Math Poker
You draw numbers from a deck and arrange them on a 5×5 grid. Points come from combinations in every row, every column and both diagonals. Once a number is written down it cannot be moved.
What Math Poker is
Math Poker is a combination game with numbers 1 to 13 on a 5×5 grid. Numbers are drawn one at a time and the only decision is where to write each one. A number written down cannot be moved again, so the result comes from the order in which the grid fills up, not from luck on a single card.
Points come from every line that ends up holding a poker combination: five rows, five columns and both diagonals, twelve lines in all. One number therefore counts into two to four lines at once, and a good square is the one that serves more of them.
Elsewhere the same game goes by Matematico, or Mathematical Poker. The 5×5 grid, the numbers 1 to 13 and the poker combinations in the lines are all the same, only the scoring tables differ, and those stand side by side on one page.
How it is played
- You draw a number from a deck of 54 cards, 52 numbers and two jokers.
- You write it into one of the 25 free squares. There is no going back.
- The next number arrives on its own, no need to draw by hand.
- The score updates at once. Every line counts only its best combination.
- The round ends with a full grid. The ceiling is 1500 points.
How a game runs, the jokers and the full scoring table are all on the Rules page.
Where it is played
In the browser you can start right away, with no sign-up and nothing to install: the easy and hard game, the daily challenge on one deck for everyone, a duel for two and a group game for up to fifty people on a shared sequence of numbers. The leaderboard lines the results up.
On paper the game is the same. The number picker stands in for the deck and shows what has been drawn, the grid scores a hand-filled board. For a lesson there is a printable game sheet and the classic school scoring table on Math Poker at school; a group game is walked through step by step in the guide for teachers.
The game speaks six languages: Czech, Slovak, English, Polish, German and French. The flag in the bar switches between them, everything is translated, the rules and the printable game sheet included, and the language you pick travels with the invitation to a group game.
Common questions
Is Math Poker free?
Yes, all of it, with no ads and no sign-up. All the leaderboard gets is a nickname you pick yourself, no e-mail and no password.
How many people can play?
One alone, two in a duel, up to fifty in a group. In a group everybody gets the same sequence of numbers, so what gets compared is decisions, not luck.
Has this anything to do with poker for money?
No. All the game borrows from poker are the names of the combinations, so a pair, a triple or a straight. Nothing is staked, no money is won and there is no opponent to bluff.
Can it be played offline?
The easy and hard game, the grid, the number picker and the rules all run offline, and the site can be installed to the home screen as an app. Without a connection the leaderboard, the daily challenge, duels and group games drop out, they need the server.
How does it differ from the school version on paper?
The 5×5 grid and the numbers 1 to 13 are the same, the scoring differs. The school table gives 10 points for a pair and 200 for four ones; here it also matters whether the combination sits side by side and whether a straight is in order. Both tables stand next to each other in the school version.
How long does one round take?
Five to ten minutes. On hard you set the time per number from 3 to 300 seconds, so a round takes exactly as long as it should.
The game runs in your browser, but the server deals the cards and keeps the statistics and the leaderboard. Only what you send to the leaderboard yourself is public. Web by Avoro.
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