Liars Poker, How to Play
Liar's Poker is a variation of good old-fashioned poker, but in the place of cards you use dollar bills. The digits of the serial numbers represent actual poker hands (ones are aces and zeros are tens). So, for instance, on a bill that has the serial numbers 11038199, your best hand would be aces full of nines. Play commences when the first player to act calls out a poker hand. Now, the best part about this game is that you get to use the numbers on your bill and on all your opponents’ bills. Once the first player has put in a bid, the next player to act must either make a bigger poker hand than the one that has been bid to them, or call the previous player a liar. If a player is called a liar and can produce the actual hand called from all bills at the table, then that player wins and the accuser loses. The loser then gives the winning bidder one bill and drops another into the middle. If the bidder cannot produce the hand, the accuser wins and the bidder loses two bills. There are many forms of Liar’s Poker, but this method, developed by the Hux, is great for playing tournament-style. Simply have all players start with the same amount of bills and begin the game the same. The winner is the last player to have bills.
The pot isn’t necessarily indicative of the cash prize, but it does keep track of how many ‘hands’ have been played. It also allows for reshuffling of the bills when a player becomes short-stacked; otherwise opponents could start remembering the strong hands held by other players.
THE 2005 WSOLP LINE UP
[Seat 1] Eric Morris, a.k.a: Whiskers
The Publisher of Bluff Magazine and an avid poker fan,
Eric has been invited to play in this year’s World
Series of Liar’s Poker because of his powerful
connections in the poker world. Eric fancies his chances
and before the match he told this reporter: “I’m
the best Liar I know, and that’s no lie.”
[Seat 2] Kyle Morris, a.k.a:
El Gato, professional poker dealer
and commentator
Kyle dealt the first hand of the final table of the
2004 WSOP Main Event, and thus claims to have nerves
of steel. El Gato will need to hold true to this claim
if he’s going to have a chance of winning this
event.
[Seat 3] The Hux, a.k.a: Himself
Hailing from Australia, where lies are just another
form of communication, the Hux is known to excel at
telling preposterous lies and making huge bluffs. He
hopes to make up for his poor showing in last year’s
world championship match, when he lost to eventual winner
Dave Cerbo.
[Seat 4] Jeff Markley, a.k.a:
Redneck
One of the owners of Bluff magazine, Jeff feels that,
since he has ownership in a Magazine called Bluff, he
has to win. This guy can lie with the best of them and
will be a force to be ‘reckoned’ with.
[Seat 5] Dave Cerbo, a.k.a: The
Coach
Reigning World Champion, ‘the Coach’ is
a calculating opponent. He has an in-built radar that
can spot a fib at 100 yards. The Coach enters this final
table as a clear favorite amongst a class field.
[Seat 6] Krystal Gonzales, a.k.a:
Crystal Ball
Former people’s choice award winner for the Miss
Texas pageant, this bombshell will be using all her
dashing good looks, along with her acting abilities,
to attempt to lie her way to the title.
THE WORLD SERIES OF LIARS POKER - BUY IN $25. FIRST PLACE - The check, a trophy, and the ‘lucky bill’ ($20 bill with six aces on it).
The game kicks off and the action is super-fast. Huge bids are flying in early, which can perhaps be attributed to players using performanceenhancing fluids, otherwise known as beer. Although this event has been sanctioned by Bluff Magazine (a professional poker magazine), the use of the saltshaker as the button does not seem to faze anyone. However, when the meals are done and the waitress cleans our table, the button mysteriously disappears! After about 20 seconds of panic, Krystal uses her quick thinking and steals the salt from the diners at the next table. Let’s hope they are not having the fish and chips like we did…
After four rounds of imported performance enhancing beverages we find the bill-counts as follows:
| Crystal Ball 7 | Whiskers 23 |
| El Gato 12 | Hux 12 |
| Redneck 7 | Coach 19 |
The first player eliminated is Krystal Gonzales. Her crystal ball was obviously a little cloudy tonight and she couldn’t foresee that she would be the first player put to the rail. Krystal thought that stunning good looks and her acting abilities would take her to her first championship and the trophy, but unfortunately for her, her endless opening bids of ‘a wheel’ were never really taken seriously by the stiff competition, and when I say stiff competition it has nothing to do with the field consisting of one female and five males.
The second casualty of the main event is Jeff ‘Redneck’ Markley. Jeff made his way to the final through his connections at Bluff, showing us all that it’s not what you know but who you know. Either way, Jeff made a good showing on the night, but was unfortunately eliminated in fifth place when he picked up three fives. His bid of seven fives (not unreasonable, considering he already had three) was smashed when not a single player at the table held a five. Reigning Champ, Dave Cerbo, collects his dollar and Jeff is forced to order the next round of beers for the remaining contestants and is now officially on cameraman duty.
Next player to hit the rail is Kyle ‘El Gato’ Morris. El Gato was the bill leader early on in the evening, but a huge run of bad beats and bad challenges sends him to the rail. Not one to hide his disappointment, El Gato pulls a Hellmuth impersonation and throws the stack of bills in the middle into the air. Play resumes after about ten minutes and El Gato is escorted to the Bar to simmer down.
Having hung tough for the majority of the night with the small stack, The Hux finds himself stuck between the two bill leaders, Whiskers and The Coach. A run of bad lies and Hux is out in third place. Only solace for him is a fresh beer waiting at the bar.
We’re down to our two finalists. The Coach and Whiskers lock horns in what promises to be an epic heads up battle. Whiskers has a substantial bill advantage over the Coach with an almost 2:1 lead; however, the Coach has been known to play a short stack better than any other Liar’s Poker player on the face of the earth.
What happens next is nothing short of disastrous for Whiskers. The Coach contrives to win the next ten hands in a row, virtually assuring himself the title for a second year running. Not only does the Coach make a huge comeback, thus entering the annals of Liar’s Poker history, but he also collects the trophy (note the incorrect spelling of ‘liar’s’ on the trophy) and the ‘six aces’ best bill of 2005. Use it well Coach, and well done on showing us, once again, how Liars Poker is really played.
So that is how the second annual Liars Poker event went down. Word of warning: if you’re in a bar and run into a guy calling himself ‘the Coach’ who challenges you to a friendly game of Liar’s Poker, be sure to call eight aces and really ruin his day.
Until next time, may the flop be with you… Always. HUX.
