Knock Poker / Dompe
- Introduction
- Players and Cards
- Objective and Combinations
- Ante and Deal
- Play
- Settlement
- Variations
- Dompe
Introduction
Knock Poker, also sometimes known as Rap Poker, as an American draw and discard game in which the aim is to collect the best five-card poker hand. This objective is the same as in Whisky Poker, but the method of collecting cards is different. In Knock Poker, rather than exchanging cards with a face-up hand on the table, on each turn the player either draws an unknown card from the top of the stock pile or takes the previous player's face-up discard, and then discard an unwanted card face-up.
Although it is based on Poker hands, this is not a Poker variant in the usual sense. It does not have the usual betting process of raising and folding through which the pot can be increased, and it is not normally used as an option in dealer's choice Poker games.
The description of Knock Poker on this page is based on the rules published in The Complete Card Player by Albert Ostrow (1945), Scarne's Encyclopedia of Games (1973), The New Complete Hoyle Revised by Morehead, Frey and Mott-Smith (1981) and the Bicycle Official Rules of Card Games (1999). It is followed by a description of the related game Dompe from the state of Sonora in Mexico.
Players and Cards
This is a game for 3 to 5 players (also playable by 2 or more than 5 using the same rules), using a standard 52-card Anglo-American deck without jokers.
It is convenient to have a supply of chips to be used for scoring, or it could also be played for coins.
Deal and play are clockwise and the turn to deal passes to the left after each hand.
Objective and Combinations
The aim is to stop the play when you have collected a better 5-card poker hand than the other players. Standard poker hand ranking is used. The hand types in order from highest to lowest are:
- Straight Flush. Five consecutive cards of the same suit. Ace can be high or low. Example
7-6-5-4-3. - Four of a Kind (Quads). Four cards of equal rank plus any fifth card. Example 9-
9-
9-
9-Q - Full House. Three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank. Example 10-10-10-K-K
- Flush. Any five cards of the same suit. Example A-K-8-5-3
- Straight. Five consecutive cards of mixed suits. Ace can be high or low. Example J-10-9-8-7
- Three of a Kind (Triplets). Three cards of the same rank plus any two unequal cards. Example 5-5-5-A-8
- Two Pairs. Two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank and any fifth card of a different rank. Example J-J-6-6-2
- Pair. Two cards of equal rank plus any three unequal cards. Example 8-8-J-7-4
- High Card. Five cards that do not form any of the combinations above. Example K-Q-J-10-8
If two players have the same type of combination, the rank of the cards determines which is higher - see ranking of poker hands for further details. There is no ranking order of suits so if two players have the same type of hand and the same ranks of cards, they tie.
Ante and Deal
Before the deal, each player must pay one chip to a central pot, which will be collected by the winner of the hand.
The first dealer is chosen by any convenient random method. The cards shuffled, cut by the player to dealer's right, and dealt one at a time until each player has five cards. The remainder of the deck is stacked face down to form a draw pile. The dealer turns the top card of this pile face up and places it alongside the draw pile to start the discard pile.
Play
The players take turns in clockwise order, starting with the player to dealer's left. A player's turn consists of
- Drawing a card and adding it to their hand. The player may either take the top card of the stock without showing it to anyone else, or the top card of the face-up discard pile.
- Knocking (optional). If a player considers that they will have the best poker hand they can 'knock' (by knocking on the table or saying 'I knock'). This will cause the play to end after each of the other players has had one more turn.
- Discarding one of their six cards face up on top of the discard pile, ending their turn. A player who took the top card of the discard pile in step 1 is not allowed to discard the same card in step 3 of the same turn.
Alternatively, a player who is happy with the hand they were originally dealt may keep their hand and just knock on their first turn instead of drawing and discarding.
After a player has knocked, the other players each have one more turn in which after drawing a card they can either
- discard a card as usual and stay in the game, or
- 'drop' or 'fold', paying one chip to the player who knocked, discard a card, and throw away their five-card hand, giving up their chance to win the pot.
If at the end of a player's turn there are no cards remaining in the draw pile, the play immediately ends.
Settlement
When the turn comes back to the player who knocked, the knocker and the players who have stayed in show their 5-card hands.
The player who has the best poker hand is the winner and takes the contents of the pot. In addition, if the player who knocked wins, each player who stayed in pays two chips to the knocker.
If a player other than the knocker wins, that player collects the pot, and the knocker must pay two chips to each of the other players who stayed in.
If there is a tie between the knocker and another player, any other players who stayed in must pay two chips and the tied players share these chips and the pot equally between them. If there is a tie for best between two players other than the knocker, these players share the pot and the knocker pays two chips to everyone who stayed in.
Irrespective of who wins, any chips paid to the knocker by players who fold are kept by the knocker.
In the rare case where the play ends because the draw pile is depleted and no one has knocked, all players show their cards and the best poker hand simply takes the pot (or it is shared if there is a tie for best).
Note. It is unclear from the published rules what is supposed to happen if the draw pile runs out after a player has knocked but before all the other players have had a chance to improve their hands. I suggest that in this case the remaining players should have the following options: (a) to stay in with their current hand; (b) to draw the top card from the discard pile, discard a card and stay in; or (c) to drop out playing 1 to the knocker.
Variations
Some play a much simpler form of settlement in which a knock ends the play immediately - no one has another turn - and the player with the best hand (which could be the knocker or another players) simply takes the pot. There are no other payments.
Some play that each player must add an extra chip to the pot each time they draw a card.
Some play with a minimum requirement for knocking, such as a pair of Jacks or a pair of Aces.
Some play with bonuses for certain wins. These have to be paid to the winner by every other player, even those who have folded. Typically these are as follows.
- For winning by knocking on the player's first turn without drawing a card: 2 chips.
- For winning with a royal flush (A-K-Q-J-10 of a suit): 4 chips.
- For winning with any other straight flush: 2 chips.
- For winning with four of a kind: 1 chip.
Dompe
This Mexican game, played in the state of Sonara, is a relative of Knock Poker featuring a wild Joker and the possibility of winning with a 6-card hand. Thanks to Elías Urizábel for explaining this game to me.
Players and Cards
Dompe is played by from 2 to 5 players, using a standard international 52-card pack with one joker, making a total of 53 cards. Aces are high except in the sequence 5-4-3-2-A.
Deal and play are anticlockwise and the turn to deal passes to the right after each hand.
Deal
The dealer shuffles and the cards are cut by the player to the dealer's right (who will also receive the first card in the deal and be the first to play).
Each player puts one chip in the pot.
The cards are then dealt one at a time, five to each player plus a sixth card to the first player, to dealer's right. The remainder of the pack is stacked face down as a drawing pile - the discard pile begins empty.
Objective and Combinations
The aim is to collect the best five-card poker hand and then call (dompear), or better still to collect a valid six-card hand, which wins outright. The valid 6-card hands are:
- Six-card flush: six cards of the same suit,
- Six-card straight: six cards of consecutive rank: ace can be high or low,
- Three pairs: three sets of two equal cards, each pair of a different rank.
Note that two triplets are not an outright win, but the player can discard a card and call with a full house.
Note also that a hand such as 9-9-9-9-4-4 does not count as three pairs for an outright win - the four nines, being of the same rank, cannot be used as two of the pairs. In this case the player must discard a card, keeping a four of a kind or a full house.
The Joker is a wild card which can be used to represent any card, including a card that is already present in the hand. The valid 5-card poker hands in this game are:
- Five of a kind (known as a quintilla): four equal cards plus the Joker. This 5-card hand is also an outright win - since there is only one Joker only one player can make a quintillo.
- Straight flush (flor corrida)
- Four of a kind (known as a poker)
- Full House
- Flush (flor)
- Straight (escalera)
- Three of a Kind (tercia)
Hands lower than three of a kind are not valid in Dompe - the lowest hand with which a player is allowed to knock is a set of three twos.
There are no ties in this game. Between hands that are otherwise equal the winner is decided as follows:
- If one of the hands contains the Joker, the hand with the Joker wins (regardless of which card the Joker represents).
- If neither hand contains the Joker, the winner is determined by the suit of the highest card in the hand. For this purpose the suits rank from high to low: diamonds, hearts, spades, clubs.
Examples:
player A: Q, J, 10, 9, 8
player B: Q, J, 10, 9, 8
Player A wins because the queen of spades is higher than the queen of clubs
player A: 8, 7, 6, Joker, 4
player B: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4
Player A wins because of the Joker, even though it is only being used as a 5.
Play
The player to the dealer's right begins by discarding one of their six cards face up beside the draw pile to start the discard pile (or by immediately showing a 5-card or 6-card poker hand if lucky enough to be dealt one).
From then on, players take turns in anticlockwise order.
- The player begins by drawing a card - either the face-up card discarded by the previous player or the unknown top card of the draw pile.
- After drawing, a player who can make a valid 6-card poker hand shows it and stops the game immediately. With a 5-card combination the player may call "dompe" before discarding a card. This will stop the game at the end of the current round of play - that is, at the end of the dealer's next turn, or immediately if it was the dealer who called "dompe".
- Unless they showed a 6-card hamd, the player completes their turn by discarding one card face up on top of the the discard pile. If the player took a card from the discard pile in step 1, they must discard a different card in step 3. If they took a card from the draw pile they can discard the same or a different card.
Note that it is not obligatory for a player to call when they have a five-card poker combination - they could choose to keep quiet and continue playing, trying to improve it.
After a call by a player other than the dealer, play continues as before until the dealer completes their turn, or until a player shows a six-card hand. Note that in this game, unlike Knock Poker, any players whose first turn to play was before the caller's first turn do not get a chance to improve their hands after the call.
If the draw pile becomes empty, the cards of the discard pile, other than its top card, are shuffled and stacked face down as a new draw pile, and play continues as before. The top card of the old discard pile remains face up to start the new discard pile, and can be taken by the next player as usual.
Settlement
This is very simple.
If a 6-card hand was shown, the owner of the 6-card hand wins and collects the pot.
If there was a call, all players, beginning with the caller and going arounfd the table anticlockwise, show their hands and the highest collects the pot.
There are no extra payments, no dropping out, and no special penalty if the player who called is beaten by another player.
Variations
Some play that if two players have equally high hands, the first called wins and the other loses.
Some use a deck with no jokers.
Some play with the Spanish 40 card deck, with no wild cards, or the 2 of coins as the wild card. This deck has no 8's, 9's or 10's so for the purpose of making sequences the ranking order is Ace-2-3-4-5-6-7-Jack-Horse-King-Ace. Note that in most decks the Jack (Sota), Horse (Caballo) and King (Rey) are unhelpfully numbered 10, 11, 12 so that for example 5-6-7-10-11 is a straight. Sometimes the game is played with a 48-card Spanish deck including 8's and 9's ranking between the 7 and the Sota/10, in which case straights have consecutive numbered cards. In Spanish the wild card is called "yuca" or "la yuca".