Echo Park Poker

Echo Park Overview

Echo Park is a version of Five Card Stud with a slight twist. Players decide whether they wish to show their hole card or receive their next card face-up. Echo Park is not like Roll Your Own in that players choose whether to show the next card without knowing what it is first. Like other Five Card Stud games, Echo Park is suitable for 3-8 players.

Echo Park Rules

Before the deal, players place their ante in the pot. This is the initial fee that players pay to get the game started. Then the dealer gives each player one card facedown. That is called a hole card. The dealer deals the second card. If the player wishes for the second card to be dealt face-up, he does nothing. If he wishes for it to be dealt facedown, he flips his hole card face-up.

When all players have two cards, one facedown and one face-up, there is a round of betting. Beginning with the player showing the highest card, and going clockwise around the table, players choose whether to call, raise, or fold. To call, a player simply adds the amount of the current bet to the pot. If a player wishes to raise the value of the pot, he adds more than the amount of the current bet to the pot. Then all other players who wish to stay in have to add the new, higher amount to the pot. If a player does not wish to put any money into the pot, he may fold, relinquishing any stake in the game.

When the betting round is completed, the third card is dealt. Again, players show whether they want their new card dealt face-up or facedown by the situation of their current hole card. This is followed by a round of betting.

The fourth and fifth cards are dealt in the same manner, and each is followed by a round of betting. After the final round of betting, there is a showdown. Each player shows his hole card, and the player holding the best poker hand wins the pot.