So, an ex-girlfriend of ours introduced us to a variety of poker she had known as "Mexican Sweat." I loved it on first play.
Stuff: One regular deck of playing cards, betting chips.
Players: 3-7
Initial deal: seven cards face down to each player.
Play:
Do not look at your cards!
The player to the dealer's left is the lead player. The lead player starts flipping over cards until his revealed hand beats the highest revealed hand on the table. As soon as his revealed hand becomes the best hand, he stops flipping cards and begins a round of betting. If he flips all his cards and does not beat what is on the table, he is out and a betting round begins with the high hand. Either way, the next player becomes the new lead player and the process repeats, with a round of betting whenever someone stops revealing cards.
If at any time the lead player reveals a seven of any suit, he must immediately fold and a betting round begins with the high hand.
The game continues until all the cards have been turned up or there is only one person left in the game.
Winner: High hand.
(I have since looked it up, and I'd say it was "close enough" to the official variant.)
Since I rarely use ethnic disparagings with titles, we immediately dubbed it Martian Sweat, since, well, Martians aren't going to complain, now, are they?
Intrigued with the possibilities, I ended up deciding there had to be a way to make it even better. I have since dubbed this new variant, Rebman Sweat. Because, you know, in Amber, Rebmans are the butt of all the ethnic jokes.
The major difference is the inclusion of special UNO cards.
Stuff: One regular deck of UNO (Mattel) playing cards, betting chips.
Players: 2-7
Initial deal: Seven cards face down to each player.
Play:
Do not look at your cards!
The player to the dealer's left is the lead player.
The lead player starts revealing cards until his revealed hand beats the highest revealed hand on the table (initially, the single up card). He observes all UNO instructions, including skipping cards, drawing cards, reversing (to next unrevealed card), and wilds. As soon as his revealed hand becomes the best hand, he stops revealing cards and begins a round of betting. If he reveals all his cards and does not beat what is on the table, he is out and a betting round begins with the high hand. Either way, the next player becomes the new lead player and the process repeats, with a round of betting whenever someone stops revealing cards.
If at any time the lead player reveals a SEVEN of any colour, he must immediately fold and a betting round begins with the high hand.
The game continues until all the cards have been turned up or there is only one person left in the game.
Winner: High hand