RIO BRAVO

Overview

Rio Bravo is a stud/community hybrid. Each player receives 2 individual cards face-down at the start, shares a 5-card community board (Flop/Turn/River), then receives a final individual card face-down after the river betting. Best 5-card hand is made from any combination of all 8 available cards — there is no Omaha restriction, you may use all three hole cards.

Number of Players

2–8 players

Hand Construction

Dealing Order

1. 2 hole cards dealt face-down to each player → Pre-flop betting (player left of the big blind acts first)
2. Flop: 3 community cards face-up → Flop betting (SB first)
3. Turn: 1 community card face-up → Turn betting (SB first)
4. River: 1 community card face-up → River betting (SB first)
5. Final card: 1 individual card dealt face-down → Final betting (SB first) → Showdown

Blinds

Standard small blind / big blind structure. The player to the left of the big blind acts first pre-flop; the small blind (first active player left of the button) acts first on the flop, turn, river, and final-card betting rounds.

Strategy Tips

• With 8 total cards, strong made hands are more common — don't be surprised by full houses and quads
• The face-down final card adds uncertainty right before showdown — keep some chips in reserve
• Unlike Omaha, you can use the whole community board and ignore your hole cards if it helps
• Suited and connected starting hands have great potential across all eight cards