DECKO Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Key Terms
• Game Structure
  • 1. Advance round tracker and pass the blind card
  • 2. Place starting bets for the blind player and the house
  • 3. Deal phase
  • 4. Betting phase
  • BURN
  • Ending the Betting phase
    • Exception: last player standing
    • Exception: if all players fold
  • 5. Reveal cards
    • Aces in straight and straight flush
    • Tiebreakers
  • 6. Buying phase
    • Buying cards from the market
    • Buying special actions
    • Ending the Buying phase
  • 7. Check for end of game
• Other Game Concepts
  • Jokers
  • Wildcard Rounds
    • Wildcard Ante
    • Wildcard special rules
  • Refreshing the mat
  • The limit of seven
  • Looking through piles of cards
  • Creating a discard pile
  • Loans
  • The market cards
• References
  • Market card reference
  • Joker reference
    • DEAL jokers
    • RAISE jokers
    • CALL jokers
    • BURN jokers
    • FOLD jokers
    • BUY jokers
  • Wildcard reference
    • Red Wildcards
    • Blue Wildcards
• Basic Strategy Tips
• Game Teaching Advice
• Quick Reference
  • Round Sequence
  • General Rules
  • Starting Deck Cards
  • Hand Rankings (highest to lowest)

Components

• 70 starting cards (five decks of 14 cards, identified by fruit symbols)
• 37 joker cards (six decks with different backs)
• 52 market cards
• 100 poker chips (75 black chips, 25 red chips, each worth ten black chips)
• 14 small wildcards (seven red and seven blue)
• Five loan cards
• Five burn boards
• One blind card
• One round tracker
• One game mat

Starting deck cards: 14 cards, two copies of each number from 2-8.

Setup

1. Place the game mat on the table.

2. Put the poker chips on the empty space in the middle of the mat; this is the house.

3. Place the round tracker on the first spot of the round track.

4. Shuffle the market cards and place them on the market deck space. Deal one card face-up onto each market slot. These five cards are collectively known as the market.

5. Separately shuffle each of the six joker decks. Place each deck face-up on a joker slot on the game mat. In 2-player games, remove the following jokers: Fortune Teller, Harlequin, Pizza Time, Patchface and Robin.

6. Shuffle the red and blue wildcards separately and place one of each face-up above the scoring track, close to the rounds with matching colors and symbols. Return the rest of the wildcards to the box.

7. Each player receives a player aid, a burn board, a loan card, and twenty poker chips (ten black chips and one red chip). The area over the burn board is called the betting area and is where chips are placed when betting. Tuck the loan card under the burn board so only the orange part is showing.

8. Give each player a deck of 14 starting cards with the same fruit symbol. All players take a look to see the card distribution, then shuffle their deck and place it to the left of their burn board to form their draw pile. Later, when cards are discarded, they are placed to the right of the burn board, forming a discard pile. The area on top of the burn board is reserved for the burn pile.

9. Give a random player the blind card.

Key Terms

The term hand is always referring to the cards a player holds in their hand. A player's set are cards from hand the player scores when revealing their hand (a pair, three of a kind etc.). The blind player is the player who currently has the blind card, making them last in turn order. The player to the left of the blind player is first in turn order. Jokers may bend the rules, and are described in the Joker reference.

Game Structure

The game is played for a maximum of twelve rounds, tracked by the round tracker. Every round these seven steps are carried out in order:

1. Advance round tracker and pass the blind card

Skip this step the first round of the game. Each subsequent round starts with moving the round tracker up one space and passing the blind card to the next player clockwise. If the space moved onto has a wildcard symbol special rules apply; see Wildcard Rounds below. If the round tracker lands on a space with a trash symbol, perform the "Refreshing the mat" action; see below.

2. Place starting bets for the blind player and the house

Take a number of chips from the house equal to the minimum bet displayed above the round track and place them on the house betting space. The blind player then places the blind card and the same number of chips from their supply on their betting space to start their bet. In a 2-player game, the house bets double the minimum bet. The blind player does not double their bet.

In the first round the minimum bet is one chip and the maximum bet is five chips. In round four, the minimum and maximum bets are raised to two and seven chips, respectively. In round eight they're increased to three and nine, and in the final round the minimum and maximum bets are five and twelve. In a 2-player game, the house bets two chips in rounds 1-3, four chips in rounds 4-7, six chips in rounds 8-11, and ten chips in round 12.

3. Deal phase

All players draw five cards from their draw pile to their hand. If the draw pile is emptied at any point while drawing, shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw pile, then draw any remaining cards. Players who have DEAL jokers use them in this step.

4. Betting phase

The main part of the game is the betting phase. Through one or more betting rounds, each player takes a main action in turn order, starting with the player to the left of the blind player. In the first betting round of each betting phase, the player may first burn a card (see BURN below). The player must then do one of the following main actions:

RAISE. If the highest bet* is lower than the maximum bet shown beneath the round track, a player may raise the bet. The player adds chips to their betting space so that their total bet is one chip higher than the highest bet. After doing this, the player may also use their RAISE joker if they have one.

Example 1: The highest bet is one chip. Bozo raises by betting two chips.

Example 2: The highest bet is six chips. Bozo has three chips in his bet already. He raises by adding four more chips to his bet, taking the highest bet up to seven chips. As it's round five, seven is the maximum bet. No other players can raise the bet further.

CALL. The player adds chips to their betting space until it matches the highest bet. After doing this, the player may also use their CALL joker if they have one.

Example 1: The highest bet is one chip. Bozo calls by betting one chip.

Example 2: The highest bet is three chips. Bozo is the blind player and has three chips in his bet already. He calls by not adding any more chips to his bet.

FOLD. The player leaves the bet. They immediately add all their already bet chips (if any) to the house bet. After this they may use their FOLD joker if they have one. The folding player may then take any one card from the market. The player then places their hand and the new card face-up on top of their discard pile in any order. If the player doesn't have a discard pile, they create it by placing their cards on the empty space to the right of their burn board. The folding player is skipped in further betting rounds, as they are no longer in the bet. If all players but one fold, the "last player standing" exception applies; see below.

Example 1: Bozo folds. He moves the two chips in his bet to the house bet. Then he takes a card from the market and places it in his discard pile together with his hand.

Example 2: Bozo folds. He hasn't bet any chips yet, so no chips are moved to the house bet. He chooses to not take any card from the market. He discards his hand.

* The highest bet is the highest number of chips any player has placed in their betting space above their burn board.

BURN

In the first betting round only, before picking a main action, the player may burn a card. Take a card from your hand and place it face-up on top of your burn pile (on the burn board). Then draw a new card from your draw pile. Cards in the burn pile will usually not be shuffled back into the player's deck again, so it's a way of getting rid of cards. While doing this, the player may use their BURN joker if they have one. If the player doesn't have a burn pile, they create one by placing the burned card face-up on their burn board. A player may not reduce their deck to less than seven cards, so a player with just seven cards is not allowed to do the BURN action.

Ending the Betting phase

When the blind player has completed their turn, the first betting round is finished. If all bets are now equal, the betting phase ends and players proceed to the reveal phase. Otherwise, play continues clockwise until all bets are equal at the end of a player's turn; when that happens, the betting phase ends and players immediately proceed to the reveal cards phase.

Exception: last player standing

If the round ends with all players except one folding, the last player standing wins. The winner collects all chips they have bet as well as the chips on the house betting space. Skip to step 6: Buying Phase, where only the winning player gets to buy.

Exception: if all players fold

It's possible for all players to fold in the first round of betting. When that happens, move all chips on the house betting space to the house and skip to step 7: Check for end of game.

5. Reveal cards

All players that did not fold reveal all cards in their hand and must score the highest-ranked set possible with their cards. The sets are ranked as follows, from highest to lowest, with the buying value of each set shown alongside it:

1. Royal flush ($9): 10, J, Q, K, and A of the same suit.
2. Straight flush ($8): Five cards of the same suit with consecutive values.
3. Four of a kind ($7): Four cards with the same value.
4. Flush ($6): Five cards of the same suit.
5. Straight ($5): Five cards with consecutive values.
6. Full house ($4): Three cards with the same value and two cards with the same value.
7. Three of a kind ($3): Three cards with the same value.
8. Two pairs ($2): Two pairs of cards with the same value.
9. Pair ($1): Two cards with the same number or letter.
10. High card ($0): The highest valued card in your hand.

Poker veterans beware: Full house is ranked below Flush and Straight in DECKO. There are no "kicker cards" in DECKO, only the cards in your set matter for determining the winner. All suits are equally ranked.

The card sets are listed in descending order, with the royal flush being the highest-ranking. The player who has the most highly ranked set wins the bet. The winner collects all chips bet by players who did not fold, as well as the chips on the house betting space. Then they discard their hand, and the losing players proceed with the Buying phase.

Aces in straight and straight flush

Aces can be part of either a high straight (10, J, Q, K, A) or a low straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5), but you cannot make a "wrap around" straight (K, A, 2, 3, 4, etc.).

Tiebreakers

If two or more players have the same set, the tiebreaker is whoever has the most highly ranked cards in their set. The individual cards are ranked from highest to lowest as follows: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. If two players have a pair, and one player has A,A and the other has 2,2, the player with the aces wins. Cards that are not part of the set are not used as tiebreakers (if you have a pair, for example, your set consists of two cards; the rest of your cards in hand don't matter).

If there is a tie for a full house, the three cards that make up the majority of the set are used to break the tie. If one player has 2, 2, 2, A, A, and the other player has 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, the latter wins, as three fours beat three twos. If both players have the same three cards in their full house, the other two cards are used to break the tie. If it's 3, 3, 3, K, K vs. 3, 3, 3, J, J, for example, the first would win as kings beat jacks. Ties for two pairs work in the same way: if the highest pair is tied, compare the second pair.

If two or more players have the exact same numbers/letters in their set, such as 4, 4 vs. 4, 4, split the pot as evenly as possible between the tied players and return any odd remaining chips to the house. If the pot is seven chips and there are two tied winners, for example, you would give each player three chips and return the last chip to the house. If you had to split a pot of eight chips between three players, you would give each player two chips and return the final two chips to the house to avoid uneven distribution.

6. Buying phase

Players that have not discarded their hands yet get to buy in turn order. This means players who won or folded don't get to buy (unless the last player standing exception is in play). Players may buy cards, special actions, and jokers. How much money a player has to spend is decided by the set they scored; see the ranking list above. A player who has two pairs can buy for $2, while a player who has a flush can spend up to $6. Money and chips are distinct resources and cannot be exchanged. Unspent money is lost at the end of the buying phase, and money is not represented by physical tokens.

Buying cards from the market

The cards in the market can be bought for the price displayed above each card. The rightmost card is free. The card slots in the market are not replaced until the next player's turn. Purchased cards are added to the discard pile of the player at the end of the buying phase. Learn more about the market cards in the market cards section and in the Market card reference below.

Buying special actions

There are several special actions that can be bought. You may only buy each action once per buying phase.

Flush the market. Pay $2 to place all the cards in the market face down at the bottom of the market deck. Then deal new cards from the top of the market deck to all card slots in the market.

Burn a card. Pay $2 to add a card from your hand to your burn pile.

Gift a card. Pay $3 to place any one card from your burn pile on top of another player's draw pile.

Buy chips. You may either buy one, two, or three chips for $2, $3, or $5.

Buy a joker. The jokers are divided into six piles, each with a different type of joker: DEAL, RAISE, CALL, FOLD, BURN, BUY. You may buy the top joker from any of the piles if you don't have a joker of that type already. You may only buy one joker per buying phase, and you're only allowed to ever have one joker of each type. Jokers are bought for chips instead of money. Pay the house the number of chips indicated in the upper corner of the joker card. Then, place the joker face-up next to your play area. How jokers work is described in the Jokers section below.

Ending the Buying phase

Once a player is done buying, they discard the cards in their hand and any market cards acquired face-up to their discard pile in any order. If the player doesn't have a discard pile, they create it by placing their cards on the empty space to the right of their burn board. The market is then refilled. Cards in the market slide to the right to fill any empty spaces, and new cards are dealt into the leftmost available spaces. Then the next player buys. When all players are done buying, proceed with the next step: Check for end of game.

7. Check for end of game

If any player has 60 chips, or if the round tracker is on the final spot, the game ends. If playing with five players, the game ends when someone has 70 chips instead. All players must pay back their loans; see the Loans section below. Then the player who has the most poker chips is the winner of the game. If tied, all tied players draw a card from their draw pile. The player with the highest-ranked card is the winner. If still tied, draw again until there's no longer a tie. If the game does not end, proceed with the next round.

Other Game Concepts

Jokers

The jokers give the players special rules that only apply to their owner; the rules for each joker are described on their cards. Each of the six joker types is tied to a specific action or part of the game. Jokers that have the wording "you may" are optional to use.

DEAL. These jokers must be used during the Deal phase, when the hands are drawn. They can only be used once per Deal phase. The specific timing of use is different for each joker and described on the cards. Example: After drawing his hand, Bozo uses Mulligan to discard three cards and draw new ones to replace them.

RAISE. These jokers are used immediately after doing a raise action during the Betting phase. You can use these every time you raise. Example: Krusty uses his White Clown to draw a card to his hand after raising the bet.

CALL. These jokers are used immediately after doing a call action during the Betting phase. You can use these every time you call. Example: Bernice uses her Vampire to gain two chips after calling the bet.

BURN. These jokers are used while doing a burn action during the Betting phase. They do not apply when placing cards in the burn pile during other circumstances, such as when buying a burn in the Buying phase or jokers and cards that let you place a card in the burn pile. Example: Bozo burns a card. Because he has The Devil, he draws two cards instead of one after burning.

FOLD. Fold jokers are used while folding during the Betting phase. Example: Yorick folds. Because he has the Sad Clown he takes two cards from the market instead of one.

BUY. Buy jokers are used in the Buying phase. They may be used in the same round as they are bought and in every Buying phase the player participates in. Example: Bernice buys the Saleswoman. She uses the Saleswoman's discount to get the $1 card for free. Then she burns a card for $1 instead of $2 and gifts a card for $2 instead of $3.

Wildcard Rounds

When the round tracker moves onto one of the two wildcard spaces, the round becomes a wildcard round with special rules determined by the card with the corresponding symbol placed above the round track.

Wildcard Ante

Step two of the round sequence (place starting bets) is modified during wildcard rounds. All players must place chips on the house betting space equal to the minimum bet. The blind player and the house still have to bet the minimum bet as normal. Example: It's a four-player game and the first Wildcard Round. All players place two chips on the house betting space, and the house also bets two chips, for a total of 10 chips. Then the blind player places two chips on their betting space. The round starts with a total of 12 chips to win.

Wildcard special rules

In a wildcard round, use the special rules described on the wildcard. The rules on the wildcards override the main game rules. The teacher of the game should check the reference for each wildcard (see the Wildcard reference below) to go over their full rules with the other players. When the wildcard round is over, flip over the wildcard. The rules of each wildcard only apply for one round; on the subsequent rounds, normal rules apply until the next wildcard round. Example: It's the first wildcard round, and the wildcard is Lowball: "lowest ranked set wins." For this round only the player with the lowest-ranked set wins, instead of the player with the highest-ranked set.

Refreshing the mat

When the round tracker enters the round spaces with a trash can symbol, it's time to refresh the mat. Place all face-up cards from the market face-down beneath the market deck, then fill the market slots with new cards from the top of the market deck. Place the top joker of each joker pile face-up at the bottom of each joker pile so that the next joker becomes visible instead.

The limit of seven

A player may not ever have more than seven cards in their hand and may not have less than seven cards in their deck. A player with only seven cards total (in hand, draw pile, and discard pile combined) cannot burn cards or do any action that would cause the player to have less than seven cards. Players are allowed to count their cards at any time to check their deck size, but they may not turn the cards in their draw pile face-up while counting.

Looking through piles of cards

You may look through your discard and burn pile, but you are not allowed to rearrange the order of the cards when you do so. You're not allowed to look through your draw pile, the market deck, or the joker piles.

Creating a discard pile

If your discard pile is ever empty, you may at any time create a new discard pile by discarding the top card of your draw deck. This is useful for card interactions that utilize the discard pile, such as the Sewer Clown and Dumpster Diving Queen.

Loans

If a player has too few chips to do an action, they may take a loan by revealing their loan card with the "one loan" side up and gain ten chips. The player must then complete the action that made the loan necessary. If the same situation happens again, the player may take a second loan by flipping the loan card over to the side with two loans. If a player has too few chips to place their starting bet as a blind player or has too few chips to place chips on the house betting space at the start of a wildcard round, they must take a loan. At the end of the game, players must pay five chips per loan. If they don't have enough chips to pay, they don't have to. The loans are profitable, so players should not be afraid of taking loans.

If the situation of not having enough chips happens again after having taken two loans, the player cannot take a third loan. A player who has taken two loans and has too few chips to place their starting bet as the blind player and/or pay the ante for a wildcard round must use chips from the bank instead for the initial bet and ante. They cannot take more chips from the bank to call or raise the bet and will likely have to fold.

The market cards

The cards in the market deck are the same cards as you'll find in a regular deck of 52 cards, except most have special rules to make them better. The rules for each card are described in the Market card reference below. If cards are acquired from the market outside the buying phase, such as when folding, the card slots are refilled immediately. Cards in the market slide to the right to fill any empty spaces, and new cards are dealt into the leftmost available spaces.

References

Market card reference

Card effects that trigger "when revealed" apply only during the Reveal cards phase. These must be used to create the highest-ranked hand possible, as per the rules for revealing cards. A card will have its effect even if it's not part of the set that is scored, and all cards in hand are included when calculating the effects of cards. Card effects that happen "when acquired," such as the voucher and smoldering cards, only happen when they are taken from the market, typically when bought in the buying phase or when taken in a fold action. These cards have a credit card in their iconography.

Assisting aces. The Assisting Aces let you modify the number of a numbered card in hand up or down by one when revealed. You may not modify a card with a letter (J, K, Q, A), or turn a numbered card into a letter (no turning 10 into J or A into 2). Two or more Assisting Aces can modify the same card to change the number further.

Chip cards. These cards give you the chips depicted when revealed, regardless of whether you win or not. Example: Bernice reveals her hand, it has a 9 with two chips and a 5 with one chip. She gets three chips immediately.

Credit cards. The cards that look like credit cards give you $3 extra to spend in the buying phase when revealed.

Crypto cards. Crypto cards give you one chip when revealed for each Crypto card in hand. Example 1: Bernice has one Crypto card and gets one chip. Example 2: Bernice has three Crypto cards and gets nine chips (3*3=9).

Dissolving cards. These cards have two numbers separated by a dash, and can be assigned either of the numbers when revealed. It cannot be used as both numbers. Example: Krusty uses his 6/7 as a 7, using it together with another card to get a pair of sevens.

Double cards. These cards have an extra card depicted on them. The card counts as being both cards when revealed. They count as two different cards for any effects that happen when revealed such as earning chips from rich kings etc. When a queen copies a double card the queen gets the rules of the Double card (they become both cards). The cards cannot be split and do not count as two cards for purposes such as drawing, burning, hand size, deck size etc. Example 1: Bozo uses his Double nine card as a pair of nines. Example 2: Bozo uses his Double card with a 7 and A on it together with two aces and one seven to form a full house.

Jovial Jacks. Jovial jacks have a J, a dash and a number on them. They can be used as either a jack or the number when revealed, keeping their suit. Example 1: Bozo has two Jovial Jacks, he uses them as a pair of jacks. Example 2: Bozo has three Jovial Jacks, he uses them as 2,3,4 together with a 5 and 6 to form a straight.

Junk Food cards. On your turn, before picking an action in the betting phase, you may discard any Junk Food cards to draw new cards from your draw pile. You may do this before or after your BURN action. If you draw another Junk Food card, you may use it immediately. You do not have to use Junk Food cards in the first round of the Betting phase; you can keep them and use them in a later betting round. Example: Bozo has two Junk Food cards. He discards one of them and draws a card. Then he discards the other Junk Food card and draws another card.

Rich Kings. The Rich Kings give you one chip for each card of the same suit as the king in hand, including the Rich King itself. Example 1: Krusty has the Rich King of Spades and one other spade card in hand. He receives 2 chips when revealing his hand. Example 2: Krusty has the Rich King of Spades, a double card with two nines of spades, a seven of spades, and a five of spades. He receives 5 chips.

Smoldering cards. These cards have one or two burn symbols and a smoldering effect around the edges. When a Smoldering card is acquired, you may add one card from your hand to the top of your burn pile for each burn symbol on the card. Example 1: Krusty buys the Smoldering 5 with a burn symbol on it. He immediately adds a card from his hand to his burn pile. Example 2: Krusty folds and takes the Smoldering 9 with two burn symbols. He immediately adds two cards from his hand to his burn pile.

Pyromaniac Queen. This card can be used as a queen when revealed or as the same card as the card on the top of your burn pile. If used as the top card of the burn pile, whatever effect that card has upon reveal applies. The card copied from the burn pile counts as being in the player's hand for all purposes (the queen effectively becomes that card). The "when acquired" effects, such as those for the Voucher and Smoldering cards, do not apply. If the burn pile is empty during the reveal, this card must be used as a queen. Example: Yorick uses his Pyromaniac Queen as the top of his burn pile, which has a Double ten card. He also has a ten in his hand, so this means he has a three of a kind with tens.

Dumpster Diving Queen. This card can be used as a queen when revealed or as the same card as the card on top of your discard pile. If used as the top card of the discard pile, whatever effects that card has upon reveal apply. The card copied from the discard pile counts as being in the player's hand for all purposes (the queen effectively becomes that card). If your discard pile is empty, you may place a card there from the top of your draw pile. Example: Yorick uses his Dumpster Diving Queen as the top card of his discard pile, which is a Rich King of Clovers. He has four clover cards in his hand; together with the king, he has a flush. Also, the king gives him five extra chips as per the rules for Rich Kings.

Shopping Queen. This card can be used as a queen when revealed or as the same card as one of the face-up cards in the market. If used as a card in the market, whatever effects that card has upon reveal apply. The card copied from the market counts as being in the player's hand for all purposes (the queen effectively becomes that card). The "when acquired" effects, such as those for the voucher and smoldering cards, do not apply, as the card is not acquired at this point. Example: Bozo uses his Shopping Queen as a 9 in the market. He also has a 9 in his hand, giving him a pair of nines. In addition, the 9 in the market is a Chip card with 2 chips on it, earning him 2 chips.

Bridge Partner Queen. This card can be used as a queen when revealed, or as a copy of another card in hand of the same suit as the queen. Whatever effects that card has upon reveal apply (the queen effectively becomes that card). Example: Bernice uses the Bridge Partner Queen of Diamonds as a king, as she has a Rich King of Diamonds in hand. She therefore has a pair of kings, and both the queen and the king earn chips for each diamond card in hand as per the Rich King rules. There's a total of 3 diamond cards in hand, so Bernice gets 6 extra chips.

Voucher cards. These cards give you the chips depicted when you acquire the card. Example: Bernice buys a Voucher card. She receives 3 chips immediately.

Joker reference

DEAL jokers

MULLIGAN. You may discard exactly three of your cards and draw new cards to replace them. After drawing your hand, place exactly three of your cards on top of your discard pile, then draw three new cards from your draw pile to replace them. Doing so might empty the draw pile, making the player shuffle the discard pile to make a new draw pile. The three discarded cards would then be included in the shuffle so that they could potentially be drawn again. You may only use the mulligan once per deal phase.

MAGIC HAT. You may draw one extra card. You draw six cards instead of five in the deal phase.

FORTUNE TELLER. You may look at another player's hand at the end of the deal phase. This may be used after all other players have used their DEAL jokers; the fortune teller always goes last in the deal phase. Take another player's hand of cards and look at it without showing it to anyone else, then return it.

HOBO. Gain 3 chips if you need to shuffle your discard pile. This only applies during the deal phase, not if the discard pile is shuffled under other circumstances. Typically the discard pile needs to be shuffled in the deal phase because the draw pile has less than five cards to draw.

BABY JOKER. After drawing your cards you may discard this to buy a joker for free. Standard rules for jokers apply; you may only have one joker of each type. If you choose another DEAL joker, you cannot use its effect this round. Getting a joker with the Baby Joker does not prevent you from getting another joker in the buying phase.

MERLIN. You may draw your first card from the market. You must use Merlin before drawing any cards from your draw pile. Pick any of the cards in the market; you may not draw the top card of the market deck. If the card you draw from the market has a "when acquired" effect, you must immediately use the "when acquired" effect. The card drawn this way counts as one of the five cards you draw in the deal phase.

GARBAGE PAIL BOY. You may draw your last card from the top of your discard. You must use Garbage Pail Boy before drawing your last card (the fifth card usually). The card drawn this way counts as one of the five cards you draw in the deal phase.

RAISE jokers

WHITE CLOWN. You may draw a card. The card is drawn from your draw pile as normal. If drawing a card would take your hand above the hand limit of seven cards, you may not use this ability.

RED JESTER. Look at the top card of the market deck, draw it or return it. If you draw the card, place it in your hand. If you return it, place it face-down on top of the market deck. If you keep the card and it has a "when acquired" effect, you may immediately show the card to the other players and use the "when acquired" effect. If drawing a card would take your hand above the hand limit of seven cards, you may not use this ability.

MR. JACKPOT. Place 4 chips from the house on this card. Gain the chips if you win; return them if you lose or fold. If you manage to raise the bet multiple times, chips will accumulate on this card. You gain all the chips on this card if you win. If you lose or fold, all the chips on this card are returned to the house (not the house bet).

SEWER CLOWN. You may swap a card in your hand with the top card of your discard pile. If your discard pile is empty, you may place a card there from the top of your draw pile before using the Sewer Clown. Remember that you can control the order in which you place cards in your discard pile after buying or folding, ensuring that a card you want to use with the sewer clown next round is on top of the discard pile.

THE WITCH. After raising add two chips from another player's bet to your bet. Like with all RAISE jokers, you must raise your bet before using this joker's effect. So you must first use your own chips to bring your bet up to one chip higher than the highest bet, then you may use the witch to steal two chips from another player's bet and add them to your bet. This means you're effectively raising the bet two chips further while also reducing another player's bet. You cannot use this to increase the bet to higher than the current maximum bet, and you must either steal two chips or none at all. You may not steal from a player with less than two chips in their bet.

TABLE TALKER. Give a card from your hand to another player's hand. The card you give belongs to the other player from now on; you don't get to draw a card to replace it, and you don't get it back. The card given counts towards that player's maximum hand size of seven cards. If you give a player with six cards an extra card, for example, they now have seven cards and cannot use the ability of the Cool Cat joker to draw another card. You cannot use the Table Talker to give a card to a player who has seven cards already.

CALL jokers

VAMPIRE. Gain a chip for each player whose bet you match. For example, if you have three chips on your betting space after calling and two other players also have bet exactly three chips, you gain two chips from the house.

COOL CAT. You may draw a card. The card is drawn from your draw pile as normal. If drawing a card would take your hand above the hand limit of seven cards, you may not use this ability.

FISHBAIT. You may discard all your cards and draw new ones to replace them. You may discard the cards in any order (the order could be relevant for other effects that rely on the top of your discard pile, such as the Sewer Clown). Then draw the same number of cards. If you have seven cards in your hand, for example, you discard seven cards and draw seven new cards. Doing so might empty the draw pile, making the player shuffle the discard pile to make a new draw pile. The discarded cards would then be included in the shuffle so that they could potentially be drawn again.

MONOCHROMA. You may add a card from the market to your discard pile. You may pick any of the face-up cards in the market. The market is refilled immediately. "When acquired" effects on the card picked, such as the voucher and smoldering card effects, may be used.

BLACK KNIGHT. You may discard one card from hand to get 3 chips. You may do this every time you do a call action until you have no cards left in hand.

KINGMAKER. All other players in the bet must add one chip to the house bet. Players who have folded are no longer in the bet and don't have to add a chip. Players cannot use chips from their bet, and if a player doesn't have enough chips in their supply, they must take a loan. If a player is out of chips in their supply and has used both loans already, add a chip from the house to the house bet for them instead.

BURN jokers

THE DEVIL. You may draw one extra card. You still only place one card on the burn pile, and it must be placed before drawing your two cards. If doing so would take your hand size above the limit of seven cards, you cannot use this joker.

MARSHMALLOW. After burning and drawing you may take any card from your burn pile to your hand. You can take back any card in your burn pile, including the one you just burned. If doing so would take your hand size above the limit of seven cards, you cannot use this joker.

BURNING MAN. You may draw the top card of your discard pile instead of drawing from your draw pile. If your discard pile is empty, you may place a card there from the top of your draw pile before burning. Remember that you can control the order in which you place cards in your discard pile after buying or folding, ensuring that the card you want to use with the Burning Man next round is on top of the discard pile.

HARLEQUIN. You may place the burned card on top of another player's draw deck instead. The card is placed face-down, and the receiving player may not look at it until they draw it. If the player doesn't have a draw deck, create one by placing the card on the empty space to the left of their burn pile.

DUMPSTER FIRE. You may burn the top card of your discard pile instead. If your discard pile is empty, you may place a card there from the top of your draw pile before burning. Using the dumpster fire means you increase your hand size by one, as no card is removed from your hand. You cannot use the Dumpster Fire if you have the maximum hand size of seven cards already. Remember that you can control the order in which you place cards in your discard pile after buying or folding, ensuring that the card you want to use with the dumpster fire next round is on top of the discard pile.

MINMAXER. You may add one extra card to your burn pile. You still draw only one card. You must add both cards to your burn pile before you draw your new card. As you only draw one card after removing two, using this joker reduces your hand size by one, typically from five to four cards. If you use this joker extensively, you're likely to get a small deck; remember to keep track of the minimum deck size of seven cards.

FOLD jokers

SAD CLOWN. You may take up to two cards from the market instead of one. The market is not refilled until after you have taken both your cards.

TAXMAN. Steal two chips from each player who has more chips than you. When counting chips, include the chips on the player's betting space. The chips on the blind card also count as being on the blind player's betting space. You may not steal chips from a player who has the same amount of chips as you. You can only steal from players who have at least two chips outside their betting space.

GUN. You may steal two chips from another player and place a card from your hand on your burn pile. You must do both actions or none. You can only steal from a player who has at least two chips outside their betting area.

PATCHFACE. If you guess correctly who wins the bet, receive seven chips. Say your guess out loud so all players can hear it. You can also place the Patchface card sideways next to the player you guess is winning as a reminder.

ROBIN. You may steal 4 chips from the player with the most chips. When counting chips, include the chips on the player's betting space. The chips on the blind card also count as being on the blind player's betting space. You may not steal chips from a player who has the same amount of chips as you, and you cannot steal from yourself. You can only steal if the player has at least four chips outside their betting space.

ANALYSIS PARALYSIS. You may keep two cards in your hand for next round. Discard all cards except the two cards you want to keep. In the next Deal phase, draw five cards as normal so that you end up with seven cards in total. You cannot keep the new card you took from the market when folding, the two cards must have been in your hand before you folded. You may not then use the Magic Hat joker to draw an extra card, as the max hand size is seven cards.

BUY jokers

CHIP GIRL. When you buy chips you get three times as many. So instead of buying 1/2/3 chips, you buy 3/6/9 chips for the same prices. You cannot choose to not use the Chip Girl when buying chips. The Chip Girl only affects the buying of chips through the special action in the Buying phase, not chips acquired in other ways, such as by buying voucher cards, etc.

SALESWOMAN. You have a discount of $1 on all purchases. The discount applies both when buying cards from the market and when buying special actions, and the discount can be used for every single purchase. You don't get a discount on chips paid for by jokers, as only money is discounted, not chips.

CHERRY. Gain two chips. All cards in the market are free, but you can only buy one. Using this joker is mandatory. Flushing the market does not allow you to buy another card. If you have the Cherry, spend your money on chips and special actions instead.

PIZZA TIME. You may do the gift and the burn action for free. You can still only do each of these special actions one time per Buying phase. You may gift the card you just burned (you could also do this without this joker, but it wouldn't be free).

ENERGY DRINK. You may add any of the cards you buy to the top of your draw pile. This only applies to cards acquired in the Buying phase. You may add the cards in any order, and if the draw pile is empty, use the cards bought to create a new draw pile.

TOILET. You may do the flush the market action for free. You can still only do this special action one time per Buying phase.

Wildcard reference

The red wildcards are designed to create an interesting twist early in the game, while the blue wildcards are designed for the late game and reward players for planning their deckbuilding around them.

Red Wildcards

Hold'em. Players must use three cards from the market in their set. You have to use three cards from the market to make your set, as if those cards were in your hand. You may use up to two cards from your hand to make up the rest of your set. Any on-reveal effects on the cards apply, such as making you earn chips or modifying other cards with the Assisting Aces, etc. Similarly, any such effects on the cards in your hand can be used with the three cards from the flop that form part of your set. The standard rule of having to create the highest-scoring set possible applies. If you can't create a set using three cards from the market and two from your hand, you may use fewer cards from the market as necessary. But you cannot score more than two cards from your hand in your set. You don't draw or discard the cards you use from the market.

Clown car. Players count as having all the jokers on the mat instead of their own. All players use the top card of each joker pile as if it were their own. You cannot use your own jokers this round. Players must use the DEAL joker ability in turn order. If a player buys a BUY joker, the BUY joker underneath becomes the current joker immediately after that purchase, and from that point on only the rules for the new joker apply, including any restrictions. The new joker does not act retroactively, so if the Cherry is suddenly in play, it doesn't count any cards previously bought for the 1-card buy restriction, and similarly, you can't get back any money spent before the Saleswoman was revealed. If the current BUY joker has restrictions, those restrictions are cancelled once the joker is bought.

Lowball. The lowest-ranking set wins. The scoring is essentially reversed this round. So a high card beats a pair, a pair beats two pairs, and so on. Note that players still have to score their highest possible set with their cards; if you have a full house, for example, you cannot choose to just score a pair or a high card. The tiebreaker is also reversed, with a two beating a three and so on. The values of the sets are normal for the purposes of the buying phase; two pairs still let you buy for $2, and so on.

Stud. Players must keep three cards from their hand revealed in front of them. Players choose which three cards to reveal; these are placed on the table in front of the players right after the Deal phase is finished. Note that other cards in hand can still be used in the player's set, and the three cards won't necessarily be part of the set that is scored (standard rules apply; players must score their highest possible set from their hand, considering both the three revealed cards and the other cards in hand). If you replace any of the three revealed cards through actions such as burning a card, a fast food card, or a joker ability, the cards you draw to replace them must also be revealed.

TCG. Players may draw one card of their choice from the burn pile of the player to their left. This happens right after the Deal phase is finished. Players draw their extra card in turn order. You're not allowed to change the order of the cards in the other player's burn pile. If a player already has the maximum hand size of seven cards after the deal cards phase, they cannot draw a card.

Fried chicken. Players must add a card to their burn pile when raising or calling a bet. Add a card from your hand to your burn pile after doing your call or raise action, but before using your CALL or RAISE joker. This is in addition to the normal burn action, and every time you do it, your hand size is reduced, as you don't draw a new card for the one you placed in the burn pile.

Deckorama. Players draw seven cards instead of five. Simply draw seven cards instead of five in the Deal phase. This means players immediately reach the hand limit of seven cards, and so jokers that let you draw an extra card cannot be used unless you somehow manage to lose a card first (say you call with the Black Knight in one betting round, losing a card, then raise with the White Clown next round to draw a card).

Blue Wildcards

Inferno. Players shuffle and draw their hand from their burn pile. The burn pile is shuffled and turned face-down in the deal phase. Players then draw their hand from the burn pile. The DEAL jokers treat the burn pile as the draw deck as well. If you use the Magic Hat joker, you simply draw an extra card from the burn pile. If using Mulligan, the discarded cards are added to your discard pile, then three new cards are drawn from the burn pile. Right after the Deal phase is finished, the burn pile is turned back face-up, then the rest of the round works as normal. As your hand will be discarded to your discard pile eventually, this means those burned cards in your hand actually end up leaving the burn pile and getting mixed back into your deck. If a player has less than five cards in their burn pile, they draw as many cards as they can, ending up with a smaller hand this round. If a player has not burned any cards, they will have a hand of zero cards and will very likely lose if they don't fold or somehow draw new cards during the Betting phase (by using jokers, for example).

Purge. Cards with numbers matching numbers in other players' hands cannot be scored. In the reveal cards phase, before players proclaim which sets they have, any cards with numbers matching the numbers on cards of other players are flipped over to show they cannot be scored. Cards with letters (J, Q, K, A) are not affected by this. If either of the cards on a double card is affected, the double card is flipped over. If either of the numbers on a Dissolving Card or a Jovial Jack is affected, the card is flipped over. Assisting Aces cannot be used to save cards from getting flipped. After determining the winner, the cards are flipped back, and the round proceeds as normal.

Battle royale. All royal cards can be used as any card when scored. The royals are essentially treated like classic card game jokers; they can be scored as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A of any suit when revealed. They can't be used to get new card effects such as Double Cards, Crypto Cards, etc.; they may only change their number/letter and suit. If you use a royal card as something different, they lose their own plot card effects (a Rich King that is turned into an ace won't score extra chips for cards of the same suit, for example).

Low sum. Players add up the numbered cards in their hand. The player with the lowest sum wins. Only numbered cards are counted, not lettered cards such as J, Q, K, and A. Players sum up all cards in their hands and determine the winner before using card abilities and creating their sets, which will be used as normal for the Buying round. When adding up the cards, count both cards on Double cards and use the lowest number for Dissolving cards. Jovial Jacks are used as jacks for this and so won't be counted.

Solo. Only one card is scored. When hands are revealed, only one card from the hand is scored (a high card set). Use the tiebreaker rankings to determine the winner; the highest-ranked card is an ace, then a king, and so on as normal. It's not possible to score a pair by using Double Cards.

Pro table. Starting cards cannot be scored. In the reveal phase, the starting cards (marked with fruit in the corner) cannot be used to create sets. They can still be used for effects like earning chips with the Rich Kings. Queens of any type cannot use their ability to become starting cards, as then they wouldn't score, and cards must be used to create the best possible hand when scoring. The 8 value cards with no special rules in the market deck do not count as starting cards.

Penultimo. The second-highest ranking set wins. Basically the player who would normally be in second place wins. If two players are tied for having the best set, the player who loses the tiebreaker has the second-best set and wins the round. If one player has J, J, K, K, K, and the other has J, J, Q, Q, Q, for example, the player with the queens wins. If two players are tied for having the second best set, on the other hand, the player who wins the tiebreaker has the second best set and wins the round.

Basic Strategy Tips

• It's sometimes good to stay in a bet you know you will lose just to be able to participate in the buying phase.
• Having a small, focused deck usually pays off. Try to not buy too many cards, and burn cards at every opportunity.
• Start early building your deck towards winning the second wildcard round.
• Watch your opponents. Around halfway through the game you should have an idea of what sets they're able to make, and what they can do with their jokers.
• Fold jokers can be an excellent way of catching up by folding a few rounds, then you can turn the game around in a big comeback later.
• The gifting action can be a good counter against opponents with a strong deck, particularly if several players do it.
• In 2-player games, be wary of folding too much as the last player standing exception is always in effect.

Game Teaching Advice

Keep the back of the rulebook on the table as a handy summary of the game.

Start by asking if the players have played poker and deckbuilders before; you may or may not have to teach players basic poker and deckbuilding concepts. Players who don't know poker hands should have the back of the rulebook summary near them to see the different sets that can be scored.

Make sure players learn what cards are in their starting deck (they can also see it in the summary on the back of this rulebook). Remind them they can look through their discard pile and burn pile anytime.

Don't forget: once the first betting round is over, betting ends immediately as soon as all bets are equal. Players can only do the burn action in the first betting round.

The market cards and jokers are intended to be powerful and flexible, so when in doubt, be generous in your interpretation of their abilities and say "yes, you can do that" to questions about possible combos and interactions. The rules for determining who wins a round and tiebreakers are generally the same as in poker games.

Quick Reference

Round Sequence

1. Advance the round tracker and pass the blind card. Wildcard round if on a wildcard space. Refresh the mat if on a trash-can space.
2. Place starting bets for the blind player and the house. Ante if a wildcard round. The house bets double the minimum bet in 2-player games.
3. Deal phase. Players draw 5 cards. Use DEAL jokers.
4. Betting phase. Summarized on player aids. The player to the left of the blind player goes first. If all players except one fold, the Last player standing exception is in effect (allowing the winner to buy in the Buying phase).
5. Reveal cards. The winner receives all bets. The winner discards their hand.
6. Buying phase. Losers that didn't fold may buy. Players may only buy each special buy action once. You may only have one joker of each type. Use BUY jokers.
7. Check for end of game. If a player has 60 or more chips, the game ends; 70 chips if it's a 5-player game. The game also ends if the round tracker is on the final spot. The player with the most chips after paying back loans wins.

General Rules

• Max hand size is seven cards; minimum deck size is seven cards.
• Players may take a loan when they don't have enough chips for an action. A loan gives the player 10 chips; they must pay five chips back for each loan at the end of the game.
• A player's hand is all the cards the player has in their hand. A player's set is only the cards a player scores (three of a kind, etc.). Players must use their card abilities to get the highest ranked set possible. Card effects can be used on all cards in hand to earn chips, etc.
• Cards in hand not used in a player's set are not used to break ties, and all suits have equal rank.
• There are no extended sets (five of a kind, etc.).
• The market deck has the same 52 cards as a regular card deck, but with special rules.

Starting Deck Cards

14 cards, two copies of each number from 2-8. Best possible set is a Straight.

Hand Rankings (highest to lowest)

1. Royal flush ($9): 10, J, Q, K, and A of the same suit.
2. Straight flush ($8): Five cards of the same suit with consecutive values (A, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc.).
3. Four of a kind ($7): Four cards with the same value.
4. Flush ($6): Five cards of the same suit.
5. Straight ($5): Five cards with consecutive values.
6. Full house ($4): Three cards with the same value and two cards with the same value.
7. Three of a kind ($3): Three cards with the same value.
8. Two pairs ($2): Two pairs of cards with the same value.
9. Pair ($1): Two cards with the same number or letter.
10. High card ($0): The highest-valued card in your hand.