The Decktet Wiki

A game of betting and bluffing for scoundrels, rogues and blaggards.

Equipment

Single decktet, preferably with pawns and courts but can be played without.
Chips or markers of some kind to be used for betting.

Rules

Although this is a game of betting, it by no means has to be played for real money. Players start with some collection of chips or tokens, the winner being the player to collect them all, or whoever has the most after some pre-agreed period of play.

The main feature of the game is a comparison of hands composed of three cards, with players betting that their hand will be ranked highest. One way to acheive this is described here; variations in betting rounds/hand construction are given at the bottom of the page.

Choose a player to deal first. After each hand the deal passes to the left. Before each deal, every player puts one chip into the pot. Three cards are dealt to each player, and players may then inspect their hand before a round of betting occurs, starting with the player to the left of dealer, with betting rounds working as in poker. (Subsequently any references to players is assumed to be referring only to those players that remain in, unless specified otherwise. Players who fold are not obligated to show their hand, and certainly may not do so before the conclusion of the hand.) After this first round players may place one of the cards from their hand face down in front of them (discarding it), starting with player to the left of dealer, and continuing round until everyone has either done so or chosen not to. Now starting with left of dealer, and then moving round clockwise, each player that has discarded will do one of two things:

• If the player to the left of them has discarded, they take up that discard into their hand.
• If the player to the left of them hasn't discarded, they are dealt the next card from the deck, to be taken into their hand.

Note that this means the only player to knows whether or not they will get a fresh card from the deck when deciding whether or not to discard is the last to decide (the dealer if still in). Any discarded cards not taken up by players are placed at the bottom of the deck. There is a second round of betting, and a second opportunity for players to change one card, using the same procedure as before. Any player is still free to discard, regardless of whether or not they did so the first time. Finally, there is a third round of betting, after which any players left in must display their hand to all other players. These are compared (see below), and whoever has the highest ranked hand wins the pot. The next round is dealt by the player to the left of the previous dealer, and this process continues until whatever pre-agreed finishing condition is fulfilled.

Hand rankings

Hands are formed of exactly three cards, and are ranked as follows, from highest to lowest. (Note: some hands are not possible without the extended decktet, as can be seen in the table under probabilities)
Examples of each are given below their description. In each case the top example beats the lower example, and the cards in each hand are listed in order from high to low according to how they would be evaluated in a tie (see below).
(Hands always count as the highest ranked category whose description they fit)

• Doubly Kindred;
  All three cards share two interpretive types.
  • This is The End (), The Market (6), The Origin (2).

• Running Twin Flush [= Run + Impure Twin Flush]
  All three cards share two suits, and have consecutive ranks.
  • The Island (), The Borderland (), The Darkness (9)
    The Harvest (), The Pact (9), The Diplomat (8)

• Running Totum [= Run + Totum]
  Exactly one instance of each of the six suits is present, and the cards have consecutive ranks.
  • The Merchant (9), The Diplomat (8), The Cave (7)
    The Diplomat (8), The Cave (7), The Market (6)

• Pure Twin Flush
  All three cards share two suits, and no other suits are present.
  • The Pact (9), The Diplomat (8), The Mountain (4)
    The Betrayal (8), The Soldier (5), The Battle (4)

• Full Spread Trio [= Full Spread + Trio]
  All three cards share a rank, and exactly one of each suit and interpretive type is present.
  • The Diplomat (8), The Mill (8), The Betrayal (8)
    The Forest (5), The Discovery (5), The Soldier (5)

• Totum Trio [= Totum + Trio]
  All three cars share a rank, and exactly one of each suit is present.
  • The Journey (3), The Painter (3), The Savage (3)
    The Author (2), The Desert (2), The Origin (2) [Note this is not a Full Spread Trio as there are two instances of a location]

• Full Spread Pair [= Full Spread + Pair]
  Two of the cards share a rank, and exactly one of each suit and interpretive type is present.
  • The Betrayal (8), The Mountain (4), The Sailor (4)
    The Castle (7), The Journey (3), The Savage (3)

• Full Spread [= Totum + Fortune]
  Exactly one of each suit and interpretive type is present.
  • The Watchman (), The Origin (2), Ace of Suns (A)
    The Darkness (9), The Chance Meeting (7), The Painter (3)

• Impure Twin Flush
  All three cards share two suits, but other suits are also present.
  • The Consul (), The Watchman (), The Author (2)
    The Island (), The Penitent (6), The Desert (2)

• Totum Pair [= Totum + Pair]
  Two of the cards share a rank, and exactly one of each suit is present.
  • The Merchant (9), The Lunatic (6), The Penitent (6)
    The Forest (5), The Discovery (5), The Battle (2)

• Trio
  All three cards have the same rank.
  • The End (), The Calamity (), The Windfall ()
    The Consul (), The Island (), The Window ()

• Totum
  Exactly one of each suit is present.
  • The Pact (9), The Battle (4), The Origin (2)
    The Light Keeper (), The Savage (3), Ace of Moons (A)

• Running Single Flush [= Run + Single Flush]
  All three cards share one suit, and cards have consecutive ranks.
  • The Sea (), The Island (), The Borderland ()
    The Forest (5), The Sailor (4), The Savage (3)

• Kindred Pair [= Kindred + Pair]
  Two of the cards share a rank, and all three cards share an interpretive type.
  • The Huntress (), The Bard (), The Merchant (9)
    The Castle (7), The Cave (7), The Mountain (4)

• Single Flush Pair [= Single Flush + Pair]
  Two of the cards share a rank, and all three cards share a single suit.
  • The Island (), The Window (), The Desert (2)
    The Harvest (), The Borderland (), Ace of Leaves, (A)

• Kindred Single Flush [= Single Flush + Kindred]
  All three cards share a single suit and an interpretive type.
  • The Calamity (), The Rite (), The Battle (4)
    The Diplomat (8), The Lunatic (6), The Author (2)

• Run
  The three cards have consecutive ranks.
  • The Painter (3), The Origin (2), Ace of Suns (A)
    The Cave (7), The Lunatic (6), The Forest (5)

• Fortune Single Flush [= Fortune + Single Flush]
  All three interpretive types are present exactly once, and all three cards have one suit in common.
  • The Bard (), The Castle (7), The Discovery (5)
    The Rite (), The Diplomat (8), The Forest (5)

• Fortune Pair [= Fortune + Pair]
  Two of the cards share a rank, and all three interpretive types are present exactly once.
  • The Consul (), The Window (), The Journey (3)
    The Lunatic (6), The Market (6), Ace of Waves (A)

• Kindred
  All three cards share an interpretive type.
  • The Windfall (), The Betrayal (8), The Chance Meeting (7)
    The Merchant (9), The Soldier (5), The Savage (3)

• Fortune
  All three interpretive types are present exactly once.
  • The End (), The Watchman (), Ace of Moons (A)
    The Darkness (9), The Chance Meeting (7), The Penitent (6)

• Single Flush
  All three cards have one suit in common.
  • The Calamity (), The Battle (4), The Desert (2)
    The Pact (9), The Journey (3), The Author (2)

• Pair
  Two of the cards share a rank.
  • The Diplomat (8), The Mill (8), The Origin (2)
    The Pact (9), The Forest (5), The Discovery (5)

• Void
  None of the above.
  • The Consul (), The Painter (3), Ace of Wyrms (A)
    The Borderland (), The Castle (7), The Discovery (5)

Ties

If two hands fall into the same category, any hand which is kindred beats any hand which is fortune beats any hand which is neither.
If they still cannot be ranked, the ranks are compared, starting with the highest card (except for hands containing a pair, in which case the rank of the pair is evaluated first), and proceeding down through each card if there is a tie.
If the hands still cannot be ranked, the suits of the highest ranked card are compared, starting with the higher ranked suit.
Examples:

Probabilities

For those interested, the distribution of hands in the deck is

Variants

The Excuse

The excuse can be included in the deck if desired, in which case it can take on a number of different roles. The role it is to take should be agreed by players before the start of the game.

As beggar:
When acting as the beggar, it has no value, merely being dead weight in a hand. In any comparison it loses to any other card.
Examples:

As imposter:
When acting as the imposter, it takes on the rank, interpretive type and suit(s) of any real card in the decktet that is not already in the hand it is a part of.
Examples:

As demon:
The demon is mischevious, and can be either kind or cruel. When acting as the demon, when the hands are shown at the conclusion of a round, one of them containing The Excuse, a coin is flipped. If the result is heads, the card acts as the imposter. If it is tails, it acts as the beggar.

Notes

Designed by Mycake, based heavily on brag and poker.
Any comments/suggestions thoroughly welcomed!
In particular please let me know if I've made any mistakes, or used any terminology wrongly.
More will be updated soon, and I will improve the formatting.

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