Cards and games

[edg]

A few days ago - probably Monday - I mentioned that I'd been thinking about an RPG system based on community-card poker. This is what I have in my head so far (cut away, so that people who aren't gamers or aren't interested can sit this hand out)...

For lack of a superior name, I'll call this Baltimore draw 'em. This system is based loosely on Texas hold 'em, but has some significant differences.

In case it's not obvious, all of this text is ©2004 me, although some of the content - particularly the rules and terminology of poker - is in the public domain. This phrasing, though? All mine, baby.

First, a brief glossary for folks who aren't familiar with poker:

• Face value: the number or letter printed on the card. From best to worst: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (or T), J(ack), Q(ueen), K(ing), A(ce). Baltimore draw 'em allows players to play aces as low cards (one lower than 2, rather than one higher than King) for the purpose of making a straight (see below). However, aces do not connect 2 to King. Baltimore draw 'em does not use wild cards.
  
  
• Suit: the symbol used on the card along with the number. The suits are Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs. When listing cards in a hand, these are typically listed to the right of the face value in lower-case initials: 2h is the 2 of Hearts, Td is the 10 of diamonds, KJc is the King and Jack of clubs. When the suit of the card doesn't matter or is unspecified, it is denoted as an x: 2x is an unspecified 2. No single suit is more highly valued than another.
  
  
• Hand: the set of five cards played by one player, or a single instance of a game of poker, beginning with shuffling the cards and ending with the awarding of the pot. Players make hands from their hole cards and the board (see below); the highest-ranking hand, of the hands played, wins. Hands are ranked as follows, in ascending order from worst to best:
  
  
  • No pair or high card - a hand which has no other value, ranked by its high card. Ac-Qd-10s-7d-4h is a no-pair hand, and beats Kc-Qh-10c-7s-4d because the Ace ranks higher than the King.
    
  • One pair - a hand which contains two cards of the same face value. 10d-10h-5x-4x-2x is a one-pair hand.
    
  • Two pair - a hand which contains two sets of two cards, each set with the same face value. 10d-10h-5s-5c-4x is a two-pair hand.
    
  • Three of a kind - a hand which contains three cards of the same face value. 10d-10h-10s-5x-4x is a three-of-a-kind hand.
    
  • Straight - a hand which contains five cards in sequential order by face value, regardless of suit. 10x-9x-8x-7x-6x is a straight. Because aces can be played low to make a straight, both 5x-4x-3x-2x-Ax and Ax-Kx-Qx-Jx-10x are valid straights. 3x-2x-Ax-Kx-Qx is not, however, since aces do not connect; it's a no-pair, unless it's a flush (see below), and should be written Ax-Kx-Qx-3x-2x.
    
  • Flush - a hand which contains five cards of the same suit, regardless of face value. Ac-Qc-10c-7c-4c is a flush.
    
  • Full house - a hand which contains one three of a kind and one pair, regardless of suit. 10d-10c-10s-5s-5d is a full house. A full house is often referred to as "[three of a kind] full of [pair]" - the example would be "tens full of fives".
    
  • Four of a kind - a hand which contains four cards of the same face value. 10s-10d-10c-10h-5x is a four-of-a-kind hand.
    
  • Straight flush - a hand which contains five cards of the same suit in sequential order. 10c-9c-8c-7c-6c is a straight flush. The highest-ranked hand in Baltimore draw 'em is a royal flush: an ace-high straight flush - Ah-Kh-Qh-Jh-10h, for example, although it might be any suit.
  
  
  During showdown (see below), hands are compared against one another to see which ranks highest; a hand beats any lower-ranking hand regardless of the face value of the cards, but among hands of the same rank, the face value determines the winner. (In other words, 6h-5h-4h-3h-2h beats Ad-Ac-Ah-As-Kx, because a straight flush is more highly ranked than four of a kind; but 7d-6d-5d-4d-3d beats 6h-5h-4h-3h-2h, since the 7 beats the 6.)
  
  If two hands have the same rank and the same face values on the ranking cards (Ah-Ad-Kc-10s-9x and As-Ac-Qd-10c-7x, for example), the kicker - the highest-ranking card that does not normally contribute to the value of the hand - determines the winner. In this case, the first hand wins, since the King beats the Queen. If kickers are identical in face value, the comparison continues through descending cards until one hand wins or there are no more cards left in either hand, in which case the hand is a tie. (If the hands had been Ah-Ad-Kc-10s-9x and As-Ac-Kd-10c-7x, the first hand would have won because the 9 beats the 7; with Ah-Ad-Kc-10s-9x and As-Ac-Kd-10c-9x, it would have resulted in a tie.)
  
  
• Hole cards: private cards, dealt face-down to each player, which are not shown to the rest of the table until showdown (see below).
  
  
• The board: the set of face-up community cards which may be used by any player to make a hand. (When you make a hand with cards from the board, you do not actually take those cards into your hand; more than one player may use a given community card to make a hand.)
  
  
• The muck: the pile of discarded cards. "Mucking" a card is discarding it from a hand; "mucking" a hand is folding, or discarding a hand during showdown without revealing its value. (Mucking during showdown has the same effect as folding: you are no longer eligible to win the pot. The only exception to this is when all other players fold to you, in which case you are not required to show your cards before collecting the pot.
  
  
• Burn cards: cards dealt directly into the muck. This is done to prevent cheating (via marked cards, etc.).
  
  
• The dealer: the player who distributes the cards from the deck to the board and the other players (and himself), who collects the cards at the end of each hand, and who is responsible for shuffling the deck at the beginning of each hand.
  
  
• The button: a token that represents the "dealer" in games where the dealer is not a player. The button moves one seat to the left at the beginning of every hand. Dealing and betting both start to the dealer's left.
  
  
• Draw: to remove (or be dealt) a card from the deck into your own hand.
  
  
• Fold: to remove yourself from a hand by mucking your cards. A player who folds must not show his cards to the other players, and is no longer eligible to win the pot. If at any point all but one of the players have folded, the remaining player automatically wins the pot.
  
  
• Phases: the five sections of a Baltimore draw 'em hand:
  
  
  • Deal - the dealer burns one card and then distributes hole cards to each player; the number depends on certain characteristics of each player. This is discussed in more detail below.
    
  • Bet - the first betting round. Players place bets based on the value of the hole cards they have received. Bets continue until all remaining players have called the bet (see below).
    
  • Board - the dealer deals four community cards, dealing a burn card before and after. During this section, players may discard some of their hole cards and draw new ones to replace them. The number of cards which may be replaced depends on certain characteristics of each player. This is discussed in more detail below.
    
  • Bet - the second betting round. Players place bets based on the value of the best hand they can make between their hole cards and the board. Bets continue until all remaining players have called.
    
  • Showdown - if more than one player is left, each player reveals his hole cards and declares the hand he is making. (This must be a hand that can be made between the player's hole cards and the board.) These hands are then compared to determine the winner. If only one player is left, he automatically wins the pot and may discard his hand without showing it to the other players.
  
  
  
• Betting: There are four legal bets:
  
  
  • Check - you abstain from betting, but do not fold (and reserve the right to call or raise in the future). This can only be done when there have been no previous bets in this phase. A check is essentially a call (see below) of the previous no-bet.
    
  • Bet or Open - you place a number of chips into the pot to start the betting. This can only be done when there have been no previous bets in this phase, and the number of chips you place in the pot may be subject to limits and minimums (see below).
    
  • Call or See - you place exactly the number of chips into the pot that is required to match previous bets. For example, if the person two seats ahead of you bet $3, and the person one seat ahead of you raised (see below) $6, to make his total bet $9, you would need to put $9 into the pot in order to call.
    
  • Raise - you place more chips into the pot than are required to match previous bets. If you need to bet $3 to call, and you put $6 into the pot, you have raised $3. Raises, like bets, may be subject to limits, both on the number of chips you put in and on the number of raises that may be made in a given phase.
  
  
  There are also forced bets, which help to encourage action:
  
  
  • Blinds - two players, to the left of the dealer (or the player with the dealer button), must put small bets into the pot before any cards are dealt. The player immediately to the left of the dealer must put in half of the minimum bet (the "small blind"), and the player to his left must put in the full amount of the bet (the "big blind"). Betting then starts with the player to the big blind's left; all players must call the big blind in order to stay in the hand. Both blinds may count their initial bets toward any calls or raises they make (which means that, if nobody has raised the bet, the player with the big blind is not required to place additional chips into the pot in order to call). In addition, if the big blind need only call in order to proceed (in other words, if nobody else has raised the bet), he may raise instead of calling. This is only done on the first round of betting. (For example, the small blind is $1, and the big blind is $3. Everybody around the table calls the $3. When the betting returns to the big blind, he may end the betting phase by calling (and putting nothing more into the pot), or he may raise. If he calls, the hand continues to the board phase; if he raises, and everyone around the table calls his raise (without raising on their own), he does not get another opportunity to raise.)
    
    Blinds occur before the hand is dealt, and at no other time during the hand.
    
    
  • Ante - literally a "before" bet. Every player must put a small amount into the pot before the hole cards are dealt. This does not technically count as a bet, and players may check if they wish (and if circumstances allow).
  
  
  
• Limits: limitations placed on bets and raises, both minimums and maximums. There are five kinds of limits, one of which is unrelated to the others:
  
  
  • No limit - bets and raises may be any amount the player wishes.
    
  • Fixed limit - bets and raises are limited to a specific value. A player in a $3-limit game cannot make a bet or raise of any value other than $3. (This applies to each individual bet or raise, not the total investment a player makes in the pot.) Fixed limits usually double for the second round of betting; a $3-$6 game has a $3 limit on the first round, and a $6 limit on the second round.
    
  • Spread limit - bets and raises must be between a set minimum and a set maximum. A player in a five-to-ten game may bet or raise anywhere from $5 to $10. (Again, this applies only to each individual bet or raise.) Some games raise the maximum during the second round of betting.
    
  • Pot limit - bets and raises are limited to a maximum of what is currently in the pot. The minimum bet or raise is determined only by the smallest chip the player has. (Once more, this applies only to each individual bet or raise.)
    
  • Raise limits - these have nothing to do with bet limits, and instead place a maximum on the number of raises that can be made in a given phase. Very often, games are capped at three raises per game phase.
  
  

I think that's all you need to know. Looks complicated, doesn't it? It really isn't, once you get the hang of it; and poker, especially at low limits, can go pretty fast once the players are used to it.

So - the game system.

First: characters have two salient statistics:

• Attributes: These are basic characteristics of the character. The canonical attributes are Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wits, Awareness, and Resolve. All attributes are rated from 1 to 5.
  
  
• Skills: These are more specialized abilities. Nearly anything that can be learned or practiced can be a skill: Running, Mathematics, Performance, Lockpicking, etc. All skills are rated from 1 to 5.

I'll probably actually create a list of canonical skills at some point, too.

The way the system works is slightly different from the Baltimore draw 'em I've described above:

Before the hand: The GM must decide whether this is a simple contest, a hidden contest, or a full contest. A simple contest is a test of the character against something that isn't another character, where the results are obvious. A hidden contest is identical to a simple contest, except that the character won't know if he's succeeding until showdown. A full contest is a test of the character against another PC or NPC.

• In a simple contest, the GM declares a difficulty, expressed in terms of a target hand which the character must beat. Easy tasks should have target hands of no-pairs or single pairs; moderately difficult tasks should have targets of two pair or three-of-a-kind; very difficult tasks should have target hands of straights or flushes, and extremely difficult tasks should have targets of four-of-a-kind or straight flushes.
  
  
• In a hidden contest, the target hands are the same as in simple contests, but the GM writes the target down out of sight of the player, instead of declaring it aloud, and only reveals it after showdown.
  
  
• In a full contest, the GM actually plays a hand against the character. Full contests should be rare - GMs are encouraged to reduce them to hidden or simple contests whenever possible.

Betting can reduce the value of a target hand, in simple or hidden contests. Each chip that a player bets reduces the difficulty by one face value on each named card; if this reduces a named (or implied) card below its minimum possible value, the target moves to the next worst hand, at its highest possible value. For example, if the target hand is "jacks full of sevens", and a player bets two chips, the target hand drops to "nines full of fives"; if the target hand is a five-high flush, and the player bets two chips, the first chip reduces the target to an ace-high straight, and the second drops it to a King-high straight.

GMs may set minimum difficulties, which are always kept secret; regardless of how much a player bets, the target hand will never fall below this point. GMs are encouraged to remember that the lowest possible hand is a no-pair with a 7 as the high card. (A high card of 5 or 6 is either a pair of some kind or a straight; a high card of 3 or 2 requires at least a pair.)

In full contests, betting is done normally between the player and the GM.

Players are encouraged to remember that it is polite to wait their turn before acting - including the act of folding.

• Ante: Each player involved in the action must place one chip into his pot, which is shared between him and the GM (or another player, if this is a PC-vs.-PC competition). A player who cannot ante (due to lack of chips) may still participate, but if he wins the hand, he only receives one chip.
  
  
• The Deal: The GM deals each player a number of hole cards equal to the rating of the attribute his character is using. The GM also receives cards, if this is a full contest.
  
  
• Bet 1: Players may add to their pot, if they want to increase the effort their character is exerting. This reduces the difficulty of a simple or hidden contest; in a full contest, betting proceeds normally as it would in a normal poker game.
  
  
• The Board: The GM deals four community cards to the board. These represent the environmental conditions in which the contest is taking place. During this phase, players may muck and replace a total number of cards equal to the rating of the skill their characters are using, and may discard and refill any number of times until they've drawn new cards equal to their character's skill. The GM may do so as well, if this is a full contest. Once a card is discarded, it cannot be retrieved.
  
  
• Bet 2: Based on their new cards and the board, players may choose to increase their effort by adding to their pot, as in Bet 1.
  
  
• Showdown: The players reveal their hole cards and declare their best hand. If this beats the target hand (which, in the case of a hidden or full contest, the GM must now also reveal), the character succeeds; if it does not, the character fails. The difference between the ranks of the two hands - 1 for each face value difference between the top cards, and 15 for each hand-rank difference - determines the degree of success or failure. In a simple or hidden contest in which the player won, the GM keeps half of the chips - rounded up - that each character bets, plus one (the ante); in a simple or hidden contest where the GM won, the GM takes all of the chips in the pot; and in a full contest, the winner takes all of the chips in the pot.

[EDIT] Thanks to telerib's relentless pursuit of the truth, here's a better explanation of degrees of success and failure:

If your hand is the same rank as the target hand, but has a different value - let's say you have 10d-10h-9h-9s-5s and the difficulty is "two pair, eights and fours" - then you compare the highest-valued card in your hand against the highest-valued card in the target hand; the difference is the degree of success. In this case, you'd have a degree of success of 2 (10-8) - a marginal success.

If your hand is not the same rank as the target hand, then you still compare the highest-valued card in your hand against the highest-valued card in the target hand, but you add 15 for every rank you are above the difficulty, or subtract 15 for every rank you're below.

So let's say I have 3d-3h-3s-2h-2s, and the difficulty is "two pair, eights and fours". My high card is 3, and the target hand's high card is 8, so I start out with -5. But my hand is four ranks higher than the target hand, so I add 60 to that, for a total of 55 - a spectacular success.

Similarly, if I draw As-10d-6s-4h-2c (an ace-high no-pair), and the target hand is "a pair of 2s", my high card gives me a +12 to start with - but because my hand is ranked lower than the target hand, I take a -15 to the degree of success. Result: -3, a marginal failure.

(The maximum degree of success in this system is 127 - a royal flush defeating a 7-high no-pair. Likewise, the maximum degree of failure is -127, for a 7-high no-pair against a target royal flush.)

Degrees of success or failure:
-60 or lower	Abysmal failure
-45 to -59	Horrible failure
-30 to -44	Miserable failure
-15 to -29	Painful failure
-5 to -14	Irritating failure
-1 to -4	Marginal failure
0 to 4	Marginal success
5 to 14	Solid success
15 to 30	Excellent success
31 to 44	Triumphant success
45 to 59	Amazing success
60 or higher	Spectacular success

An example of play

Bob is playing Olaf, the Viking Out Of Time. Olaf is chasing an automobile down the streets of Manhattan, so Adrienne, the GM, asks Bob to make a Dexterity/Running check. (Bob says "Well, Olaf has Chasing Down The Lesser Creatures, can I use that?" Adrienne sighs, says "Yes, your difficulty's going to be fives full of twos", and makes a mental note never to let Bob make characters on his own again.)

Bob tosses in his ante, and Adrienne deals him four cards, since Olaf has Dexterity 4. (This is a friendly game, so Adrienne doesn't burn any cards before she deals to Bob.) Bob sees 10h-10s-4h-2h, and drops five more chips into the pot. This lowers the target hand to a ten-high flush (the first chip converts fives full of twos to an ace-high flush, since it reduces at least one named card below 2; the other 4 chips drop the ace to a ten).

Adrienne now deals the board: 9h-8d-6d-4s. Bob sees one of the hearts he needs for a ten-high flush there. Olaf has Chasing Down The Lesser Creatures 3, so Bob mucks the 10s and requests a new card, which turns out to be 8c. Since this is no good, Bob mucks it and is dealt 5s. Also no good, so Bob mucks it and draws his final card - Qh, the heart he was looking for. He drops another three chips into the pot - reducing the target hand to a seven-high flush - and shows his final hand: Qh-10h-9h-4h-2h. This beats a seven-high flush by five, a solid success, and Olaf manages to catch up to the automobile as it stops at a traffic light. Bob and Adrienne split the pot, with four chips returning to Bob; Olaf is winded, but not badly, and he can smash the accountant inside the automobile with his axe on the next round. (If he can bash through the window.)

(Actually, Bob didn't make as good a play as he could have if he'd been thinking about it. A seven-high flush is the lowest possible flush - there are two flushes that start with lower values, but both are straight flushes and therefore have higher ranks - so, with one more chip, Bob could have pushed it down to an ace-high straight and added 8 to his degree of success, for a total of 13. Assuming, of course, that "seven-high flush" wasn't Adrienne's minimum.)

Comments

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

While I only mostly follow the mechanics, I am highly amused by the Viking Out of Time example. Hee. Run, Olaf, run!

[telerib.livejournal.com]

Eeenteresting.

Some questions:

Let's say the difficulty is "four of a kind" or higher. The player bets to bring it down to "full house" - "aces full of"... ? How do you decide the pair? As a player, I'd love "aces full of twos" so I'd only need one more chip to bring it down to a flush.

What's the face value of J, Q, K, A? 10s and either 1 or 11, as in blackjack?

Do each of the kinds of hands have a base value? If the difficulty is an ace-high straight (which would be a hand value of... 51?) and I have four of a kind (all 2s) and an ace, my hand value is only 19 - but the four of a kind beats the straight.



A simple contest is a test of the character against something that isn't another character, where the results are obvious. A hidden contest is identical to a simple contest, except that the character won't know if he's succeeding until showdown. A full contest is a test of the character against another PC or NPC.
...
Full contests should be rare - GMs are encouraged to reduce them to hidden or simple contests whenever possible.

So is combat (a frequent occurrence in many games) a simple, hidden or full contest?

[telerib.livejournal.com]

D'oh. "15 for each hand-rank difference." In my hypothetical case, there'd be +45 for the hand-rank differences, so the four of a kind would win.

Is that always the case? Is there any time the +15 might not be enough to ensure that the winning hand wins?

[edg.livejournal.com]

Ha! I knew someone would ask questions I didn't know the answers to. :)

In order:

- I'd make it "aces full of Kings", but that is a good question, and one I'll have to think about.

- Functionally, J=11, Q=12, K=13, and A=14. A can also =1 if you're making a 5-high straight.

- Within a hand rank (straight, full house, etc.), typically, the higher the total point value of the cards, the better the hand. However, between ranks, the higher-ranked card always wins. (And reading your most recent comment, I have misstated in the post itself. So let me clarify:

-- If your hand is the same rank as the difficulty, but has a different value - let's say you have 10d-10h-9h-9s-5s and the difficulty is "two pair, eights and fours" - then you compare the highest-valued card in your hand against the highest-valued card in the difficulty; the difference is the degree of success. In this case, you'd have a degree of success of 2 (10-8) - a marginal success.

-- If your hand is not the same rank as the difficulty, then you still compare the highest-valued card in your hand against the highest-valued card in the difficulty, but you add 15 for every rank you are above the difficulty, or subtract 15 for every rank you're below.

-- So let's say I have 3d-3h-3s-2h-2s, and the difficulty is "two pair, eights and fours". My high card is 3, and the difficulty's high card is 8, so I start out with -5. But my hand is four ranks higher than the difficulty, so I add 60 to that, for a total of 55 - a spectacular success.

--- (The maximum degree of success in this system is 127 - a royal flush defeating a 7-high no-pair. Likewise, the maximum degree of failure is -127.)

-- Similarly, if I draw As-10d-6s-4h-2c (an ace-high no-pair), and the difficulty is "a pair of 2s", my high card gives me a +12 to start with - but because my hand is ranked lower than the difficulty's target hand, I take a -15 to the degree of success. Result: -3, a marginal failure.

In other words, the point values don't actually affect whether the hand wins or loses; they reflect the amount by which that hand beat the target hand.

- I'm not sure about that. I'm thinking about assigning characters hand values for their defense based on their attributes and any armor they're wearing - sort of like Armor Class - meaning that combat could almost always be reduced to a hidden contest at most.

Thanks for bringing these up. I'll edit the post to clarify the degrees-of-success stuff.