Super Pokeno Bonus
Contributed by Jason Berger
This game requires:
- a standard 52-card deck of cards, two 6-sided dice
- a set of Pokeno boards
- a supply of chips or counters
- pen and paper, to record the players' point scores.
Pokeno sets normally come with 12 boards, each printed with a 5x5 array of playing-cards, in which each row or column representing a poker hand. Chips are used to cover the cards depicted on the boards as they are called.
The number of players can be up to 12, or more if you have more pokeeno boards (more than one set). The Pokeno boards are distributed, one to each player
Players take turns to be caller: the caller rolls the dice and then draws and calls cards. The procedure is as follows.
- Roll 2 dice to establish a base for the number of cards to be drawn:
- 2, 3, 4 : base is 20
- 5, 6, 7 : base is 30
- 8, 9, 10 : base is 40
- 11 : the player loses 10 points on the scoresheet, and the dice pass to the next player clockwise to roll and draw.
- 12 : the player wins 10 points on the scoresheet and rolls again
- After a base is established, roll both dice again to determine what number to add to the base
- 2 to 9 : face value
- 10 : zero
- 11 : 1
- 12 : the player wins 10 points on the scoresheet and rolls again
- Roll 1 die to set the bonus hand for that round
- 1 = pair
- 2 = two pair
- 3 = 3 of a kind
- 4 = straight
- 5 = flush
- 6 = full house
- Roll 1 die to set the multiplier for the bonus hand score
The basic scores for each hand type are:
- pair : 5 points
- 2 pairs : 10 points
- 3 of a kind : 15 points
- straight : 20 points
- flush : 25 points
- full house : 30 points
- 4 of a kind : 35 points
- straight flush : 40 points
Examples
- 1st roll total is 4; 2nd roll total is 11; 3rd roll 5: 4th roll 3. Draw 21 cards; bonus hand is flush, which will score 75 instead of 25.
- 1st roll is 12, repeat 1st roll 7; 2nd roll is 9; 3rd roll 1, 4th roll 4. The caller scores 10 points and is going to draw 39 cards (30 + 9), the bonus hand is a pair, scoring 20 instead of 5.
- 1st roll 12, repeat 12, repeat 11. The player scores 10 points (10 + 10 - 10) and passes the dice to the left, for the next player to roll.
Having rolled, the caller draws cards, one at a time, from the top of the face down shuffled deck, and calls out the rank and suit of each card drawn. Every player who has the called card on his or her pokeno board covers it with a chip.
When the indicated number of cards have been drawn all players calculate their scores, scoring for any hand formed by the covered cards in each row and column of their board. Note that on a pokeno board there is at least one example of each hand type (pair though straight flush) but anything higher than a full house cannot be the bonus hand.
Incomplete rows and columns can be scored, according to the cards covered. Note that:
- Straight, flush, full house and straight flush are 5-card combinations, so can only be scored if the whole row is covered
- It is possible to score just a pair or 3 of a kind on a full house or 4 of a kind row if only those cards are covered
- Each row or column is only scored once, and only for the highest ranking poker hand in it. For example a complete full house must be scored as a full house, not a pair or 3 of a kind. If you complete a straight flush you score 40 - you cannot count it as an ordinary straight instead, even if straight is the bonus hand and would score more.
When the scores have been calculated and recorded, the dice are passed to the next player clockwise.
Five rounds of rolling, calling and scoring are played (not counting rounds where the caller loses the turn to call by throwing an 11). If there are more than 5 players, you may agree to play additional rounds if necessary, continuing until each player has had an opportunity to roll the dice.