Custom Sabacc Cards

Sabacc, a card game played in STAR WARS, I've created my own deck of Sabacc cards ... not bad huh ? It certainly took me long enough to make.

Cards are numbered and valued:

ACE: Value of 15
#1 - 11: Valued accordingly
Commander: Value of 12
Mistress: Value of 13
Master: Value of 14

Suits from top to bottom:
Flasks
Coins
Sabers
Staves

The last row of cards are called and are valued at:
My Signature card (not an actual card)
(FACE CARDS)
Queen of Air and Darkness: Value of -2
Endurance: Value of -8
Balance: Value of -11
Demise: Value of -13
Moderation: Value of -14
The Evil One: Value of -15
The Star: Value of -17
The backs of the cards.
And the two "Idiots": Value of 0


HOW TO PLAY!!!!

Number of Players: As many as can sit at a table; but usually seats are provided for no more than seven or eight players. Players take turns as the dealer each hand, in a clockwise fashion.

The Pack: Custom 76 card Sabacc Deck. The Dealer will often take a blank card which is never dealt, but is faced up at the bottom of the pack to mark location of the last of the shuffled cards.

The Shuffle and Cut: Dealer and any other player who wishes may shuffle portions of the pack until all cards have been shuffled and combined. Any player may cut the pack. The extra card (the blank) is placed face up at the bottom.

Chips/Credits: In friendly play, the lowest valued chip is generally equal to 10 credits, or is played for the sake of no exchange of credits after the hand. In casino play, or darker circles, the lowest value is rarely under 100 credits and often 1000 credits.

Object of the Game: To have the highest positive card total, which is less than or equal to 23, or to have a negative 23. A hand that totals to more than 23 or less than negative 23, or totals zero, is called a "bomb", and you may have to pay a penalty. (see the Variations section for details)

Ante: Everyone wishing to play (plus the house/dealer) must ante one chip of the base value into both the Hand Pot and the Sabacc Pot.

The Deal: The Dealer deals out one card to each player, including himself, in rotation, and then repeats another rotation. Thus each player including the dealer has two cards face down.

Progression of Play: Each hand is played in rounds. A round consists of the following four phases: Betting, Shifting, Calling, and Drawing.

Betting: Beginning with the player to the dealer's left, each player may elect to either bet or fold. In friendly games, the maximum bet/raise is determined ahead of time, and is normally 10 chips. However, this can be any amount the players desire. Casinos will generally have a more strict betting sytem, explained in the Variations section below.

Going clockwise from that player, each person must match the previous bet to stay in the hand. They may also raise the bet to a new amount. The amount of the raise can be no more than the predetermined maximum, again, normally 10 chips.

Bets are made to the Hand Pot only. If a raise is made, all players must at least match the new bet amount to stay in the hand. When no one wishes to raise anymore, the betting phase is over.

Winning a Hand: When a hand has been called, everyone turns their cards face up. Whichever player has the highest card total of 23 or less wins the hand and the chips in the Hand Pot. If two or more players are tied for the winning hand a sudden demise is carried out. Each player is dealt another card and added to their hand. The best modified hand is the winner.

The Sabacc Pot is won only on two conditions, and if no one meets either of these conditions, the Sabacc Pot is carried over to the next hand. If a player has exactly 23 or exactly negative 23, they have a Pure Sabacc, and win both the Hand Pot and the Sabacc Pot. A player holding an Idiot's Array holds the highest possible hand in Sabacc and beats even Pure Sabacc hands, taking both the Hand Pot and the Sabacc Pot. An Idiot's Array is a Zero (The Idiot), a 2, and a 3 (literally 023). A sudden demise is used in the case of a tie on these special hands as well. If on the sudden demise the players are still tied, then they split the winnings.

Should both players have hands that are "bombs" on a sudden demise, then both player pay any "bomb" penalties (if that common variant rule is being used), and the winner of the hand is the person holding the next highest hand, excluding anyone who folded. If no other winners are avaiable, no one wins, and the Hand Pot moves into the Sabacc Pot and a new hand is played.