The Value of a Chip: The rules below talk about bets in terms of “chips,” not money. You can assign any value you like to the basic betting unit of the game, even zero. We’ll leave that up to you!
Playing the Game
The Deal: To begin, each player makes an ante of one chip. This forms the “pot.” Then the dealer deals one card to each player, faceup.
The lowest card will act first, with ties being broken by suit. Welcome! (Suits are ranked in alphabetical order, with Clubs lowest, then Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades.) Introducing Ricochet Poker, a new card game that is basically poker without the bluffing. We figured this game was a perfect After every turn, the action moves to the lowest hand. accessory for the Jägermonsters poker deck! On Your Turn: You may either fold or buy cards. Ricochet Poker gets its name from the speed of play, and the way that the turn jumps around to the lowest hand. Folding: If you fold, you’re out. Throw away your cards and wait for the next hand. Don’t be fooled by its simplicity! Ricochet Poker is a deep and interesting game, a streamlined version of poker that’s all about Buying Cards: To buy cards, first declare how many cards knowing the odds. you are asking for, and then put that many chips into the pot. Note that you won’t always get all the cards you paid Summary of Play for, and your hand can never be more than five cards.
All players ante, and receive a portion of their poker hand. The dealer will give you cards faceup, stopping when your Going in order by the lowest hand, players may either buy hand is no longer the lowest hand. Even if you paid for more more cards, or fold. At the end, the player with the best cards than you got, you don’t get any chips back. hand wins. Each hand takes about 5 minutes. If you get all the cards you paid for, and your hand is still Casino Version: Ricochet Poker also has a casino variation, beaten, then you’re out. where the dealer plays by different rules, and enjoys a slight edge! You can learn about it at jamesernest.com/ricochet. Breaking Ties: When deciding whose hand is best, a hand with a kicker beats the same hand without a kicker (so for Setting Up example an Ace-8 is higher than Ace alone), and suit is used to break ties between identical hands until the end, at Ricochet Poker is a table game similar to any other variety which point identical winning hands split the pot. of poker. Everyone starts with their own chips, and players try to win pots by getting the best poker hands. Ricochet The action always passes to the lowest hand, until there is just happens to be played entirely faceup. only one player left (or more than one if there is a tie for best hand). Note that the action might return to the same Players: 2 to 8 player several times, as shown in the example on page 2. Equipment: A poker deck and chips for betting Variations: You can play with or without Jokers, or you Just like poker, you can play one game or a hundred. If can play with hand limits of six or seven cards. you’re not playing for money (or even if you are), the goal is to finish with more than you started with! In a seven-card game, it is best to start with a hand of two, to reduce the length of play and the size of the pots. The Role of Dealer: It doesn’t matter if one player deals for the entire game, or if the role of dealer passes around the If you play with Jokers, use them as bugs, which can only be table. The order of play is always determined randomly, so it Aces, or to complete a straight or flush. If you use the Joker doesn’t matter where anyone sits. as a pure wild card, it becomes way too strong. An Example of Play The Order of Poker Hands
There are four players. Their starting hands areK [, J], In case you need it, here is a list of the poker hands from 8{, and 7}. The starting pot contains 4 ante chips. best to worst. Note that all of these are five-card hands. Even in a game with six or seven cards, you will only play Player 1 2 3 4 Pot your best five cards. Hand K[ J] 8{ 7} 4 Five of a Kind: Five cards of the same rank, Player 4 is lowest with the 7}, and he buys three cards. He such as 2-2-2-2-2. This hand is impossible pays three chips into the pot, and receives a 2{ and a 9], without wild cards. If you are using the Jokers as at which point the dealer stops, because Player 4’s hand is bugs, you must decide whether a bug can count no longer the lowest. The action moves to Player 3. as a fifth Ace (poker experts disagree on this).
Player 1 2 3 4 Pot Royal Flush: This is an Ace-high straight flush. Hand K[ J] 8{ 9]7}2{ 7 It has its own name because it is awesome.
Player 3 is now lowest with the 8{. She folds. This puts Straight Flush: Five cards in sequence that are the action back on Player 4, who must now beat a J]. He all the same suit, such as 3[-4[-5[-6[-7[. buys two cards (the maximum, because he already has three). The first card is 2a [, which gives him a pair. Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank, such as J-J-J-J. Player 1 2 4 Pot Hand K[ J] 2{2[9]7} 9 Full House: Three of a kind and two of another, such as Q-Q-Q-3-3 (“Queens full of threes”). The action moves to Player 2, whose J] is now the low The set of three cards determines the rank of the hand. He may buy up to four cards, or fold. He buys two hand in comparison other full houses. cards, receiving the 9{ and Q[. This is not enough to beat the next-lowest hand, the K[, so Player 2 is out. Flush: Five cards of the same suit. The highest card in the set determines the value of the hand Player 1 is up next, and buys four cards trying to beat the when comparing with other flushes. pair of 2s. She gets three cards, drawing 5{-8[-8}. Straight: Five cards in sequence, such as Player 1 4 Pot 8-9-10-J-Q. Straights are compared by their Hand 8}8[K[5{ 2{2[9]7} 15 highest card. Aces can be used as high or low in a straight. A-2-3-4-5 is a 5-high straight. It is Player 4’s turn once again, and he can now buy one more card, trying to catch either a 2, 9, or 7. But even if he Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank, does, the hand is not quite over.... such as 8-8-8.
More Games! Two Pair: Two pairs, such as K-K-6-6. This hand is often called “X’s up,” e.g., “Kings Up.” James Ernest just can’t stop designing card games! And he loves the versatility of the poker deck. If you’d One Pair: Two cards of the same rank, like Q-Q. like a sample of the card games that Cheapass Games has released over the years, head to cheapass.com/ High Card: If you have nothing else on this list, free-games/poker-suite/ and find the “Poker Suite,” you have “high card.” Ranked by its highest card. a collection of 14 games that you can play with a stan- dard deck of cards (like this one!). Credits You should also look for Dealer’s Choice: The Com- Ricochet Poker was designed by James Ernest, with help from plete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker, by James Paul Peterson, Joshua Howard and Joe Kisenwether. Illustrated by Phil Foglio and Cheyenne Wright. Edited by Carol Monahan, Ernest, Phil Foglio, and Mike Selinker. A byproduct Cathy Saxton, Cassidy Werner, and Mike Selinker. of Phil Foglio’s dealer’s choice poker nights, this book Jägermonsters hail from Girl Genius, by Phil and Kaja Foglio, at contains the basics of poker along with dozens of varia- girlgeniusonline.com. Ricochet Poker® is a registered trademark of James Ernest and Cheapass Games, LLC. tions on the game, from classics like Follow the Queen To learn more about the game, including alternate rules for the to novelties like Frankenstein and Demolition Man. casino version, visit jamesernest.com/ricochet