Mass Cool Casino

A card game by Brian Sauer

This game requires a standard 52 card deck, and is suitable for 2-8 players. It is similar to war, but has a betting aspect. It is extremely easy to play and can be taught in a matter of minutes.

Terminology

• Bet - one card of any value
• Money - each player's pool of cards dealt face up in the beginning, and their accumulated winnings
• Hand - the card each player draws before betting begins

To begin the game, shuffle the deck. Then, each player is dealt cards face up. This is the player's money. If there are two players, each player recieves 10 cards. If there are three players, each player receives 8 cards. If there are 4 or more players, each player recieves 6 cards. Each player must receive the correct number of cards, even though the value of these cards will usually be unequal.

To start, each player draws a card and looks at it. This is the player's hand.

The dealer begins play by placing a bet using his/her "money". The bet consists of one or more cards placed face up on the table in front of the player. Keep in mind that the higher the card, the more it's worth. The player to the left then makes a bet. The value of the card does not matter, as long as they bet at least one card. Play continues to the left until a player shouts stop during their turn, thereby anouncing their intention to stop betting. When this happens, players continue to place bets until every player has bet the same number of cards (usually the values of different players' bets will not be equal).

Once betting has ended, all players reveal their hands. The highest card wins the pot, and the owner of this card collects all the players' bets and adds them to his/her money. In the event of a tie, all bets and hands are shuffled into the deck and the process is restarted.

In subsequent hands, players take turns in clockwise order to begin the betting.

A player who runs out of money is not required to match the number of cards that other players have bet, and betting continues as normal, skipping over that player. If the player without money does not win that pot, they lose and are out of the game.

The game ends when there are not enough cards left in the deck for every player to draw a hand. At this point, every player adds up the total value of their money. Aces are worth 1, number cards are worth their value, Jacks are worth 11, Queens 12, and Kings 16. The player with the highest total value is declared the winner.

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