Games - Dragon Poker

Home > Listing Index > Games > Dragon Poker

	Games - Dragon Poker

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), adding on the 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 player, chair position, which hand of the game it is . . . needless to say, the game quickly gets ridiculously complicated. 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

Robert Asprin does not provide the full rules for Dragon Poker, and it is used mainly to parody professional gambling.

This has not stopped fans from creating a set of Rules For Dragon Poker.

The Deck

The deck that dragon poker uses has 52 cards, much like our standard decks. It also boasts four suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. However, instead of the normal face cards a dragon poker deck has the ranks of Elves, Ogres, Unicorns, and Dragons. Elves correspond to Jacks, Ogres to Queens, Unicorns to Kings, and Dragons to Aces. Also, Dragons can normally be either the high rank or the low rank, but not both (this means no runs including Unicorn - Dragon - Two).

The Deal

Dragon poker is a 'stud' game, that is, what cards you get, you play, and no chance to draw to better your hand. Rather than most poker variations, hands are made of six cards, not five. Also, a total of nine cards are dealt. Thus a total of five players can play for each deck.

The game is played with all cards on the table, with four 'hole' cards (face down) 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 Ranks

With six-card hands, the variations of possible hands now increase rapidly. 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
Straight - Sixth card must follow pattern
Four of a Kind - Same as in normal poker
Corps-a-corps - A 'Three Pair' with two 3-card flushes. See below for help.
Flush - Sixth card must follow pattern
Full Belly - Two sets of 'Three of a Kind'
Full Dragon - A 'Four of a Kind' plus a 'Pair'
Straight Flush - Sixth card must follow pattern

Some explanation is needed on a few hands. "Normal" Suits -- First, 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.

"Unique" Suits -- 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.

You probably notice two other points: First, 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" Suit -- Second, book fans realize that there's an extra hand, that was invalid for the game played in Little Myth Marker. This hand, the corps-a-corps, was given no official definition in the book, so we decided to reason it out from its name (and what seems to be missing from the hands). This hand is a subset of the three pairs hand, in which the three pairs are also two three-card flushes. An example would be: 2H - 2S - 7H - 7S - OH - OS, or in English, the 2, 7, and ogre of hearts, and the 2, 7, and ogre of spades.

The Bet

One important aspect of dragon poker is when to bet. There are 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.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Dragon Poker ]

Searches on eBay

dragon poker