How to play Auction Teen Patti

How the auction works

After the deal the dealer lays out two piles of three cards, each with one card face up and two face down. Everyone can see the open cards and look at their own hand to judge whether a pile is worth more.

The piles are then auctioned. Players bid in turn, each bid higher than the last, and anyone happy with their own cards can pass. The highest bidder puts the bid into the pot, takes the pile as their new hand and throws their old three cards away. Once both piles are sold, or nobody wants them, the betting begins as in a classic game.

A player who buys a pile may still play blind: they leave the two closed cards unseen and bet as a blind player.

The open cards are jokers

The face-up card of each pile names a joker rank for the whole table. If the open cards are a Two and a Three, every Two and every Three in anyone's hand is wild and stands for whatever card makes that player's best hand. That makes up to eight jokers, so trails turn up much as they do in AK47.

Jokers play as in AK47: one joker with a pair makes a trail, two jokers make a trail of the third card, and a hand made with jokers ties the same natural hand.

Why there is no Auction table here

Every other variation on this site is dealt by our free table against four computer players. Auction is not, because the heart of the game is the bidding between people: reading who wants a pile, pushing the price up, and knowing when to let it go. Computer bidders would make that either mechanical or easy to beat, so rather than offer a weak version we explain the game here. It plays well at home with family and friends, with counters for the bids.

Auction rankings

The rankings are the classic ones, made with jokers. In the examples a Two and a Three are the open cards, so every Two and Three is a joker (starred).

Who wins? Worked examples

In every example below the open cards are a Two and a Three, so every Two and Three is a joker.

Bidding well

A pile is worth what it adds to your hand. The open ranks are jokers for you whether you buy or not, so check your own cards for them first: a hand that already holds a joker may be better than any pile.

Every bid goes into the pot. A player who buys a pile has paid before the betting starts, and the others may simply pack and leave them a pot built mostly from their own bid. Two closed cards can be wonderful or useless, so set yourself a limit.

Betting, show and side show after the auction

Nothing about the betting changes. Everyone posts the boot, blind players bet the stake and seen players twice the stake, and you can pack at any turn. A show is possible once two players are left, and a seen player can ask the previous seen player for a side show while three or more remain.

Hands are compared with the open ranks wild. A hand made with jokers ties the same natural hand, and on equal hands the player who asked for the show or side show loses.

Auction tips

• Count the jokers already in your hand before you bid: the open ranks are wild for you too.
• Set a limit before the auction starts and keep to it. A pile has two cards nobody has seen.
• There is no need to buy a pile. If nobody bids, it is simply set aside.
• With two open ranks there can be eight jokers in play, so expect trails at the show.

Where versions differ

Tables differ on the bidding: some auction both piles together, some let each player bid once, and some make only the two open cards wild rather than every card of their ranks. The rule sites describe the version on this page.

Auction questions