Squid poker is a Hold’em or Omaha cash game with one extra rule: every player has to win a pot during the round, and the last player who hasn’t won one pays a set penalty to everyone else at the table. Winning a hand earns a “squid” token. When all but one player hold a token, the round ends, the player with no token pays up, and a new round starts. The format grew out of private high-stakes games in Asia. It is now on GGPoker‘s high-stakes tables and in club apps like ClubGG.
The poker itself doesn’t change. What changes is the cost of folding. In a normal game, folding costs nothing. In squid, each fold keeps you in the penalty zone a little longer, which is why these games play so loose.
How a squid round plays out, step by step
Take a six-handed $5/$10 home game with a $100 squid penalty. Hand one: Player A wins a small pot and gets a token. Hand two: Player C takes it down with a c-bet, so that’s two tokens. A few hands later, four players have tokens and two don’t. Those two now have every reason to get involved: they defend wider, call down lighter and three-bet hands they would normally fold. When one of them finally wins a pot, the other is the last player without a token. That player pays $100 to each of the other five players, $500 in total, and every token resets.
A few conventions show up in almost every game:
- You usually have to show to collect. Many games only give the token if you win at showdown or table your hand. That stops people from winning a token by open-shoving pre-flop without showing.
- Split pots normally give a token to each winner. Some games give none, so agree on this before the first hand.
- Run-it-twice and multi-board hands often don’t count toward tokens online. Check the table rules first if you normally run it twice.
- Minimum players and stacks. Online versions usually need at least four players seated with about 35 big blinds or more before the squid clock starts.
Variants you’ll run into
Classic squid is the one-penalty version described above. Progressive squid adds a second target: the first player to collect a set number of tokens (five in the WPT-hosted game Xuan Liu described in 2025) takes tokens or cash from everyone else. That means leading players keep attacking instead of relaxing once they have a token. Pool squid takes a small amount from every player each hand and pays the pool out by token count at the end of the round. Players left with no token lose their share. Some Asian private games also run a “double squid,” where the penalty doubles if the loser hasn’t voluntarily played a pot during the round.
Where you can actually play it
GGPoker added a Squid Game rule in November 2024 as part of an overhaul of its high-stakes tables. The same update brought minimum VPIP requirements of 35% in Hold’em, 40% in Omaha and 45% in Short Deck. Squid runs from $25/$50 up, and you have to register through support or the table’s Register button. Reports on the penalty size don’t agree: some describe 2 big blinds per opponent, others 3 big blinds. Check the table info before you sit down. For most Asia-based players, the more realistic option is ClubGG and other club apps. There, club admins can switch squid on at any stake, including micro games for friends. Our PPPoker vs ClubGG comparison explains how those clubs handle chips and settlement.
Squid is also common in live games across the region. The streamed cash games at Triton events made it well known. Many Chinese, Korean and Malaysian players simply call it “squid game” after the Netflix series. Private games in Manila, Macau and Jeju often run squid rounds on top of straddles and bomb pots. Expect it to play bigger than the posted blinds suggest.
Want to try squid on a club table without dealing with deposit and settlement hassle? Message @PAGDaddyBot and it will point you to a club that runs it.
What changes in your strategy
Expect VPIP to jump from the low 20s to somewhere between 35% and 50%. Solver ranges don’t cover these spots, so reading your opponents matters more than memorising charts:
- Without a token: widen your blind defence and your calls against late-position opens. A marginal hand that loses a few big blinds in EV can still be correct if it gets you out of the penalty.
- With a token: go after the players who don’t have one. They have to call too much, so value-bet thinner against them and bluff them less.
- Late in the round: when only two players are left without tokens, both will fight hard. Stay out of their pots unless you have a strong hand.
- Bankroll: the penalty adds variance on top of normal swings. A $100 squid in a six-handed game is 50 big blinds at $2/$4, so size your buy-ins with that in mind.
Squid pairs naturally with big-pot formats. If you like it, PLO is the next step. Squid games on club apps are often PLO-5.
Squid poker FAQ
What is squid poker?
It’s a cash game where each player tries to win at least one pot per round. Every win earns a token, and the last player without a token pays a penalty to the rest of the table.
How much is the squid penalty?
That’s up to the table. In home games it’s usually a fixed amount per opponent. On GGPoker high-stakes tables it’s set in big blinds, and reports put it at 2 to 3 big blinds. Check the table rules first.
Does GGPoker have squid game tables?
Yes. Since November 2024, GGPoker has offered a Squid Game rule on high-stakes tables from $25/$50 up. You have to register through the table or support.
Can I play squid poker at low stakes?
Yes, on club apps like ClubGG, where admins can enable squid at any blind level, or in private home games.
Do split pots or run-it-twice hands earn a token?
Split pots usually give each winner a token. Multi-board and run-it-twice hands often don’t count online, but rules differ from table to table.
What is progressive squid?
It’s a variant where the first player to collect a set number of tokens (often five) also collects from everyone else, on top of the normal last-player penalty.
Is squid poker good for recreational players?
It narrows the gap between recreational players and regulars because solver-based play matters less. The trade-off is much higher variance, so play it at lower stakes than your usual game.