Four-Card Drax
Sarna News
Four Card Drax is a card game that is played in the Inner Sphere for both casual entertainment as well as for prize money such as in tournaments and casinos.
Contents
History
Four Card Drax appears to have evolved from the poker family of card games sometime after the 20th century. It is known to be popular in the Free Worlds League Military and is simple enough for amateur play, such as among soldiers in their downtime. The planet Kyeinnisan has several casinos which host high-stakes games of Four Card Drax. [1]
Mechanics
Four Card Drax has gameplay somewhat similar to traditional poker. The deck consists of number cards, from at least three to nine. There are four suits in total: Marik, Steiner, Kurita, and Davion. There are multiple instances of number cards in a suit.[2] A unique card type is the "lancer," which by itself has no value but increases the face value of all same-suit number cards by one.
Gameplay consists of rounds, each round consisting of five turns. Each round, players receive a starting "hole" card which may be used to assemble a hand. The hole card is hidden from other players, but their remaining cards are dealt face-up. Cards are dealt each turn to any player still participating in the round. Players receive one card per turn individually (cards are not shared between players) and attempt to produce a hand from their cards.
Players bet each turn as they receive cards, but may fold and forfeit their contributions to the pot if they do not perceive adequate value in their hand, permitting a degree of strategy and bluffing in the course of play. At the end of each round, any players still challenging each other after five turns must show their full hands for scoring. However, if a player wins the round due to the other players folding, the winning player is not obligated to reveal their hole card.
Certain card sequences are highly desirable, such as the eponymous "Drax," a series of four same-suit cards in numerical order (analogous to the straight flush in poker). Other hands are valued for simple numerical superiority (a hand holding four tens beats a hand holding four nines, for instance).
Four Card Drax pots can reach 5,000 C-Bills per round on a reasonably wealthy planet such as Kyeinnisan.