Vegas Spike Sabacc

Vegas Spike is a variant of the Corellian Spike Sabacc game. We use statistics from millions of simulated games to identify the real probability and weight of each ranked hand.
We have also added some elements from the Galaxy Series variant and included some additional changes to round out gameplay into a fun, fast paced, casino ready variant that we believe could be played in a real Las Vegas casino.

REQUIRED

In order to begin a game of Sabacc you'll need a few things:

- A Deck of Sabacc Cards

- A Pair of 6 Sided Dice (Standard / D6 )

- Two areas for Hand and Sabacc Pots

- Something to Bet with (optional)

- Some way to track Rounds.

THE DECK

There is a total of 62 cards in a deck.
There are 3 suits: Squares, Circles, and Triangles.
Every suit included 20 cards each.
(-10 through -1 and +1 through +10)
There are also 2 Sylop cards (aka Idiots or Jokers).
- These cards have no suit.
- These cards have a value of Zero / 0.

THE DICE

The dice are any standard Six sided die (D6).

There are shops that sell specialized Sabacc dice. These include special characters like those from the movies. Thanks to the Outlaws game a correct translation of the symbols has been provided

SABACC POT

Players place antes and any purchased card costs into the sabacc pot. This pot is only won if a player wins a hand with a Sabacc or Ranked hand.

That winner will take the Sabacc and Hand Pot.
This pot remains on the table if no one wins it.

HANB POT

Players place their bets and calls into this pot during the hand.
A player will win the Hand Pot only if they win the hand without a Sabacc or Ranked Hand.

If they have a Sabacc or a Ranked Hand, they win what is in the Hand Pot and the Sabacc Pot.

THE POTS

Sabacc has 2 pots at all times.
The Sabbac Pot and the Hand Pot.
Ante's, Bets, Calls, and Purchase Costs go into these pots during play
Players will Ante into both Pots before a hand begins. Starting Antes are 10 and 20 credits. The larger ante is placed in the Sabacc Pot. The lesser Ante is placed in the Hand Pot

THE SETUP

Taking Positions

Select an area for the Board. This will have space for 4 cards placed next to each other these are called the Battle Stations and a space for the draw pile above them.
There are 4 battle stations from left to right they are: Gunner, Wing, Pilot, and Carrier.

Pilot = 10 Credits
Wing = 20 Credits
Gunner = 30 credits
Carrier = 40 credits

Designate an area for the Sabacc Pot and a different area for the Hand Pot. Usually on either side of the Battle Stations.

CHOOSE YOUR DEALER

Before play begins the table must have a Dealer. To pick a Dealer please do the following:

Roll a die to see who will be The Dealer first.
That player get the Dealer Button put in front of them. The button is any object that denotes they are the dealer.
Highest roll number becomes The Dealer for the first Hand and receives the Dealer Button.
They will pass the Dealer Button to the player to their left at the end of that hand and then that player becomes The Dealer.
The Dealer Button will continues to pass this way until the end of the game

Dealer Actions

Dealers must do the following:

Shuffle the deck, then deal two cards facedown to each player that's paid their Ante. (players can look at their cards but should keep them secret from other players)
Place the rest of the deck in the center of play.
This is the Draw pile.
Place the top card of the Draw pile faceup in the Gunner position. (players can buy this card for 10 credits on their turn)
If a card is bought, the dealer must replace that card with the top card of the Draw pile. Except the Carrier spot, that is where player discards or swapped cards will go.

GAMEPLAY

Vegas Spike is played similar to other Corellian Spike variants with a few changes.

A Hand consists of 3 Rounds. Ante's are paid by all player that want to play a Hand before cards are dealt.

Each Round has 3 Phases in this order:

Card Phase
Spike Phase
Betting Phase

After a Betting Phase the next Round begins and play moves on to the next Card Phase. The dealer is passed to the left. The Cards in the Crew positions are slid to the next position to the right and a new Pilot card is pulled from the top of the Draw Pile and placed face up in the Pilot slot.

Card Phase

On your turn choose one of the following:
Gain a Card, Swap a Card, or Stand

Gain a Card
- Tap Water: Draw a card from the Draw Pile to your hand (for free)
- Crew Card: Pay the cost for the Card to the Sabacc Pot, then draw the card from the Crew Position you paid for. (The dealer should then fill the empty Crew Position slot by taking the top card from the Draw Pile and placing it face up in the empty slot)
Swap a Card
Discard a Card from your hand to the top of Carrier position and then Gain a Card from the Draw Pile or a Crew Position.
- Tap Water: Discarding a Card from your hand, draw a card from the Draw Pile to your hand (for free).
- Crew Card: Pay the cost for the Card to the Sabacc Pot, Discard a card from your hand, then draw the card from the Crew Position you paid for. (The dealer should then fill the empty Crew Position slot by taking the top card from the Draw Pile and placing it face up in the empty slot)
Stand
Do Nothing - Pass turn to the next player

THE PHASES

Spike Phase

The Dealer rolls the Spike Dice or can ask someone else at the table to roll them.

If the symbols on the dice DO NOT MATCH nothing happens and play proceeds to the Betting Phase.

If the symbols on the dice DO MATCH:

Players must note the number of cards they have in their hands before discarding them to the Dealer.
The dealer gathers all the Player's Hand cards and those from the Carrier position, leaving only the top card behind in the Carrier slot face up and any other crew cards in those positions.
The Dealer then shuffles the deck and cuts it or asks another player to cut the deck.
Next, the Dealer gives each player the same number of cards they previously had in their hand, from the top of the deck.
IMPORTANT:
Here Cards are dealt directly not sequentially. A player should be dealt all cards they are due before moving on to the next player.

Betting Phase

Beginning with the player to the left of the dealer, players each can Call, Raise, Check or Fold when it’s their turn
to bet.

Raise: Increase the current bet amount.

Call: Match the amount of the highest bet on the table.

Check: Continue the game without betting any further. This action can be taken by any player only if they already matched the biggest bet on the table or if no one has yet placed a bet this round.

Fold: Leave the current hand and surrender your cards to the dealer then wait for the next round to start.

Winning

WINNING A HAND

After the third and final Betting Phase in the third Round.
Starting from the Player to the left of the Dealer,

All active Players one by one are expected to Reveal their cards and state what they have.
The Dealer must verify the cards and settle any tiebreakers or disputes with the Players until a Winner is named.

Winners collect their winnings and the Dealer Button is passed on to the player to the left of the Dealer. Cards are then shuffled and a new hand begins.

Types of winning:

Hand Pot only: The Winner has a Nulrek or all other players fold
Sabacc Pot and Hand Pot: The Winner has a Sabacc or a Ranked Hand.

Tiebrea

TIE BREAKERS

Most cards wins.
The hand consisting of more cards wins
Suited hands beat mixed-suit hands.
Suited hands (all cards having the same suit) win over mixed-suit hands. Sylop has no suit and does not break the suited status of a hand. So, for example, a hand with only Circles and a Sylop is still suited.
Highest absolute value total wins (Highest ∑|cards|)
(An absolute value is the positive of a value, so for ‘-8’ the absolute value is ‘8’, for ‘7’ it stays ‘7’ (already positive)).
Just ignore the color or +/- of the cards for this and add all cards together as if they were all positive!
Example: [+7,-6,-6] (7+6+6=19) beats [-10,+3,+2] (10+3+2=15).
Highest absolute single card wins (Highest ∑|card|).
Example: [-9,+7,+5,-3] (9, 7, 5, 3) beats [+8,-7,-5,+4] (8, 7, 5, 4).
Highest positive card wins
Highest positive card wins, compared high to low.
Same as above but this time just compare the green cards.
Example: [+8,-7,-6,+5] (8, 5) beats [-8,+7,+6,-5] (7, 6).
Sudden Death
If still tied after all other tiebreakers, tied players draw one card each from the Draw Pile in order, the card closest to zero wins, positive values beat negative values.
Repeat if still tied until resolved.