Poker Suite

7/31/2019 Poker Suite

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2/15

Players: 2-5Playing ime: 60 minutesEquipment: A standard deck o cards without Jokers,and a way to keep score.

Story: The rats are gone, but youre still here. You and your greedy pals are hustling around the deck o a sinking pirateship, trying to scoop up as much treasure as you can carry.Youll need to collect plenty o loot, so you can buy your wayinto a li eboat, and the best li eboats are the ones with themost treasure already in them. Its complicated. Or maybe youre just not very smart.

In this game, Aces are worth 1 point, Jacks 11, Queens 12,and Kings 13. All other cards are worth their ace value.

Overview: he game consists o several hands, orrounds, each o which ends when the last card is drawnrom the deck, and the ship sinks. At the end o eachround, players will compete to get on the li eboats in ashowdown, and they score points based on which li eboatthey board. I you board no li eboat, you get no points orthe round. he irst player to earn 200 points wins.

o Begin Each Round: Shu le the deck and deal ivecards to each player. I there are only two players, deal ivemore cards and set them aside, ace down. hese cardswill not be used. Play starts with the dealer, and the dealmoves to the le t a ter each round.

On Your urn: I you do not have ive cards in yourhand, draw back up to ive. I you draw the last card o the deck, the ship sinks immediately, and you do not takethe rest o your turn . A ter you draw, you have two options:you may discard one card, or pick a ight.

Discarding: here are our discard piles, one or eachsuit. hese represent li eboats. When you discard a card,place it into the li eboat o the appropriate suit, and yourturn is over.

Fighting: o pick a ight, play a card into the center o the table, and declare which player you are attacking. hatplayer has two options: he can surrender and lose theight, or he can play a card o higher rank than the cardyou played. (Suit doesnt matter.)

I your opponent plays a higher card, you may respondwith an even higher card, or you may surrender. his con-

tinues until one player gives up, or cant play a highercard.

he winner o the ight draws a random card rom thelosers hand. hat card goes into the winners board,which is a aceup collection o cards on the table in ronto him.

Board cards arent part o your hand. You cant ightwith them, discard them, or lose them in ights. hey willhelp you in the showdown.

A ter the ight, all cards which were played in the ightget sorted into the appropriate li eboats. ( hink o it asother pirates picking up all the stu you threw at eachother.) Important Restriction: You cannot play the last cardin your hand, unless that card is a King. his rule ensuresthat the winner will always be able to draw a card rom thelosers hand. Pointless Restriction: You cant challenge a playerwho is holding no cards. Youd have nothing to draw romhim, and you can achieve the same result by simply dis-carding a card.

he Showdown: When the last card in the deck is drawn,the ship sinks. At this point, its time or each player to

bribe his way into a li eboat, in the phase called theshowdown.Each player plays one card rom his hand, ace down.

his card is called the Key Card , and it is a declaration o which li eboat youre running to. his means that youmust be lucky enough to hold a card matching the li eboatyou want. I your hand is empty, which is rare, you will godown with the ship and score no points or the round.

Once everyone has played a Key Card, reveal all thecards in everyones hand.

Te Cheapass Games Poker Suite is 2011 Cheapass Games: www.cheapass.com

AbandonShip!

Deck

Discard

Piles

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I everyone ran or a di erent li eboat, theres no con-test. Each player gets the point value o the cards in thatli eboat. You do not score the cards in your hand, yourKey Card, or your board.

I more than one person went or the same li eboat,then only one player will get in. he points in the li eboatwill go to the player who is holding more points in the

matching suit, including his hand , his board , and his KeyCard . I there is a tie, it is broken in avor o the playerwho has the single highest card in that suit. As above, youscore only the points in the li eboat.

Scoring Example: Its the showdown in a our-playergame. Player 1 plays a Spade, Players 2 and 3 play Hearts,and Player 4 plays nothing because his hand is empty.Player 1 gets the points in the Spade li eboat, and Player4 gets nothing.

Players 2 and 3 have both gone or the Hearts li eboat,so they must compete to get in. Compare all the Heartsthey hold: Player 2 has the 6h on his board, played the Qhas his Key, and holds no other Hearts. Player 3 played the2h as his Key, and held only the 3h and the 7h in his hand.Player 2 takes the li eboat, with 18 total points o Heartsvs. Player 3s 12 points. Player 3 scores nothing.

Winning: Play to 200 points. I two players break 200 onthe same round, the player with the highest score wins. I two players are tied or the high score, they must engagein the embarrassing Caribbean Plank Walk tied togetherwith a ten- oot rope and clenching knives in their teeth.

Strategy: he cards that you discard and play in ightsare crucial choices. Every card that you play in this man-ner will wind up in a li eboat. On the other hand, every card that you win or lose in a ight will go in someonesboard. Early in the game, it helps to get a ew cards intoyour board, to give yoursel some leverage in the show-down. Later, you must do what you can to make sure youhold a Key Card or the right li eboat. You will notice thatthe more valuable a li eboat is, the ewer points it willrequire to board (the majority o that suit is in the li e-boat, and not in players hands.) Discretion is the betterpart o valor: its better to get into a small li eboat than totry or a big one and lose. Learn to guess what the otherplayers will probably go or, and play accordingly.

Variation for 6-8 Players: You can play Abandon Ship!with as many as eight players, by shu ling together twodecks. Deal eight hands regardless o how many playersare in the game, and remove the unused hands rom thegame. o resolve ties during the showdown, i both play-ers have a card o the same rank as their highest card intheir Key suit, compare the second highest cards in eachhand, and so on. I tied hands are exactly identical, itstime to set up the plank.

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Players: 2-5Playing ime: 1 minute per handEquipment: A deck o cards without Jokers, andcoins or poker chips or betting.

Divide your poker deck into two decks, one red and oneblack. I you like, you can use cards with di erent backs.

o Begin Each Hand: Shufe the red and blackdecks separately. Everyone pays an ante o one coin.Ten, everyone draws one card rom each deck. Ev-eryone should now have one red and one black card.

Te Play: Simultaneously, every player reveals onecard. Tis can be either the red or the black card,based on your strategy.

Next, the player who is showing the single lowestcard may either orce a showdown, or drop out. For de-termining which is the lowest card, Aces are low, andsuits ( rom lowest to highest) are clubs, diamonds,hearts, and spades.

I a player drops out, the player with next lowestcard has the same option, and so on. Each player inturn may either drop out, or orce a showdown. Youcannot do anything until you are the lowest card.

Te Showdown: In a showdown, all cards are re-vealed. Te player who holds the highest black card wins, and all the losers (that is, all those who havenot dropped out) pay the winner a number o coinsequal to the value o their red cards. Aces are worth 1coin, and all ace cards are worth 10. Te winner alsocollects the antes. I there is no showdown, the sur-viving player wins, and takes only the antes.

Play several rounds, using chips to keep score.


BARCELONA


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Players: 4-8Playing ime: 20 minutesEquipment: he Ace, 3, 5, 7, and 10 rom two decks. For8 players, you will need these cards rom three decks.

Each player starts with the same hand: A, 3, 5, 7, and 10. The Bonyeard starts with the same set. Aces are worth 1.

Basics: Boneyard is a silent-bid auction game in whichplayers are bidding on buckets o money. he object is tobe the irst player to accumulate 40 dollars. Its not toohard; you start with 26!

Setup: Each player starts with exactly the same hand:one o each o the ollowing cards: A, 3, 5, 7, and 10.here is also a Boneyard in the middle o the table.

he Boneyard is made o ive buckets which start outholding the same list o cards: A, 3, 5, 7, and 10.

Each round, players will bid to buy the money in thesebuckets. However, there is a catch: I two players makethe same bid, their bids cancel out, and they get nothing.

Bidding: On each round, choose one or more cards romyour hand, and hold them ace down. You may want tocover your cards so that its harder or others to see howmany cards you are playing. Once everyone is ready, allthe bids are revealed.

I two or more bids are the same total value, put themaside. hey will take nothing.

he player with the highest unmatched bid takes thecard(s) rom any single bucket, and puts them in hishand. You wont necessarily take the bucket with themost money, but thats usually the best choice.

Other unmatched bids take cards rom the remainingbuckets rom highest to lowest, until all the bids havebeen resolved, or until there are no buckets le t to claim.

I you make an unmatched bid but dont claim any-

thing (this can only happen with 6 or more players) youget to take back your bid.Players who made matching bids get nothing. I you

run out o cards, you are out o the game.

Rebuilding the Boneyard: A ter the bidding is resolved,the Boneyard regenerates. First, each unmatched bid allsinto the bucket it took. hen, the matched bids are gath-ered into sets o the same size, and are added into thelowest valued buckets. here is an example below.

I there are multiple sets o matched bids, pile the larg-est set together into the smallest bucket, then pile thenext largest set into the now-smallest bucket, and so on. Again, see the example below.

Winning: A ter each round, everyone checks his score,which is the total value o all the cards in his hand. he

irst player to collect at least 40 dollars wins.I several people go over 40 at the same time, then the

highest total wins. I there is a tie or high score at this point, play another round. I no one is over 40 a ter that round, thehigh score still wins.

An Example of Play: Suppose the ive buckets containthe ollowing values: 17, 13, 7, 4, and 3, as shown below.

Cards: 10+7 5+5+3 7 1+3 3Bucket: A B C D E

here are eight players, who make bids o 10, 7, 7, 5, 4,3, 1, and 1.

he 10 is the highest bid, and it is unmatched. hatplayer decides to take the largest bucket, (10 + 7).

he value-7 bids match, cancel, and take nothing.he 5 is the next bid, and decides to take the (5+5+3).he 4 bid (which is made o 1+3) takes the 7.he 3 takes the (1+3)he 1 bids cancel, and take nothing.Next, the buckets re ill. Dropping the success ul bids

into the buckets they took, the Boneyard becomes:

Cards: 10 5 1+3 3 3Bucket: A B C D E

Next, the matched bids all into the smallest buckets,as ollows. First, drop the pair o 7s into the smallestbucket (one o the 3s), then drop the pair o 1s into thesmallest remaining bucket (the other 3). his results inthe ollowing Boneyard or the next turn:

Cards: 10 5 1+3 3+1+1 3+7+7Bucket: A B C D E

At this point, i any player holds more than 40 points,she wins. Otherwise, play another turn.

Strategy: here is a good deal o strategy in trying topsych out other players, and in trying to remember whatcards they have played and taken. Remember, everyonestarts with the same hand, so the only randomness in thisgame comes rom which cards people decide to play romround to round.

Also, you will note that its not generally pro itable tobid more than the value o the largest bucket. But youprobably already igured that out.

Te Cheapass Games Poker Suite is 2011 Cheapass Games: www.cheapass.com4


5/15

Players: 3-7Playing ime: 20 minutesEquipment: A deck o playing cards without Jokers, anda way to keep score.

Brain Baseball is a trick-based card game that is unlike Baseball in nearly every regard. It was originally cra ted as anadjunct to Give Me the Brain , or which a sur eit o bid cards was printed. It lives on in this orm.

o Begin: Shu le the deck and deal a hand o seven cardsto each player.

Play will consist o several rounds, or tricks, each o which involves a pitch, a swing , and a catch. Each set o tricks is called an inning.

A ter the inning is over, the deal passes to the le t. hegame ends when each player has dealt one inning.

he Cards: he cards in the deck are worth their acevalue, with Jacks being 11 points, Queens 12, and Kings13. Aces are low (1 point), except when used as ieldingcards, in which case they are high and worth 15. Deucesare also high in ielding, and are then worth 14 points.

On Each Round: he round begins with a pitch. hedealer pitches the irst trick o each inning. Subsequentpitches are thrown by whoever ended up with the ball. Pitching: he pitcher plays one card rom his hand aceup on the table. his card is the ball.

Hitting: Starting on the pitchers le t and proceeding tothe le t around the table, everyone (except the pitcher)gets one chance to swing at the ball. hey may do this by playing a card that is equal to or lower thanthe value o theball, but higher than the swings that have been played so ar .

For Example: I the ball is a 7, and a 4 has been played,the only legal remaining swings are 5, 6, and 7.

aking a swing is always optional, so you can pass onany ball.he swing that is closest to the value o the ball hits it.

Put the ball in ront o the hitter, and discard all the swingcards.

I the ball is not hit, it is a strike. In this case, thepitcher keeps the ball or points, and the same playerpitches again. hree Strike Rule: I a pitcher ever throws threestrikes in a row, he wins the game!

Fielding: Once a ball has been hit, every player (exceptthe hitter) gets one chance to catch the ball, starting withthe player on the hitters le t, and going once around thetable. Like swinging, ielding is always optional.

o catch the ball, you must play the highest card, inmuch the same way as you did while hitting. he only di -erence is that, in ielding, you can play any card equal to

or greater than the ball, and higher is always better .he irst ielding card must be equal to or higher than

the value o the ball, and subsequent cards must be higherthan the last ielding card played. Note: In ielding, as mentioned above, the Aces andDeuces are worth 15 and 14 points respectively.

he ball is caught by the highest ielder, who keeps theball or points and throws the next pitch. Discard all theielding cards.

I no one catches the ball, the hitter keeps the ball orpoints and throws the next pitch.

I the role o pitcher ever goes to a player who has nocard, it passes to the le t.

Ending the Inning: he inning continues until only oneplayer has any cards le t. So, when the next-to-last playerplays his last card, this will be the last round o the inning.Every ball is now scored, and is worth its base value inpoints. (Aces are worth 1 point, and Deuces are worth 2.)Record your scores and reshu le the deck.

he game ends a ter every player has dealt once.

Gambling Variation: o play this as a gambling game,do the ollowing: each time a player makes a pitch, hemust add one dollar to the pot or each point in the valueo the pitch. Whoever wins the inning takes the pot.

Strategy Note: You will notice right away that theresnot much incentive to swing at a ball. You will only do soto prevent the pitcher rom getting another strike, or i youre taking a chance that no one will bother to catch it.


A r t

b y

B r i a n

S n o

d d y


6/15

Players: 2Playing ime: 15 minutesEquipment: A deck o playing cards without Jokers, anda way to keep score.

Story: Welcome aboard theCaribbean Star , Caribe CruiseLines most luxurious cruise ship. Its chock to the gills withnewlyweds and nearly-deads who have ventured to theCaribbean to loat into the Panama Canal, buy knickknacks inJamaican straw markets, and drink Pia Coladas romabsurdly carved coconut shells.

Un ortunately, you and your opponent are magicians, and,like most magicians, you have more or less the same act. The Miami booking o ice accidentally placed both o you on thesame cruise ship, and now youve got one week to prove whosbetter, and get the other one ired.

How to Begin: Each player owns one color o cards,either red or black. Determine who is who be ore thegame begins.

Shu le the deck and deal a hand o ive cards to eachplayer. urns are simultaneous.

On Each urn: Both players play one card ace down. Your card will determine your action or the turn. A terboth cards are played, reveal them.

Each card has a unique unction, described in the listbelow. Although they are played at the same time, cardsalways take e ect rom lowest to highest. Deuces are low,and Kings are high. Aces work di erently, and areexplained later. I both cards are the same rank, suitdetermines the order. Clubs are lowest, ollowed by Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades (alphabetical order).

Card Functions:

Magic ricks, 10, J, Q, and K: ens and ace cards aremagic tricks. When you play a magic trick, it means youare practicing that trick or your next per ormance. I youplay your opponents color, he practices that trick.

When you play a magic trick in your color, put it inyour practice pile, a set o cards that remain ace up onthe table in ront o you. I you play a magic trick in youropponents color, you put that card into your opponents practice pile.

Each magic trick takes time, and a per ect show is 15minutes long. All ace cards add 5 minutes to your show.Jacks are worth 2 points, Queens are worth 4 points, andKings are worth 6 points. ens add 10 minutes to yourshow, and are worth 10 points.

Showtimes, 7 and 9: Sevens and Nines are showtimes.When you play a showtime o your color, you will per orm

your act. his means you will discard your practice pileand convert it into points. I you play a showtime in youropponents color, your opponent per orms his act.Obviously, you want to convert your own practice pilewhen it is worth maximum points, and convert youropponents pile when it is worthless.

he scoring o the per ormance is described later. A ter you per orm your act, the showtime card and all thecards in your practice pile go into the discard pile. Dinner Buffet, 8: Eights are dinner bu et cards.When you play an Eight in your color, you may per orm(i.e., discard) one o the magic tricks in your practice pileand score hal its point value. For example, i you use anEight to remove a King rom your practice pile, you score3 points.

You dont have to use your dinner bu et, even a teryou play it. You might play an Eight and then, seeing whatyour opponent has played, decide to ignore the bu et.Whether you use it or not, the Eight is discarded.

Similarly, i you play an opponents Eight, he may con-vert one o his magic tricks or he may ignore it. You cantorce your opponent to per orm at the dinner bu et. Rehearsal, 6: Sixes are rehearsal cards. You canrehearse your act be ore per orming it, which will doubleits inal value. When you play a Six in your color, add it toyour practice pile. I you play a Six in your opponentscolor, it goes into his practice pile.

I you have two Sixes in your practice pile, your showwill be worth quadruple points! Afternoon Nap, 5. Fives are a ternoon nap cards.When you play a Five o any color, you will swap handswith your opponent. Discard the Five a ter you swaphands.



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Mistakes, 2, 3, and 4: wos, hrees, and Fours aremistakes. hese are a little like magic tricks, but they areworth negative points.

I you play a mistake o your own color, it will go intoyour practice pile. I you play a mistake o your oppo-nents color, it will go into his practice pile. Mistakes dontalways hurt you: i you per orm a show composed entirely

o mistakes, its called a comedy show and is worthnothing. Which is better than negative points!

Scoring your Shows: A practice pile may contain magictricks, rehearsals, and/or mistakes. When you per orm it,here is how to score the show.

First, evaluate the magic tricks by the length o theshow. he per ect show is 15 minutes. Face cards are 5minutes each, and ens are 10 minutes.

I your show is exactly 15 minutes, you will score ullvalue or all your magic tricks. I you run long or short by 5 minutes, you must cut the value o your biggest trick by hal (or one o your biggest tricks, i you have two bigtricks o the same size). I you run short or long by 10minutes, you must cut all your tricks by hal . I you run 15or more minutes too long, you get no points or yourmagic tricks. I you run 0 minutes (because you have nomagic tricks at all) you are doing a comedy show, which isalways worth exactly zero points.

Second, subtract the values o your mistakes. wos areworth 2, hrees -3, and Fours -4. Mistakes do not addtime to your act, and you always lose ull value or thesecards unless you are doing a comedy show. Mistakes caneasily result in a negative value or your show.

Last, apply the rehearsal cards. I you have a Six inyour practice pile, double the inal value. I you have twoSixes, you double it twice.

Comedy Show: I your act has no magic tricks, it isalways worth exactly zero points. his is true regardlesso the number o mistakes and rehearsals in the pile;ignore the mistakes and rehearsals and score 0 points orthe show.

Stop Cards, the Aces: Aces are not played like othercards. Instead, they are stop cards that can be playedwhile other cards are resolving. Aces are not color-speci icso they always work or whoever plays them.

You can play an Ace rom your hand to cancel thee ect o any other card, immediately be ore it is resolved.In other words, once the cards are revealed, and just

be ore executing a particular card, either player may usean Ace to stop that card rom happening.

When you play the Ace, you pick up the card you canceled and put it in your hand . Discard the Ace.

You cannot use an Ace to cancel another Ace.

An Example of Playing an Ace:

he red player has played a red Five, and the blackplayer has played a red en. Black holds an Ace.

Be ore the Five swaps both players hands, blackhas the opportunity to play his Ace, but he chooses

not to. he Five is discarded, and the players swaphands.Now red holds the Ace, and he can play it to can-

cel the red en. He discards the Ace, and puts the reden into his hand. (Red canceled the en because itwould have made his act too long. He plans to usethe en in his next act.)

Ending the urn: At the end o the turn, each playerdraws one card. Once there are no more cards to draw,players continue to play cards until their hands are empty,or until one player can no longer play cards because he

holds nothing but Aces. At this point, the game ends.

Scoring the Game: At the end o the game, each playergets one arewell show, in which he scores the cardsremaining in his practice pile. he arewell show is notoptional; you can lose a lot o points in this show i yourenot care ul.

A ter the arewell show, the player with the mostpoints wins. he other player must disembark in SanJuan, dismayed and alone, and will inevitably all into ali estyle o binge drinking and compulsive gambling.


An Example of Scoring a Show:

A practice pile has the ollowing cards in it: King,King, en, Six, Four, hree, and wo.

he show is 5 minutes too long (5 + 5 + 10 = 20minutes), so the highest magic trick, the en, will beworth only hal value. he base value o the show isthere ore 6 + 6 + 5, or 17 points.

he mistakes are worth 4 + 3 + 2, or 9. hese arededucted rom 17, leaving 8 points.

Finally, the show value is doubled because o therehearsal card (the Six), which results in a inal valueo 16 points.

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8/15


Following Suit is a trick-taking game about oh, lets say,maritime trade. he object is to collect as many points aspossible in a single suit. he game is played in severalrounds, and the irst player to reach 200 points wins.

This game is somewhat like Lamarckian Poker (page 10)and was created around the same time. You can decide whichone you like better. We like them both.

o Begin: Shu le the deck and deal a hand o our cardsto each player. urns are simultaneous.

On Each urn: Deal eight cards ace up into the middleo the table. hese cards are called the pool. Each playerplays one card rom his hand ace down. his card is calledthe mark.

When every player has played a mark, all the marks arerevealed. he highest mark o each suit captures all thecards on the table in the ollowing suit, including the cardsin the pool and the other marks.

For capturing, Aces are high.he suits capture each other in descending order (as

shown in the diagram at right): Spades capture hearts,

hearts capture diamonds, diamonds capture clubs, andclubs capture spades. In suit order, each suit captures thatsuit that is immediately below it, except or clubs, whichwrap back to the top and capture spades.

he captures are simultaneous, so a mark can bothcapture and be captured at the same time.

Cards that you capture go into your hand.

Cleaning Up: I there are any cards le t on the table atthe end o the turn, those cards go into the discard pile.

he Next Round: Deal another eight cards into the cen-ter o the table, and take the next turn. his processcontinues until the deck runs out o cards. Note: With aneven number o players, the last pool will contain our cards,instead o eight.

Scoring: When you reach the bottom o the deck, the

round is over. Players score points or their hands, count-ing only the cards in the best suit.

Each card is worth its ace value in points. Aces areworth one point, Jacks are worth 11, Queens 12, andKings are worth 13 points.

Remember, you only score your best suit. For example,i you end a round with 14 points o spades, 25 points o hearts, and 3 points o clubs, you score 25 points.

Winning: he winner is the irst player to score at least200 points. I more than one player breaks 200 in thesame round, the player with the highest score wins. I twoplayers are tied or high score, play another round.

An Example of Play: Suppose there are ive players, andthe eight cards in the pool include two cards o each suit.

On this turn, the ive marks played include the Js, the2s, the Ac, the 10c, and the 3h.

he 2s and the 10c will capture nothing, because thosecards are outranked by other marks (the Js and Ac).

he Js captures all the hearts on the table, includingthe 3h.

he 3h captures the diamonds.he Ac captures all the spades on the table, including

the 2s and the Js.No diamonds were played, so nothing captures the

clubs. hose cards remaining on the table are discarded,and the turn is over.



9/15


Basics: Everyone is trying to take change rom a riendly but slow-witted bartender. Hes so riendly that i hedoesnt have exact change, hell give you more money than you gave him.

o Begin: Deal each player a hand o 7 cards. I there are5 or 6 players, deal hands o 6 instead. Deal 7 more cardsto the Bartender, which is a aceup hand in the center o the table. Play begins on the dealers le t and proceeds tothe le t.

On Each urn: Give one card rom your hand to the bar-tender. he bartender will then try to make the bestchange he can, as ollows:

1: All cards are worth their ace value. Aces are worthone dollar, Jacks are worth 11, Queens 12, and Kings 13.

2: I the bartender can give you an exact match oryour card, he will. For example, i you play an Eight, hewould pre er to give you an Eight. I he cannot, he will try to assemble the same dollar value rom the ewest possi-ble cards. In other words, he would rather give you twocards than three.

3: When choosing between several combinations o the same number o cards, the bartender will choose theset with the highest card in it. For example, when decid-ing between 4 + 3 and 6 + A, he will choose the 6 + A.

4: I he cant assemble the right value, the bartenderwill try his best to build the next higher value by the samerules, and so on until change is made.

5: I the bartenders hand does not add up to the valueo the card being exchanged, he will draw cards rom the

deck until it does. He will then make change according tohis basic rules.A ter you have taken your change, discard the cards

you received, and score one point or every extra dollarthe bartender gave you. I he gives you exact change, youearn no points at all. he card you played goes into thebartenders hand.

Winning: he game ends when every player has playedhis hand out. hen the highest score wins.


Players: 2-6Playing ime: 20 minutesEquipment: A deck o playing cards without acecards or Jokers (Aces through 10s only), and a way to keep score.

Spots is a card game in which two or more players willmake change rom a pool o cards. Scoring is handi-capped as described below. We put it here because its alittle like Hey Bartender! But not exactly.

he Deck: As mentioned above, the deck containsonly A through 10 o each suit. All cards are worththeir ace value, with Aces being worth 1.

o Begin: Shu le the deck and deal ive cards toeach player, ace up. Put one card ace up into themiddle o the table.

Your ace-up cards are your hand. he player withthe ewest points in his hand will go irst. Break tiesby taking turns.

Be ore you play, establish a handicap or eachplayer by subtracting the total value o the smallesthand rom the total value o that players hand , anddividing by two. he smallest hand has no handicap. An Example: I the smallest starting hand has avalue o 16, and your hand has a value o 24, thenyour handicap is (24 - 16) / 2, or 4 points.

On Each urn: Play one card into the middle o thetable, and take change. he table gives you exactchange i it can, using the ewest possible cards. I the table cannot make exact change, it will give youmore points than you played. I there are not enoughcards to make change, add cards rom the top o thedeck until there are.

he card you play stays in the middle. he cardsyou receive go into a score pile, not back into yourhand. Each player will play ive cards.

Scoring: A ter the last card is played, count eachplayers score pile, and then subtract the playershandicaps. he player with the highest adjustedscore wins the round. A ull game ends when oneplayer has won ive rounds.


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Players: 2-6Playing ime: 10 minutesEquipment: A deck o playing cards without Jokers.

Story: Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalierde la Marck, known to his riends as Lamarck, was aprecursor o Charles Darwin, and a proponent o so tinheritance. his is the evolutionary theory that a parentanimal could produce evolved o spring by changing itsown behavior, as exempli ied by the case o a gira e whostretches her own neck, and later gives birth to a longer-necked cal .

As absurd as this sounds, given the overwhelmingbody o evidence supporting the creation o all li e onEarth by a bearded, venge ul, all-knowing patriarch,Lamarcks theories did nonetheless enjoy a brie period o credibility be ore being thoroughly rejected by criticalthinkers o the modern age.

In Lamarckian Poker, you will start with a hand o random cards resembling primordial ooze, and thenattempt through successive generations to evolve it intosomething more use ul, such as mud or slime. Or perhapsthe rats and gira es o Lamarcks color ul imagination.

o Begin: Shu le the deck, and deal each player a start-ing hand o our cards.

On Each urn: Deal our cards ace up in the center o the table. hese cards are called the pool. Each playerplays one card rom his hand ace down on the table. hiscard is called the mark. When all the marks are down,reveal them. hey will then be played one at a time, indescending order. Suit determines the order betweencards o the same rank, with clubs at the bottom, thendiamonds, hearts, and spades.

When played, each mark can capture cards rom the

pool. When you play a mark, you pick up all the cardswhich match it, either by suit or by rank. he mark itsel alls into the pool. For example, i a Queen o spades isyour play, you will pick up all the spades, and all theQueens, and then put the Queen o spades into the pool.

Another Example: On the irst round o a three-playergame, the ollowing cards are dealt into the pool: Ah, Qc,9s, 5h. Each player plays a mark ace down, and then thecards are revealed to be the As, 10c, and 9h. he marks

are now played rom highest to lowest, so the As goesirst, capturing the Ah and the 9s, and then alling in. henew pool contains the As, Qc, and 5h. hen, the 10c takesthe Qc, and alls into the pool. Last, the 9h takes the 5h,and alls in.

A ter the last mark is played, discard whatever is le t inthe pool, and deal our new cards into the pool, starting a

new round.Play continues until the deck is empty. A ter the last

round, there is a showdown, and the player with the bestpoker hand wins.

Its possible, especially with a large number o players,or peoples hands to empty. his is just a result o naturalselection. I your hand is ever empty at the end o a turn,you go extinct and are out o the game.

Strategy: You dont want to run out o cards, so in theearly stages o the game you must try to pick up morecards than you play, regardless o how well they build yourpoker hand. At some point you will have to start tuningyour hand with more precise plays, but only when you nolonger run the risk o running out o cards. Just to beclear, straights and lushes require ive cards.


he Poker Hands:

You probably dont need a reminder, but in case you do,here is the list o poker hands rom best to worst.

Five of a Kind: Five cards o the same rank, such as AAAAA. his hand is impossible without wild cards.Royal Flush: his is merely an Ace-high straight

lush. It has its own name because it is so awesome.Straight Flush: Five cards in sequence that are alsoall the same suit, such as 3d-4d-5d-6d-7d.Four of a Kind: Four cards o the same rank, suchas our Jacks.Full House: hree o one kind and two o another,such as QQQ-33 (Queens ull o threes). he rank o the set o three determines the rank o the hand incomparison other ull houses.Flush: Five cards o the same suit. he highest cardin the set determines the value o the hand, whencomparing with other lushes.Straight: Five cards in sequence, such as 8-9- -J-Q.

Straights are compared by their highest card. Acescan be used as high or low in a straight. A-2-3-4-5 isa 5-high straight.hree of a Kind: hree cards o the same rank, suchas three Kings.wo Pair: wo pairs, such as KK-66.One Pair: wo cards o the same rank, such as QQ.High Card: I you have nothing else on this list, youhave high card. Ranked by its highest card.

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Players: 4-10Playing ime: 5 minutes per handEquipment: A deck o playing cards without Jokers.

Story: Someone has stolen the pueblo! Can you guess who itis? he Lost Pueblo of Doctor Green is an absurd littleblu ing game rom a simpler age.

Table talk is allowed. In act, its almost mandatory.

o Begin: Make a small pack o playing cards thatincludes three cards per player, one o which is the Ace o spades. It helps i the other cards arent Aces or spades.

Shu le the deck and deal three cards to each player.Whoever receives the Ace o spades is the thie , whoknows the secret location o Doctor Greens stolen pueb-lo. he thie must keep his identity a secret, and try toescape. I he is discovered, he loses!

On Each urn: Play starts with a random player andmoves le t. On your turn, you must do one o the ollow-ing three things:

1: Hand a card to another player. You cant handaway the Ace o spades unless it is your last card. 2: Ask another player to hand you a card. Again,they cannot hand you the Ace o spades unless it is theirlast card. 3: Accuse a player of being the thief. I you ind thethie , you win. However, i you are wrong, you must handthat player two cards. Again you cant hand away the Aceo spades unless it is your last card.

Dropping Out: I any player other than the thie runsout o cards, they lose and must drop out o the game.

Winning: I you are not the thie , you can win in one o two ways. You can win by identi ying the thie , or you canwin by collecting six cards.

I you are the thie , you can only win by running out o cards. When you give away the Ace o spades, you win,even i that also gives another player six cards.


Players: 2Playing ime: 10 minutes per hand

Equipment: A deck o playing cards (Jokers areoptional), and seven coins or poker chips.

Seven-Handed Poker is a clever little way to play poker, designed by Joshua Howard and Evelina Shin.

o Begin: Make a line o seven coins across themiddle o the table, as shown above. Each player willplace a poker hand at each o the seven spots.

Shu le the deck and deal a hand o seven cards toeach player. Determine randomly who will go irst,then take turns.

On Your urn: Place a hand o one to ive cards,rom your hand, ace down on the table. Announcethe number o cards you are playing. Your opponentthen chooses where you must put those cards. hey go on your side o the table, in any empty spot.

A ter you play, you always draw three cards romthe deck. Your hand will grow and shrink dependingon how many cards you play.

Showdowns: As soon as any coin has cards on bothsides, turn those cards ace up. he better Pokerhand wins the coin. o indicate the winner, move thecoin onto the winning hand, as shown above. I thetwo hands are tied, the coin stays in the middle andthe hand counts as a win or both players.

Note: When comparing hands o di erent sizes, akicker is better than nothing.

Winning: o win the game, win three adjacent hands or our hands all together . Because there can be tiedhands, its also possible to have a tie game.

Variation: he game can be played with or withoutJokers. For a list o poker hands, see page 10.

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Seven-Handed P


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Players: 3-7Playing ime: 20 minutesEquipment: A deck o playing cards without Jokers, ascore pad, and 20 coins or chips or each player.

Penniless and Insane is a simple auction game with a twist:the lowest bid takes the best stu , but the object is to run outo money.

You are a rustrated artist nearing the end o a wasted li e.With no inspiration and a lackluster body o work, your newambition is to die penniless and insane. You believe that thisinal desperate act will make your work more valuable, whichonly proves youre already insane.

You will spend your last ew dollars buying art rom stu-dents, apprentices, riends, and total strangers. You thenhope to pass this work o as your own, a ter your inevitableand ast-approaching death.

However, since all the best artists are still young and ide-alistic, they care little or your money. In act, the less money you o er them, the better the art you will get.

Structure: his game is scored over multiple rounds.Each round consists o three tricks.

Starting Each Round: Every player starts each roundwith exactly $20 in chips. Shu le the deck and deal ahand o three cards to each player.

On Each rick: o begin the trick, deal cards ace up intothe middle o the table. hese cards represent pieces o art being o ered or sale. Deal one less card than there areplayers. For example, i there are our players, you will putout three cards.

o bid on this art, each player now chooses one card

rom his hand, and plays it ace down. his card is yourbid , and it determines when you will act in the auction, aswell as how much money you will pay or your art.

o act irst, you want to play a low card. o spend moremoney, you want to play a high card. But be care ul: thehighest card in each trick o ten gets nothing!

A ter all the bids are down, reveal them. he lowestcard on the table acts irst. Aces are worth 1 point, andJacks, Queens and Kings are worth 11, 12, and 13 pointsrespectively.

Suit distinguishes between cards o the same rank,with clubs being the lowest, ollowed by diamonds,hearts, and spades. his means that the en o clubs islower than, and will act be ore, the en o hearts.

When the action comes to you, you do three things.First, you discard the card you played. Second, you takeany single card rom the selection on the table, and put it

into your hand. hird, you pay an amount o money equalto the ace value o your bid card. his money leaves thegame.

I you do not have enough money to pay or your bid,you dont get the art. Instead, you must take back your bidcard and pay nothing.

I you are the last player to act, it is possible that therewill be no cards or you to take (because the pool alwaysstarts with one less card than there are players). In thiscase, you will take back your bid card and pay nothing.

I there are any cards le t in the pool a ter every playerhas acted, discard them. You will deal a total o threetricks and then take score or the round.

Scoring: A ter three tricks, score your hands. Each cardin your hand is worth its ace value. Penniless Bonus: he player with the least moneyscores triple points or his cards. his is your bonus orgetting as close as possible to penniless and insane. I multiple players are tied or the least money, they eachearn triple points.

Remember to start the next round with $20 each.

Winning: Record your scores a ter each round. he win-ner is the irst player to score 150 points or more.

For a gambling variant, put all spent money into a potinstead o removing it rom the game, and award the potto the winner(s) o each round.



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Players: 2-10Playing ime: 2 minutes per handEquipment: A deck o playing cards without Jokers, andpoker chips.

Willow is a poker-like gambling game with a simpler hand structure. Each player has two cards. The best hand is a pair,and the other hands are ranked by the di erence between thecards. The greater the di erence, the better the hand.

he Deck: Willow uses a deck o 36 cards. Remove theJokers, Kings, and all cards o one suit rom a standarddeck. What remains are three suits, Ace through Queen.In this game, Aces are the highest pair, but are worth onepoint. Jacks are 11 points, and Queens are 12.

Bet Limits: Willow can have any structure, similar topoker. his version is a spread-limit game with bets o 1-10 on the irst round, and 2-20 on the second. Notethat in this structure there is no minimum raise (i oneplayer raises 10, the next player can still raise 1). It is alsonot legal to check; you must bet (or call) at least 1, or old.

Game Play: Each player antes one coin to start the hand.Shu le the deck and deal one card to each player, acedown. Starting on the dealers le t, each player has thechoice to open the betting, or old. Bets and raises on theirst round can be any amount rom 1 to 10. here is alimit o one bet and three raises.

A ter the irst betting round, each player receives asecond card, ace up. here is a second betting round, alsostarting on the dealers le t, in which the limits are 2 to20. Again, checking is not an option; you must either bet,call, raise, or old.

he Showdown: he best hand is a pair, with Aces beingthe highest pair. Note that there is no way to have tied

pairs, since there are only three o each card.I no one has a pair, then the best hand is the one withthe biggest di erence between the two cards. For exam-ple, a 2-10 beats a 5-Q becase 2-10 has a gap o 8, and 5-Q has a gap o 7. Aces count as ones or this type o hand.

I two hands have the same spread, then the hand withthe highest card is better. I there are identical hands, thepot is divided among them. ( he odd coin in this splitgoes to the earlier betting position.)

he role o dealer passes to the le t a ter each hand.


About the Cheapass Games Poker Suite:

Unless noted, all game designs are by James Ernest.

Abandon Ship was published in Dragon Magazinein 2000, and also appeared as Shipwreck in Chie

Hermans Next Big Thing , 2003.

Barcelona and Willow are previously unpublished.

Boneyard: A version o this game appeared inChange, a collection o three card games with aZombie Fast Food theme, in 1999.

Brain Baseball was originally designed as a way toconsume overprinted bid cards rom Give Me the Brain. he game was retooled and published in Chie Hermans Holiday Fun Packin 2000.

Caribbean Star was designed by James Ernest andCarol Monahan while cruising in Alaska, or thegame design textbook Rules o Playin 2003. It alsoappeared in Chie Hermans Next Big Thing.

Following Suit and Hey, Bartender! were pub-lished in Game Trade Monthly in 1999 and later inChie Hermans Holiday Fun Pack.

Lamarckian Poker was designed by James Ernestand Dave Howell in 1996, and was published inGAMES Magazinein 1999. It also appeared in Chie Hermans Next Big Thing as Darwinian Poker.

Last Man Standing and Lost Pueblo of DoctorGreen appeared in Chie Hermans Holiday Fun Pack.

Penniless and Insane appeared in 2002 in WireHed Magazine, and in Chie Hermans Next Big Thing.

Seven-Handed Poker was designed by JoshuaHoward and Evelina Shin. It appeared in Chie Hermans Next Big Thing,and is also playable withinMSN Messenger. Nice work, Joshua!

Spots was designed by James Ernest and CarolMonahan. It appeared in the 2000 Origins registra-tion book and in Chie Hermans Holiday Fun Pack.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial - NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copyo this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street,Suite 300, San Francisco, Cali ornia, 94105, USA. There is a brie

license rights summary on the ollowing page.


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Our Creative Commons Agreement

Summary: This work is licensed under the CreativeCommons Attribution - Non Commercial - NoDerivs 3.0Unported License. To view a copy o this license, visit:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite

300, San Francisco, Cali ornia, 94105, USA.

Tis agreement means...

You are free:

to Share to copy, distribute and transmit the work (inthis case, the electronic fles that comprise the work).

Under the following conditions:

Attribution You must attribute the work in the man-ner specifed by the licensor (but not in any way that suggeststhat they endorse you or your use o the work). In this case,TeCheapass Games Poker Suite is 2011 James Ernest and Cheapass Games: www.cheapass.com.

Noncommercial You may not use this work or com-mercial purposes.

No Derivative Works You may not alter, trans orm, or build upon this work.

With the understanding that:

Waiver Any o the above conditions can be waived i you get permission rom the copyright holder. (For example, a licenseto manu acture, or approval to distribute a new set o rules or graphics, can be obtained under a separate agreement.)

Public Domain Where the work or any o its elementsis in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in noway a ected by the license.

Other Rights In no way are any o the ollowing rightsa ected by the license:

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Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.

Notice For any reuse or distribution, you mustmake clear to others the license terms o this work. Tatmeans including all pages o this document, unaltered.

Free? Seriously?ell me a little more about that.

Okay, heres the deal. I I made a great game and soldit to you or ten bucks, Id probably keep about a dollar.I I sold it to a big game company, theyd probably make a nicer version or thirty bucks, and Id still getabout a dollar.

he rest o your money would go to printers, distribu-tors, retail stores, and at least three reight companies. And most o those guys dont know anything aboutwhat makes a great game.

Mass-producing entertainment is a gamble. Its a con-voluted way or creators to protect their intellectualproperty, by selling it in a way that is prohibitively expensive to counter eit. And its getting a little old.

Why do you pay $30 or a board game? he story goeslike this: the retail price o a game covers the cost o manu acturing it, and there is no way you could makeyour own copy or that price, to say nothing o thehassle o inding little wooden men in six colors. So,its worth $30 because it costs $30, QED.

But the value in a board game isnt the manu acturingcost. Its the play value. Un ortunately, this means thatsome games are priced way out o whack with whatthey are worth. And because the big gamble doesntalways work out, some o your money actually helps

pay or the stu that goes straight to the dump.

Ive decided to try a di erent gamble. Im giving my games away or ree. his way, you can read the rules,make a copy, and even play the thing, be ore youdecide what its worth.

I you do like my games, I hope you will send me somemoney. But Im also hoping you will share this experi-ment with your riends. You are my sales orce, my marketing department, my demo team.

Youre also my testers, so i you can think o ways toimprove my games, please share them with me. Imeasy to ind at big gaming conventions, and even easi-er online. Look or Cheapass Games on Facebook, ordrop me a line at [email protected].

I we do this right, we will get amous and do shavingads. But more importantly, we will prove that there isa better way or a creator to pro it rom his work.

And nothing has to go to the dump.


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