Example: K-A-7-J-2 of one suit. In the case of a tie, you would have to use the rule for High Card to determine the winner. Straight: Five cards in ranking order, but not of the same suit. Example: 2-3-4-5-6 of different suits. Aces can be high or low, but cannot wrap around (K-A-2-3-4). In a tie, the Straight with the highest cards wins. Seven Card Stud Rules. Seven-card stud is one of the more traditional forms of poker, and by learning the rules of this well loved game, you can perfect your own strategy and have endless fun with this poker game, as well as its variations: RAZZ and Seven-Card Stud High-Low. A hand that consists of three cards of the same suit in consecutive ranking. King, queen and jack are the highest ranked straight flush and ace, 2 and 3 is the lowest ranked straight flush. Three of a Kind: A hand that consists of three cards of the same rank. Three aces is the highest ranked three of a kind and three 2’s is the. Royal flush - This is the biggest, and rarest, hand in all of poker. The royal flush is when you get 10, J, Q, K, Ace - ALL of the same suit. How Betting Works. For every game, there is a pre. If two players have equally high scores the tie is broken if possible by looking at the ranks of the cards as in poker - for example A-10-9 beats K-Q-J, K-10-9 beats Q-J-9 and K-J-7 beats K-9-8.

This page is based on contributions from many players including Eric Kent, Paul Welty, Duine Buile, Jim Black, William Priester Jr., Monty Martin and Kent Hamilton.

Play

Introduction

This is a simple draw and discard game, suitable for players of all ages. Players have a three card hand and the aim is to collect cards in a single suit worth 31 points or as near as possible to that total. It is played in the USA, the UK and perhaps other places. In the USA it has various names including Scat, 31, Blitz, Cabbage, Cadillac, Kitty, High Hat and Geronimo. Some of these names can cause confusion with other games:

This Scat has no connection whatever with the German national card game Skat;
There are at least two other games called 31:
- the German game 31, also known as Schwimmen, Schnauz or Hosen 'runter, which is like the game on this page, except that cards are swapped with a central pool of three cards, rather than using a draw and discard mechanism;
- the Greek banking game 31, which is similar to 21 except that the object is to draw cards adding as near as possible to 31 without exceeding it.
This Blitz is not to be confused with Dutch Blitz, which is a version of Racing Demon, sometimes played with special cards.

Eric Kent learned the game in the late 70's from older siblings, who had in turn learned it from friends visiting from the UK, and they called it Ride the Bus, and used a somewhat different method of keeping score.

Players

From 2 to 9 or more people can play. Eric Kent suggests that the game is perhaps best when played with 3 players, but it should also work well with a larger group.

Cards and their value

A standard 52 card deck is used. For scoring hands, the Ace is worth 11 points, the Kings, Queens, and Jacks are worth 10, and all other cards are worth their pip value.

The value of a three card hand is calculated by adding up the value of the cards held in any one suit. So if you have three cards of the same suit, you can add up all three. If only two cards are in the same suit you can add those, or use the value of the odd card if it is higher than the sum of the other two. If you have three different suits the value of your hand is the value of the highest card in it. The maximum hand value is 31, consisting of the ace and two ten-point cards in the same suit.

Examples:

K-8-5: value 23 (sum of all 3 cards)

Q-9-8: value 17 (9 + 8)

A-6-4: value 11 (the ace is worth more than the spades)

J-7-4: value 10 (the jack)

Poker Rules Straight Tie Knot

Deal

Determine the first dealer in any manner you desire. The turn to deal passes on clockwise after each hand. The cards are shuffled and are dealt out one at a time, starting with the player to dealer's left and continuing clockwise until everyone has a hand of three cards.

The next card is turned face up on the table to start the discard pile, and the remaining undealt cards are placed face down next to it to form the draw pile or stock. During play, the discard pile is always kept 'squared up' so that only the top card is visible and available to be taken.

Play

The player to dealer's left begins and the turn to play passes clockwise around the table. A normal turn consists of:

drawing the top card either from the stock pile (without showing it to the other players) or from the discard pile;
discarding one card face up on top of the discard pile.

Note that if you choose to take the top card from the discard pile, it is illegal to discard the same card, leaving the position unchanged. You must keep the card you took and discard one of the cards that was previously in your hand. However, if you draw the top card of the stock, you are free to discard the card that you drew onto the discard pile, leaving your hand unchanged.

Knocking

If at the start of your turn, you believe that your hand is not the lowest and that at least one other player will be unable to beat your hand even if they are allowed one more turn, you can knock instead of drawing a card. Knocking ends your turn. You must keep the hand you had at the start of that turn, but each other player gets one final turn to draw and discard. After the player to the knocker's right has discarded, all players reveal their cards. Each player decides which suit is their point suit, and totals up their cards in that suit.

The player with the lowest hand value loses a life. If there is a tie involving the knocker, the other player(s) lose a life, but the knocker is safe. If the knocker's score is lower than that of every other player, the knocker loses two lives. If there is a tie for lowest between two or more players other than the knocker, then both (all) of those players lose a life.

There is just one case where it is possible to pick up your own discard. This happens when there are only two players left in the game and your opponent knocks. The card you discarded just before the knock is still on top of the pile, so it is now available for you to take back if you want it - for example if you had just broken up a suit for tactical reasons you can now restore it.

Declaring 31

If after drawing and discarding a player achieves hand value of 31, they show their cards immediately and claim victory. In this case all the other players lose a life. A player who makes 31 after another player has knocked still declares it and every other player including the the knocker loses one life.

A player who is dealt 31 in their original three cards declares it - there is no play and all the other players lose a life. If it happens that two or more players get 31 on the initial deal then all the players other than those with 31 lose.

A player who has 31 in their hand and does not declare it as soon as they make it or are dealt it cannot claim it later. An undeclared 31 in a player's hand effectively counts as 30 - if another player declares 31 the holder of the undeclared 31 will lose a life along with the other players.

Draw pile exhausted

If the stock runs out the play can continue as long as each player wishes to take the previous player's diuscard. If the player whose turn it is does not wish to draw the top discard, the play ends and all players show their cards and the hand is scored. If no one has knocked then the player who has the lowest score loses one life, or if there is a tie all the players with the lowest score lose a life.

Scoring

The normal way of scoring in Scat is that each player begins the game with three pennies. When you lose a life, you have to put one of your pennies into the kitty in the centre of the table. If you knock and lose, having the sole lowest hand, you pay two pennies (if you have that many).

If someone declares 31, all the other players have to put a penny in the kitty.