Equilibrium Poker

In this Main Match, trade with other players to make the "best" hand, with 2 different "best" conditions.

Designer(s): e_is_cool Match Type: MM (for 8 players)
Featured in: Simply Genius

Main Match 3 - Equilibrium Poker

(Main Match by e_is_cool with support of everyone on the hosting team)



-- Setup --

The game is split into a 24 hour pregame and a 72 hour gameplay phase.


The pregame is used to help players get familiar with the game’s rules. No gameplay will happen during the pregame. The pregame began the moment these rules were released.

The actual game will begin after the pregame ends. There are no rounds in this game, the game will end after 3 days and the results will be posted.


The game uses a deck of 40 cards. Cards have a value from 1 to 10 and a color, either Red or Black. There are 2 copies of each possible card.



After pregame ends, everyone is dealt 5 cards, which makes up your hand. All 40 cards will be distributed among all 8 players.



-- Gameplay and Trading --

The goal of the game is to make the best hand you can. To make your hand better, you can trade cards with other players.


If two players agree, they can exchange exactly 1 card with each other. These players may not exchange more than 1 card at a time and they may not trade with each other again for the rest of the match.



:pencil2: To initiate a trade, state in your pair chat the two cards you want to be exchanged, one from your hand and one from the other player’s hand.

The other player should then confirm the trade and ping the Dealers.


Trades can not be made in any other channel.

Trades are processed immediately after they are confirmed, even if there is no Dealer around to record it.


Please do not trade away cards that you do not have. If a trade goes through where a player does not have a card they are giving away, one or both of the players might be penalised.

We will do our best to update and confirm each trade as soon as possible.


-- Garnets and Hand Rankings --

This game references a modified list of 5 card poker hands.

You can find the exact list in #mm3-poker-rankings


:garnet: Up to 3 garnets can be earned during this Main Match. A garnet is given to you immediately upon making one of the following hands

  • Straight
  • Flush
  • 3 of a kind

You may earn a maximum of 1 garnet per type of hand.

You do not lose the garnet if you change your hand afterwards. As a reminder, if you are supposed to gain the garnet, but you’re already at 3 garnets, then that garnet is discarded. You will not be able to gain that garnet again if you remake the hand.



:garnet: A garnet can be spent to change the color of a card in your hand from black to red and vice versa.

Specify what card you want to change in your submissions channel and ping the Dealers. Just like trading, this is processed immediately, even if no Dealers are around to record it.



Additionally to poker hand rankings, this MM uses a metric called Equilibrium Rank.


The Equilibrium Rank of your hand is the difference between your black and red cards. Lower Equilibrium Rank is better.

In case of a tie in Equilibrium Rank, the player with the higher sum of all their cards is ranked better.

If 2 players have the exact same difference of colors and the same sum of all cards, their Equilibrium Rank is tied.



:ToL: Up to 3 Tokens of Life will be awarded this MM.

  • One ToL is given to the player with the highest poker hand.
  • Another ToL is given to the player with the lowest Equilibrium Rank.
  • Last ToL is given to the player who has traded with everyone else. If there is no such player, this ToL is not awarded.

If there’s a tie for any of the 3 conditions, whoever has the lower Equilibrium Rank wins the tie.

If it is still tied, whoever has the higher poker hand wins the tie.

If it is still tied, no ToL is awarded.


:EC: The player with the highest Equilibrium Rank that doesn’t have a ToL is the EC.

If there is a tie, the player with the lower ranked poker hand loses.

If there is still a tie, ToL holders decide the EC.



-- Administration --

Here is what information will be revealed during the game


Revealed privately, after pregame

  • Your starting hand

Revealed privately, after each trade

  • Your current hand
  • The fact that you’ve gained a garnet, if applicable

Revealed publicly, at game end

  • Everyone’s hands
  • Who gained ToL and from which condition

Never revealed

  • How many trades everyone did
  • Who traded with who

Players trade in pair chats by naming the 2 cards they want to be exchanged. The other player confirms and finalises the trade.

Players can use their submission channel to spend a garnet to change the color of a card they hold.


Additionally, players are encouraged to lock in their hands when they are done trading with everyone.

If everyone has locked in, or no more possible trades can be made, the game ends early.

You’re free to unlock your hand if a particularly nice trade comes up, the only thing locking in does is allow for us to end the game early.


#mm3-poker-rankings

This game uses a modified list of 5 card poker hands! The only change is the removal of Straight Flush. If you know the standard list, the rest of the channel is not particularly necessary for you.


The hands are listed from highest ranked to lowest ranked.

Constructing the hand out of higher value cards will make you rank higher than someone making the same hand out of lower value cards.

If it’s still tied, the value of remaining cards in the hand is compared, higher is better.

If it’s still tied, the poker hands are considered equal.


- Four of a Kind

This hand consists of 4 cards of the same value and a 5th card of another value.


- Full House

This hand consists of 3 cards of the same value and 2 cards of another value.


- Flush

This hand consists of 5 cards of the same color.


- Straight

This hand consists of 5 cards of consecutive values, like 4-5-6-7-8.

10 and 1 are not consecutive, you can’t make 9-10-1-2-3.


- Three of a kind

This hand consists of 3 cards of the same value and 2 cards of any other values, different to each other.


- Two Pair

This hand consists of 2 cards of the same value, 2 other cards of the same value and a 5th card of a different value to the two pairs.


- Pair

This hand consists of 2 cards of the same value and 3 cards of any other values, different to each other.


- High Card

Any hand that is not any of the above is a High Card.



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