Have you always wanted to play .....? CRIPPLE MISTER ONION - part 1 Downloaded by Andrew Wielochowski This description of Cripple Mr Onion is in six parts: 1.Introduction, 2.The Hands, 3.The Non-Gambling Game, 4.The Gambling Game, 5.The Modifiers, 6.Final Points. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Introduction: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Cripple Mr Onion requires two standard decks of playing cards, preferably one having the English or French suits clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds, and the second having the Spanish or Italian suits swords, staves, cups and coins - for the purpose of forming flushes, these are taken to be paired in their respective order given above: clubs is paired with swords, spades is paired with staves, hearts is paired with cups, diamonds is paired with coins. If a Spanish or Italian suit cannot be obtained, two English or French decks can be used adequately for most purposes; see the modifiers for further comments on this. The game also requires at least two players, but not more than seven [this isn't to do with the number eight for a specific reason, but a result of the fact that there aren't enough cards for more than seven players], with a ready supply of small coinage or tokens when gambling takes place, and the players arranged as evenly as possible around the table on which the game is played. A container able to hold cards should be placed centrally on the table - this is to be the discard pot - along with another container for coins or tokens if gambling is to take place: this is the Pot. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. The Hands: ------------------------------------------------------------------ Cripple Mr Onion revolves around forming groups of cards which either sum exactly to twenty-one (an onion) or come close to this total without exceeding it; in the usual fashion, a picture card (P) is worth ten, an ace (A) is worth one or eleven, and other cards are worth their face value: a ten (T) is worth ten, a nine is worth nine, and so on. Since groups of cards which sum exactly to twenty-one can be formed in various ways, they are ranked in a particular order according to their composition, along with a few other groups which do not give twenty-one in total but which are of some interest; these special hands, described below, are worth more than any other valid combinations of cards and usually dominate the play. There are thirteen categories of winning hands and in increasing order of worth are: 1.Bagel: this is a combination of two cards which totals exactly twenty; it is, therefore, one of TT, TP, PP or 9A. 2.two-card onion: this is a combination of two cards which totals exactly twenty-one; it is, therefore, either TA or PA. 3.Broken Flush: this is a group of at least three cards, summing to at least sixteen (but not more than twenty-one) with all of the cards except for one in the same suit-pair. 4.three-card onion: this is a group of three cards which totals twenty-one exactly; examples are ATT, 56T, and 579. 5.Flush: this is a group of at least three cards, summing to at least sixteen (but not more than twenty-one) with all of the cards in the same suit-pair. 6.four-card onion: ... four cards which total twenty-one; for example, A55T, 2469, and 3378. 7.Broken Royal: this is a special case of a three-card onion where the three cards are specifically 678 (of any suit-pairs). 8.five-card onion: ... five cards ... e.g. A235T, 23466, and 33348. 9.Royal: this is another special three-card onion being 777. 10.six-card onion: ... six cards ... e.g. A2233T and A23456. 11.(Wild Royal: this is a combination that may only be played when eights are wild - see the modifiers for details - since it consists of three wild eights.) 12.seven-card onion: ... seven cards ... e.g. A223445. 13.Onion: an Onion (capitalised letter 'o') is a two card combination of a picture card and an ace; HOWEVER, PA on its own is just a two-card onion (place two above), since to occupy this exalted position, the group must consist of two Onions, PAPA or Double Onion, or three Onions, PAPAPA or 3[PA] or Triple Onion, or four Onions, 4[PA] or Lesser Onion, or even five Onions, 5[PA] or Great Onion. The Onions themselves are arranged according to their worth, with Double Onion the lowest and Great Onion the best. Notice that the maximum number of cards making up an onion is seven (there is no eight-card onion) and that for PA to be of any real value, the player must hold at least two picture cards and two aces. Also, if a player should be unlucky enough to receive multiple bagels, the qualifiers "double", "triple", "lesser" and "great" (with small initials) are used. Since each player is ultimately in possession of ten cards, a number of groups, most of them usually winning hands, can be formed; the objective of any individual player is therefore to form the ten cards into the best possible set of groups, with each of the ten cards taking part in only one of the groups. For example, representing clubs and swords by 'c', spades and staves by 's', hearts and cups by 'h' and diamonds and coins by 'd', the hand: 3c 3s 4s Js Ah 7h Qh Ad 4d 6d is best split into: Double Onion - JsAhQhAd five-card onion - 3c3s4s4d7h a six - 6d whilst the hand: 9c 4s Qs Ks 4h Jh Ad 7d Td Kd is best split into: four-card onion - Ad4s7d9c double bagel - QsKsJhTd a fourteen - 4hKd. >From this list of winning hands, it follows that some cards are intrinsically more valuable than others: tens, for example, are only useful in bagels and small-card onions whereas twos and threes are necessary for constructing many-card onions; aces and picture cards are obviously of great value. However, a player's strategy in selecting cards for replacement (see the game descriptions and certain of the modifiers) should also be influenced by the number of players, and whether eights are wild or not, since these factors influence the relative likelihood of each hand winning the round. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. The Non-Gambling Game: ------------------------------------------------------------------ At the beginning of each round, one player is identified as the Dealer, with the player to the Dealer's left as the Elder and the player to the Dealer's right as the Younger - this sets the order of precedence in being dealt cards and in winning in the event of a tie as Dealer, Elder, other players in order and, lastly, Younger. In the event that the Dealership changes, these identifiers move to be based around the new Dealer. The round opens when the Dealer shuffles the pack of all 104 cards and the Younger cuts the pack. All the players are dealt five cards in this order: the Dealer receives two cards and deals all the other players, in order from Elder to Younger, three cards; the Dealer then receives three cards and deals the other players two [this is done to speed up the dealing, which isn't exactly the most interesting part of the game]. Then, in turn, from Elder to Younger, each player discards up to four cards into the discard pot and announces the number of discards to the Dealer who replaces them from the top of the pack; the Dealer then discards and replaces, also announcing the number thrown away. It is important to note that up to this point all cards have been dealt face down, each player is only aware of their own cards and, by way of the draw, ought to have a better hand than was originally dealt. The second set of five cards each is now dealt in the following way: the Dealer receives five cards face down on the table, and then, in turn from Elder to Younger, each other player is dealt five cards face up on the table. Cards dealt face up on the table must remain that way, although the owner of those cards may rearrange them there if desired. Now the final part of the round, Showdown, takes place. Beginning from the Elder, the highest card grouping is declared and displayed on the table; if the player to the left of the Elder cannot equal, beat or play some modifier that affects the Elder's cards, that player's cards are all placed face up on the table, in their groupings if the player wishes, and that player is out of the round; the comparison of the next leftward player's cards with the Elder's then takes place. If the Elder's cards are equalled, then the next card grouping must be considered. If the Elder's cards are beaten, then the Elder has the opportunity to play a modifier or rearrange the card grouping in an attempt to obtain a better arrangement; once the Elder's cards are undoubtedly beaten, however, the Elder is out of the round and the comparison of the currently leading player's cards with the next leftward player's takes place. By this process of comparison, consideration of lower groupings, rearrangement of card groups and playing of modifiers, and knocking out of players, the holder of the best set of cards, between the Elder and the Younger, is found. Finally, the Dealer's cards are compared with the only player left in, and the process of finding the better cards is repeated; the player who holds the better cards has then won the game. Note that in the event of either a complete tie between two players' cards or an impasse due to circular use of modifiers, the player of greater seniority wins - often, this means that the Dealer wins. Once all the players but one have been knocked out, leaving the winner holding the best cards, the round is over, the cards and discards are collected up and the winner becomes the Dealer for the next round. @~To be continued next issue - o -