Skœjarth

Skœjarth

Years active	Around 380 ANB
Genres	Vying
Players	Preferably 2 to 4, up to 8 with only a 4 cards left in stock
Skills	Observation, attention, bluffing

Skœjarth or skoejarth (Ascon: sköjarþ [ˈʃkœjaɦθ], lit. "liar") is a vying game popular in Asconia and spread into other regions using Asconian playing cards, such as Hearn and Toamts. Players wager over the value of the hands constructed from combining any from three private cards and four community cards. Whomever has the highest valued hand wins the pot. In place of actual currency, players often use a system of marked metal, ceramic or plastic counting tokens, as is common throughout gambling games in the Orddonach. Alternatively, skœjarth may be played as a drinking game, where the winner of a round gets to give a set amount of shots to players of their choice.

Gameplay

Skœjarth is played with a single 28 card deck (the sun and moon cards aren't used). Gameplay is divided in rounds, which go as follows:

1. Before the game can begin, all players each put an equal set amount of currency agreed beforehand (an ante).
2. Three cards are dealt to each player, the fan cards, which must be kept private until the end of the round. The player left of the dealer introduces a previously agreed starting bet, which the rest of the players, in clockwise order, may choose to match (call). Players may also decide to forfeit from the round entirely (fold), especially if given a bad fan.
   1. Players are encouraged to bluff others into folding early by betting high on their own fan cards.
3. After the initial bet is over, the dealer takes two cards from the stock–the trunk–and reveals it to all players. The trunk is added to all the players' hands simultaneously, and players must seek to combine any amount of their fan cards with any amount of the community cards to get the highest valued 5-card hand possible. Players then may allow the game to continue without betting (check). In the event that someone bets, the option to check is replaced by calling. Raising after someone else has bet is also allowed, and must be replied by calling. Players may fold at any point.
4. After betting on the trunk, a third community card, the flower, is added by the dealer. Betting resumes.
5. After the flower, a final community card, the fruit, is added. Betting resumes.
6. When the final bet is over, all players reveal their hands. The player with the most valuable hand (preferably completed by the community cards) wins the pot. The cards are then put back in the stock, reshuffled, and a new round begins.
   1. In the event that two people have the same kind of hand, the overall rank of the highest card in each serves to break the tie. The pot goes to the player holding the highest card. In the event that this still does not break the tie, the pot is split across the tied players.

Hands

The following are all valid hands from weakest to strongest.

Skœjarth hands

Name	Description	Example
Eyes	A pair of cards of the same rank.
Orphan	The simple value of the highest card, matching none in its hand. In the example, the King of Batons would be the orphan.
Twins	Two pairs of cards matching each other's ranks, i.e. two eyes.
Threefold	Three cards of the same rank.
Stairs	Five cards in ascending order.
Fourfold	Four cards of the same rank.
Disparate	Five cards of the same suit but not in any order.
Perfect	Five cards of the same suit in ascending order.