Courchevel Poker is a poker variant built on the Omaha family, dealt across a standard table with a full community board. Each player receives five private hole cards, and five community cards eventually sit face-up in the middle for everyone to use.
The twist that separates it from 5 Card Omaha arrives immediately: the first flop card is turned face-up before a single pre-flop decision is made, so the board starts talking before anyone else does.
The hand you show down is always a five-card hand, made from exactly two of your hole cards and exactly three from the board. No more, no less.
Bets, Payouts & Rules
A marker known as the button shows which seat is the nominal dealer for the hand. The player clockwise of the button posts the small blind, and the next player clockwise posts the big blind, which is normally the larger of the two forced bets.
Once the blinds are posted, every player is dealt their five hole cards and the opening flop card is exposed on the board. Action then moves clockwise, beginning with the player under the gun, seated immediately clockwise of the big blind.
The hand runs through four betting rounds:
- Pre-Flop: with five hole cards and one board card visible, each player may fold, call the big blind or raise. Action continues clockwise.
- The Flop: the remaining two flop cards are dealt face-up, completing the first three community cards. Betting starts with the active player clockwise of the button.
- The Turn: the fourth community card is dealt face-up, followed by another round of betting from the same starting position.
- The River: the fifth and final community card is dealt face-up, and a last round of betting follows.
At The Showdown, if more than one player remains, the last player to bet or raise reveals their cards first. Where no bet was made on the final round, the active player immediately clockwise of the button shows first. The best five-card hand, using two hole cards and three board cards, takes the pot, and identical hands divide it equally. The button then moves clockwise and a new hand begins.
Hand rankings follow standard poker order, so the usual pecking order of pairs, straights, flushes and full houses applies.
Features & Bonus Rounds
The Exposed Opening Card
That single face-up flop card is the defining feature of the game. It hands every player one piece of shared information before the first pre-flop decision, which is more than most poker variants are willing to give away this early.
Betting Structures
Courchevel keeps the same core rules across three structures:
- Limit Courchevel: betting happens in pre-set, structured increments, with the increment stepping up for the turn and river rounds. Each player is allowed up to four bets in a round, made up of a bet, a raise, a re-raise and a cap.
- Pot Limit Courchevel: the minimum matches the big blind and the ceiling is the size of the pot, calculated from the active pot plus bets on the table plus the call the raiser must first make. There is no cap on the number of raises.
- No Limit Courchevel Poker: the minimum again matches the big blind, and a player may commit up to their full stack. There is no cap on the number of raises.
Tournament Play
Courchevel is available in tournament form as well as at the tables, for players who prefer a structured field.
Related Variants
If the Omaha side of the family appeals, 5 Card Omaha and Omaha sit close by, and Texas Hold'em remains the most widely played variant of the lot.
Taste & Feel
This is classic table poker: green felt, a clockwise rhythm, and a board that reveals itself one street at a time. The pacing feels familiar to anyone who has played Omaha, with the early exposed card adding a different flavour to the opening round.
Five hole cards look wonderfully generous right up until the exactly-two rule strolls over and reminds you that three of them are purely decorative.
Read the hand rankings, get comfortable with how the two-plus-three combination works, and take a seat whenever the mood suits you.