places their call/fold-card face down.
- You cannot take this action back - this is an opportunity for bluffing
- After the dreidel is called, betting proceeds as in no-limit poker from the left of the button
- If the dreidel is not called by anyone, the pot remains for the next round
- Hands are evaluated. There are no pairs - Hands are always high card + kicker:
- גה beats הה, but is beaten by שנ
- שנ beats גה, but is beaten by שה
- "ש trumping ג" interactions are evaluated last
- Tied pots are split
- At the end of a hand, each players discard their cards face up on top of their discard pile
Going to rework this into a larger game called "plugin poker". I particularly like the borrowed dominion mechanics combined with the elegance of high card poker.
Plugin Poker