Mock
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Note that tabletalk is not only allowed, but positively encouraged. The inevitable mocking is, afterall, how the game was named.
Game Progression
The game is played in rounds. To begin a round, each player is dealt 3 cards and the remaining cards are placed face-down in a draw pile. The dealer divides the deck roughly into two halves and places the top half 90 degrees to the lower half. The top half is also called the "opening" or "start" and the bottom half also called the "catch up" or "finish". The size of each half may vary so long as the other players are satisfied.
The player to the left of the dealer begins by taking a card from the draw pile. He or she may then 'meld' one or more cards by placing them face up in front of themself. Melded cards form the player's scored hand at the end of the round. Players attempt to form winning poker hands with their melded cards. Once a card is melded it may not be un-melded.
Once the player has drawn and melded (or not) he or she then 'equalises' by discarding or drawing cards to bring the total number of cards in-hand to three. Discarded cards are placed on a discard pile. A player may draw the topmost card from the discard pile rather than the draw pile if he or she so chooses. Players may not equalise from the discard pile. Looking at the contents of the discard pile (other than the top card) is strictly forbidden. A 'deck nazi' (or deck bitch) may be appointed (for example, the lowest scoring player in the last round) to maintain order in the discard pile.
Play then proceeds to the next player to the left and continues until all players have melded five cards. Once the first half of the draw pile is exhausted each player must meld at least one card in their next turn (unless they have already melded one or more cards). Once the second half of the draw pile is exhausted each player must meld cards to bring the scored hand to five cards. Any others cards in hand are discarded in any order the player chooses.
Each hand is then scored according to a points system and the winner determined. The person to the left of the dealer becomes dealer for the next round. Game play continues until a player reaches a predetermined number of points. (30 or 50 are good)
In summary, a player's turn is as follows
- 1. Draw a single card from either new or open-faced discard pile
- 2. Meld zero or more cards
- A minimum of a single card meld must be performed on the first play of the catchup round, if no cards are melded to that point.
- 3. Equalize the hand to three by discarding or drawing cards
- Picking up cards may only be from the new card pile
Scoring
Hand Points Card high 0 1 pair 1 2 pair 2 3 of a kind 3 Flush 4 Straight 5 Full House 6 4 of a kind 7 Straight Flush 8 Royal Flush 9 Bonus points per round First complete hand melded 1 Highest hand in round 2
Misc
- Due to the nature of the hand buildup, some hands become relatively easier than others. eg, A flush becomes quite easy to obtain. Thus, the ranking of hands is slightly different to the that found in poker.
- Every player must have a minimum single turn in the opening round. If card split turns out to be insufficient size, then it is extended in-play.
- A meld is FINAL as soon as the melded card hits the table and no longer touched by the player. (Much as in Chess, a move is final when the moved piece is untouched)
- Once a player has melded their complete poker hand, they no longer participate in the round. Note that if one player is left in a round, they control the remaining deck. (But still process it one-at-a-time). This is may or may not give any significant advantage.
- Should more than one player reach the threshold score in a turn, the player with the highest score wins. In the case of a tied score, additional rounds are played until a single player has the high score. In the case of a tie for first and a close second place, it is possible for the player coming second to pull ahead in the tie-break round and win the game by having the highest score.
- With a single deck, there is a maximum of 10 players possible, though testing shows 8 is probably the realistic maximum, and 4-6 is optimal.
- When there is no discard pile, it is said that you are playing 'blind'. The first turn is always blind. Blind playing is really only noticed when a significant proportion of the game is played blind - increasingly likely as you reach 10 players.
- If you fail to equalise properly at the end of your turn, you must equalise immediately on your next turn, and forfeit any other action.
- Completed hands often result in multiple discards simultaneously. These must be done one card at a time (in the single turn) to ensure that all players know which cards have been discarded. (and potentially be able to mock someone who wanted one of those cards)
- If you can count cards, you will probably kick arse at this game! :)
- 'Highest hand' is determined by the same rules as poker. Be as strict about this as you like, or whatever houserule variants (eg, having ranked suits) as you like. (We play with the Ace as high only, no ranked suits)
