Manila Poker Game Tips

Manila is a 32-card deck poker game, the deck consists of eights or higher. It is sometimes known as Seven Up Poker and is mainly found in Asia and Australia as a peculiar variant of Texas Holdem. As in Holdem, players are dealt two cards, thereafter, there are very few similarities. Manila is really gaining ground in Australian casinos, but it is rare in online poker rooms. It is less rare in home games and is often considered a form of poker to bring variety to the game.

So how do you play Manila Poker?

Manila is made up of five betting rounds in which one card is seen each turn. A player is required to use both cards in the matchup as building blocks for the top five-card hand. Also, the chances of drawing a different hand given the low 32-8 composition of the deck and that a flush tramples a full house and aces are only high on a straight are slim to none. Manila is generally played in a fixed-limit betting format, and you will occasionally come across a table with only three betting rounds. Five betting rounds prolong the game and require more concentration and focus, making them unsuitable for some casual games.

Some reflections on the ideal strategies of Manila

With the deck foreshortened as it is, drawing a powerful hand (full house or better) is a good stratagem so you can see that position is critical to determining the correct play in the game. You should play pair cards when you are in early position or even suited connectors like a suited Jack-ten which has the advantage of being the dynamic duo on every straight in Manila. Every player around the table will have high cards, so choose your hands wisely, play pairs, high suit connectors, and steal hands when you’re in a good position. Any hand below a King-Jack can be discarded. It takes a full house or better for a hand to be a winner, although it’s not unheard of to draw a flush.

You may find it to your advantage to rule out straight draws, as the board will certainly make a pair, beating your straight even in the event of a draw on the mark. Focus on the betting patterns of your fellow players throughout the rounds. They are often drawing to a full house. If and when the table evens up or a player gets jealous, try to crush them on a specific hand. A high percentage of players are very picky when it comes to their starting hand selection, as there are no pot odds for a lucky draw flush or higher. In these circumstances, you should bless all five betting rounds for offering more good data so you can readjust your anticipation of the winning hand.

Bluffing is usually not a good strategy in Manila as many players tend to stay in the pot due to the limit betting structure and the bumpless road to a strong hand. For this reason, one should be very careful about taking an aggressive stance in a multi-way pot unless you are extremely confident that your hand is the best. Given the good pot odds, you may want to stay on a strong draw due to the fixed limit format, but stay away from any multi-way betting Armageddons.