Rules of 3-5-7 Poker
3-5-7 poker is a popular card game. Unlike most other poker games, each round of 3-5-7 poker is independent and won by a particular player. To win the entire game and collect the pot money, a player has to win five legs (rounds, where the winner is the only player who declared in).
The first round begins by everybody at the table placing antes into the pot. An ante in 3-5-7 is a little larger than it normally is, because there are no betting rounds, but only ante bets placed at the beginning of each cycle of the game. After the antes are placed, each player receives three cards, after which he can decide on whether to stay in or out. The players who stay in reveal their cards and the player with the best hand is declared a winner. However, this player does not win the pot, but is paid the amount equal to the size of the pot by the player with the worst hand. So, the money goes directly from the loser to the winner, and the pot remains untouched.
In the first round of 3-5-7 game, threes are wild. The second and the third round are played in similar manner, but two instead of three cards are dealt and threes are not wild anymore, but replaced by fives in the second round and sevens in the third one, as it follows from the name.
When all three rounds are played, the cards are collected and re-dealt once again and new antes of the same size are placed into the pot. Now the pot is twice bigger than it was at the beginning, and so are the winnings and the losses in each round. The game is played the same way, increasing the pot at the beginning of every new cycle, until one of the players wins five legs. The winner of the round wins money, but does not win a leg. The leg is won when no one else, but the player declares in. In such case the player does not win any money, but wins a leg.
3-5-7 poker has a special rule, uncommon for other poker games. If a player declares out, but the player who plays after him declares in, the first player can change his mind and declare in. However, if a player declares in, he can not change his mind.