Criss Cross Poker Table Layout
Most Criss Cross Poker tables print much the same thing on the felt: a cross for five community cards, a place for your two hole cards, and six betting spots. Here is what each one is, and which of them you are obliged to cover.
Across Ante
Down
The Felt at a Glance
One deck, seven cards in play, six places to put money.
Across
Down
Bonus
The table is dealt from a single standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Seven cards reach you each round: two hole cards, which are yours alone, and five community cards laid face down in the shape of a cross: three across, three down, sharing the card in the centre.
Below the cards, in front of every seat, sits the betting box. It carries six printed spots, usually laid out in the same order so a dealer can read every seat at a glance: Ante Across, Across, Ante Down, Down, Middle and the Five Card Bonus. The arrangement can vary from property to property, so check the printing in front of you before you place a chip.
There is no dealer box.
Nothing on the felt is set aside for a dealer hand, because there isn’t one. Every wager is settled straight off the pay table, so the layout has no space for a hand to beat.
The Cross Itself
Five community cards, two five-card hands.
The horizontal arm of the cross (left, centre, right) combines with your two hole cards to make the Across hand. The vertical arm (top, centre, bottom) combines with the same two hole cards to make the Down hand. Each is a five-card poker hand and each is graded on its own.
Same two hole cards, two entirely different hands. In the example above the Across line is a royal flush and the Down line is king high.
The centre card belongs to both hands.
It sits where the two arms meet, so it counts in the Across hand and the Down hand at the same time. That one card can make both lines or ruin both, which is why it is the last card the dealer turns over.
The full deal order, step by step
The Six Betting Spots
Two are compulsory, three are raises, one is a side bet.
Ante Across
Mandatory. Posted before any card is dealt. It buys you into the horizontal line and sets the size of the Across raise.
Across
The raise on the horizontal line, made blind. Bet 1x, 2x or 3x the Ante Across, or fold Across and forfeit that ante.
Ante Down
Mandatory, and it must equal the Ante Across. The two antes are always posted together as a matched pair.
Down
The raise on the vertical line, made after the left and right cards are exposed. 1x, 2x or 3x the Ante Down, or fold.
Middle
Optional, and it has no ante. Bet 1x to 3x an ante once four community cards are up. It is graded on whichever of your two hands finishes higher.
Five Card Bonus
Optional side bet. Scored on the five community cards alone, ignoring your hole cards, and paid whether or not you folded anything else.
Reading the Table Before You Sit Down
What the sign tells you, and what it doesn’t.
The sign or placard at the end of the table normally shows the table minimum and maximum. Read it as the minimum for each ante, not for the seat as a whole: because Ante Across and Ante Down must match, the smallest hand you can play costs two minimums before you have raised anything.
Minimums vary from property to property, and so does everything else. Before you buy in, look at the pay table printed on the felt or shown on the sign and check it against the figures below. House rules differ between properties, and a game that looks identical can be paying a different schedule.
The standard schedule runs at a 4.33% house edge against the ante, or a 1.48% element of risk once every chip you actually put out is counted. A shortened pay table changes both. Compare the pay tables.
Across, Down and Middle share this schedule. A high pair means jacks through aces and pays 1 to 1; a low pair, sixes through tens, pushes; anything below that loses.
How the Layout Differs From Other Poker-Style Games
Most poker-derived table games give a seat one hand and one line of betting boxes. Criss Cross Poker gives a seat two hands built from the same two hole cards, so the box in front of you is wider and carries two ante spots rather than one. That is the first thing regulars notice.
The second is what is missing. There is no dealer hand printed on the layout, no dealer up-card, and no qualifying requirement. In games where the dealer must qualify, part of the felt is given over to the dealer’s cards and the outcome depends on them. Here the felt has room only for the community cross, because your hands are measured against a fixed pay table and nothing else.
The practical effect is that one good hand can pay several spots at once. A strong Across line collects on Ante Across, on Across and, if it is the higher of your two hands, on Middle as well. The Five Card Bonus can pay alongside all of it. Nothing has to be beaten for any of that to happen.
Layout Questions
How many betting spots are there on a Criss Cross Poker layout?
Six per seat: Ante Across, Across, Ante Down, Down, Middle and the Five Card Bonus. There is no separate spot for the dealer, because the game has no dealer hand.
Which spots are mandatory?
Ante Across and Ante Down, and they must be equal. Across and Down are raises of one to three times their matching ante and may be folded. Middle and the Five Card Bonus are optional; Middle is the only raise with no ante behind it, so skipping it costs nothing.
Does the centre card of the cross count twice?
Yes. It is part of the horizontal arm and the vertical arm, so it appears in both your Across hand and your Down hand. It is also the last card exposed, after every betting decision is made.
How many decks are used?
One standard 52-card deck, no jokers. Seven cards are in play each round: your two hole cards and the five community cards that form the cross.
Criss Cross Poker is a table game from AGS, developed by Ron LaDuca and In Bet Gaming. Table minimums, maximums and pay tables are set by each property, so confirm them on the felt before you play. See also hand rankings, strategy, the FAQ and where to play.