This page is based on a contribution from Dan Glimne, plus further information from Mike Paine, Johanna Kristoffersen and Carl Svensson.

Introduction

Chicago Casino & Poker Rentals is the best casino party equipment provider in the Chicago area. We provide game tables, professional dealers & entertainment. Every night, there’s an off-the-books poker room operating somewhere in Chicago. It’s been going on since before Nelson Algren wrote The Man With the Golden Arm, a novel about a junkie.

Note: This page is not about the version of Bridge called Chicago (which you can find on the Bridge page) nor about the American Poker variation Chicago. This page is about a Swedish card game called Chicago which now played throughout the country, though when this page was first published in 1996 it was said to be especially popular in the Östergötland area, southwest of Stockholm.

Players and Cards

Chicago is a game for 2 to 4 players, using a standard 52 card pack without jokers. Points are scored for having the best hand according to poker ranking, but also in the final stage of the game the cards are played to tricks, and points are scored by the winner of the last trick.

The game is played clockwise. The first dealer is chosen at random, and thereafter the turn to deal passes clockwise after each hand. The dealer deals 5 cards to each player, one at a time. A hand consists of three phases.

First phase

Each player, starting with the player on the dealer's left and proceeding clockwise, may discard (face down) as many cards from his hand as he wishes and receive an equal number new cards from the pack, replenishing his hand up to 5 cards again. There is no compulsion to discard any cards - for example if you are dealt four aces and a king you can just keep them.

Then the player with the best poker hand scores points for it according to the following table:

For those not familiar with ranking of poker hands, an explanation will be found on the poker hands page.

The actual procedure is that each player in turn, starting with the player to dealer's left, either announces a poker combination (from the above list) which they have in their hand or passes. The turn to speak just goes once round the table, ending with the dealer, and if you announce a combination it must be higher than or equal to the previous highest combination announced in this phase - otherwise you must pass.

Note that no one shows their cards at this stage! This means that in theory you could cheat by claiming a combination you do not have. This is unwise, however, as you will eventually have to show your cards, and if you are shown not to have the combination you claimed you lose the game.

When naming their combination, players just state the type of combination, as in the scoring table above. If two (or more) players claim the same combination, and no one else claims anything higher, they players involved in the tie each name the ranks of their cards, revealing information in stages, until the tie is broken. If the two (or more) best hands are exactly equal, which is possible since there is no ranking among the suits, no one scores. Also if everyone passes (no one even claims to have a pair) then no one scores.

Example: A, B and C each claim a pair, and D passes. A claims a pair of nines, B a pair of fives, and C a pair of nines. A claims to have a king and so does C. A's next best card is a seven, but C has a ten, so C scores one point.

Second Phase

Once again each player in turn discards as many cards as he likes and draws new cards up to 5. If a player who scored in the first phase (or in case of a tie, any of the players who tied for highest combination) chooses to break up the combination claimed in the first phase, they must show their cards to the other players before discarding, to prove that they really had the cards they claimed.

When everyone has had a chance to discard, once the player with the highest hand scores points for it. The scores and the procedure for announcing hands is the same as in the first phase.

Third Phase

For the third time, each player has an opportunity to discard cards and draw an equal number of new cards. As before a player who by discarding breaks up a combination which was highest or equal highest in a previous phase must show it before discarding. If players discard a lot of cards there is a chance that the deck of undealt cards may run out. If this should happen the previously discarded cards are shuffled to make a new deck to draw from.

This time there is no announcement of poker hands. Instead the cards are played out in tricks. There are no trumps, and the sole objective is to win the last trick. The player to the left of the dealer leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit, and a player with no card of the suit led may play any card. Whoever plays the highest card of the suit led wins the trick and leads to the next. The winner of the last trick scores 5 points. When playing tricks, the cards are not thrown into the centre of the table (as in whist); each player plays onto a face-up pile in front of himself, so that at the end of the play, the hands remain intact.

After the winner of the last trick has scored his 5 points, all the cards are face up in front of the players, and the player with the highest poker hand scores points according to the same system used in phases one and two.

Thus during a hand, points are scored three times over for the highest poker hand (once in each phase), and once for the last trick.

Chicago

A player who believes he can take all five tricks in phase three may declare a Chicago before the first trick is led to. If he then indeed does take all five tricks, he scores 15 points for the Chicago. If however another player takes any of the tricks, the hand is immediately over, no points are scored for the last trick, nor for the highest hand at the end, and instead the player who declared the Chicago scores minus 15 points.

In order to declare a Chicago, a player must already have a cumulative score of at least 15 points; a player's score may never fall below zero.

Ending the Game

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A running total of each player's score is kept. As many hands as necessary are played until a player have a score of 52 points or more at the end of a hand. Then the player with most points wins from each other player the difference between their scores. A typical stake is 1 kr per point. If two or more players tie for most points, the other players lose the amount by which they are below the winning total and the winners share this equally between them. Example: at the end A has 53, B has 45, C has 53, D has 47. B loses 8 kr, D loses 6 kr, and A and C win 7 kr each. If A had 54 points instead then A would win 17 kr: 9 kr from B, 1 kr from C and 7 kr from D.

A player whose score has reached 46 points or more at the end of a hand is no longer allowed to discard cards and replenish in subsequent hands; he must play all three phases with the cards he is originally dealt. Note that, this rule does not take effect in the middle of a hand when a player reaches 46, only in subsequent hands.

Variations

A popular variation is that a player who holds four of a kind in any phase can choose either to score for it or to reset all the other players' scores to zero. If this occurs in the third phase, the four of a kind should be announced before the lead to the first trick. Setting the other players' scores to zero ends the hand - there is no play of tricks and if it happens in the first or second phase the remaining phases are omitted. The cards are thrown in and and the next dealer deals. A player who previously had a score of 46 or more and was therefore unable to exchange cards is of course permitted to exchange again in future hands after his score is reset to zero. If two players acquire four of a kind at the same time, it is only the owner of the higher four of the kind who can reset the other players' scores.

If the holder of a four of a kind chooses to score the 7 points for it rather than resetting the other players' scores, some play that the hand continues, and the player has the same options in future phases, while others play that four of a kind always ends the play, whether the holder chooses to score 7 or to zero the other players.

Some people play that if two players have the same highest type of poker combination (any three of a kind, for example, regardless of the rank of the cards), then no player scores. Others play that hands are compared in the same way as poker, comparing not only the cards in the combination but also the odd cards in descending order if the cards in the claimed combination are equal. For example 8-8-8-K-2 beats 8-8-8-Q-J and 7-7-10-6-2 beats 7-7-10-5-4. Some play that if two hands are exactly equal, the tie is broken by the suit of the highest card, using the order hearts (highest) > diamonds > spades > clubs (lowest) or any other suit order that may be agreed in advance.

Some players score 10 points for a straight flush, rather than 8. Some play that a player who has a straight flush immediately wins the whole game.

Some play that the limit at which you can no longer exchange cards is 42 rather than 46.

Some play that in a three-player game, a player must have succeeded with at least one Chicago to be able to win the game at 52 or more. A player who reaches 52 without a Chicago is immediatley zeroed. This rule is not recommended for four players, since the game can then last a very long time.

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Some play that when a Chicago fails, the player who destroys it by taking a trick scores 8 points and the Chicago player loses 15 points (but there is no score for the best poker hand).

Some play that negative scores are allowed. It is then possible to say Chicago even if your score is below 15. However, if someone wins the game while another player has a negative score, the player whose score is negative will have to pay double their difference from the winner.

Some allow an extra option when exchanging cards. A player who wants to change just one can ask for 'one open card'. The dealer shows the replacement card to everyone, but if the player exchanging does not want it, he can reject it and receive the next card face down instead. This version is often used when playing with children.

Although Chicago works best for 2 to 4 players, it is possible for 5 or more to play. One problem is that there is a significant chance that the deck will run out, in which case the players' discards are shuffled to dreate a new drawing deck. An alternative is to limit the number of cards that can be discarded by a player in any round.

(Jan. 16). BREAKING NEWS: News is just reaching the poker wires that Ronald Golz of Orland Park, IL has won the 2010 Quad-States Poker Texas Holdem Championship. Kevin Rush finished 2nd ahead of Jason Trezak of Portage, IN who finished in 3rd Place. The Final Table included David Kheel (4th), Michael Kroll (5th), Bret Martin (6th), Logan McCoy (7th), Ben Reinhart (8th) and Vicente Torres in 9th.

David Kheel of New York, NY, was crowned 2010 Grand Champion due to his stellar finish in both No-Limit Texas Holdem and Mixed Games events. Chicago Poker News will bring you the full story and photos as they become available.

(Jan. 16). BREAKING NEWS: Francesco 'Cheech' Barbaro of Willow Springs, Illinois wins the 2010 Quad-States Mixed Games Title Bracelet after over 14 hours of non-stop competition at the Majestic Star Casino in Gary. Jon Johnson of Hoffman Estates, IL was runner-up and Dan Miller of Nappanee, Indiana finished 3rd. The Final Table included Gary Lucht (4th), Donald Hines (5th), Alan Milesky (6th), Thomas Martin (7th), Michael Foster (8th) and Kevin Bohling.

Tournament Advisor Stew 'Chicago Mike' Bishop watched the event and noted that of the final 12 players '...anyone of them could have won it... it was one of the most solid fields I've seen.... these are veteran players who know poker is more than just Texas Holdem... that's why a special Runner-Up title bracelet was declared..'.

Bishop described the Championship as '...throwback poker to the early days of marathon Vegas tournaments... it took more than skill and some luck, you needed experience, patience, and alot of stamina. It also required an efficient and dedicated management team. 'The Majestic Star poker tournament staff did an amazing job running such a challenging tournament,' noted Bishop. 'Because the dealers were experienced at all the games, there were very few calls to the floor for rulings.'

To put Barbaro's accomplishment in historical perspective, at the rate the 45 players were eliminated from this event the 6500-person 2009 WSOP Main Event would have taken about 180 days of 12-hour play and the 770-person $1500 HORSE which lasted 3 days would have been stretched out to 21 days! The grand prize for endurance goes to the WSOP World Championship HORSE which in 2009 took 62 hours to eliminate 95 players!

The Runner-Up title bracelet was awarded to Jon Johnson who finished in 2nd place. '...Johnson battled to the end...' said Bishop, '... he was right down to the felt with 5 players to go and came back to make it a photo finish... he sure earned it.'

'Cheech' attributed his victory to several factors, especially having played Mixed Game and High-Low Tournaments for over ten years, '... my strategy was to use my experience and play each hand based on how it presented itself...', he said, '... when you're playing 3 different games both no-limit and limit against this quality of competition you can't take your focus away for a second...'

If a bad beat at the final table were awarded it might go to Kevin Bohling who was all-in for a major double up holding A-Q vs. A-J. When the Jack came on the river Bohling slammed the table, resigned to the 'agony of defeat', out in 9th place. 'I think it was toughest on Gary and Donald', said Bishop, '...to come so close after playing so brilliantly... they've both been playing Mixed Games for decades'.

The Championship started at 6pm Friday and concluded with the morning sun well overhead around 9am Saturday. The final payout percentage was nearly 90%. The Quad-States Championship continues today with the No-Limit Texas Holdem Event.

The Championships are sponsored by Win Texas Holdem Card, 'the Science of Poker'. Chicago Poker News will report the full story on both of these historic tournaments as the information becomes available.

(Jan. 12). BREAKING NEWS: Chicago Poker News announces the 2010 Quad States No-Limit Poker Grand Championship, scheduled for January 15 & 16 at the Majestic Star Casino & Hotel in Gary.

Publisher Stew 'Chicago Mike' Bishop reflects on the significance of these tournaments: '...This is the Regional Championship of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin... Players come from all over the country... it's the series that puts the players to the test and decides it all... you have to get it right: the buy-in, the payout, the awards, everything has to be focused on establishing who the true Champions are...'

The Quad-States Poker Grand Championship is designed as the most challenging and prestigious tournament series in the Lake Michigan Region. Three title bracelets will be awarded along with trophies and high-percentage cash payouts. '... the Lake Michigan region is known for the heart of it's competitors... Dick Butkus would have played football for free just to compete... that's the dedication of Quad-States players... from Green Bay to Chicago to Indy to Detroit, you can't find better competition...' said Bishop.... '....we'll play in 20 below weather, just shuffle up and deal !...'

Players may compete in one or both of these championship tournaments. In addition to generous cash payouts to the top 10%+ of finishers, one title bracelet will be awarded to the winner of each event. The player with the best combined standing in both events will be awarded the Grand Championship Title and Bracelet.

Both tournaments will be conducted 'double elimination' style with one full re-buy and add-on available. This is the toughest tournament style and effectively means that to win you must 'beat everyone twice', leaving no doubt who the Champion is. Double elimination tends to reduce the luck factor and increase the skill factor in the contest.

The Quad-States tournaments have an excellent payout structure, offering over a 90% prizepool payout at full buy-in & rebuy in addition to trophies and the coveted Championship Title Bracelets. 'The payout percentage for these tournaments is about as high as it gets', says Bishop, '... players can do the math and recognize the value here...'

Despite the popularity of the Texas Holdem Event, Bishop advises players not to overlook the Mixed Games Championship: '... Texas Holdem gets alot of attention these days, since Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP in 2003...', Bishop reflects, '... I've been managing poker events almost 20 years, I can tell you absolutely, without question, the number one way to improve your poker game is to play Mixed Games. It's like an athlete needs to cross train, a poker player needs to play all the games if they want to get to the top... that's one reason Chicago Poker News recognizes this series as the 4-State Regional Championship, because it offers both Texas Holdem AND Mixed Games and has a great payout...'

A special hotel room rate will be available to players at the event. See calendar page for complete details.

All players reaching the final tables will also qualify for the Player of the Decade Championship. For more tournament information click here.This championship event is brought to you by Win Texas Holdem Card, the 'Science of Poker'.Click here for a special offer for tournament attendees.

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3rd ANNUAL HOLDEM CHAMPIONSHIP

(June 20, 2009). BREAKING NEWS: On Sunday, June 14th, over 90 Chicago poker players met to compete at the 3rd Annual Chicago No-Limit Poker Grand Championship. The tournament featured all the competition and drama you would expect of an event of this caliber. As one measure of difficulty, four of the players making the final table had previously qualified for the 2010 Player of the Decade Grand Championship!

Chicago's most challenging poker championship features Double Elimination No Limit Texas Holdem. This structure gives every player two full opportunities to win. Tournament Director 'Chicago Mike' Bishop explains: 'This is the toughest tournament structure because double elimination format effectively means you must beat everyone twice... it increases the skill factor while reducing the luck factor. This format was first introduced right here in Chicago and it's one reason Chicago poker is respected around the world...'

After nearly 10 hours of play, Championship honors went to Kostas Tsonis. Chicago poker veteran Jamie Grenon was second runner up. Tsonis came to the Final Table short stacked and adjusted his game accordingly, '... I waited until the right situations came along... I folded some medium pairs along the way, I just didn't want to chase marginal situations...'

Bishop remembers one very fateful heads-up hand: '... They'd been playing heads-up back and forth for awhile when chip leader Jamie Grenon hit a good made hand and put Kostas all in. It was one of those Joe Hachem moments where Kostas had a well-hidden inside straight and the huge pot really swung the tide his way...' When the final hand was dealt shortly thereafter, Chicago Mike gave high praise to Tsonis, '... I've seen him excel at tournament poker for years... but more than raw talent he's got a love for the action... it's something the great throwback players were born with because their game seems to improve under pressure...'

Besides Tsonis, this year's Final Table included 3 other players who had previously qualified for the 2010 Tournament of the Decade including Jennifer Lewkowicz, Richard Lambert, and 2007 Player of the Year Fabian Ramos. The entire Final Table will return to compete in the 2010 Chicago Poker Tournament of the Decade.

Acting Tournament Director for this event was Stew 'Chicago Mike' Bishop, a rules forum administrator for the Poker Tournament Directors Association. Interviewed after the tournament, Bishop commented: '...TDA Rules are the industry standard. The TDA has been working tirelessly for almost a decade to bring uniformity to the industry. By following a consistent set of rules the players know what to expect from tournament to tournament, it increases the level of the game and reduces the surprises....'

Bishop continues to be impressed by the skill level of players in the region:'... the tournaments just keep getting better year after year.... new players emerge and the veterans have to prove themselves again... The entire Lake Michigan region is great... This is the home of Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Kenna James, Bill Edler... Scotty Nguyen first lived in Chicago when he came to the States. Greg Raymer started playing when he practiced law here.... you can't find better competition than in the Quad-State area...'

For complete photo coverage of the 2009 Championship, click here. More information can also be found at the event websites at the Chicago Poker Group and the Chicago Texas Holdem Group.

Chicago Poker News is honored to have been a part of this historical tournament and congratulates all competitors for making it such a great success!

For an index of pictorial coverage of all prior Championships in the series, click here.