The full pack of 52 cards is used. After the pack has been shuffled by one player and cut by another to the banker, it is passed to the player on the left of the banker, who removes a few cards (not less than four) form the top of the pack, and places them in a pile face downwards on the table in front of him.

He then passes the pack to his left hand neighbor who does the same thing, and so on until all the poker players (the banker last) have placed a small pile of cards in front of them.

THE PLAY

Without looking at the cards, all the players (except the banker) stake to an agreed limit and turn their piles face upwards to expose the bottom card.

The banker wins from A,B,C, and F and loses to D, E, and G. Overall he loses 3 units and, therefore, the bank passes to the next player.

The banker wins from all whose exposed card is lower than or equal with his and loses to all whose card is higher. By agreement, the Ace may be high or low.

Play continues with the same banker if he wins more than he loses, or if he finishes level, but passes to the next player if the banker loses more than he wins.

Another way of playing the game is for the banker to cut the pack into three piles. The players place their stakes on either of two piles, and the third pile is taken by the banker.

The three piles are turned face upwards and the players receive from the banker or lose to him according to whether the bottom cards of their piles are higher or lower than the bottom poker card of his pile.

Games for Five or More Players