Knock Poker Dictionary (poker)



A combination of rummy and poker, usually played at home games by two to four players while waiting for a "real" poker session to start. As in draw poker, each player receives five cards face down. As in gin rummy, the remainder of the deck is placed in the center of the table, and the top card is turned over, starting a discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer has three choices: knock, draw a card from the deck, or the top card from the discard pile. If he doesn't knock--and he can only do so if he doesn't draw a card--after drawing, he discards a card face up on the discard pile. Each player in rotation has the same three choices. If a player feels that he has the best poker hand at any point when it is his turn, he can knock. If his hand is indeed best, he collects one chip (or some other agreed-upon amount) from each player; if it is not,
he loses two chips (or, again, some other agreed-upon amount) to the player whose hand beats his. Obviously (or not so obviously), the further the game progresses without someone knocking, the better the hand needed to knock. This could mean taking a chance right at the start with one large pair. Several variations exist to this game; the preceding description is the most common.