TIC Poker
Difficulty: Medium
Players: 2–8
Age: 10+
Time: 2–10 minutes per round
Scoring: Yes
Style: Build the best hand
Before You Play
TIC Poker is inspired by traditional poker-style hand building, but the hands are based on Commonness between TIC cards.
For this game, you need to understand two TIC card relationships:
Single: Two cards have one property in common.
Tic: Two cards have two properties in common.
Refer to the TIC Card Principles page or the back of the TIC card box for examples of Singles and Tics.
Objective
Build the highest-ranking 5-card TIC Poker hand.
Players use a combination of:
- their own private cards, and
- the face-up community cards in the centre.
At the end of the round, each player chooses the best possible 5-card hand they can make from the cards available to them.
A single card cannot be used in more than one part of the same scoring hand.
Setup
Deal 3 private cards face-down to each player (rotate who deals on subsequent rounds).
Place 2 cards face-up in the centre of the table. These are community cards and may be used by every player.
Keep the remaining deck with the dealer.
How to Play
The player to the left of the dealer acts first. Play continues clockwise.
The round develops in stages.
First Exchange
Starting with the first player, each player may exchange 1 private card.
To exchange:
- Discard 1 card from your hand.
- Receive 1 replacement card from the dealer.
A player may also choose to keep all 3 cards and make no exchange.
After every player has had a turn, the dealer places 1 new community card face-up in the centre.
There are now 3 community cards.
Second Exchange
Each player again has the opportunity to exchange 1 private card or keep their hand as it is.
After everyone has acted, the dealer adds another face-up community card.
There are now 4 community cards.
Third Exchange
Each player again has the opportunity to exchange 1 private card or keep their hand.
After everyone has acted, the dealer adds the fifth and final community card.
There are now 5 community cards in the centre.
Players then reveal their private cards and determine their best 5-card TIC Poker hand.
Calling
Instead of exchanging a card on your turn, you may call if you think your hand is strong enough to win.
When a player calls:
- every other player gets one final opportunity to exchange 1 private card;
- all players then reveal their cards and determine their best hand.
Calling stops the normal community card addition at the end of the round.
Building Your Best Hand
At the end of the round, each player may use any combination of:
- their 3 private cards, and
- the 5 community cards,
to create the best possible 5-card hand.
Not every available card is to be used in the hand and each card may only be used once within the chosen 5-card hand.
Players are responsible for identifying and declaring the rank of their own hand.
Part of the challenge is recognizing the strongest combination available. A player may initially think they have one type of hand but discover that a stronger combination is possible.
Hand Rankings
The TIC Poker hands rank from lowest to highest as follows.
1. High Card
No higher-ranking TIC Poker hand is formed.
The value of the highest card is determined by adding:
number value + shape value + colour value
For example:
5-star-red = 5 + 5 + 5 = 15
2. Three-Card Single
Three cards all share the same one property.
For example:
- all three have the same number, or
- all three have the same shape, or
- all three have the same colour.
3. Tic Pair
Two cards Tic with each other by sharing the same two properties.
4. Four-Card Single
Four cards all share the same one property.
5. Little House
A separate 2-card Tic and 3-card Single within the same 5-card hand.
The cards in the Tic pair cannot also be used as part of the 3-card Single.
6. Five-Card Single
All 5 cards share the same one property.
7. Two Tic Pairs
Two separate pairs of cards Tic.
The two Tic pairs must use 4 different cards.
The fifth card does not need to contribute to either pair.
8. Three-Card Tic
Three cards all share the same two properties.
9. Big House
A separate 3-card Tic and 2-card Tic within the same 5-card hand.
The 3-card Tic and 2-card Tic must use different cards.
10. Four-Card Tic
Four cards all share the same two properties.
11. Five-Card Tic
All 5 cards share the same two properties.
This is the highest-ranking hand in TIC Poker.
Breaking Ties
If two or more players have the same hand rank, compare the value of the cards used in each player’s chosen 5-card scoring hand.
First, add the full TIC value of all 5 cards:
number + shape + colour
The player with the higher total wins the tie.
If the totals are still equal, compare the highest-valued card in each scoring hand.
If those cards are also tied, use the TIC property hierarchy:
number trumps shape; shape trumps colour.
If necessary, continue comparing the next-highest cards until the tie is broken.
Winning the Round
The player with the highest-ranking TIC Poker hand wins the round.
If several players have the same hand rank, use the tie-breaking rules above.
Winning the Game
Before starting, decide how many rounds you will play, such as 5 or 10.
At the end of each round, rank the players from strongest hand to weakest.
Award points according to the number of players.
For example, in a 4-player game:
- 1st place = 4 points
- 2nd place = 3 points
- 3rd place = 2 points
- 4th place = 1 point
In a 6-player game:
- 1st place = 6 points
- 2nd place = 5 points
- and so on.
After the agreed number of rounds, add each player’s points.
The player with the highest total score wins the game.
Strategy Tip
Do not focus only on the hand you already have.
Because all players share the community cards, one new card in the centre may suddenly create a much stronger hand.
Also remember that a card combination may qualify for more than one type of hand.
Always look for the highest-ranking combination you can make before declaring your hand.
Variation 1: Community Exchange
For a more interactive version, players may choose to exchange either:
- 1 private card from their own hand, or
- 1 face-up community card from the centre.
If a player exchanges a community card, the dealer removes that card and immediately replaces it with a new face-up card from the deck.
Changing a community card affects every player, so timing becomes an important part of the strategy.
Because acting later in the round can be advantageous in this variation, rotate the dealer and starting player regularly so that everyone has equal opportunity to act later in the exchange order.
Variation 2: TIC Draw Poker
For a simpler version without community cards, deal 5 private cards to each player.
There are no face-up community cards.
On each exchange round, a player may discard and replace up to 2 cards from their hand.
After the agreed number of exchange rounds, all players reveal their hands and rank them using the standard TIC Poker hand rankings.
The strongest hand wins.
