B Poker

Bailey's Poker

1. How to Play

The game can be played by two to four players.

Each Hand consists of Four Rounds. At the start of the Hand five cards are dealt to each player two face up and three face down. A Gamble Card is then laid in the Stake Pile. The value of this becomes the initial Stake Value. This is the first of Four Gamble Cards that will be laid during the Hand, one for each Round.

The Stake Value is the value that each player must pay to the eventual winner of the Hand.

Round One

After the initial deal, each player has the option to change one, both or none of his face up cards. To change a card, it must be placed in the Scrap Pile. Every card that is changed must be valued at the value of the Gamble Card, with that value being placed in the Stake Pile. (See Changing Cards below). Each player must discard the cards to be changed before any player is dealt a replacement card.

After changing cards and raising the Stake Value, the first Round is complete. Each player must then decide whether he/she wishes to continue with the next Round or Fold. Folding results in that player losing the Hand and he/she must pay the current Stake Value to the winner, or if there are more than two players into the Kitty, which will be paid to the eventual winner of the Hand.

The second round may then begin.

Round Two

A second Gamble Card is taken from the top of the pack and it's value is added to the Stake Value. From this point onwards no player may fold until the Round is complete.

Each player turns over the next face down card and assesses the potential strength of his/her hand, the potential strength of his/her opponents hands, and in conjunction with the Stake Value, must determine the best course of action to take. This will be one of the two options below:

-	Change one or more face up cards as in Round One. Each card being valued according to the value of one or other of the Gamble Cards.
-	Take no action and wait for the end of the Round

When each player has made his/her move, the Round is complete and each player has the option to Fold or Continue as in Round One. Players who Fold must pay the current Stake Value into the Kitty.

Round Three

The Third Round is played in exactly the same way as Round Two. A third Gamble Card is laid and the fourth face down card for each player is revealed. Players then decide whether to change cards or stick.

At the completion of the Third Round each player has their final chance to Fold in the same way as for the two previous Rounds. However the decision must be taken with the knowledge that in the Fourth Round no card changes are allowed.

Round Four

A fourth and final Gamble Card is laid, with the value added to the Stake Value. Then, starting with the player with the Strongest hand, each player must reveal his/her final face down card.

The five face up cards thus revealed for each player are used to build the best Three Card Hand (see 'Winning Hands' below).

The Player with the Best Hand is the Winner and is paid the total Stake Value from each player who started the Fourth Round, plus any Kitty payments from players who Folded earlier.

If there is no outright winner the Stake Value is placed in the Kitty for the next Hand. Winnings hands are not shared.

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2. Strategy.

There are six basic principles to consider when playing the game.

1,	Obtain the best three card winning hand from five, in accordance with the list of winning hands shown below.
2.	Limit losses by Folding early in a Round if an Opponent has, or is likely to end up with, a very strong hand.
3.	Limit potential losses when changing cards to improve a weak hand, by using low values from the Gamble Cards. (nb. Ace is worth either 15 or 1 when changing cards - you must specify which value you are using)
4.	If you feel you have a strong hand change unwanted cards for high values. This will increase potential winnings or scare off opponents with weaker hands. nb. This practice can easily backfire on the unwary.
5.	Aim to get Pairs or better in your hand. (nb. A flush counts low as statistically these are very easy to get).
6.	Always remember that after commencing a Round (ie. The Gamble Card has been laid) you cannot Fold until the End of that Round. You must follow the Gambling and accept the Stake Value however high it becomes.
eg	You have a weak hand (ie. 3 clubs/8 hearts/King Spades against a pair of Queens/King Diamonds) going into the Third Round and there are only high value gamble cards. Your opponent is more likely to get a Straight or Prial than you, changing cards is expensive and your opponent may have the opportunity to change unwanted cards to boost the Stake Value. You could loose heavily if you do not quit after the Third Round if a high value Gamble Card is turned up. However you may get lucky and turn up a King to beat the pair of Queens if a straight does not materialise.
7.	Due to the nature of the way winning hands are constructed (3 cards from 5) it is very common for a good hand entering Round Four to lose on turning over the Final Card. Remember, no changes are allowed. The final turnover is Final, and often produces painful surprises.

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3. Changing Cards

During Rounds One, Two and Three players have the Option to Change one or more of their Face Up cards, they cannot change Face Down cards. To change cards each player must first decide which cards to change and must discard these, face up, to the Scrap Pile. The playing order for this is; player with the best hand first and then each player in order of descending hand value. When all cards are discarded the dealer will deal replacement cards from the top of the pack, starting with the player with the best hand and so on.

Each time a card is Changed it must be valued according to the Value of one of the Gamble Cards (See Gamble Cards below) that have been dealt. This Value is then added to the Stake Value.

Only one series of changes is allowed per Round, and NO changes are allowed in the Fourth Round.

Any player may view the cards in the scrap pile at any time.

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4. Betting, Scoring and the Stake Value.

The game can be played in two ways.

a.	Cash for points - each point in the Stake Value and Kitty representing a cash value (eg. 1p or 10p etc.). With this technique a ceiling value can applied to limit total losses for a Hand. (eg. £1.00 or £10.00 etc)
b.	The match can be played on a fixed bet basis using the stake value as points. (eg. £10.00 stake for the first player to reach 1000 points.) This option is also useful if playing for pleasure rather than cash.

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5. Gamble Cards

At the start of each Round a Gamble Card is revealed and added to the Gamble Pile. The value of the Gamble Card is added to the Stake Value. The Value of the Gamble cards are also used when Changing Cards. Gamble Cards have the Following Values:

ACE	= =	15 when first laid as a Gamble Card. 1 or 15 when used to value Changed Cards.
KING	=	13 at all times
QUEEN	=	12 at all times
JACK		11 at all times

The remaining cards10 to 2 = 10 to 2 respectively at all times.

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6. The Winning Hands.

To win a hand a player must have the highest scoring Three card hand selected from the five cards he possess at the end of the hand. The winning values are as follows starting with the highest ranked hand.

Prial	-	Three of a kind
Straight Flush	-	Three of the same suit in sequence
Straight	-	Three of any suit in sequence
Pair	-	Two cards of the same numeric value
Flush	-	Three cards of the same suit but not in sequence
High Card	-	Highest value card if no other win is possible

Note:

a.	An Ace Prial is the highest hand possible.
b.	The highest straight is Queen , King, Ace.
c.	Straights cannot go around the king ie. King, Ace, Two.
d.	The straight Ace, Two, Three is low.
e.	A flush is easy to obtain in this game and therefore has a low value, lower than a pair.
F.	In a High Card situation, Aces count high. ie. Ace beats a King.
g.	Where more than one player has the same high card to win a hand the next high card in their hands are compared and so forth until a winning value is found.

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7. Jokers

Jokers may be used in the game and the following rules apply to their use:

-	Jokers have no Face value of their own and are useless to any player during and after the Fourth Round.
-	Jokers have no Gamble Card value when being changed or if turned up as the Gamble Card at the start of a Round.
-	nb. If a Joker is in the Gamble Pile it holds a Stake value of Nil and can be selected by players changing cards as a Nil value for the cards they are changing.
-	Jokers can be exchanged in the same way as any other card but can also be exchanged for any card in the scrap pile.
-	Jokers cannot be returned from the Scrap pile, and thus can only be used once.