Odessa Poker is a fast-paced, exciting card game that has gained a massive following in nations once part of the Soviet Union. The only real connection to poker is in the name of the game, but other than that, there are no parallels between this and any other poker games. The card game “Oh, Hell!” is common in the West, and it has some similarities with Odessa Poker.
In Odessa, you may use either a “russian” 36-card deck or a standard 52-card deck for your game of poker. Jokers may be any card in the deck or an actual Joker used as an extra card. The game may include anything from two to six players at once. Dealing and trading are key to the game’s mechanics. Some cards are employed as “bribes” to foil the strategies of your opponents and discard unwanted ones in exchange for more useful ones. Jokers are the ultimate trump card, allowing you to get bonus points at the end of each game just by drawing them. Odessa Poker is won by the player who accumulates the most points during the course of the game. When you trade cards or accept bribes, you rack up points.
Poker in Odessa is a game of skill and chance. Still, unlike traditional poker, this one doesn’t need you a ton of prep time spent poring through books and videos. What’s more, it’s a “exotic” card game that might catch your pals off guard. We can guarantee that the vast majority of them are completely unfamiliar with it.
