How to Play Po-Ke-No (Plus Alternate Rules & Scoring Methods)

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Master the rules of Po-Ke-No, for money or just for fun
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Are you looking to break out a game of Po-Ke-No at the next game night or party? We’re here to get you started! Po-Ke-No is easy to get the hang of and super customizable; the base game is a combination of poker and Keno (two other well-known games) with similarities to bingo, but there are other versions based on Black Jack, roulette, and more. Read on for a complete guide to the rules of Po-Ke-No, including its most popular variations.

Playing Po-Ke-No: Quick Rules

  1. Choose a dealer and have them shuffle a deck of cards.
  2. Give each player a board and around 20 poker chips.
  3. Have the dealer pull cards from the top of the deck and call them out.
  4. If a card matches one on a player’s board, they can cover that space with a poker chip.
  5. The first player to get 5 cards in a row on their board wins the round.
  6. The winner gets all chips on the other players’ boards and becomes the new dealer.
Section 1 of 3:

Po-Ke-No Rules

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  1. The dealer is in charge of shuffling and drawing cards from the deck. Meanwhile, players should get a game board, each of which has the same chance of winning the game. Then, make sure each player also has a handful of poker chips—some rulesets recommend around 20 per player. [1]
    • Additionally, if there are any game boards left over after the players all pick one, the dealer can also take one for themselves and play along, too.
  2. This is how the game begins; after the dealer draws a card, they must call it out. Then, if the card matches one of the spaces on a player’s board, that player can cover the space with a poker chip. [2]
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  3. The goal of the basic Po-Ke-No game is for players to try and get five spaces covered in a row on their boards. So, have the dealer keep pulling cards and calling them out, with players adding chips to their boards. The first player to get five in a row must yell “Out!” (or, alternatively, “Po-Ke-No!”), and they win the round. [3]
  4. There are a couple of different ways to handle scoring. First: the simpler method is to give the winner of a round all the chips on other players’ boards (including their own). Second: give the winner a reward equal to the Poker Value of their hand. The suggested values of different Poker hands includes: [4]
    • Royal Straight Flush (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 - one suit): 9 chips
    • Straight Flush (Five cards in sequence, same suit): 8 chips
    • Four of a Kind (Four cards in the same denomination): 7 chips
    • Full House (Three of one kind plus two of one kind): 6 chips
    • Flush (Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence): 5 chips
    • Straight (Five cards in numerical sequence, mixed suits): 4 chips
    • Three of a Kind (Three cards, same denomination): 3 chips
    • Two Pairs : 2 chips
    • One Pair : 1 chip
  5. After the winner of the previous round has claimed their prize, they’ll then become the dealer for the next round. You can decide how many rounds to play beforehand, or just keep playing as many rounds as you like. [5]
    • It’s not required for players to switch up game boards after picking one at the start of the game, but they can choose to do so if they want.
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Section 2 of 3:

How to Play Po-Ke-No for Money

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  1. You can use plastic cups or any similar container for this. Label the pots “Corners,” “Centers,” “Five in a Row” and “Four of a Kind,” respectively. You can opt for different labels based on the Poker values listed above, but these four are fairly standard. If you want to play Po-Ke-No for money, using these pots is highly recommended for organization! [6]
    • “ Centers ” happen when a player covers the center space on their game board.
    • “ Corners ” happen when a player covers the four corners of their game board.
    • “ Five in a Row ” happens when a player covers 5 spaces in a row across their game board. This can be diagonally, horizontally, or vertically.
    • “ Four of a Kind ” happens when a player has four cards of the same denomination, such as 4 Jacks.
    • Other labels for pots include Straight Flush, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pairs, and One Pair.
  2. Each pot can have its own individual value, or there can be a uniform value for all of the pots. Pots can be worth as little as 1 cent and typically are worth no more than 25 cents (as this makes the game more fun), but it’s up to you! The lower each pot is worth, the longer the game can go on. [7]
    • Whatever you decide, add money to each pot equal to its assigned value before beginning the game.
  3. Play the game as described above—except, when a player yells “Po-Ke-No!” it’s a signal that they’ve won one of the pots. That means a player can call out when they think they have centers, corners, five in a row or four of a kind, and once their board is verified, they win the round (and the corresponding pot). [8]
    • Players can count how much money they have at the end of the game and subtract how much they started with to determine who the overall winner was.
    • If players want to end the game but still have money in the pots, they can either divide the remaining money in the pots evenly or play one final round called “cover-all.”
    • In the “cover-all” round, remaining pots are combined and the game continues until one player covers their entire game board.
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Section 3 of 3:

Po-Ke-No Variations

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  1. 1
    5-Card Po-Ke-No Play this version of the game just like the basic rules—except the goal is to keep turning over cards until every player has 5 in a row (instead of just the first one). Then, calculate the Poker Value of each player’s board; the player with the highest value wins the round! [9]
    • As a reward, winners can either get all the other player’s chips, or a number of chips from each player equal to the value of their winning hand.
  2. 2
    Po-Ke-No Black Jack This version is styled after Black Jack, with the dealer playing their own board against the players. The dealer must keep turning over cards until they get 5 in a row; then any players without 5 in a row must compare the Poker Value of their board with the dealer’s. Players with a higher value beat the dealer, but players with a lower value lose. [10]
  3. 3
    4-Corner Po-Ke-No Start off by playing this version like the basic Po-Ke-No game. The main difference in 4-Corner Po-Ke-No is how scoring is handled. As the game goes on, award points based on the following: [11]
    • The first player to score in the center space gets 1 point.
    • The first player to score in all 4 corners of the board gets 4 points.
    • The first player to get five cards in a row gets 5 points.
    • Finally, the first player to get 5 points wins the game!
  4. 4
    Po-Ke-No Roulette This version of the game combines Po-Ke-No and roulette. Before the game, each player must get a board and agree on a reward for the winner. Then, players get started by making a wager—placing a chip on any card (covering two rows, one vertical and one horizontal). As the dealer calls cards, players can only place chips on the spaces within the two covered rows. [12]
    • If nobody gets 5 cards in a row after the dealer calls 25 cards, the dealer wins the game.
    • Otherwise, if one of the players scores 5 in a row before the dealer gets to 25 cards, they win the game!
  5. 5
    Po-Ke-No Bingo Finally, you can play Po-Ke-No just like good, old-fashioned bingo; have one person draw cards and call them out while the rest of the players try to get a complete row of 5, and the first player to get to 5 wins (no additional scoring or wagers needed). You’re just using playing cards instead of numbers for bingo! [13]
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    I am the dealer. At end of game, the cover-all noticed I had not covered on an already called square. Am I entitled to half the pot?
    Community Answer
    Usually not unless the other players say it is all right. If you miss your cards, your bad.
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  • Question
    If two players call Po Ke No at the same time, who wins?
    Chyrel Garner-Curran
    Community Answer
    You split the Po Ke No pot if two or more players call Po Ke No at the same time.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
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  • Question
    What is it called when I have four corners and the center in Po Ke No?
    Community Answer
    Not possible. You would have to have previously missed the center call in order to get four corners and the center at the same time.
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      Tips

      • Po-Ke-No can be fun for hours on end; it’s recommended for ages 7 and up.
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      • Even though it looks like bingo, Po-Ke-No has a few key differences. Po-Ke-No involves random cards being drawn versus random numbers in Bingo. Plus, the boards look different; bingo boards have the word “bingo” spelled across the top, while Po-Ke-No boards are entirely covered with illustrations of playing cards.
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      • Po-Ke-No game boards have a total of 25 spaces: 5 vertical spaces by five horizontal spaces.
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      Things You'll Need

      • A standard deck of cards (52 cards, 2 jokers not included)
      • A game board for each player
      • At least four cups (or anything else that can be labeled and used as a container), optional
      • Money (amounts may vary from game to game), optional

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      References

      1. ↑ https://gamerules.com/rules/po-ke-no-card-game-rules/
      2. ↑ https://gamerules.com/rules/po-ke-no-card-game-rules/
      3. ↑ https://bargames101.com/how-to-play-pokeno/
      4. ↑ https://bargames101.com/how-to-play-pokeno/
      5. ↑ https://thepoolshoppe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Pokeno-Gameplay-Instructions.pdf
      6. ↑ https://plentifun.com/how-to-play-pokeno-board-game
      7. ↑ https://plentifun.com/how-to-play-pokeno-board-game
      8. ↑ https://plentifun.com/how-to-play-pokeno-board-game
      9. ↑ https://thepoolshoppe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Pokeno-Gameplay-Instructions.pdf
      1. ↑ https://thepoolshoppe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Pokeno-Gameplay-Instructions.pdf
      2. ↑ https://thepoolshoppe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Pokeno-Gameplay-Instructions.pdf
      3. ↑ https://thepoolshoppe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Pokeno-Gameplay-Instructions.pdf
      4. ↑ https://thepoolshoppe.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Pokeno-Gameplay-Instructions.pdf

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      Po-Ke-No is a fun combination of the games Poker and Keno. To play, you’ll need special Po-Ke-No boards, poker chips, 4 cups, and a deck of cards. Each player starts with one Po-Ke-No board and some chips. Label the cups “Corners,” “Centers,” “Five in a Row,” and “Four of a Kind,” and decide on a chip value for each cup, or how many chips players will have to put in each cup at the beginning of the round. Each cup can have a different chip value. Once the cups are set up, have each player put the required number of chips in each cup. Choose one player to be the dealer. The dealer draws and plays one card face up from the deck at a time, calling out whatever card they draw. If any player has that card on their board, they place a poker chip on the space. For example, if the dealer draws a king of clubs, any player with a king of clubs on their board places a chip on that space. The dealer continues drawing and calling out cards until one player either covers the center space on their board and wins “Centers,” covers the 4 corners on their board and wins “Corners,” gets 5 cards in a row horizontally or vertically on their board and wins “Five in a Row,” or gets 4 cards in the same rank on their board and wins “Four of a Kind.” When a player wins, they call out “Po-Ke-No!” and collect all of the chips in the corresponding cup. Then, that player becomes the dealer for the next round, and all of the players add more chips to the cups. The game can continue as long as players have chips.

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      • Franny Tee

        Apr 8, 2020

        "Such a fun game, and now with the quarantine in place, we're bonding as a family over low-stakes, with a fun ..." more
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