Poker guide

Dealer's Choice poker: how it works and 20 games you can call

Dealer's Choice is less a poker game than a way of running a table: whoever holds the deal picks the game. One hand might be No-Limit Hold'em, the next Pot-Limit Omaha, the one after that a draw game nobody has played since college. It is the format that keeps home games alive long after everyone has memorised each other's Hold'em tendencies, and it is the format SophiesPick was built around.

This guide explains how the rotation works, how to keep it fair, and which of the twenty games on SophiesPick are worth calling.

How Dealer's Choice works

The principle is simple. Before a hand is dealt, the player who is about to deal names the game. Everyone plays that game for the hand, the deal passes left, and the next dealer chooses again. In many live home games the dealer picks for a whole orbit rather than a single hand, and some groups let the dealer also set wild cards. Tournament versions of the format typically give each player a pick from a pre-approved list for one orbit at a time.

Two rules make the format work in practice. First, the list of callable games is agreed before the first hand, so nobody springs an unknown game on the table. Second, the chosen game applies to everyone equally, so the dealer's edge is in picking a game they know better than the others, not in changing the odds.

How Dealer's Choice works on SophiesPick

SophiesPick runs the rotation for you, with the agreed list enforced by the table itself.

When you create a table, choose Mixed games rather than Single game.
Tick two or more games for the rotation pool. Any of the twenty variants can be included, and the table seats as many players as the smallest game in your pool allows: two to seven for most games, two to six when Dramaha, Bodigiha, 2-7 Triple Draw or Badacey is in the mix.
Pick the rotation: Dealer's choice, where the incoming dealer selects the next game from the pool before each hand, or Random, where the table picks for you and never repeats the same game twice in a row.
Choose Cash game or Tournament, set the blinds or blind speed, the starting stack and the decision timer (15, 30, 45 or 60 seconds), check the configuration summary, and create the table.

Because the pool is fixed at creation, the dealer can only call games everyone agreed to, and the next hand does not start until the dealer has chosen.

Picking games for a rotation

A good Dealer's Choice pool mixes three things: one or two games everyone already knows, one or two that change the showdown rule, and at least one that changes the shape of the hand entirely. The table below groups the twenty SophiesPick games that way, with the one fact that matters most when you call each game. Every name links to full rules and a table where you can play it.

Call this	Cards and boards	Why it changes the table	Seats
No-Limit Hold'em	2 cards, 1 board	The common language; call it to reset after a wild stretch	2-7
Pot-Limit Omaha	4 cards, 1 board	Exactly two hole cards must play; hands run closer in equity	2-7
Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better	4 cards, 1 board	Split pot with a qualifying low; scooping is the goal	2-7
Pineapple	3 cards, discard before the flop	Hold'em with a stronger starting hand	2-7
Crazy Pineapple	3 cards, discard after the flop	You see the flop before deciding what to keep	2-7
Super Hold'em	2 cards, sixth board card after river betting	One more card with no betting on it	2-7
Sophie's Pick	6 cards locked into 3 pairs, 1 board	Sacrifice a pair after the flop and another after the turn	2-7
Double Sophie	6 cards, 2 boards	The same final pair plays both boards	2-7
Expose	4 cards, 1 board	Reveal one hole card per street; all four stay live	2-7
Crossing the Border	2 then 3 then 4 cards	Starts as Hold'em, finishes as Omaha	2-7
Hold'em Bomb Pot	2 cards, 2 boards	Everyone antes, no preflop betting, pot split by board	2-7
PLO Bomb Pot	4 cards, 2 boards	The Omaha version of the bomb pot	2-7
Squid	2 cards, 3 boards	The board with the lowest river card is eliminated	2-7
Octopus	4 cards, 3 boards	Squid with Omaha showdown	2-7
Dramaha	5 cards, 1 board, one draw	Half to draw high, half to Omaha high	2-6
Bodigiha	5 cards, 1 board, one draw	Half to Badugi, half to Omaha high	2-6
2-7 Triple Draw	5 cards, no board, three draws	Lowest hand wins; Ace high, straights and flushes hurt	2-6
Badacey	5 cards, no board, three draws	Half to A-5 low, half to Badugi	2-6
31 and Under	2 to 6 cards, 1 board	Draw toward 31 without busting, then play Omaha	2-7
Studaha	3 down, 4 up, shared 3-card flop	Stud streets with an Omaha half at showdown	2-7

Two practical notes. The catalog assigns each game its own betting structure (2-7 Triple Draw, Badacey and Studaha are fixed-limit; the others are pot-limit or no-limit), and the configuration summary shows the games and stakes before you create a mixed table, so check it when you combine structures. And the six-seat draw games cap the whole table at six, so if you want a seventh player, leave those four games out of the pool.

Keeping it fair and friendly

Agree the pool before anyone sits down, and keep it to five or six games on a first night. Let the dealer call the game, not the stakes: on SophiesPick the blinds are set once for the table. New players do better when the first hand of any unfamiliar game is called by the person who knows it best, and the rules are one tap away in the table's rules drawer. In Random mode the choice is taken out of everyone's hands, which some groups prefer precisely because it removes the politics.

Dealer's Choice versus other mixed formats

HORSE and 8-Game rotate through a fixed sequence of games in a fixed order; Dealer's Choice hands the choice to a person. The fixed rotations suit tournaments and serious mixed-game study because everyone gets the same number of hands of each game; Dealer's Choice suits home games because it rewards knowing more games than the person to your right. SophiesPick runs Dealer's Choice and Random rotation; it does not run HORSE or 8-Game as named formats, though a Random pool of Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Studaha, 2-7 Triple Draw and Badacey gives a similar spread of structures. Mixed poker games explained goes deeper.

Games in this guide

FAQ

Who picks the game in Dealer's Choice?

The player about to deal. On SophiesPick the incoming dealer selects the next game from the table's agreed pool before each hand.

How many games should be in a rotation?

Enough that no single specialist dominates, few enough that everyone remembers the rules. Five or six is a comfortable start; SophiesPick lets you choose any two or more of the twenty.

What is the difference between Dealer's Choice and Random rotation?

In Dealer's Choice a person chooses; in Random the table chooses from the same pool and never repeats the previous game immediately.

Can a Dealer's Choice pool mix fixed-limit and pot-limit games?

Any of the twenty games can be in the pool. The catalog assigns each game its own betting structure, and the table's configuration summary shows the games and stakes before you create it.

Do I need an account to play Dealer's Choice on SophiesPick?

No. Create a table as a guest with a player username, share the room code, and friends join with a nickname.