Bragg

A traditional working class card game, mostly popular in Britain where it is still played today; although today's game resembles poker so much that it is usually only considered a poker variant. This game was mostly popular in pubs and in the Army. In the British army there is a tradition that, when there was no money to be had in between paydays, the soldiers would "play for noses". The person who won a hand would gain the right to swat the other player on the nose with his cards, fanned out as they would be in playing. The version we have today is the 18th century version (not really popular in america, but was still known by british soldiers stationed there). In the eighteenth century, this was suitable for higher classes of people, but it was only in the 19th century that it became unfashionable and was then only popular in the lower classes. The lower class version most likely threw away the first and third stakes rule.

Difficulty: Medium

# of players: 2 to 8

Equipment: One standard 52 card deck.

Brag is a three stake game, meaning that every player antes into 3 different pots, which could be won independently of each other at different stages of the game.

The Deal:

Dealer deals out 9 cards to each player, 3 cards each time, counterclockwise, turning the last card face up. Any remaining cards are discarded into stock.

The First Stake:

The person with the highest faceup card wins the first stake. If any of the players have the Ace of Diamonds, that wins over any card that can be thrown against it. In case there's a tie, the Elder hand wins (The eldest hand is the player to the left of the dealer. Seniority moves to the left in the direction of the deal after that. ) The turned up card is discarded into the stock.

The Second Stake:

This is commonly called the "Bragg". Each player examines his hand for pairs. The highest pair wins the second stake (three of a kind is not considered higher than a pair. Sorry, mates.). Aces are high. The Knave of Clubs is a wild card, and may be pairded with any other card (Woohoo!). If it is paired with a pair, it makes it half a step higher, which then beats a matching pair of the same value.

Before the cards are displayed however, each plater, starting with the "Elder Hand", is given the option of raising the stake. This part of the game is played in the manner identical to modern Poker, as each player in turn either matches the stake as it comes to him, or folds/raises it. This continues around the circle until everyone has had at least 1 chance to raise or match the stake, and a player opts to match the current stake without raising it. The cards making up the pairs are then displayed and the strongest pair takes the pot. The cards that made up the pair are then discarded into the stock.

The Third Stake:

The players select from their remaining cards, cards which equal 31 or come as close as possible to 31. Face cards(or court cards) equal 10 each, Aces equal 11 or 1 and all the other cards equal the number rpitned on them. the winner is the holder of thirty one or the person with the highest total equalling less than 31. All ties go to the Elder Hand (The lucky duck). If another hand is to be played, the Eldest Hand(the player to the immediate left of the dealer) becomes the dealer.