The Gang – cooperative poker where nobody's allowed to bluff
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Poker has a problem for people like me: bluffing. I have the poker face of a golden retriever who just heard the word “walk”.
So a poker game where bluffing is useless and everyone at the table is on my side? Sign me up. The Gang is a cooperative card game that uses the rules of Texas Hold’em, but instead of beating each other you work as a crew of bank robbers. You win when everyone ranks their own hand correctly, from worst to best, without saying a word about their cards.
What is The Gang?
It’s a small-box card game for 3 to 6 players, ages 10 and up, and a game takes about 20 minutes. It was designed by John Cooper and Kory Heath and published in 2024 by Kosmos (Thames & Kosmos in the US), the same people behind the co-op card game The Crew.
The box holds a normal 52-card deck, 24 poker chips, vault and alarm cards, 10 challenge cards and 10 specialist cards. The heist theme is mostly flavor. The poker is the point.
How does The Gang work?
Everyone gets two cards, like in Hold’em. Then, without talking, each player takes a numbered star chip that says how strong they think their hand is compared to the others. One star means “I’m probably the worst”. The top chip means “I’ve got this”.
Board Game Quest explains the clever part: if you think someone has the wrong chip, you can take it from them. That repeats after the flop, the turn and the river, so the chips keep moving as the shared cards change everyone’s hand. At the end you reveal your cards in chip order. All correct? You crack a vault. One mistake? An alarm goes off. Open three vaults before three alarms and the gang wins.
You never say “I have a pair”. You just stare at someone who grabbed the 4-star chip after the river and think: why would you DO that.
What I like / What could be better
What I like:
- It’s about 15 bucks, which makes it an easy gift or a great “leave it at your friend’s house” game.
- Amazon buyers rate it 4.8 out of 5 from over 460 ratings.
- TTPM gave it 4.5 out of 5, and it won the Casual Games category at the 2025 American Tabletop Awards.
- Thames & Kosmos lists it as a 2025 Toy of the Year finalist in the grown-up category.
- No poker experience needed, according to the maker. There’s a hand-ranking card in the box.
What could be better:
- Board Game Quest gave it 3.5 stars. Their reviewer found three players too easy and six players hard, with four or five as the sweet spot.
- Same review: only 10 challenge cards, so a group that plays every week will run through them.
- If nobody at the table knows which hands beat which, the first game will be slow. Keep that reference card close.
Who is The Gang for?
Groups of four or five, families with kids around 10 and up, and anyone who likes co-op games like The Crew or Bomb Busters. It’s also a great pick for the poker player in your family who keeps losing actual money. Here they lose nothing.
Skip it if you mostly play as a couple: it needs at least three people. For two players, check Sky Team in our gifts for board game lovers.
Where can I buy The Gang?
Amazon sells The Gang: Classic Edition through the Thames & Kosmos store for about 15 bucks at the time of writing (October 2026). There’s also a bigger Deluxe Edition at other shops, but the classic box is the one I’d wrap. It’s small enough to go in a stocking.
Finally, a poker night where I’m not the one getting robbed.