Post by colinaut on Nov 23, 2016 2:39:16 GMT
Sit down to play poker with a group — ideally they should be completely unaware that you are playing with a Heckadeck. As soon as one of the players gets a non-traditional card and asks "What the hell is this?" tell them that the first person to play a hand with a non-traditional card gets to say how the card is played and if it does anything special. This then sets in stone the card's value and ability in a strange poker hand until the game session is over. Once the cards are done and put away for the evening all new rules vanish into the aether. When next a new game of Strange Poker begins this process begins again.
Here are some example rules for "non-traditional cards". Feel free to use these or ignore them and create your own:
Here are some example rules for "non-traditional cards". Feel free to use these or ignore them and create your own:
- Beast Cards can be played in between any two face cards (as the Beast runs between their legs) but the other face cards must be in order to form a straight. For instance, J B Q K A or 10 J B Q K are both straights but 10 J B K A is not.
- Hunter Cards only fit between 10s and Jacks in a straight (though aren't required to form a straight). Hunters also kill all Beast cards in played hands nullifying any players who's hands required the Beast.
- The Darkness makes it so no one wins the hand and any money stays in the pot for the next round.
- When the Crone is played as part of a hand the pot is stolen and becomes part of the Crone's pot. At the end of the game any money in the Crone's pot is given to the player with the least money at the end of the game.
- The Watcher can be played as part of any hand to complete a flush or a straight flush. If a player wins with a Watcher as part of their hand they win the money in the Crone's pot and the money in the main pot gets put in the Crone's pot.
- Traveler Cards can be anywhere as part of any straight flush as long as the cards around it still are in proper order and allow the straight flush to switch suits in mid stream: 2(Diamonds),3(Diamonds),T(Diamonds/Swords),4(Swords),5(Swords) is a valid straight flush and is worth more than a straight flush with 12345 all in Diamonds. But 23T56 is not a valid straight flush as the 4 is missing. Travelers may not be used in a normal straight.
Some alternate even stranger rules:
- Traveler Cards may be given to another player in exchange for one of their cards chosen at random
- The Darkness Card when played requires everyone to discard one card from their played hand. This can very well invalidate a powerful hand.
- The Darkness Card when played in a winning hand means that any money in the pot is immediately burned in a ceremonial pyre
- The Watcher Card can be given to another player and then the player who gave it can look at that players hand. If that player wins the pot during that round then they get half the winnings
- A 0 Card when played as part of a set such as a pair of 0s or a Full House with 0s (called an Empty House) is a void waiting to be filled. As nature abhors a vacuum, the player may take any other pairs that other players have played to complete their set. If this means they win then they share the pot with the other player whom they stole the pair from.
- The omnihedrons are space portals allowing any card in play that matches the suit color to be duplicated into your hand. The Talisman acts like a omnihedron for any color suit.
- The arrows can be used to reverse direction in a straight: 8,9,arrow,87 is a valid straight.