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Poker
with the Buck. This, one of the earlier forms of Poker, is listed
in many books as Straight Poker, of Bluff. There is a deal of five
cards face down to each player, a betting interval and a showdown-no
draw. Some token, such as a penknife (originally a buckhorn-handled
knife, whence the name) is called the buck. The first dealer antes
one chip for each player and passes the buck along to the player
at his left. That player will ante for the next deal and pass the
buck, so that the obligation to ante is always marked by the buck.
The winner of each pot deals the next. Betting begins with the player
at the dealer's left; a player may pass and come back in if anyone
bets. If no one bets, there is another ante by the player who has
the buck, and the deal passes to the player at the previous dealer's
left.
As, or As Nas. An ancient Persian
game, this may be the ultimate ancestor of poker. The pack consists
of five cards (ace to ten, or the equivalent) in each suit, and
as many suits as there are players. For example, four players use
a 20-card pack. All the cards are dealt out, face down, five to
each player. Each player, after looking at his hand, may make a
bet or may drop; once a bet has been made, the betting process of
calling, raising, or dropping is the same as in poker, and in the
showdown four-of-a-kind is the highest hand, next, three-of-a-kind,
then two pairs, then a single pair. There are no straights or flushes;
if no one has a pair, then all hands must tie. (Poker, as originally
played in the United States, was almost identical to this game.)
Gile, Gilet, Gillet or Trionfetti.
This may be the most ancient European ancestor of poker. Four play,
and the 32-card Piquet pack is used, ace to seven in each suit.
Each player antes equally to each of two pots. Three cards are dealt,
face down, to each player. First there is betting and a showdown
for the first pot, for which the highest hand is three-ofa-kind
(a tricon) and the next-highest a pair (a ge). If no pair or better
is held, this pot is combined with the second; there is a betting
interval and then a showdown for point; in this showdown the highest
hand is a flux or flush, three cards of the same suit; if there
is no flush, or as between two flushes, the highest point wins,
two aces counting 21, an ace and a face card counting 20.5, an ace
11, a face card or ten 10, and other cards their index values; but
if any player has two or more cards of the same suit, no player
may count the cards of more than one suit in his hand. |
