Mixing Poker with Bowling
A fun way to spice up bowling is to mix it with a poker game. Here’s how the game is played:
Everytime a player makes a strike, they receive one card from a standard 52-card deck. The maximum number of cards a player can possess at once is five. So once a player has five cards and they bowl another strike, they get to draw a card and either discard it, or keep it while discarding something else.
The goal is to possess the best five card poker hand at the end of the bowling match. You can bet anything on this: money, a round of shots, lap dances, the bowling fee… you name it!
Strategically, you should try to estimate how many cards you think your opponents will be able to draw over the course of the match. Suppose your five card hand consists of a pair of Jacks with four hearts. If you think your friends (opponents) will be unlikely to make that many strikes and therefore have a tough time making a better hand than a pair of Jacks, you should avoid breaking up the pair in order to chase the flush draw. Another thing to consider is which non-paired cards to discard. Sometimes this game is played where you are able to see your opponents’ hands meaning you should be able to see which cards you have a better chance of drawing from the deck.
This game can be customized in many ways. You might also have to handicap it to make it more fair. For example, if you’re in a group of four with one girl, let the girl draw a card anytime she rolls a nine or better. Or if you’re not very good at bowling, allow a card to be drawn for a spare and two cards for a strike. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out a semi-fair way to enjoy this game of bowling poker.
The fun part with this game is when you play with the cards face down so you have to make some complicated decisions like whether or not to break up a pair in order to chase a straight or a flush.