Thwart 13

In this Death Match, prepare not one, but three poker hands against your opponent.

Designer(s): chaotic_iak	Match Type: DM (for 2 players)
Featured in: DM Colosseum 2, Squeaky Genius: Legends Untold

THWART 13

Simply prepare three strong poker hands. Given you can pick your cards freely, it would be easy... if there wasn't an opponent doing the same as you.

This game was invented by me, brand new for this tournament. The inspiration for this game comes from Thwart Poker (Genius Game as Death Match 5, hosted by jacoblance) and Chinese Poker (traditional card game, which had a spin as Ride Waves in Community Hosted Genius Game as Death Match 3, hosted by beanz222 and pixie).

GAME RULES

⚙️ Setup and terminology

The game uses the standard 52-card deck and the standard poker hand rankings. For more information, check the corresponding Wikipedia pages:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_52-card_deck
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poker_hands

All 52 cards start up available. Throughout the game, cards will be taken and burned, making them unavailable.

Each player has three hands: front, middle, and back. The front hand will end up with 3 cards; the middle and back hands will end up with 5 cards. At the beginning of the game, all hands are empty.

The game is played in rounds until all cards are no longer available.

🧠 In a round

In each round, players submit moves at the same time. To make your move, choose any available card. Once both players have made their decisions, the choices are revealed. You may also decide to pass the round.

If the cards chosen are the same, the card is burned; it will not belong to either player, and it becomes unavailable, no longer able to be chosen by either player for the rest of the game.

Otherwise, each player will now make another choice to do with the card they picked (players that pass don't do anything):

Claim it to the front hand
Claim it to the middle hand
Claim it to the back hand
Discard it

If you decide to claim your card to a particular hand, you will add that card to the hand. Once added to a hand, the card can never be moved or discarded. If you decide to discard the card, you will not take the card into any of your hands.

In any case, both chosen cards are taken and are now unavailable for the rest of the game.

If a hand is full (3 cards in front hand, 5 cards in middle and back hands), you can no longer claim into that hand.

When it's the time for players to choose cards, you may challenge publicly instead of making your move. You are claiming the opponent will not be able to form a valid set of hands. The rules for a valid set of hands and the challenge follow.

🔍 Valid set of hands

A valid set of hands must be full: 3 cards in the front hand, 5 cards each in the middle and back hands. If any hand is not full, it is invalid.

In addition, hands must be stronger as you go back. The front hand must be weaker than the middle hand, which must be weaker than the back hand. The strength is compared using standard poker rules. The front hand cannot form a straight or a flush. If the hands are not sorted accordingly, the set is also invalid.

🔍 Challenging the opponent

If you think the opponent will not be able to form a valid set of hands, you may challenge instead of making your move. Challenge is done publicly, and on a first come first serve basis; if both players wish to challenge, the first player to challenge gets it.

When you are challenged, you must form a valid set of hands using the cards currently claimed in your hands and the remaining available cards. You cannot move cards already in your hands, and you cannot use unavailable cards.

If you are able to form a valid set of hands, you win. If you cannot, your opponent (the challenger) wins.

💎 Winning

If a challenge happens, you win if you are on the correct side of a challenge: you challenge the opponent and they cannot form a valid set of hands, or you are challenged but can form a valid set of hands.

Otherwise, the game ends when there is no more available card. (The game will also be ended early if there is only one available card, since both players will have to pick it and thus burn the card.)

Alternatively, the game ends when both players pass three rounds in a row.

If one player has an invalid set of hands, the opponent wins. Otherwise, the players' hands are compared: front to front, middle to middle, back to back. The player that wins more hands wins.

ADMINISTRATION

🏷️ Writing your move

Cards can be referred by name (e.g. "ten of hearts") or by abbreviation (e.g. "10H" or "TH"). Please do not use Discord emojis ♣️ ♦️ ♥️ ♠️, since the black suits are hard to read with Discord's dark mode.

Your card choice must be an available card. If you choose an unavailable card, it's considered as if you skip the round.

Your decision with the chosen card must be among claiming into an open hand, or discarding it. If you try to claim into a full hand, it's considered as if you discard the card.

Alternatively, if you wish to challenge, simply state so in public.

👁️ Available information

There is no hidden information other than the current moves. All information is public. You should make your moves in your private submission channel, unless you're challenging, in which you should post in the game room.

After each decision (card or claim/discard), the current state of the game will be posted: all remaining available cards, current cards in hands, and cards currently chosen if any.

⌛ Timing

You have the standard time controls. You have 1 minute per move. If you run out of time in choosing your card, you are considered to pass; if you run out of time in choosing what to do with your card, you are considered to discard it.

If you are challenged, you have 3 minutes to form a valid set of hands.

CLARIFICATIONS

📌 Comparing hands

Hands are compared according to standard poker rules, which are also explained in the link above. Suits are all ranked equally; therefore a straight flush of 9 spades is equal to a straight flush of 9 hearts (and having them as middle and back hands is not valid).

The front hand cannot have a straight or a flush. Therefore, the front hand can only be a three of a kind, a pair, or just high card. When comparing the front hand and the middle hand, a kicker is better than no kicker; for example, the middle hand 7S 7H 9D 4C 2C is better than the front hand 7D 7C 9H, since the second kicker 4 of clubs in the middle hand is better than nothing in the front hand.

📌 Examples

The following is the middle of an example game between Black and White.

White currently has claimed these cards:

Front: ???, ???, ???
Middle: 4C, 4D, 4H, 4S, ???
Back: 7C, 8C, 9C, 10C, ???

On a previous turn, Black has taken and discarded the 6C.

This turn, White attempts to claim the JC. But Black also claims that card, which burns it.

The next turn, Black challenges White. The middle hand is definitely a four of a kind, but the back hand can no longer be a straight flush and thus will definitely rank lower (the highest possible with the claimed cards is an Ace-high flush), so White's hands will not be valid. White cannot construct a valid hand, therefore Black wins.

📌 Running out of time

As this is a simultaneous-move game, there is no time bank. You have 1 minute per move; here, a "move" is either choosing your card, or choosing what to do with your card.

If you run out of time when choosing your card, you are considered to pass the round. If you run out of time when choosing what to do with your card, you are considered to discard it. (Previously the rules weren't clear on the second part.)

Both the gardens and the sheep have been taken care of. It seems you've finished tidying up everything the god Pan left behind. When you decide to take one last visit to the god's home, you notice a mysterious, glowing deck of cards. It seems the god has one last surprise for you, in the form of his favorite card game. And like always, it seems you must follow a strict pattern to earn victory…

In Thwart 13, each player will attempt to construct a valid set of poker hands called the front, middle, and back hand.

Thwart 13 uses the standard 52-card poker deck and the standard poker hand rankings.

For more information about poker hand rankings, check the following Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poker_hands.

The goal of the Death Match is to either force your opponent to be unable to construct a valid set of poker hands, or to win 2 out of 3 hands when comparing them at the end of the Death Match.

The front hand has 3 cards, while the middle and back hand have 5 cards each.

A set of hands is only considered valid if each individual hand is full and the hands grow in strength as you go back. That is, the front hand must be weaker than the middle hand, which must be weaker than the back hand. The strength is compared using standard poker rankings. The front hand cannot form a straight or a flush.

In the above example, the set of hands on the left is valid, as the strength goes from high card, three of a kind, then flush. However, the set of hands on the right is invalid, as the middle hand is stronger than the back hand (flush beats three of a kind).

Thwart 13 takes place in rounds, and continues on until all cards are no longer available or all hands are full.

Each round is divided into the selection phase and the action phase.

In the selection phase, players both choose any available card privately at the same time. Once both players have made their decisions, the choices are revealed. You may also choose to pass the round, not claiming any card.

Then, the chosen cards are revealed. If both players choose the same card, the card is burned; it will not belong to either player, and it becomes unavailable for the rest of the game.

Otherwise, play resumes to the action phase. In the action phase, players privately choose what to do with their chosen card. They have 4 options:

Claim it to the front hand
Claim it to the middle hand
Claim it to the back hand
Discard the card

If you claim a card to a hand, you will add that card to that hand. Once added to a hand, the card can never be moved or discarded. If a hand is already full, you can no longer claim a card into that hand.

If you discard the card, you will not take the card into any of your hands.

All chosen cards then become unavailable for the rest of the game, regardless of if they were claimed or discarded.

At the end of the action phase, both players' hands and what cards are available is publicly revealed. Then, the next round begins.

Instead of choosing a card privately, players may also choose to challenge publicly during the selection phase. By challenging, you are claiming that your opponent can no longer make a valid set of hands.

If both players attempt to challenge in the same round, the first challenge is considered the only valid one.

When a player is challenged, they must form a valid set of hands using the cards currently claimed in your hands and the remaining available cards. You cannot move cards already in your hands, and you cannot use unavailable cards.

If a player that is challenged successfully constructs a valid set of hands, they win the Death Match. If they fail to do so, they lose the Death Match.

The player that wins the challenge will win the Death Match, and be awarded the Reed of Pan. The other player will be damned by the mystical deck of Pan, and be eliminated from the game.

If all cards are unavailable or both players fill up their hands, the player that has a valid set of hands will win the Death Match, and will be awarded the Reed of Pan. If both players have a valid set of hands, the players' hands are compared: front to front, middle to middle, back to back. The player that wins more hands will win the Death Match.

Players have 1 minute for the selection phase and 1 minute for the action phase. If a player runs out of time during the selection phase, they default to passing. If a player runs out of time during the action phase, they default to discarding.

If a player is challenged, they have 3 minutes to construct a valid set of hands.

Thwart 13

Tags