I now have the complete rules on how to play Sabacc. First you will need a six-sided die, and something to use as credits(Star Wars money). Use pennies, that's what I use. Then you need to design the deck of cards. There are 76 cards in the deck, so using a normal deck of cards may be difficult. The Sabacc Deck There are 4 suits: Sabres, Cups, Coins, and Staves. Each suit is made up of 11 regular cards, numbered 1 to 11, and four "ranked" cards : the Commander(12), the Mistress(13), the Master(14), and the Ace(15). There are also 16 face cards, each with either a zero, or negative value: there are 2 each of: The Idiot(value 0) has picture of jester's head The Queen of Air and Darkness(value -2) has stylized oval mirror with crowned head at the top, with half of the mirror face black and other half white <> (**) /// \ Something like this, with a //// \ flowing ribbon(like on a crest) \\\\ / across it \\\ / ---- Endurance(value -8) has a picture of a Jedi doing a handstand on one hand, levitating a cube and a ball. Balance(value -11) has a picture of a scale balance Demise(value -13) has a death's head on it Moderation(value -14) shows the silloette of a hooded, cloaked Jedi, with activated lightsabre The Evil One(value -15) shows a horned, fanged demon's head. The Star(value -17) shows a four-pointed star with a planet orbiting it. The Rules of Play The object of the game is to have the highest card total with is less than or equal to 23. A total which is over 23, less that -23 or exactly zero, when the hand is called, has bombed out and must pay a penalty(see below) There are two pots in Sabacc, the hand pot, which is won at each hand, and the Sabacc pot which is won only with a card total of 23, and thus continually builds until someone gets 23. To start play, each player must ante one credit into both the hand pot and the Sabacc pot. If the Sabacc pot is ever empty, each player must, again, ante one credit into it. Then each player is dealt two cards from the deck. Then each player takes a turn in order, starting with the player to the dealer's left. Each turn has four phases, the betting phase, the shifting phase, the calling phase and the drawing phase. After each hand the player to the dealer's left becomes the new dealer. Turn Phases Betting Phase: If the player wishes, he or she may make a bet, which is placed in the hand pot. If a bet is placed, each player must at least match that bet on their turn, or they can match it and raise it. Betting and raising limits are three credits. After the bet is placed, all other players have the option to fold, but if they do so, they must pay one credit into the Sabacc pot to do so. A player may only fold in the betting phase. Shifting Phase: The player whose turn it is rolls the six-sided die. If the roll is 1, 2 or 3, then shifting occurs. Each player offers his cards, face down, to the player to his/her right, who chooses one card, which is discarded into the bottom of the deck, and the dealer gives each player a new card from the top of the deck, in order starting with the player on his/her left. Note: if a player folds on his/her turn, they must still roll to see if shifting occurs. Calling Phase: After the shifting phase, any player except the player whose turn it is may call the hand. When a player calls the hand, he/she must place their cards face up in the middle of the table and declare their hand total. A player may only call the hand during the calling phase of another player's turn, never during their own turn. Noone may call until all players have had at least one turn. Note: you may want to increase the minimum number of turns before the hand may be called, if you have less that 4 players. This will allow some more interesting hands to develop and increases the fun. Drawing Phase: After the calling phase, the player whose turn it is has the option of staying with their present hand, drawing another card from the deck, or discarding a card and replacing it with another from the deck, but may only chose one of these options. There is no limit to the number of cards that a player may hold in his/her hand, but they must have a minimum of two cards. Winning a Hand When a hand is called, the player with the highest card total which is equal to or less than 23 wins. If the highest total is less than 23, that player wins the hand pot only. If two or more players have the same highest total, then each player draws another card from the deck and adds it to their hand. The player who has the best hand after this(highest less than or equal to 23) then wins. If all players go over 23, then the one with the lowest hand(closest to 23) wins. If any player has over 23, less than -23 or exactly zero when the hand is called has "bombed-out". This player must match the amount of money in the hand pot, from their own credit pile, and place this amount into the Sabacc pot. In addition to this, if a player calls the hand, but does not win the hand, he/she must pay into the Sabacc pot just as if he/she had bombed-out. Special Hands To win the Sabacc pot, a player must have one of two hand combinations. The first is when the player has a card total of exactly 23, or Pure Sabacc. This is usually laid down with an enthusiastic cry of "Sabacc!". The second is called the "Idiot's Array" and consists of the Idiot face card(value 0), a 2 card and a 3 card, or any suit (a literal 23). An Idiot's Array beats a Pure Sabacc, and if two or more players have the same hand, then a sudden demise is held as above. Variations Since in the "real" game of Sabacc, from the novels, shifting may occur at any time, you can change the game so that the die is rolled for shifting at the beginning of each phase, instead of just in the shifting phase. In this case, if a player calls at the same time that shifting occurs, the shift happens first, then the player must complete the call, even if they now have a losing hand. That's the thrill of the game. I may be making a set of cards for this, so if anyone would like a copy of these, they will probably be done on normal paper, which you can have laminated later, to save on my own costs. If anyone would like a deck email me at ssutherl@uoguelph.ca and I will try to get them done soon.