Pazaak Game Rules

Gameplay:

There are three different decks in pazaak: the main (or "table") deck, composed of cards numbered 1-10 (the total cards in this deck is unbound, though it tended to have four of each number). There was also one side deck for each player in the game. These decks would be assembled by the players themselves and had to have exactly 10 cards.

At the beginning of the game, each player would randomly select 4 cards from their side deck, making up their Hand. Then the first turn of the first player would start. The player would draw a card from the main deck and play it on the table. After that, the player could choose to either place a card down from their hand, or to end their turn. Only one hand card can be played per turn, and no more cards are ever drawn from the side deck.

When ending his turn, the player had two options:

  • End Turn: If the player ends their turn, they are bound to draw a new card from the main deck at the start of the next turn. This is repeated until either they stand, go bust, fill the table, or their score is exactly 20.
  • Stand: If the player stands, they keep their current sum till the end of the set and do not play any other cards. The opponent, however, can still continue playing cards, unless he has chosen to stand as well. Getting a sum of 20 automatically causes a player to stand.

Once his turn was over, play moves to the next player, and their turn is played in the same manner. Play passes between the two players until someone wins the set.

The cards:

There were two decks used in pazaak:

  • The Main Deck consisted of four sets of cards numbered 1-10
  • The Side Deck consisted of ten special cards chosen by the player before the match. At the start of each set, four of these cards were chosen at random for the player to keep in his hand and play at any time he desired.

The side deck also had a variety of cards, and each deck was unique to the player in that he could purchase different types of cards throughout the galaxy and choose whichever ones he preferred to keep in his hand. There were two types of such cards: Plus and Minus cards, which were blue and red, and Advanced cards, which were gold. Main Deck cards were green, or in some older cases gold.

  • Plus Cards were blue cards that added the written value to a player's total when played. The value of the cards ranged from 1 to 6 points.
  • Minus Cards were red cards that were similar to the plus cards, but instead they subtracted their value from the players total. They also ranged from 1 to 6.
  • Plus or Minus Cards (+/-) were essentially a combination of the two; the player could choose upon play whether he wanted to add the number or subtract it from his hand. These were the most expensive and highly valued cards. They also ranged from 1 to 6.
  • The +/- 1 or 2 Card was a +/- card whose value could be changed to between 1 and 2.
  • Flip Cards were advanced cards that changed the sign of the written number of all the cards in a player's hand. For example, if a player played a 2&4, all the 2s and 4s in his hand would become -2s and -4s, while all the -2s and -4s would become 2s and 4s. These cards were only available as 2&4 and 3&6.
  • The Double Card was a rare card that doubled the value of the last played card. For example, if one flipped over 2, then a 9, he could play the double card, making the 9 an 18, thus adding up to 20.
  • The Tiebreaker Card was an extremely rare card that acted like a +/-1 card, but in the event of a tie, the player who played the tiebraker card would win.

The Side Deck was often the key to victory, as without his hand, a player relied solely on luck to win the match. Therefore, a player would have to conserve his cards, as the four side deck cards would have to last him through the entire match.

Winning the game:

There were three ways to win the set:

  • By outscore: After both players chose to stand, the player with the greatest score would win, provided that it was not over 20.
  • By going bust: If a player ended his turn with a score over 20, he was said to "bust", and the other player won.
  • By filling the table: In some rare occasions, if a player could place 9 cards on the table without busting, he would receive an automatic win. He would still win if his score was less than the opponents, and even if they were tied.

In the event that a set is tied, no one gets a point for the set, and a new set is played. The first player to win three sets won the game, and whatever money was being wagered.

Compiled from Wookipedia's Pazaak article.