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.
Coming soon — not yet playable
Rules
Tic-Tac-Toe deals each player a set number of hole cards (commonly four or five, agreed before the hand), face down, exactly as in a draw or stud variant. Separately, nine community cards are dealt face down to the center of the table, arranged in a 3-by-3 grid.
The community cards are revealed in a set order (commonly the center card first, then the remaining eight, though house rules vary), with a betting round at agreed intervals as cards are revealed — similar in pacing to Cincinnati or Iron Cross.
Showdown: rather than using all nine community cards, each player chooses any single winning "line" through the grid — a row, a column, or one of the two diagonals — treating those three cards as their community cards to combine with their private hole cards for the best possible hand. Different players may use different lines from the same grid, and a player is not required to announce which line they're using until showdown.
Strategy notes: Because there are eight possible lines (three rows, three columns, two diagonals) to choose from, and each player can pick whichever line best complements their own hole cards, average hand strength runs high — reading which line an opponent is likely favoring, based on their up-cards or betting pattern (in variants that expose some hole cards), is the central skill unique to this game.
Common house rules
Reveal order for the grid
The most common convention reveals the center card of the grid first (since it's part of the most lines — the middle row, middle column, and both diagonals), then the remaining eight cards in a set order, with betting rounds at agreed points.
Number of hole cards varies
Some tables deal players four hole cards (using exactly two per hand, Omaha-style) while others deal five and allow any combination — agree on this before dealing, since it substantially changes hand values.
One line per player, chosen at showdown
Standard rule: each player may use only one full line (row, column, or diagonal) as their community cards, chosen privately and revealed only at showdown — mixing cards from multiple lines is not legal.
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 →Cincinnati
A stud-and-community hybrid: every player gets five private down cards, and a shared row of community cards is revealed one at a time to build the best hand.
Learn the rules →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.
Learn the rules →Omaha
Community-card poker like Hold'em, but with four hole cards instead of two — high hand only, no low split, and exactly two hole cards must be used at showdown.
Learn the rules →