Poker Run Score Sheet

It is not a race. There is a deadline for the last stop, but nobody is timed, and because the cards are drawn blind, the hand you end up with is pure luck. That is why it suits a fundraiser: anyone can win, most or all of the money can go to the charity, and the prizes are often donated.

How a poker run works

1. You pay the entry fee and get the route and a score sheet. Many events sell extra hands too, each on its own sheet.
2. At each stop you show the sheet first, then draw. Showing it first stops anyone choosing which hand a card goes on.
3. The staff record the card: written down, stamped on a grid of all 52 cards, or punched.
4. You reach the last stop before the deadline, and the sheet goes in.
5. When the last rider is in, the organizers rank the hands and hand out the prizes, usually for the best hand and often the worst.

The rules that differ between events

There is no governing body and no rule book. We read the published rules of real events, and they agree on little beyond "best hand wins". So the tool makes these choices yours and prints them on the sheet:

• The deck. Some events put each card back after recording it, from a deck or a bag. Others spread the deck face down for each rider. If you keep drawn cards out instead, you need more decks.
• A repeated card. If the card goes back, you can draw it twice. Most sheets we read say draw again; the Pup Crawl & Poker Run sheet says you must keep it.
• Ties. A high-card draw between the tied riders is common, and one event plays off with a new five-card hand. Standard poker does not use suits to break a tie, and neither does this tool, but an event can write its own rule: one sheet we read ranks suits from clubs up to spades.
• Extra cards. Some events sell a replacement card, or give six or seven cards and keep the best five.
• Fewer stops. With three stops, riders can draw two cards at some of them. One rule sheet we read bans taking every card at one stop.
• Wild cards. One event adds jokers. This tool does not: it ranks a standard 52-card deck.

What hand usually wins a poker run?

It depends on the size of the field. 50.1% of five-card hands are plain high card, with no pair, straight or flush. Here is the exact chance the best hand in the field reaches each rank, for riders holding five cards each.

Exact, not simulated: counted from all 2,598,960 five-card hands. If F is the share of hands below a rank, the chance all N riders are below it is F to the power N, and the winner reaches that rank the rest of the time. The last column is the chance two or more riders share the very best hand. That assumes each rider's five cards are independent, which is right when every card goes back and a repeat is drawn again.

So at 10 riders one pair is the likeliest winner, though two pair or better wins 54.8% of the time, by 50 riders you want three of a kind, and at 200 riders a straight or better wins 78.2% of the time. Change the number in the Odds tab for your own field.

If cards stay out at each stop, no two riders can draw the same card from one deck there, and hands are no longer quite independent. There is no neat formula for that, so we simulated it, 4,010,000 seeded runs across six field sizes up to 500 riders. The biggest gap from the exact table on any rank was 0.3 percentage points, with the largest standard error 0.2.

What an extra card is worth

Events that sell extra cards are selling a much better hand. Best five of seven, as counted over all 133,784,560 seven-card hands, makes a straight or better 10.4% of the time, against 0.8% with five.

Exact over all 2,598,960, 20,358,520 and 133,784,560 hands. The Odds tab mixes them if only some riders buy extra cards. The five-card column is the one on our hand rankings page and in poker hand probabilities.

The worst hand

Many events pay for the worst hand as well, and the ranks reverse: it is the lowest hand on the normal scale, down to 7-5-4-3-2 of mixed suits. With 25 riders the worst hand is nine high or lower 40.3% of the time. With 100 it is eight high or lower 50.8% of the time. With extra cards the tool judges the five each rider plays, so it pays the worst of the best hands. Check that is how your event means it.

How to organize a poker run

1. Check the law first. A poker run can count as gambling. In Washington State only charitable or nonprofit groups holding a raffle license can offer one, and Illinois regulates them under its Raffles and Poker Runs Act. Rules elsewhere vary, so ask your state regulator or local licensing office.
2. Plan the route. Pick the stops, ride it a day or two before, and get each business to agree.
3. Staff each stop. Two people, a table, cards, a stamp or pen, and the stop log above.
4. Write the rules on the sheet. The deck, repeats, ties and the deadline. Arguments at the last stop are about whatever is not written down.
5. Decide the prizes. Best hand, second, worst, or a share of the entries; the payout calculator splits a pot.

On the day, the Riders tab ranks every hand as sheets come in, flags ties and repeated cards, and shares out the prizes. Everything stays on your device.