Simpleton Country Folk "Hog Wild" For Pig

As reported in the past weekend's edition of the Tennessean, No Limit Hold'em may have to watch its back for a game that's sweeping Tennessee counties that likely still haven't recognized that the Civil War ended nearly a century-and-a-half-ago.  And that game is called Pig.

That's right, Pig.

Pig.

Just like most things in American society, hot trends usually trickle down from the backwoods to Hollywood.  So you can bet (or in Pig's case, "bid") that Leo, Spidey, Shannon Elizabeth, James Woods, the Hiltons, and those wacky That 70's Show kids will be trading in straight flushes for Double 16's before the year is done.  Look at the photo at right, and then just picture the aforementioned "Pigging it Out."* 

Instead of underground clubs, bars, or casinos, Pig is contested at the newly renovated** Forbus General Store (at left).  The store, "looks and smells just like it did when your grandpa was a whippersnapper," and may or may not have a Gimp in the basement.

How does one play Pig?  It is described as a game that is not all that unlike Rook, yet, as enthusiasts describe it, "only so much better."  Let's let Jim Buck, who is to Pig what the Binions are to poker, and who also dealt the first World Pig Championship in 2001, describe the rules for you:

"There are no entry fees, you draw for partners and swap partners after each game. The game is over when a team scores 52 points. It takes on average about 30 minutes a game. The 5 cards are the pig, worth 5 points."

According to the article, you use, "a regular deck of playing cards, plus the joker, nine cards are dealt to each of the four players, who play two to a team. Bids are made and high bidder names the trump, and then each player dumps everything but trumps and draws back to six cards. Six of the cards are worth a point apiece (the trump ace, jack, 10 and 2, the off jack and the joker), plus the trump 5 and the off 5 — the pigs — are worth five points each."

Of course, unless you're a Rook rookie***, you knew just about all of that anyway.  And for those new to the game, Pig probably had you at, "you draw for partners and swap partners after each game."  What is this, Pig, or a Friday night at BlackSpy and Sammy "Killer" Reid's place?

So really, how quickly Pig is adopted and spreads around the card playing world isn't a matter of "if" so much as "when."  And when it does, you can bid Double 16 that www.wickedchopspig.com will be right around the corner.

*What the trendsetters will likely call it. | **By "newly" we mean "never." | ***Likely everyone reading this.

Comments

[Skinski]

Sounds like my kinda place .:-)

[hi :)]

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