Seven Twenty-Seven
Seven Twenty-Seven is an exciting card game, similar to Blackjack, for four to ten players. It’s a great addition to dealer’s choice poker nights, despite not being a poker game, because its two-winner outcome and suspenseful game play ensures high-stakes, high-tension betting.
Object of Seven Twenty-Seven
The object of the game is to, through selectively drawing more cards, obtain the score closest to either seven or twenty-seven.
Setup
You will need a typical deck of 52 playing cards, like Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards. Prior to beginning play, all players should agree on betting limits—no-limit Seven Twenty-Seven would be an unmitigated disaster.We like to use a three-raise maximum, with the max bet set at 25¢.
Shuffle, and deal one card face down to each player, then deal one card face up to each player.
Game play
Each player looks at their face-down card to determine their score. Much like Blackjack, the hand’s score is obtained by adding the values of each individual card together. Aces are valued as 1 and/or 11, at the player’s discretion, and number cards are worth their face value. Critically, however, face cards are worth only half a point.
The game begins with a betting round, where players can check, raise, call, or fold, as in poker. After the betting round, the player to the dealer’s left is given the option to hit (take one card) or stand. Opting to stand does not preclude the player from hitting on future rounds. If the player exceeds a count of 27 at any point, they must reveal their face down card and are out of the hand immediately. Otherwise, the option to hit or stand passes to the next player to the left, and so on until it reaches the dealer. Then, another round of betting ensues.
The game continues in this fashion, alternating betting rounds and hit-or-stand rounds, until all players stand. Then, all players reveal their face-down card. Whichever player is closest to 27 without going over wins half of the pot. The other half of the pot goes to whoever is closest to 7 without going over. If all players are above 7, whoever has the lowest score wins the low half of the pot.
In the rare event that a player has the hand 5-A-A, they win the entire pot, because the aces can simultaneously represent 1 or 11, giving the hand a score of 5+1+1=7 and 5+11+11=27 at the same time.
See also
