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On
the first round, a hand with six cards may discard without drawing,
and a hand with four cards may draw without discarding; thereafter,
an irregular hand discovered at any time is fouled. If such a hand
is discovered before anyone has knocked, the holder pays two chips
to the pot; if discovered after a knock but before the showdown,
he pays two chips to the knocker; if discovered after the showdown,
he pays two chips to the winner of the hand; and in no case can
he collect.
If the knocker's hand is fouled, he pays as for any losing hand.
If a player draws more than one card from the stock, his hand is
fouled; the cards he drew go on the top of the discard pile and
the next player has his choice of them, as well as the right to
draw from the stock if he wishes.
How to play: The knocker accepts one disadvantage in that every
other player will have one more draw than he has, but a compensating
advantage is that he irrevocably wins the chips of players who drop
out-the same advantage that makes Blackjack so profitable a game
for the dealer-and he has a chance to win the antes, in addition
to which he pays no more when he loses than he collects when he
wins. For this reason it pays to knock when it is probable that
your hand is better than other hands are likely to be even with
one more draw than you have had.
In general, two pairs are good enough for a knock on the first round,
though in a game of five or more players the fourth and later players
should have at least queens-up. On the second round you need three-of-a-kind;
and on the third round a high straight or a flush. A player who
stays in, instead of dropping when someone has knocked, receives,
in effect, three-to-one odds on the extra chip it may cost him to
stay. He has a further advantage if there is any possibility that
he may win the pot; and he will win, regardless of how weak his
own hand is, if some other player can beat the knocker. This does
not mean that it pays to stay in blindly, but too much conservatism
is losing play.
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