Dragon Poker
Encyclopedia
Dragon Poker is a fictional card game from the "MythAdventures
" series by Robert Asprin
, featured primarily in the book Little Myth Marker. The game is an absurdly complex Poker variant, with the same basic rules as stud poker
but with different names for the suits and face cards and the added concept of conditional modifiers. A conditional modifier is a modification to the rules based on variables such as the day of the week, the number of players, chair position, which hand of the game it is, etc. As a result the game quickly gets ridiculously complicated.
Asprin has never provided the full rules for Dragon Poker; it is used in the book only as a plot device
in a parody
of professional gambling, and not as a fully developed game. This has not stopped fans from creating a set of Rules For Dragon Poker.
, Ogre
s, Unicorn
s, and Dragon
s, corresponding to jacks, queens, kings, and aces, respectively. (Like aces in poker, Dragons can be either the high card or the low card in a straight, but not both.)
. That is, each player plays the cards he gets, with no chance to draw better cards. Unlike most poker variations, the scoring hands are made up of six cards rather than five, and a total of nine cards are dealt to each player. Thus, a total of five players can play for each deck.
The game is played with all cards on the table, with four face-down hole cards and five cards face up. The hole cards are the first three and the last one to each player. (Down - down - down - up - up - up - up - up - down).
The hands, with descriptions, from lowest to highest:
A few hands require some explanation:
Normal hands — One and two pairs, three of a kind, full house, and four of a kind are exactly the same as in five-card poker, with an extra, "don't care" card. Flushes, straights, and straight flushes are similar to their counterparts, but that the sixth card must fit with the same rule as the other five.
Added hands — Three pairs is as it would seem: three pairs of cards put together. A full belly is two sets of threes of a kind, and a full dragon is a four of a kind plus a pair.
The Corps-a-Corps hand — The "corps-a-corps" hand was given no official definition in the book Little Myth Marker, but it has been given an unofficial definition by fans. The unofficial "corps-a-corps" hand is a "Three Pair" in which the three pairs are also two three-card flushes. An example would be the 2, 7, and ogre of hearts, along with the 2, 7, and ogre of spades.
In the books, the rules delineating conditional modifiers vary as well, depending on the dimension where the game is being played. It is not known if there exists a set or rules for modifiers that applies to Earth's dimension, nor, if they exist, what they are.
If a player makes a mistake in his interpretation of the current hand's conditional modifiers, so that he undervalues his own hand, the opponent is not required to point out the error (although he is not forbidden from doing so, either).
A few of the modifiers mentioned in Little Myth Marker:
All 20358520 1.00000000
High card 4203876 0.20649222
One Pair 9884160 0.48550484
Two Pair 4942080 0.24275242
Three of a Kind 732160 0.03596332
Three Pair 360360 0.01770070
Full House 164736 0.00809175
Straight (6) 36828 0.00180897
Four of a Kind 13728 0.00067431
Three Matched Pair 10296 0.00050573
Flush (6) 6828 0.00033539
Full Belly (3+3) 2496 0.00012260
Full Dragon (4+2) 936 0.00004598
Straight Flush (6) 36 0.00000177
Hand Combinations Odds (6 of 6)
All 32468436 1.0000000
High/Pair (W) 4817536 0.1483759
One Pair (N) 9884160 0.3044236
Two Pair (N Only) 4942080 0.1522118
Three of a Kind 5125120 0.1578493
Three Pair(N Only) 370656 0.0114130
Full house 1153152 0.0355160
Straight (6) 4231116 0.1303147
Four of a Kind 947232 0.0291739
Flush (6) 902196 0.0277868
Full Belly (N Only) 2496 0.0000768
Full Dragon (4+2) 49608 0.0015278
Five of a Kind 34944 0.0010762
Straight Flush (N/W) 7560 0.0002328
Six of a Kind 364 0.0000112
Straight Flush (N) 36 0.0000011
Notes:
--At least 1 Wild> 13,915,044 (43%)
> 10,395,840 (32%)
Notice that certain hands (2 pair, 3 pair, full belly) will be natural-only hands, because wild cards can make better hands. (For example, two pair using a wild card is no longer two pair, but three of a kind.) This effect boosts the probabilities of some high-scoring hands, such as straights, at the expense of lower-scoring hands.
MythAdventures
MythAdventures or Myth Adventures is a fantasy series by Robert Lynn Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye. After twelve novels by Asprin, published 1978 to 2002, he and Nye continued the series with seven more books...
" series by Robert Asprin
Robert Asprin
Robert Lynn Asprin was an American science fiction and fantasy author and active fan, best known for his humorous MythAdventures and Phule's Company series.- Background :...
, featured primarily in the book Little Myth Marker. The game is an absurdly complex Poker variant, with the same basic rules as stud poker
Stud poker
Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds. Stud games are also typically non-positional games, meaning that the player who bets first on each round may change from round to round...
but with different names for the suits and face cards and the added concept of conditional modifiers. A conditional modifier is a modification to the rules based on variables such as the day of the week, the number of players, chair position, which hand of the game it is, etc. As a result the game quickly gets ridiculously complicated.
Asprin has never provided the full rules for Dragon Poker; it is used in the book only as a plot device
Plot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
in a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of professional gambling, and not as a fully developed game. This has not stopped fans from creating a set of Rules For Dragon Poker.
The deck
Dragon Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck with the usual four suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. However, the Dragon Poker deck's face cards are ElvesElf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
, Ogre
Ogre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
s, Unicorn
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...
s, and Dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s, corresponding to jacks, queens, kings, and aces, respectively. (Like aces in poker, Dragons can be either the high card or the low card in a straight, but not both.)
The deal
Dragon Poker is a kind of stud pokerStud poker
Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds. Stud games are also typically non-positional games, meaning that the player who bets first on each round may change from round to round...
. That is, each player plays the cards he gets, with no chance to draw better cards. Unlike most poker variations, the scoring hands are made up of six cards rather than five, and a total of nine cards are dealt to each player. Thus, a total of five players can play for each deck.
The game is played with all cards on the table, with four face-down hole cards and five cards face up. The hole cards are the first three and the last one to each player. (Down - down - down - up - up - up - up - up - down).
Hands
With six-card hands, the variations of possible hands are far more numerous than in standard poker. Thus, the standard order does not necessarily apply.The hands, with descriptions, from lowest to highest:
- High card: Same as in normal poker
- One Pair: Same as in normal poker
- Two Pair: Same as in normal poker
- Three of a Kind: Same as in normal poker
- Three Pair: Just what it sounds like
- Full house: Same as in normal poker, a "Three of a Kind" plus a "Pair"
- Straight: Six cards with consecutive face values, of any suits (see below)
- Four of a Kind: Same as in normal poker
- Corps-a-corps: see below
- Flush: Six cards of the same suit, with any values
- Full Belly: Two sets of "Three of a Kind"
- Full Dragon: A "Four of a Kind" plus a "Pair"
- Straight Flush: Six cards of the same suit, with consecutive face values
A few hands require some explanation:
Normal hands — One and two pairs, three of a kind, full house, and four of a kind are exactly the same as in five-card poker, with an extra, "don't care" card. Flushes, straights, and straight flushes are similar to their counterparts, but that the sixth card must fit with the same rule as the other five.
Added hands — Three pairs is as it would seem: three pairs of cards put together. A full belly is two sets of threes of a kind, and a full dragon is a four of a kind plus a pair.
- Note: The position for straights is out of order in regards to the list given in Little Myth Marker. This is because the number of possible straights is higher than that of flushes and fours of a kind.
The Corps-a-Corps hand — The "corps-a-corps" hand was given no official definition in the book Little Myth Marker, but it has been given an unofficial definition by fans. The unofficial "corps-a-corps" hand is a "Three Pair" in which the three pairs are also two three-card flushes. An example would be the 2, 7, and ogre of hearts, along with the 2, 7, and ogre of spades.
Betting
Dragon Poker has six rounds of betting: once after each round of up cards is dealt (the fourth through eighth), plus a final betting round before everyone shows their hole cards. As in traditional poker, the person who starts each round is the one with the best hand "showing", that is, from just all the face-up cards.Conditional modifiers
What makes Dragon Poker so intriguing (and confusing) is the concept of conditional modifiers. These are a standard set of rules that, depending on the day, weather, number of people playing, and other factors, determines what cards are wild, what cards are "dead" (unusable), and other subtle changes in how the game is played.In the books, the rules delineating conditional modifiers vary as well, depending on the dimension where the game is being played. It is not known if there exists a set or rules for modifiers that applies to Earth's dimension, nor, if they exist, what they are.
If a player makes a mistake in his interpretation of the current hand's conditional modifiers, so that he undervalues his own hand, the opponent is not required to point out the error (although he is not forbidden from doing so, either).
A few of the modifiers mentioned in Little Myth Marker:
- Red dragons are wild on even-numbered hands.
- Once a night, a player can change the suit of one of his cards.
- Every five hands, the sequence of cards is reversed, so the low cards are high and vice versa.
- Once a four-of-a-kind is played, that card value is dead and treated as a blank card.
- If there's a ten showing in the first two face-up cards in each hand, then sevens will be dead (Unless there is a second ten showing, then it cancels the first).
- If the first card turned face up in a round is an Ogre, the round will be played with an extra hole card, four face up and five face down.
Odds (natural deck)
Hand Combinations Odds (6 of 6)All 20358520 1.00000000
High card 4203876 0.20649222
One Pair 9884160 0.48550484
Two Pair 4942080 0.24275242
Three of a Kind 732160 0.03596332
Three Pair 360360 0.01770070
Full House 164736 0.00809175
Straight (6) 36828 0.00180897
Four of a Kind 13728 0.00067431
Three Matched Pair 10296 0.00050573
Flush (6) 6828 0.00033539
Full Belly (3+3) 2496 0.00012260
Full Dragon (4+2) 936 0.00004598
Straight Flush (6) 36 0.00000177
Dragon Poker Hands (4-Jokers deck)
Here "N" means "natural" (that is, without any wild cards), and "W" means "using at least one wild card".Hand Combinations Odds (6 of 6)
All 32468436 1.0000000
High/Pair (W) 4817536 0.1483759
One Pair (N) 9884160 0.3044236
Two Pair (N Only) 4942080 0.1522118
Three of a Kind 5125120 0.1578493
Three Pair(N Only) 370656 0.0114130
Full house 1153152 0.0355160
Straight (6) 4231116 0.1303147
Four of a Kind 947232 0.0291739
Flush (6) 902196 0.0277868
Full Belly (N Only) 2496 0.0000768
Full Dragon (4+2) 49608 0.0015278
Five of a Kind 34944 0.0010762
Straight Flush (N/W) 7560 0.0002328
Six of a Kind 364 0.0000112
Straight Flush (N) 36 0.0000011
Notes:
--At least 1 Wild
> 13,915,044 (43%)
--exactly 1 Wild
> 10,395,840 (32%)Notice that certain hands (2 pair, 3 pair, full belly) will be natural-only hands, because wild cards can make better hands. (For example, two pair using a wild card is no longer two pair, but three of a kind.) This effect boosts the probabilities of some high-scoring hands, such as straights, at the expense of lower-scoring hands.
External links
- [ftp://ftp.spsl.nsc.ru/pub/text/asprin.r/dp.html Bob Galley's Rules for Dragon Poker]
- Card Games Online's Rules for Dragon Poker