01
Place Your Bets
Post equal Ante Across and Ante Down wagers before the deal. The 5-Card Bonus is optional. The Across, Down and Middle bets come later, as the community cards are revealed.
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Practise every bet, understand both hands and improve your decisions with live strategy tips.
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5
Community Cards
Shared by both hands
2
Poker Hands
Across + Down
1
Simple Goal
Build the best hands and win
How Criss Cross Poker Works
02
Build Two Hands
Five community cards are dealt in a cross. You use them twice: once Across, once Down.
6 + 8 + 8 = Across
J + 8 + 8 = Down
03
Compare and Win
Both hands are graded against the pay table. There is no dealer hand to beat.
Across HandPair of Eights
Down HandJacks and Eights
An Example Hand, Settled
Down hand
Across hand
Your cards
Ante Across
$25
Across
$25
Ante Down
$25
Down
$25
Middle
$25
5-Card Bonus
$25
How it finished
Why the centre card mattered
Two pair, Down
The Across hand made a pair of Eights, which pushes. The Down hand made Jacks and Eights, which pays.
Why the centre card mattered
The centre card is the 8♠. It pairs your Across row and completes two pair on the Down column, so one card is doing work in both directions. In a real hand you would not see it until after the Middle decision.
Working hidden. Read the board and settle the hand yourself.
Deal Your Own HandRecent result
Flat $25 on every spot: +$225
Across: Pair of Eights · Down: Jacks and Eights
Why the Cross Changes Everything
One deal creates two hands. The middle card is shared, connecting both hands and creating decisions you will not find anywhere else.
Learn How to Play
Across HandUses the left, centre and right cards
Down HandUses the top, centre and bottom cards
At a glance
Cards dealt7
Player hands2
Betting decisions3
Typical round90 sec
Criss Cross Poker Payouts and House Edge
Royal Flush500 to 1
Straight Flush100 to 1
Four of a Kind40 to 1
Full House12 to 1
Flush8 to 1
Straight5 to 1
4.33%
House edge
measured against your ante
Jacks or Better
Qualifying high pair
a low pair returns your bet
Criss Cross Poker Strategy Basics
Starting Cards
How your two hole cards shape both hands and how much you should bet.
Across Decisions
Read the row, grade the Across hand and size the bet with confidence.
Down Decisions
Evaluate the vertical hand and keep control of your total exposure.
Learn Criss Cross Poker
Criss Cross Poker Rules
Understand the deal, the betting structure and how both hands are made.
Read the Criss Cross Poker rulesBeginner Strategy Guide
Simple rules that help you make better decisions from your very first hand.
Open the strategy guidePayouts and House Edge
See the payouts, the house edge and what the odds actually mean for your play.
See the complete payout tableCriss Cross Poker for Beginners
The idea behind the cross, one hand narrated from the first chip to the last card, and the habits that keep a first session cheap.
Start the beginner guideThe Middle Bet
It costs no ante, it is made with four community cards already face up, and it is still the most misplayed wager on the table.
Learn about the Middle betThe Five Card Bonus
The one wager where nothing you do changes the result: what it pays, how often it pays, and whether it is worth the chip.
Read the 5-Card Bonus analysisThe Table Layout
The cross, the hole cards and all six betting spots printed on the felt — what each one is, and which of them you must cover.
Tour the table layoutCriss Cross Poker vs Other Casino Poker Games
How two hands from one deal set it apart from Ultimate Texas Hold'em, Mississippi Stud, Three Card Poker and Caribbean Stud.
Compare it with other gamesBankroll and Variance
The number on the sign is the ante, not the hand. What a correctly played round really costs, and how much to bring.
Read the bankroll guideThe History of the Game
How a game built in a gaming lab found its way onto casino floors, and why the players who found it first kept coming back.
Read the game historyHand Rankings
The standard poker ladder plus the twist that settles most hands: the high pair that pays, the low pair that pushes, the small pair that does not.
Check the hand rankingsCriss Cross Poker FAQs
What is Criss Cross Poker?
Criss Cross Poker is a casino table game played as two hands at once (Across and Down) using five community cards dealt in a cross. You place separate wagers on each line, both hands are graded against a fixed pay table, and there is no dealer hand to beat.
Can I play for free?
Yes. The table on this site is free, needs no sign-up and uses play money only. Your bankroll is stored in your own browser and nothing can be cashed out.
How are the Across and Down hands made?
Both hands use your two hole cards. The Across hand adds the left, centre and right community cards; the Down hand adds the top, centre and bottom. The centre card belongs to both, which is why one card can make or break the whole round.
What is the best beginner strategy?
For the first Across decision, raise 3x with any pocket pair or with Q-J suited. Q-J suited is the only unpaired hand that shows a profit on that bet. Bet 1x with most other holdings and fold the weakest unpaired hands. The Down and Middle decisions depend on the community cards as they are revealed, and the Middle bet is worth making in the large majority of hands because it carries no ante. The printable chart lists every starting hand.
Ready to Deal Your First Hand?
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