Black Mariah
How to Play
Black Mariah is seven-card stud with a twist borrowed from Chicago: the pot is split two ways — half to the best five-card poker hand, and half to the player holding the highest spade among their face-down (hole) cards. The catch is the namesake: the Queen of Spades is Black Mariah, and if she is ever dealt face-up, the whole hand is killed and re-dealt. So that menacing lady only counts — as the very best high-spade — when she lands quietly in the hole. Everyone antes $1; all bets and raises are a flat $1, capped at three raises per round.
A hand, step by step
- Ante. Each of the four players antes $1, so the pot starts at $4. The dealer announces “Black Mariah — high hand splits with high hole-spade, and the Black Lady kills the deal if she shows her face.”
- The deal. Two cards face-down and one face-up to each player. If the Queen of Spades appears face-up at any point, the hand is dead — toss it in and re-deal.
- The streets. Three more cards face-up, one at a time (fourth, fifth, sixth street), with a $1 betting round after each (max three raises).
- Final card. A seventh card face-down, then a final $1 betting round.
- Showdown. Survivors reveal. Best five-card hand takes half the pot.
- The high spade. The other half goes to whoever holds the highest spade among their face-down cards — A♠ is best, then K♠, Q♠ (Black Mariah), and on down.
Watch a Full Hand — step by step
A complete 4-player hand from the dealer’s view, with real $1 bets and raises — including one quick Black-Mariah kill to show the rule in action. Use Next to advance turn-by-turn, or Auto-play to watch it deal out. Player 1 (Dana) is “you” — only you can see your own face-down cards until the showdown.
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