CT Only: Gambling

[Supplement Four]

I like to create easy gambling games in the rpgs that I play. I don't care if a character is walking into a cantina on Tatooine, Conan is walking into tavern in Aquilonia, or Jaxx is walking into a starport tapecafe on Aramis, it is neat to have a little gambling game that the PCs can sit down and play. The game is neat, fun, and opens the door for roleplaying, I've found.



So, here's a quickie little card game that the PCs can play with NPCs, or amongst themselves, called Tevek.





TEVEK

Tevek is played with a standard deck of cards, and there are multiple variations on the game. Here is the most basic.

Step 1. Ante: Every player pays an ante to the pot in order to sweeten the opening stakes. This can be any amount. A typical game will have an ante of 10 Cr. The ante establishes the base unit used for betting in the game (see below).

Step 2. Deal: Every player rolls 2D secretly. The number rolled repents that strength of the hand. Higher is better. One player is designated as the dealer, ant the "Deal" shifts to the left at the start of each hand.

Step 3. Bet: Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, that player has the option to bet, check, fold, or raise. Typically, betting is done in units of the Ante. If the ante is 10 Cr, then a bet and/or a raise must be in units of 10 Cr. It is typical to have a rule to where the first bet can be no more than 3X the Ante, and raises must double the bet at a minimum.

Step 4. Bluff: A player may attempt to bluff his hand if the total strength of his hand is lower than both his INT and EDU scores. Players who bluff typically make high bets in Step 3 to support their bluff.

Step 5. Showdown: This is when each player reveals the strength of his hand. The highest hand wins the pot. Ties split the pot.

Bluff: If a player bluffs, he can discard his original roll and re-roll a new hand. He must keep the strength of the bluffed hand.

Skill: If a player has gambling skill, then he can re-roll the strength of his hand up to a number of times equal to his gambling skill level.

 

[Supplement Four]

EXAMPLE



Here's a simple Tevek example between two players.

The game is simple to play, but it is also deceptively intriguing because of the decisions the player must make.

Pieece Yorm
66B488
Gambling-3

Siim Jedzah
8648AA



Tevek Hand #1.

ANTE: 10 Cr each.
POT: 20 Cr.

DEAL: Pieece is the dealer. So, Siim is first to act. Siim will roll 2D and keep the total secret. Pieece does the same. Both players now know the strength of their hands.

Siim gets 6. Pieece gets 7. Neither know the strength of their opponent's hand.



BET: With Pieece dealing, Siim He can check (pass and bet nothing) or make a bet of at least 10 Cr to a maximum of 30 Cr.

Pieece can fold right there, ending the hand. Or he can call by matching Siim's bet. Or, he can raise in units of 10 Cr. to a max of 30 Cr. Or, Pieece can bet 10-30 Cr if Siim checked his hand.

Siim leads out with a 10 Cr bet. Pieece raises, making the bet 20 Cr. Siim then calls that bet.

POT: 60



SHOWDOWN: Siim acts first since he is left of the dealer. His hand strength is 6, so he is allowed to bluff (because 6 is lower than Siim's INT and EDU scores). It's risky to bluff, though, since 6 is a middle number. When bluffing, the new hand strength must be used even if it is lower (that's a bad bluff).

Siim decides to bluff and rolls a new hand strength, getting: 4

But before Siim reveals his hand to Pieece, Pieece must make some decisions about his own hand. Pieece does know that Siim has rerolled his hand, though--which could be done as a bluff or because of skill.


Pieece has a hand strength of 7, which is exactly middle of the road. And, Pieece cannot bluff this hand because his hand strength of 7 is higher than his INT (Pieece can only bluff on a 4-).

But, Pieece is a skilled gambler. With his Gambling-3 skill, he can re-roll his hand strength up to three more times. He must always use his last roll. But, the player playing Pieece may want to disguise his gambling skill. If he takes only one re-roll, then the player of Siim may think it a bluff roll. If Pieece takes two more rolls, Siim will know that Pieece has at least Gambling-2 and decide not to play with a character that is more skilled than he.

Pieece uses one of his skill re-rolls and gets a hand strength of 2.

Pieece decides to keep the 2, knowing that he will lose the hand and the pot of 60 Cr. in order to hide his gambling skill from his opponent (hoping that his edge will turn into positive credits later).



Both players reveal their hand strengths, first Siim, then Piece.

Strategy: Siim's player may think that Pieece doesn't have Gambling skill and made the extra throw due to a bluff attempt. In the future, Pieece may reveal his skill on a big pot where he re-rolls two or three times.

Pieece loses the pot of 60 Cr.

Both players ante again. The deal shifts to the left. Siim is now the dealer. And a new hand is played.





NOTE: The above is the most basic form of Tevek. There are several other variations.

One variation allows for a 1D reroll on the bluff if the hand strength is lower than one stat (either INT or EDU) but higher than the other, like Pieece's original hand of 7 above (lower than EDU 8 but higher than INT 4).

 

[Supplement Four]

FROM A PLAYER'S POV



Let's do one more example from a player's point of view.

You are playing a character:

Ewe
968837
Gambling-1

This means, using the Tevek rules above, that you can only bluff when you roll a 2 or 3 for your initial hand. But you are guaranteed to be able to re-roll your hand at least once due to your Gambling-1 skill.





You walk into a starport bar and see a game of Tevek being played in the corner. Only two people are playing. You ask if they'd mind a third seat, and they welcome you to sit down.

The dealer is Arsen, and Bael is to his left. You are third chair. The rules are the same as described in the OP.



ANTE

First, all three players put 10 Cr. into the pot. First Bael, then you, then Arsen.

POT = 30 Cr.



DEAL

Bael is dealt first. Then, you get your cards. Arsen gets his cards last.

In turn, each of the players roll 2D to find the initial hand strength.

Your cards give you a 7.

You cannot bluff, because you can only do that with a 2 or 3.

You can, however, make one re-roll due to your Gambling-1 skill, and this can be disguised as a bluff (your opponents won't know if you did it as a bluff or as part of skill).

Or, you may want to stand pat with this middle-of-the-road 7 total. You can try a non-re-roll bluff by betting the max and trying to make your opponents believe that you rolled really high (like an 11 or 12).





BETTING

Bael bets first. He opens with a 20 Cr. bet.

Now, you can fold your hand, losing your 10 Cr. ante. Or, you can call Bael's opening bet of 20 Cr. Or, you can raise Bael's bet by betting at least 40 Cr.

This is a tricky decision. If you are going to re-roll the 7 at the Showdown, then you probably don't want to raise here. Raising telegraphs strength to your opponents. If you reroll at Showdown, you may influence those who come after you (Arsen) to re-roll as well (which could be a good thing for you if Arsen rolls low on the re-roll).

If you raise here, Arsen may think that you got lucky with a strong hand and fold his hand after you, only losing his original 10 Cr.

There is some complexity to this simple gambling game.

You decide to raise.

Now, the bet is 40 Cr. to Arsen.



Arsen re-raises you! He doubles your bet to 80 Cr.

Now, it is Bael's turn, who needs 60 Cr. more to call. Astonishingly, Bael raises Arsen! The bet is now a total of 160 Cr.

That's 120 Cr. to you.



Decisions.

Are these crazy players bluffing with their bets?

Did both of them roll very high?

Did only one of them roll high and one is bet-bluffing?



You are pretty sure that you cannot beat both of them with a 7. You will need to re-roll. Odds are against you, though, rolling high on a single re-roll.

So, you decide to fold.

You've lost 50 Cr. on this hand. That's your 10 Cr. ante plus your 40 Cr. raise.


Arsen calls Bael's bet.

The pot is 30 Cr. in antes, plus your 40 Cr., plus 160 from both Arsen and Bael. Total pot is 390 Cr!





SHOWDOWN

Bael does not re-roll.

Then, it goes to Arsen, who does not re-roll either! Arsen reveals his hand of 10.

Then, Bael reveals his perfect 12 and wins the pot!