Poker Articles

Vanunu - My Favorite Poker Game
By Daniel Negreanu

That's a strange title, I know. Vanunu is the name of a poker game that we "invented" way back when I was playing in my $1-$5 game in high school. To this day, it remains the most thought-provoking and skill-demanding game I've ever played in my life.

It was named after a crazy friend of my buddy Reggev, who was a regular in our game. Our game was dealer's choice, so rather than say, "Stud high-low, no break, roll your own all the way, pitch and a buy at the end, with declare," the name Vanunu was created. As I said, Vanunu was a crazy guy, so the name was fitting for such a crazy game.

Here's how it's played: seven-card stud, roll your own all the way, including your seventh-street card (roll your own means each card comes down to you, and you choose which one you want to turn over), high-low with no qualifier for high or low, with a pitch and a buy at the end, and declare. Confused yet? Let me help you.

It's basically stud high-low split with some twists — actually, lots of twists. You never have to worry about "missing" your low draw, because you can declare low with any hand, even a full house! As long as no one else declares low, you'll win the low by default.

On each street, the player left of the dealer would have to roll over his card first (remember, the dealer deals all cards to players facedown), then it would continue clockwise around the table. You could always roll your card over whenever you wanted, but if two players were stalling, the one left of the dealer would have to be the first to roll his card over.

At the end of the hand, you'll have two hidden cards and five upcards. Now, you'll have the option of "buying" another card and replacing one of your seven cards. It was customary to charge $5 to replace an already exposed upcard, and $10 to replace a hidden downcard.

By now, you can imagine that the pots become rather large, especially with me in the game! Now, here comes the tricky part — deciding to go for the low, the high, or both. Each player remaining in the pot would put coins in his hand — one for low, two for high, and three for both. All players would drop the coins from their hands simultaneously. If you were the only one going high, you automatically won the high portion of the pot regardless of whether or not you had the best high hand. If, for example, all three players remaining in the pot declared low, though, the best low would scoop the entire pot.

On the other hand, if you had a hand like A-2-3-4-5 and wanted to go for both, you'd have to win both in order to avoid losing the guaranteed low half of the pot with your lock low. In this example, if your opponent went high with a flush and you declared both, you'd lose the low half of the pot with your lock low in addition to the high half.

The game may seem a little complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it's fun to play. Playing Vanunu is an excellent way to sharpen your poker skills. Reading hands is of the utmost importance. There are many decisions to be made in this game, and many conclusions that can be made about the actions your opponents take.

Why would a player roll an A-2-3-4? Does he have a good low or is he just trying to scare us into declaring high? Or, is he using reverse psychology by showing the A-2-3-4, hoping that we'll think he is just trying to scare us?

Why is he pitching the 2 when he has four diamonds showing? Does he have two pair or trips and is trying to fill up? Or, has he paired the deuce and is trying to make a better low? Or, maybe he already has the flush and is trying to make it look like he's going low, hoping to coax others into going high.

As you can see, there are a million questions that you have to ask yourself each hand, and this is an excellent way to train your poker mind. Reading your opponents' tendencies and figuring out which way they are going is probably the most important skill in this game. I often played hands for fun, not having a clue which way I wanted to go. At the end of a hand, I tried to figure out which way my opponents were going and then represent the other way.

I often found myself in a raising war with two players going high and me going low with absolutely nothing. You see, once you've figured out that two opponents are both going high, you should be raising if they think you have the low locked up. Sometimes I started a hand with every intention of going high, only to find myself declaring low by the river.

Here's an example: Let's say I started with K-K-2 and rolled the deuce. By fifth street, I've caught a 5 and a 6, which I rolled. So, my board reads 2-5-6, which may have my opponents thinking I'm low, especially if I'm betting the hand aggressively. If my opponents appear to be trying to make a flush or a straight, I'll continue to represent the low. If by the end my hand reads (K-K) 2 5 6 7 9, I may just buy a card and pitch the 9. That way, my opponents may think, "Well, he doesn't have a flush draw, so he is probably just trying to improve his low."

Or, if I'm extremely lucky, I may have a board like (K-K) 2-5-6-7-K. Now, I might pitch the deuce, hoping my opponents will think I paired it and am trying to improve my low. If I make kings full, I might surprise my opponents and scoop the whole pot. If I miss, and am worried that my three kings are beat, I can still go low since I've represented low the entire way.

Anyway, there are a zillion similar examples, and I'm sure this game will create many interesting scenarios for you down the road. I can honestly say that playing Vanunu improved my reading ability in all games immensely.

The hands do tend to take a little bit longer than in other games, but it is well worth it.

If you consider reading people or reading hands to be one of your weaknesses, try playing some Vanunu. It'll make reading hands in other simpler games like hold'em that much easier.