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Playing Games ... Pirate Style!
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July 2 2007 |
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| Have some time to kill between battles? Looking for some extra booty? Then jump into an exciting game of poker or blackjack! But be sure to keep your wits about you trickery and cheating are never far away when pirates are involved!
Quick Fact: The dealers in all parlor games are NPCs, non-player characters. Pirates cant be trusted to deal on their own, can they?
Poker: The goal? Win the pot (all the gold bet by you and by other players). A pirate doesnt necessarily have to have the best hand (combination of cards) to win they just have to convince everybody else that they have the best hand. A skilled player soon learns when to go for an actual win, when to bluff, and when its time to fold.
While there are several games within poker, there is only one set of poker hands. In most cases, if two players have the same kind of hand, the ranking (numerical value) of the cards will determine the winner.
Royal Flush: an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, all in the same suit
Straight Flush: any five cards of the same suit in sequence (example: Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, all in Spades)
Four of a kind: four cards of the same rank (example: four Kings). The fifth card doesnt matter.
Full House: three cards of one rank with two cards of another rank (example: three Tens, two Jacks).
Flush: any five cards of the same suit (example: Two, Five, Eight, Jack and Ace of Hearts).
Straight: five cards in sequence but in any suit (example: Two of Hearts, Three of Spades, Four of Clubs, Five of Hearts, Six of Spades).
Three of a Kind: three cards of the same rank (example: three Sixes). The other two cards dont matter.
Two Pair: two pairs of any two cards of equal rank (example: two Nines and two Kings). The fifth card doesnt matter unless another player also has, for example two Nines and Kingsthen the rank of the remaining card determines the winner.
Pair: two cards of equal rank (example: two Nines). If another player has two Nines, the highest of the three remaining cards determines the winner.
High Card: If no combination can be made, the player with the highest ranking card in hand wins.
Tortuga Hold Em: This form of poker uses seven cards. The dealer begins by giving each pirate two cards face down. Only each pirate sees their two face-down cards until the showdown. Next comes the first round of betting, beginning with the pirate to the dealers left, and going clockwise from there. Betting continues until all bets are matched. Pirates may fold (quit) at any time.
Dealer then gives each pirate three cards face up, followed by another round of betting. The dealer then deals the last card face up, followed by a fourth round of betting.
Pirates then make the best five-card hand they can out of their seven cards. They may use their face-down cards or not, depending if they need them. The best hand wins the pot. If all but one pirate folds, that pirate gets the pot. If two pirates have the same hand, they split the pot.
Seven-Card Stud: The dealer starts by giving each pirate two cards face down and one card face up. The first round of betting begins with the pirate with the highest ranking face-up card. If two or more pirates have the same ranking card (example: all Eights), then the suit determines the high card. Suits rank as follows: Spades (highest), Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds (lowest).
The dealer then gives each player a fourth card face up. The second round of betting begins with the pirate whose two face-up cards form the best hand (example: two Threes beats a Five and a King). The dealer then gives each pirate a fifth and sixth card face up, with a round of betting after each, beginning with the pirate whose face-up cards show the best poker hand. The dealer then gives each pirate their last card facing down, and the last round of betting is begun by the pirate whose face-up cards show the best poker hand.
The winner is the pirate who can make the best five-card hand out of their seven cards.
Blackjack: Easy as pie, this game is. Your aim is to collect enough cards to equal 21 points, or as close to 21 points as you can get without going over. If you go over 21, you lose. Heres how to count them:
Ace = 1 point or 11, whichever you need most
2-9 = card number value
10, Jack, Queen, King = 10
Quick Fact: Suits dont matter. All that matters is the cards number value.
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