BANKER AND BROKER
This card game, which is also known as Dutch Bank and Blind Hookey, is a fast way to win or lose money.
Requirements
- A standard pack of 52 playing cards.
- Two or more players.
Bank of the Cards. Same as in Poker ace (high), king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, and deuce (low). The suits have no comparative value.
Object of the Game. To win a bet on a card that will turn out to have a higher value than banker’s card.
Selecting the Banker. The pack having been shuffled by any player by mutual consent, it is placed on the table and each player cuts a group of cards and exposes his bottom card. The player with the highest card becomes first banker. In case of a tie, the tied players cut again and, if necessary, again, etc.
When, during play, a player has an ace he has bet on, that player becomes the next banker unless the banker also has an ace; in which case the banker retains possession of the bank. If more than one player has an ace, the tied players cut for the bank; the highest card cut wins the bank.
The Play. The banker establishes minimum and maximum betting limits. He then shuffles the cards. Any other player may claim and have the right to shuffle, but the banker can shuffle last.
The banker puts the deck in the center of the table to be cut by any player who wants to cut it. Having squared the cut deck, the banker removes the bottom card, and puts it to one side. (This card is dead, out of play; the move is precautionary, to safeguard against any players seeing the bottom card.) The banker now cuts the deck into as many groups of cards as there are players in the game, plus one more group, provided the players do not exceed six. If they exceed six, the banker cuts seven groups of cards regardless. The groups are called piles.
After the piles are formed the bets are laid. Players may bet on one or more piles, but one pile must remain open (without a player’s bet) and the open pile is designated the banker’s. To make a bet, players put their money on or near the pile they have selected. All bets having been made, the banker then turns over his pile so that the bottom card is exposed. The rank of that card is the banker’s score. If he turns an ace he collects all bets without turning over the players’ cards; in this game the banker wins ties, and the top ranking ace can’t be beaten.
If the banker’s card is any card is any card other than the ace, he now turns over the first player’s pile. Should the exposed card in that pile rank higher than the banker’s card, the banker pays off at even money. Should the player’s card rank even with or lower than the banker’s, the banker wins and collects the bet. So it goes, pile by pile, around the table.
Advice to Players. Because the bank collects on ties at Banker and Broker, the percentage in its favor is 5 15/17. The player can reduce the poker odds against him by banking the game at his every opportunity.
ACE-DEUCE-JACK
This is strictly a card hustler’s dream, which offers the player little or no chance of beating the game in the long run because of its high take of 10 10/17 percent for the operator. card hustlers usually operate this game around race tracks and fair grounds.
Requirements
- A standard pack of 52 playing cards. (The only cards having any value are the aces, deuces, and jacks. These 12 are the winning and losing cards. The other 40 have no value whatever, either as to rank or suit.)
- a banker and one or more players.
Object of the Game. The banker or the players cut three piles of cards, as in Banker and broker. The players then place bets that an ace, a deuce, or a jack will not appear at the bottom of any pile.
The Limit. The banker hustler establishes betting limits. I should say the average runs from a minimum of $5 to a maximum of $200. But the banker is boss.
The Shuffle and Deal. The banker shuffles the deck. Any player may call for a shuffle at any time before the cut, but the banker retains the right to shuffle last. The banker then puts the deck in the center of the table to be cut by any player.
After the cut has been carried, the banker removes three cards from the bottom of the deck, and puts them to one side. He must take scrupulous care that these cards are not seen by any player. These three are dead cards; they cannot enter into the play of the hand.
The Play. The banker now cuts two groups of cards from of cards from the squared deck, making in all three piles of cards. Each player may now lay, wi5thin the limits, a bet that the bottom card of any of the three piles is not an ace, deuce, or jack.
After the bets have been placed the banker proceeds to turn up the piles so that the bottom card of each is exposed. If no ace, deuce, or jack shows as a bottom card of any pile, the bank loses, and must pay off all bets. If the bottom card of any of the three piles does happen to be an ace, deuce, or jack, the bank craps wins all bets. No bonuses are paid. It is important to remember that even when more than one winning card turns up, the payoff is one for one, even.