Games on this page:
Scroker
Spit in the Can
Longhorn Stud
Dealer's Choice |
Official Rules for the 4
Games of
Scroker
Those who know will be quick to point
out that the new kid in town walks and talks much like the great
boss. A shark already familiar with the terms "call," "check," and
"fold," is already wise to Scroker lingo and within the first
few minutes of play will recognize the familiar gait. Like Poker,
some players choose to belly-up to the same brand of house Scroker every time the humidor is opened. Others enjoy sampling
the wide variety of single-malts and lower shelf blends of Spit,
Stud and even personal-stash games during an evening of
Dealer’s Choice. Unlike
Poker, no players have been shot—yet. |
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Scroker |
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Players
Best with five to seven
Objective
Gambling. Hold (or bluff to hold) in your hand the largest word
spelled with the most valuable letters in order to win the pot
Definitions
Bank: player
who controls the distribution and accounting of chips
Pot: collection
of chips in the center of the table that will be taken by the hand
winner
Ante:
contribute a chip to the pot before the deal
Open: bet first
Check: remain
in the hand without betting
Call: remain or
"stay" in the hand by matching the previous bet or bets
Raise: increase
the bet
Fold: withdraw
from the hand
Tap-out: run
out of chips but remain in the hand (with some restrictions)
Draw: players
discard up to three cards in their hands in exchange for ones in the
deck
Stand-pat:
choose to keep the cards initially dealt
Overview
Chips are obtained from the bank. All
participants ante. Five cards are dealt to each
player. In turn, each player is afforded the
opportunity to check, open or fold. After one
player opens, all subsequent players in turn
must match or raise the previous bet in order to
remain in the hand. Eventually, one player opens
or raises and all other players match the bet or
fold but do not further raise the pot. At this
point, the dealer initiates the draw, followed
by another round of betting nearly identical to
the opening round. At the conclusion of that
round of betting, nothing more is required
except to compare the hands of the players that
remain. The winning hand takes the pot and a new
hand is dealt. Generally, there is no set number
of hands to be played but rather a rough idea of
how long the players care the game to last,
usually decided before the game begins. At the
conclusion of the last hand, each player
reconciles his chips with the bank and decides
for himself how well he did.
Setup
Normal 52 card deck ([Scrokers] are optional
but normally excluded).
Establish the bank and distribute chips.
Agree on planned length of game and maximum
bet amounts if desired.
Deal five cards to each player.
Place remaining cards as a facedown pile to
the side to use during the draw.
Rules
A player must properly ante before the dealer
issues him the first card.
The player to the dealer’s left leads,
entitling him to one of three options. First, he may open. As an
example, he might say "open for two" and move two of his chips
towards the center, although not actually into the ante as it is
important to ensure each of the players’ bets become equalized. A
player must hold two Animals or a three-letter word (tadpole) to
open. A second option the lead has is to announce "check" to
indicate he wishes to remain in the game but is either unwilling or
unable to open betting. Lastly, he may fold, in effect withdrawing
from the current game with no money lost beyond contribution to the
ante.
If the lead player does not bet, but rather
checks or folds, the opportunity to open betting is passed to the
next player clockwise around the table. This next player now is
entitled to the same three options enjoyed by the previous player.
Accordingly, each player in turn is afforded the chance to open
betting until one player finally does bet. If this exercise comes
full circle back to the dealer himself and even he chooses not to
bet, the hand ends, all cards are tossed in and the next deal
ensues.
More often, one player opens which instantly
changes the available options for all players on subsequent turns.
Actually, two options change and one remains the same. A player may
still fold as before. The first change is that a player may no
longer check. In order to remain in the hand, a player at a minimum
must increase his stake to match that of the previous player. For
instance a player might state "stay for two" and match the two chips
bet by the opening better. The second change is that a player may
now raise the stakes already set by a previous player. Continuing
the example, the same player may have instead stated "stay for two
and raise two" wagering a total of four chips. Logically, the next
player must "stay for four" if he wishes just to remain in the hand.
This opening round of betting is concluded
when one player either opens or raises and all other players call or
fold but do not further raise the pot. When this occurs, the cycle
finally stops just short of the last player to open or raise. He may
not re-raise himself. The stakes should be equal for all players who
remain.
The dealer initiates the draw after the first
round of betting. Beginning on his left, he addresses each of the
remaining players in turn to determine whether each cares to
stand-pat or exchange cards. A player who wishes to exchange cards
announces the number of cards (one, two or three) he desires and
discards facedown the same number from his hand. The dealer then
deals facedown that number of cards one at a time to that player
from the top of the stack that was put aside following the initial
deal. When the dealer reaches himself as the final player to
participate in the draw, he must make it clear to all players the
number of cards he exchanged.
If the draw is about to exceed the cards
available in the deck, the dealer must stop short of the last card
and combine it with all of the cards from any discards and dropped
hands thus far, reshuffle and then resume the draw.
The player who opened the first round of
betting is afforded the first opportunity to open the round of
betting after the draw. He and subsequent players may fold, bet or
check as before until one player bets. Thereafter, the round
proceeds in identical fashion to the first round. As before, this
second round of betting is concluded when one player either opens or
raises and all other players call or fold but do not further raise
the pot. Additionally, the round may conclude if no players bet but
rather all check or fold.
Following the second round of betting,
nothing more is required except to compare the hands of the players
that remain. Any words a player claims to hold must be presented as
a
firm horizontal
array clearly
separated from any other cards he holds in his hand. The winning
hand takes the pot and earns the right to see the hand of any player
that stayed to the end. Conversely, the winner of the pot is
responsible for being able to prove he was eligible to have opened.
If unable, the second best hand wins the pot.
Only a player that stayed to the end may
initiate a
spellcheck. A spellcheck is only conducted
if the spelling of the winning hand is in question. The opportunity
to challenge the word moves clockwise around the table starting at
the player currently holding the winning hand. No changes to bets or
card arrangements may take place following a spellcheck initiation.
If a winning hand was proven to be
foul, that hand is
treated as scum (a collection of five cards with no words present)
even if a shorter word appears to be present. The loser of a
spellcheck must contribute to the pot an amount equal to his stakes
already in the hand. The destination of the pot is then
re-determined given the current circumstance. Only one word may be
contested at a time, however, multiple spellchecks may ultimately be
conducted to determine the legitimate winner.
Sometimes a player will raise and all other
players fold. In this instance, the hand immediately concludes. That
player wins the pot and a new deal begins without the winner’s hand
being revealed.
A player who inadvertently bets out of turn
may not change his mind and bet differently when his proper turn is
taken.
A player who depletes his supply of chips in
the middle of a hand may be permitted to tap-out, if all players
agree. He may participate in the draw and his bets in the pot remain
active provided he notionally matches but does not raise the current
bet. All subsequent bets by other players are kept apart from the
main pot. If the player who tapped-out emerges with the winning
hand, he will take only the main pot. In this instance, the
remaining chips that were bet will go to the player with the second
highest hand.
When the pot is taken, the hand is over and
the deal passes to the player left of the previous dealer for a new
hand.
Scroker Hands (from lowest to highest category)
Scum: no words
present
Duck: 2-letter
word
Two Ducks: two
2-letter words
Tadpole:
3-letter word
Frog: 4-letter
word
Bullfrog: one
3-letter word and one 2-letter word
Slush: five
cards of the same suit—no words necessary (strictly clean)
Scroker:
5-letter word
Flying Scroker:
5-letter word containing the [Unicorn]
Scoring
Words must be
clean, but
hot-’n’-sour lettering is allowed (except for a "Slush"
hand). As a reminder of how these definitions are applied, Animal
words may not contain Chili Peppers. Only the Lemons and Limes suits
may contain chili pepper vowels. Furthermore, Lemons, Limes or
Animals may not be mixed with each other in any combination to
create a word.
A higher category Scroker hand always beats a
lower category Scroker hand. For example, a Frog always beats a
Tadpole.
A
natural Scroker hand always
beats a Scroker hand of the same category that attained its category
using wild cards or hot-’n’-sours.
With all other factors equal, the highest-ranking
card of the word or words used to establish the category will
rule. For a "scum" or "slush" hand, merely the
highest-ranking card in the hand will rule.
Wild cards and hot-’n’-sours cannot serve as
the highest-ranking card. |
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Spit in the Can |
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Players
Best with five to seven
Overview
Spit
is a simple variation of basic Scroker
where one card is "spit"—dealt face-up to be
used by all players. Only two rule changes
occur. First, four cards are dealt to each
player instead of five. The last card is "spit"
for all players to see and consider as their own
fifth card. Second, instead of three cards, four
cards may be exchanged during the draw.
Otherwise, the Objective, Definitions, Setup,
Rules and Scoring are identical to that of basic
Scroker.
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Longhorn Stud |
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Players
Best with five to eight
Overview
The Object, Definitions and Scoring of Longhorn Stud are identical to that of basic
Scroker. The Setup and Rules of both
games closely parallel each other, although a
few key differences exist. For starters, no draw
exists. Instead, seven cards are dealt to each
player allowing each to ignore two of his cards
when considering the value of his five-card
Scroker hand. Additionally, four of the seven
cards (third, fourth, fifth and sixth) are dealt
face-up for all players to know a portion of
each other’s hands. Lastly, three betting rounds
(vice two) proceed in a slightly varied format
from that of basic Scroker. The opening
betting round follows the fifth card dealt to
each player. Then, two more rounds of betting
take place following the deal of the sixth and
seventh cards respectively. As in all Scroker
games, the hand concludes following the final
round of betting. The winning hand of all
players that remain takes the pot.
Setup
Normal 52 card deck ([Scrokers] are optional
but normally excluded).
Establish the bank and distribute chips.
Agree on planned length of game and maximum
bet amounts if desired.
Deal five cards to each player—two facedown
followed by three face-up (the face-up cards should be displayed as
a vertical
array towards the center of the table.
Place remaining cards as a facedown pile to
the side to use for additional card dealing.
Rules
A player must properly ante before the dealer
issues him the first card.
Following the deal of all five cards to each
player, the two facedown cards are picked up for perusal while the
face-up cards are kept on the table squarely in front of each
player. Customarily, a player returns his two "hole" cards back to
the table facedown, partially underneath and behind (towards
himself) his face-up cards to indicate he is ready for the opening
round of bets. A player is allowed to view his hole cards at anytime
throughout the hand. As a general rule of thumb, however, the hole
cards stay down on the table till the end of the hand.
The player with the highest possible card
combination showing leads all betting rounds. Since three cards
total will be dealt facedown, any two cards face-up of the same suit
indicates the possibility of a "Slush" or "Scroker" hand. Therefore,
the highest-ranking
clean pair of cards
will lead. Otherwise, the highest-ranking card will lead. The dealer
always has the responsibility to identify the lead for a given
round.
Unlike basic Scroker, no players may check
during this opening stage. Instead, a player has only two options.
First, he may open. As an example, he might say "open for two" and
move two of his chips towards the center, although not actually into
the ante as it is important to ensure each of the players’ bets
become equalized. Second, he may fold, in effect withdrawing from
the hand. He will forfeit his ante and pass the opening opportunity
to the next player clockwise around the table. This next player
likewise may now only fold or bet, and so on around the table.
Once one player opens, the available options
for all players change slightly on subsequent turns. A player may
still fold as before, but in order for him to remain in the hand, he
must at a minimum increase his stake to match that of the previous
player. For instance a player might state "stay for two" and match
the two chips bet by the opening better. The second change is that a
player may now raise the stakes already set by a previous player.
Continuing the example, the same player may have instead stated
"stay for two and raise two" wagering a total of four chips.
Logically, the next player must "stay for four" if he wishes just to
remain in the hand.
This opening round of betting is concluded
when one player either opens or raises and all other players call or
fold but do not further raise the pot. The cycle finally stops just
short of the last player to open or raise. He may not re-raise
himself. The stakes should be equal for all players who remain.
Following the opening round of betting, the
dealer deals one more card face-up, clockwise, to each of the
players that remain, finishing with one to himself. This deal is
conducted with a bit more ceremony and care than the initial deal.
With the deck squared-up and lying on the table, the dealer uses one
hand to remove the top card from the stack and place it on the
existing 3 face-up cards continuing the vertical array extending
towards the center of the table. Customarily, the dealer will
announce the high card present or the high card of any pair of clean
cards as he lays each new card down. For example he might say,
"Moose high" or "Snail high, maybe an Animal Scroker" or "L high,
possible sour slush."
The second betting round proceeds nearly the
same as the first with one slight variation. In addition to being
able to fold or bet, each player may alternatively announce "check."
to indicate a desire to remain in the hand but not bet. This round
concludes when one player either opens or raises and all other
players call or fold but do not further raise the pot. The round may
also conclude because no players bet—all checked or folded.
The final card is dealt facedown as a third
hole card, normally near and to the side of the other two cards
already in the hole. When each player has finished looking at his
third hole card, he returns it (along with the other two, if
necessary) back to the proper hole position slightly under his
face-up array to indicate he is prepared for the final round of
betting.
The third and final round of betting proceeds
exactly as the second round had.
Following the final round of betting, nothing
more is required except to compare the hands of the players that
remain. This process, like the dealing, is somewhat ceremonial and
deliberate. First, the hole cards are turned over as a group. Then,
one by one, each player arrays his cards from left to right in front
of himself. He begins with the
firm presentation of
any words he claims to hold, separated and followed by any other
cards that may make up his five-card hand, separated and followed by
the extra two cards he turns facedown to indicate they are not part
of his hand. The winning hand takes the pot and earns the right to
see the hand of any player that stayed to the end.
Only a player that stayed to the end may
initiate a
spellcheck. A spellcheck is only conducted
if the spelling of the winning hand is in question. The opportunity
to challenge the word moves clockwise around the table starting at
the player currently holding the winning hand. No changes to bets or
card arrangements may take place following a spellcheck initiation.
If a winning hand was proven to be
foul, that hand is
treated as scum (a collection of five cards with no words present)
even if a shorter word appears to be present. The loser of a
spellcheck must contribute to the pot an amount equal to his stakes
already in the hand. The destination of the pot is then
re-determined given the current circumstance. Only one word may be
contested at a time, however, multiple spellchecks may ultimately be
conducted to determine the legitimate winner.
Sometimes one player will remain after all
other players have folded. In this instance, the hand immediately
concludes. That player wins the pot and a new deal begins without
the winner’s hole cards being revealed.
A player who inadvertently bets out of turn
may not change his mind and bet differently when his proper turn is
taken.
A player who depletes his supply of chips in
the middle of a hand may be permitted to tap-out, if all players
agree. He may participate in all subsequent deals that happen during
the hand and his bets in the pot remain active provided he
notionally matches but does not raise the current bet. All
subsequent bets by other players are kept apart from the main pot.
If the player who tapped-out emerges with the winning hand, he will
take only the main pot. In this instance, the remaining chips that
were bet will go to the player with the second highest hand.
When the pot is taken, the hand is over and
the deal passes to the left of the previous dealer.
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Dealer's Choice |
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Players
Best with five to eight
Overview
Once familiar with a couple of the standard
forms of
Scroker, the next logical step
is to shake things up a bit. Dealer’s Choice
does this by giving each player the chance to
name the game he cares to deal for a single hand
before passing the deal to his left for the next
player to name his own preference. The game may
be a Scroker standard, modified standard
or even a game of pure invention (within reason
and consistent with the tenor of the game).
Dealer options
Call "chili peppers are
hot"
(may also be designated by just including "hot" in the naming of a
game such as "Hot Longhorn Stud"). When chili peppers have been
designated as hot, a slight variation in the scoring of a Scroker
hand has occurred. Ties of a hand category (such as two Tadpoles)
that would normally be broken by "high-card" are now preempted by
the total value of chili peppers present in a given hand. The value
of any given Chili Pepper corresponds directly to the number of
chili peppers depicted on that card. For example, a word containing
the [Five-chili-pepper-E] (worth five) would beat a same length word
containing both the [Two-chili-pepper-A] and the
[One-chili-pepper-U] (worth a total of three). A Chili Pepper Slush
would also beat an Animal Slush. For any ties of chili pepper value,
"high-card" will prevail as before.
Name a
ruling card or set of
cards. For example, saying "Chili Pepper E’s rule" would make a
[Five-chili-pepper-E] rule any other card in the deck. In this same
example, even a [One-chili-pepper-E] would still rule a [Unicorn].
Then, below a [Unicorn] normal
rank would apply.
Likewise, naming a ruling suit such as "Lemons rule" would similarly
propel that suit to the head of the pack.
Designate wild cards.
Disallow
hot-’n’-sours or limit
them to only one or two per word.
Allow "Mixing the Juice." This variation
allows Lemons and Limes to be combined in the same word while still
requiring Animal words to remain clean.
Tips
Set some guidelines to disallow invented
games that employ radically different scoring systems or deviate
from basic Scroker beyond recognition.
For more serious games, limit the number of
allowed wild cards to two or less.
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