Follow the Queen Poker

Follow the Queen Overview

Follow the Queen poker is an unusual variant of 7 Card Stud in that wild cards can change during the course of the game. In other respects, however, it is very much like 7 Card Stud. Follow the Queen is for 3-7 players.

Follow the Queen Rules

Before the deal, players place their antes in the pot. The dealer gives each player two cards face down and one card face up. If any of the face up cards is a queen, then the queen is wild, and the next card dealt face up after it, called the trailer, is also wild, along with any other cards of that rank that are facedown. If two queens are dealt, only the second trailer is wild.

Before the first round of betting begins, any player who has a queen or trailer must put in a small sum to stay in. Generally the sum for the trailer is smaller than that for the queen.

Beginning with the player to the left of the dealer, players may call, putting in enough money to match the current bet. They may raise, adding to the amount of the current bet and forcing other players to call the higher amount. They may also opt to leave the game, called folding.

The dealer gives each player a fourth card face-up. The same rules apply regarding queens and trailers. That is, only the last trailer to be dealt remains wild. This is followed by another round of betting.

The fifth and sixth cards are dealt just like the fourth, with a round of betting following each card. If no one has received a queen at this point, the cards are shuffled, players re-ante, and the game is dealt from the beginning.

The seventh card is dealt facedown, followed by a final round of betting and a showdown. In the showdown, players show their cards, forming the best possible five card hand using their seven cards. Queens are wild, the last trailer is wild, and any cards of the same rank as the trailer that were facedown are wild. The player with the best poker hand wins the pot.