A method of conducting a poker game is disclosed. The method may be played as a player v. house (i.e., dealer) or player v. player game and may be facilitated in an online version or on electronic gaming devices. The method comprises each participating receiving five hole cards, two of which, are used in combination with three common cards. Three sets of three common cards are dealt such that after each set is dealt each player discards one hole card. Consequently, at the end of the game, each player has two hole cards and nine common cards are presented in a pattern, such as a 3.times.3 matrix. Each player combines his or her two hole cards with three common cards (e.g., a row, column or diagonal) from the 3.times.3 matrix to form a five-card poker hand.