Picture Poker
Picture Poker is one of Luigi's minigames in Super Mario 64 DS and a Table minigame in New Super Mario Bros. it is similar to the real-world poker variant of five-card draw.
Gameplay
This minigame is a casino-style card game in which the player automatically bets coins that their five-card hand beats Luigi's. After being dealt their hand, the player can bet more coins and/or have some or all of their cards replaced with random cards from the deck. Luigi then, if need be, replaces cards in his hand (which appear facedown to the player) with random cards from the deck. The hands are then shown. If the player's hand is better, they win a set number of coins based on both the rank of their hand and the number of coins bet ranging from a Pair (2×) to a Flush (or five of a kind) (16×). If Luigi's hand is better, the player simply loses the coins bet. In the rare occurrence that a draw happens, the player gets their coins back.
The player is awarded Stars with each victory and is deducted Stars (if they have any) with each loss. The minimum bet is determined by the number of Stars in the player's possession; the bet increases by one for every five Stars, with a maximum of four at 15 Stars. If the player runs out of coins, the minigame is over and must be restarted.
If all opponents have the same hand, then these ranks determine who wins, in order from worst to best: Cloud, Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Luigi, Mario, Super Star.
Multiplayer
The player can choose between three, five, or seven rounds. The player who goes first is chosen randomly. There is not any betting.
- The winner (whose hand is the strongest) takes that many coins from the other players.
- Flush/Five of a kind: 16 coins
- Four of a kind: eight coins
- Full house: six coins
- Three of a kind: four coins
- Two pairs: three coins
- One pair: two coins
- With four players, the winner can receive up to 48 coins taken from other players, and for three players, it is 32. If none of the players have the above hands (Junk), then no coin exchanges occur.
In-game instructions
- Super Mario 64 DS: "Get a better hand than Luigi to win! If you're confident your hand is best, increase the number of coins you bet!"
- New Super Mario Bros.
- Single player: "Get a better hand than Luigi to win! If you're confident that your hand's the best, increase the number of coins you bet!"
- Multiplayer: "Collect matching cards to make the best hand. If two or more hands match, the strength of the cards determines who wins. The person with the most coins at the end wins!"
Gallery
Super Mario 64 DS
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ルイージのえあわせポーカー[?] Ruīji no eawase pōkā |
Luigi's Picture Match Poker | |
| Chinese | 路易吉扑克[1] Lùyìjí Pūkè |
Luigi Poker | |
| French | Poker d'images[?] | Picture poker | |
| German | Poker[?] | Poker | |
| Italian | Poker figurato[?] | Illustrated poker | |
| Korean | 루이지의 그림 포커[?] Ruiji ui geurim pokeo |
Luigi's Picture Poker | |
| Spanish | Póquer de Luigi[?] | Luigi's Poker |
Trivia
- In New Super Mario Bros., the Yoshi and Goomba cards are shown on the minigame's preview icon, although neither appears in the minigame itself.
- In the manual, it is described that Luigi opened the casino in order to pay for Daisy's college fund.
