Iron Cross
A five-card draw hybrid where each player's private hand can be combined with a shared cross-shaped layout of community cards on the table.
Coming soon — not yet playable
Rules
Iron Cross blends elements of draw poker with a shared community layout. Each player antes and is dealt five cards face down, exactly as in Five-Card Draw.
The cross: The dealer then deals five community cards face down onto the table in the shape of a plus sign (cross) — one center card and four arm cards (up, down, left, right). These are not shown yet.
Draw round: Players may discard and draw new cards from their own five-card hand, exactly as in standard draw poker, followed by a betting round.
Revealing the cross: The four arm cards of the cross are turned face up one at a time (commonly all four are simply flipped together, or one at a time with a betting round after each, per house rule), but the center card stays hidden until the very end, or until a player pays to unlock it.
Using the cross: At showdown, each player builds their best hand using their own five private cards plus the cards from any single arm of the cross (their choice of one arm, not all four) — commonly, a player may use either three, four, or all cards from one chosen arm combined with enough of their own cards to make five, per house rule, but the simplest and most common version lets each player pick exactly one arm and combine its cards with their own hand, using best-five-of-the-combined-cards.
The center card: The center card of the cross is usually wild for every player, or can be 'bought' into every hand for an extra bet before it is revealed, depending on house rule; if wild, it counts as a fully wild card added to whichever arm's cards a player chooses to use.
Showdown: Best five-card hand, built from a player's own cards plus their chosen arm (and the wild center card if in play), wins the pot.
Strategy notes: Because each player picks their own arm independently, the same community cards can help multiple players simultaneously, so reading which arm opponents are likely favoring (based on their draw behavior) is key.
Common house rules
Center card wild
The single center card of the cross is traditionally wild for all players and is revealed only at showdown, adding a wild card to whichever arm each player selects.
One arm only
The standard rule restricts each player to using cards from exactly one arm of the cross (not multiple arms combined), to keep hand values from escalating too far.
Pay to peek the center
Some tables let any player pay a fixed fee into the pot to reveal the center card early, making it public information (and no longer a surprise wild) for the rest of the hand.
Related games
Based on shared category, origin, and rules that reference each other.
Chowaha
A Hold'em/Omaha hybrid popularized by the mixed-game enthusiast community: four hole cards combine with a nine-card community grid plus turn and river, using exactly two hole cards per hand.
Learn the rules →Pyramid
An Iron Cross-family community game where four hole cards combine with six community cards arranged in triangular rows, usually played hi-lo with a declaration.
Learn the rules →Tic-Tac-Toe
A community-card stud hybrid where nine shared cards are dealt in a 3x3 grid, and players use any winning 'line' (row, column, or diagonal) as their community cards.
Learn the rules →Z
An Iron Cross-family game where five hole cards and four community cards laid out in a 'Z' shape combine, played hi-lo with a fixed combination rule.
Learn the rules →