Wild Tallahassee Poker, a new game designed to bring new players into poker rooms for a social game where no one’s entire stack is on the line during any hand, debuted at the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach, Fla., on July 1.
The game, created by Antonio Pinzari and approved by Florida’s Department of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, features a low cap on buy-in, no more than two raises per street and a wild card on the final street to build action. At the Isle, it’s being played with $1-$2-$3 betting rounds.
“I (created) it to create action; I did it to bring new players into the game who can’t afford large buy-ins and are not well-versed in Texas Hold’em and are afraid to go into brick-and-mortar rooms,” Pinzari said. “After they’re not intimidated in brick-and-mortar games, hopefully they’ll gravitate to new games and all cardroom managers agree that you need to attract new players.”
The game is played with a standard, 52-card deck. Players ante, then are dealt two hole cards, which is followed by a round of betting. Three two-card flops are put on the board, with a round of betting after each. A final community card, the Wild Tallahassee card, is put on the board, and that card rank is now wild. A final round of betting occurs, and the winning hand is the best five-card hand, using the two hole cards, one of the two-card flops and the Wild Tallahassee card. The best hand is five aces. For a video demonstration of the game, visit wildtallahasseepoker.com. Pinzari also offers live lessons on the game at the Isle.
The Isle Casino has exclusive rights to the game through Oct. 1, but Pinzari plans to offer it to other rooms in Florida, Mississippi, California, Nevada and beyond after that date. A bad-beat jackpot option may be added to the game later.
