East–West
East–West is a poker game for two players. Much like Pai Gow Poker or Chinese Poker, the challenge in the game is placing cards you receive into one of three hands. East–West has two major differences with those games, though. First, there is one community card that you share with your opponent. Second, there is no gambling in this game at all!
East–West was created by German author Reiner Knizia. It was first published in German, in his 1995 Wild West-themed compendium of family-oriented poker games, Kartenspiele im Wilden Westen. The book was translated to English and published in 2007 as Blazing Aces! A Fistful of Family Card Games.
Object of East–West
The object of East–West is to strategically place cards drawn from the stock into one of three poker hands. The ultimate goal is to win two out of the three hands.
Setup
East–West was created to be played with a German deck of cards. To make an equivalent pack from an English-style 52-card deck like Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, just remove the 6s through 2s. You’ll be left with a deck containing aces through 7s in each of the four suits, for 32 cards in all.
Both players should sit on the same side of the table. One player will play the left or “West” side of the board, while the other will play the right or “East” side.
Shuffle and deal three cards, face up, in a vertical line. These three cards are the board cards. Place the deck stub above the uppermost board card, forming the stock.
Game play
The nondealer goes first. They draw a card from the stock and place it next to any one of the three board cards, on their designated side. The dealer goes next, doing the same thing, placing their card on the opposite side. Players continue alternating in this way, drawing cards and placing them.
Each player thus builds three poker hands. Each hand consists of one of the board cards and the other cards on that row on their side. A player may only place cards on their side, not on their opponent’s. Once a player has placed four cards on a row, the hand is complete (making a five-card hand, including the board card) and no more cards may be added to it.
After both players have completed all three hands, players compare each hand with their opponent’s on the same row. Whichever player wins two out of the three hands wins the game.
Poker-formation games are different than Poker, and do not be confused between those two. The rankings in Poker are based on the possible number of combinations that you form from a specific deck of playing cards with other temporary rules (terminal rank/ranks, basic straights, basic flushes, straight flushes, rainbow hands, et cetera) by using mathematical formulas. Poker-formation games are when players place cards into spaces one at a time to make the “best” poker hand. We use a fair scoring system in poker-formation games that based on the difficulty of placement based on the UNOs of each hand; whole basic straights are hard to form when you need one specific rank to complete a whole basic straight, and it is possible that one of two specific ranks can complete a whole basic straight if you decided to play your strategy carefully; whole basic flushes are so easy to form because there are so many duplicates of the same sub-suit.
Here is the scoring for Poker-formation games by forming three-card Poker hands. Each whole straight flush is worth 30 period points each. Each trio is worth 16 period points each. Each whole basic straight is worth 12 period points each. Each pair is worth six period points each. Each whole basic flush is worth one period point each.
Here is the scoring for Poker-formation games by forming four-card Poker hands. Each whole straight flush is worth 30 period points each. Each quartet is worth 16 period points each. Each whole basic straight is worth 12 period points each. Each trio is worth ten period points each. Each two-pair hand is worth five period points each. Each whole basic flush is worth three period points each. Each one pair is worth one period point each.
Here is the scoring for Poker-formation games by forming five-card Poker hands. Each whole straight flush is worth 30 period points each. Each quintet is worth 23 period points each. Each quartet is worth 16 period points each. Each whole basic straight is worth 12 period points each. Each full house (one pair plus one trio) is worth ten period points each. Each trio is worth six period points each. Each whole basic flush is worth five period points each. Each two-pair hand is worth three period points each. Each one pair is worth one period point each.
Here is the scoring for Poker-formation games by forming six-card Poker hands. Each whole straight flush is worth 30 period points each. Each sextet is worth 25 period points each. Each quintet is worth 20 period points each. Each whole basic straight is worth 18 period points each. Each tower (one pair plus one quartet) is worth 16 period points each. Each two-trio hand is worth 14 period points each. Each quartet is worth 12 period points each. Each full house (one pair plus one trio) is worth ten period points each. Each one trio or each three-pair hand is worth six period points each. Each whole basic straight flush is worth five points each. Each two-pair hand is worth three period points each. Each one pair is worth one period point each.
Here are temporary rules for Poker-formation games by forming three-, four-, five-, or six-card Poker hands. You may allow a one-period-point bonus for a rainbow hand (a hand that the sub-suits are all different); this temporary can be active when the number of sub-suits is greater than or equal to the number of cards to make a legal Poker hand; if you allow a one-period-point bonus for a rainbow hand, you may disallow a one-period-point bonus for a rainbow Whammy hand (It is a hand that has all different ranks in all different sub-suits that does not form a whole straight, and it is known as high card.). You may ignore whole basic flushes. You may ignore whole basic straights. You may ignore whole basic straight flushes. You may allow a 20-point-period-point bonus for a royal flush if you allow whole basic straight flushes. You may choose two terminal ranks (Specifically pick a pair of consecutive ranks.), a two-in-one terminal rank (Pick a specific rank.), or no terminal ranks for the temporary rule of terminals; terminal ranks block the flow of the sequence.
My ideas are public domain because I am a sharer, and because I hate intellectual-property laws (Pro-intellectual-property laws should not be the trump all the time.), and because intellectual-property laws contain selfish murder; we need to be sharers more instead of being non-sharers (A non-sharer cares about money, about power, and/or about credit instead of people.) for the sake of efficiency of society and for the sake of libertarianism because we, all, are on the same team (God’s team) for productive communities.
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