Black Mariah
Black Mariah is a variation of seven card stud poker in which the winning hand is the one with the highest spade card. The game ends only when a single player has the best hand at the table and also is dealt the highest spade card face-down. Without those two requirements, the player cannot win.
In case that the best hand and the highest spade aren't in the same hand of the same player, all the players re-antes and the game is being dealt against by the player to the left of the dealer and played again.
Players
The game is usually played with 3-7 players, but it can be played with more players.
The Game
Each player receives two cards face-down and one face-up. The game continues just like a regular seven card stud with those small variations:
- All queens are wild.
- When a queen is dealt up the next card must be dealt up too.
- If another queen is dealt up, the next up card replaces the previous wild card as the new wild card.
- If a queen is the last card dealt up, only queens are wild.
- If the queen of spades is dealt face-up, the hand immediately ends.
The Winner
The winner is the player with the highest hand who also has the highest spade card.