Easy-to-learn High Card Flush gaining popularity at the tables

By Ed Komenda

Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014 | 2 a.m.

High Card Flush might be the easiest game at the tables.

The brainchild of a card dealer at the Rio, the game also has become one of the most popular on casino floors.

“If you can count and tell the difference between a spade and a club, you’re in,” said Dean Barnett, sales manager of Galaxy Gaming, which bought and introduced the game last year.

Played with a single deck of cards, High Card Flush begins when each player puts down an ante bet according to posted limits. There also are two optional side bets: flush and straight flush.

The flush side bet pays when a player receives four or more cards of the same suit. The straight flush side bet works similarly, but the player must have three or more cards in sequence. Odds range from 7-to-1 to 8,000-to-1.

The dealer and players each get seven cards.

It’s not like traditional poker, because four-of-a-kind and full-house hands don’t matter. To win in this game, players need at least three cards of the same suit — a three-card flush. Once players see their hands, they must discard cards they aren’t playing. Cards are kept face down.

Then, depending on how many cards are suited, the player can raise his bet. With two, three or four suited cards, players can only raise their bet by matching the ante. With five suited cards, they can raise their bet two times the ante. With six or seven cards, players can raise three times the ante.

The dealer then picks up the discards and reveals his hand. He must have a nine-high three-card flush for raise bets to qualify against his hand.

The dealer then reveals the players’ cards. Like blackjack, players must have a better hand than the dealer. Whomever has the best flush wins.

High Card Flush can be found at Binion’s, Flamingo, Four Queens, Green Valley Ranch Resort, Harrah’s, Harrah’s Laughlin, M Resort, Planet Hollywood, Red Rock Resort and Sunset Station.