Devil's Deal

🟣 ⚔️ Death Match (Black Meadow): Devil's Deal ⚔️ 🟣

You have to have the guts to pay the cost, so that your overwhelming power can ruin your enemy.

From a pool of cards you have, play a winning hand to win chips from the opponent. However, your pool is dwindling as you use up your cards. You have to pay some chips yourself to take part in a small mini-game to replenish your pool of cards. The first player to run out of chips loses.

RULES

🀄 This game uses cards. There are three colors of cards: blue, green, red. Each color has numbers 1-9, for a total of 27 different cards. A set of 27 different cards forms a deck. However, there are infinitely many decks, and hence infinitely many copies of each card.

🀄 📡 You have a pool of cards. At the start of the game, your pool contains 5 cards chosen at random. Both players draw from the same fresh deck, which means the two starting pools will not have any matching card. The contents of the starting pools are known to both players.

Pools will be refilled throughout the game. You have a limit of 10 cards in your pool; if you have more, you will have to discard cards until you have 10 cards.

🀄 Each player also begins with 30 chips. You will win and lose chips through forming winning combinations using your cards, and you will pay chips to refill your pool of cards.

The game is played in rounds until the game end condition is reached. Each round consists of two steps: refill and poker.

The player with the DM Advantage decides the starting player for the first round. The winner of a poker step becomes the starting player of the next round.

📌 1. Refill step

🧠 Each player is offered the chance to refill. The starting player decides first; once the starting player no longer wishes to refill, the opponent will be offered the same.

When it's your turn to refill, you may refill any number of times. Each one is completed in full before you perform the next refill.

📡 To refill, you must pay 5 chips. You will then be given a selection of 12 random cards from a fresh deck. This means the 12 cards will be different from each other, but they may be identical with cards already in players' pools. The cards will be given in a random order.

🧠 You are given 90 seconds to do the following. Choose any number of cards from the selection, and divide them into as many piles as you wish. Each pile must have the same sum of numbers, but they may have different numbers of cards and there is no limitation to their colors. You may leave some cards out of the piles; any card not used is set aside. In addition, choose one of the piles to be set aside.

Once the time runs out, your division is locked. You take all cards that are not set aside; in other words, you take all cards that you manage to divide into piles, except for the one pile you set aside.

🧠 In addition, your opponent may take any one card that is set aside for free.

🎭 As an example, suppose the cards are as follows (R = red, G = green, B = blue):

G5 B3 R3 R7 B6 G1 G2 G8 B5 R2 B9 G6

One valid division is as follows (sum 14 in each pile):

• R2, B3, R3, G6
• G5, B9
• B6, G8
• G2, B5, R7 (set aside)
• Unused: G1

Therefore, you will take R2, R3, B3, G5, G6, B6, G8, B9. The G1 card is unused and set aside, and the pile containing G2, B5, R7 is set aside; your opponent may take any one of these four cards.

🧠 There is a limit of 10 cards in your pool. Therefore, if you perform a refill and would take cards so your pool has more than 10 cards, you must also discard some cards until you have 10. (These may be among cards you take.) Similarly, if your opponent takes a card while at 10 cards in their pool, they must also discard a card (possibly the same one).

📡 All discarded cards are revealed to both players.

📌 2. Poker step

📡 At the start of the round, there is a community card: a public card that will be used by both players, drawn randomly from all 27 possible cards.

🧠 First, you choose 2 cards from your pool to become your private cards. In addition, you also decide which of them will become the first card and which will become the second card. Both players will choose their private cards simultaneously.

Your private cards and the community card together form a 3-card hand. ⚠️ A hand cannot contain duplicates, so your private cards may not be the same, and neither may match the community card.

⚠️ If you are unable to select your private cards, you lose the game. You probably should have refilled your pool.

Both players will then pay an ante of 2 chips. Then, 1 chip is taken out of the pot, so the pot starts with 3 chips. Then the first betting phase begins.

🧠 The starting player begins the betting round, then players alternate. On your turn, you may choose one of three options: call, raise, or fold.

• Call means you match the opponent's bet. This ends the betting phase. On the first turn of the betting phase, there is no option to call, as the opponent doesn't have a bet yet.
• Raise means you not only match the opponent's bet, you make an additional bet. You may raise by any amount, from as little as 1 chip to as large as the number of chips your opponent has remaining. The betting phase does not end; the turn is passed to the opponent.
• Fold means you give up on the round entirely. This ends the round.

Note that there is no "checking"; if you want to stay in the round, you must bet.

🧬 If one player starts the betting phase with no chips, the betting phase immediately ends. Neither player bets anything, and neither player has the option to fold.

📡 Once the betting round ends, the first private card by each player is revealed, and there is another betting round, again started by the same starting player. Once the second betting round ends, the second private card by each player is revealed.

If either player folds, the other player wins the round. They take all bet chips. All cards used are discarded; any cards that are still unrevealed remain unrevealed.

⚠️ If you fold while having a high card hand (see below), you must also pay 2 chips to the opponent. If you cannot do this, you lose. Whether you pay the penalty or not is known to both players.

If the round goes into the third card, the private cards are fully revealed. Each player takes the two private cards and the community card together to form their hand. The hands are compared, and the better hand wins all bet chips. In case of a tie, both players take back their bet chips. All cards used are discarded.

The hand rankings are as follows, from best to worst. If a hand belongs to more than one category, they take the best one.

• Three of a kind: Three cards of the same number.
• Straight flush: Three cards of the same color and with consecutive numbers. In case of a tie, compare the highest number.
• Straight: Three cards with consecutive numbers. In case of a tie, compare the highest number.
• Flush: Three cards of the same color. In case of a tie, compare the highest number; then compare the middle number; then compare the lowest number.
• Pair: Two cards of the same number, plus any one card. In case of a tie, compare the paired number; then compare the other number.
• High card: Hands that do not belong in any of the above combinations. In case of a tie, compare the highest number; then compare the middle number; then compare the lowest number.

⚠️ Note that three of a kind is better than straight flush, and straight is better than flush.

🧬 Note that cards in a hand are unordered, and not related to when they are revealed during the poker step. For example, a hand with 5 as community card and 6, 4 revealed as private cards is still a valid straight. For purposes of a straight, there is no wrapping around; i.e. 1 and 9 are not consecutive. When comparing cards for purposes of a tie, the higher number is always better; if they are of equal numbers, move to the next tiebreaker, or if there is none, the hand is tied.

👑 The game ends when either player gets into one of the following conditions:

• They don't have enough cards in their pool to choose their two private cards.
• They don't have the chips to pay the 2-chip ante.
• They have to pay the 2-chip penalty for folding with a high card hand, but they don't have the chips to do so.

That player loses.

🧬 The conditions are processed in order, the same order as they happen in a round. For example, if one player cannot form a hand, they lose, even if the other player cannot pay the ante. If both players fail the same condition, the starting player loses.

ADMINISTRATION

📌 ⏰ Timing

Due to the large number of player moves in this game, the game uses rather tight time controls to make sure it progresses smoothly. In general, you have 20 seconds for decisions that are deemed "simple" and 90 seconds for decisions that are deemed "complicated".

During the refill step, when you have the chance to refill:

• You have 20 seconds to decide whether to refill. If time runs out, you are assumed not to refill.
• You have 90 seconds to perform the refill and potentially discard. If time runs out with no refill move, you are assumed to put everything in a single pile (which is set aside). If time runs out with not enough discards, you are assumed to discard random cards until you have 10 in your pool.
• Your opponent has 20 seconds to take an unused card and potentially discard. If time runs out, they are assumed not to take any card.

During the poker step:

• You have 90 seconds to select your private cards, as well as the order you reveal your private cards. If time runs out, you have failed to select private cards and thus you lose the game.
• You have 20 seconds to make a betting choice. If time runs out, you are assumed to fold.

After every round, there is a break of at least 20 seconds. In addition, allow a few seconds for the umpire to update the state of the game. The umpire also has the right to pause any timer as necessary.

📌 🧠 Submissions and allowed tools

Your submissions are done in the public game room. The only exception is that when you choose your private cards, you do so in your table channel.

For deciding to refill, your submission simply consists of "yes" or "no". If "yes", you will perform the refill.

For refills, you may change your submission until the end of the 90-second period; the last valid submission in the period is taken. Your submission consists of:

• The contents of the piles
• Which pile you are set aside

Any card you don't explicitly put into a pile is considered to be unused, not belonging in any pile.

You may use any reasonable form. The recommended way to indicate a card is with two characters, a letter (R/G/B) indicating its color and a digit (1-9) indicating its number. The recommended way to indicate the division for a refill is by writing the contents of each pile in its own line, along with indicating one pile as unused.

If your division is not valid (because a card is repeated or you use a card not given), the umpire will try to point this out to you within the given time, but the timer will not be paused. If your division at the end of the period is not valid, you are assumed to put everything aside.

For taking an unused card, your submission consists of the card you wish to take.

For discarding, your submission consists of the discarded cards.

For selecting your private cards, your submission consists of:

• The two private cards
• Which card is the first one revealed and which is the second

For betting, your submission consists of one of the following:

• "Call". The umpire will have told you how many chips you would need to bet in order to call.
• "Raise", plus your additional bet. Note that this bet is on top of the bet needed to call. In other words, "raise 1" means you match the opponent's bet, and also bet 1 more.
• "Fold".

You may use any available tools for note-taking. However, you may not talk to other people or use any automated programs.

📌 📡 Information

Nearly everything in this game is public information; the main exceptions are the private cards for the current round and the cards that are discarded unrevealed.

More specifically, this game has the following pieces of information, along with how and when they are revealed to the players, if at all. If a piece of information is not in this list, it is likely public information, but feel free to clarify.

🔺 Publicly announced

• At any time it is useful: How many chips each player has.
• At any time it is useful: How many cards are in each player's pool.
• At the start of the game: What cards are in each player's pool.
• At the start of a refill: What cards need to be divided by the player.
• After a player discards: What cards are discarded from that player's pool.
• At the start of the poker step: What the community card is.
• After each betting choice: How many chips have been bet by each player, and how many chips are needed to call.
• After each betting phase: What card is revealed by each player.

🔻 Explicitly only known to you

• What your private cards are, and what order they will be revealed.
• What cards you discard unrevealed.
• What your current pool is.

You are expected to keep track of your current pool yourself. You may ask at any time, but you will not be given extra time while the umpire responds. (Therefore, it's best to ask this during downtime.)

CLARIFICATIONS

📌 Regarding running out of chips mid-way

• When you raise, you may only raise at most as many chips as your opponent has. (This is already in the rules, but worth mentioning again as it relates to the following.)
• If either player starts a betting round with no chip, the betting round is immediately over with both players progressing to the next betting round (or the showdown). Neither player has a chance to fold.

📌 Start player is selected after the pools are revealed

The player with the DM Advantage (here the DM Opponent) chooses the starting player of the first round after both players' starting pools are revealed.

📌 Timing changes

Numerous timing has been changed to speed up the game:

• When you refill, you now will have to discard together with your refill. In other words, there is no additional time to discard, and your opponent will know your discards before they take a card. Your 90-second period for refilling covers for both dividing piles and discarding excess cards.
• When you take an unused card from your opponent's refill, you now will also have to discard together with you taking a card. Your 20-second period covers both.
• The break between rounds is shortened. The guaranteed amount is reduced to 20 seconds. (The umpire is allowed to pause any timer, though, so in particular the umpire may extend this break if needed.)

📌 Rule changes to speed up the game

This game has received some rule changes to speed up the game. All of them are about having chips changing hands more often and in larger amounts. These are the rule changes:

• The ante is now 2 chips. In addition, 1 chip is taken out of the pot. This means a hand that is immediately folded will give the winner 3 chips (net gain 1 chip).
• Refilling now costs 5 chips.
• If you fold while holding a high card hand, you must pay an additional 2 chips to the opponent; if you cannot, you lose. Both players know when this happens. Note that this penalty only applies if you fold; if you don't fold, you don't pay the penalty even if you have a high card hand.