A question

[owl]

How does sabacc work? Is the deck arranged in suites of some kind, and how many cards are there altogether?

(As one might guess from the question, I'm writing. I've got a couple of little bits of Potter fluff too. Not related to the film, but sort of kick-started inspiration because of it.)


ETA:

Happy Birthday, wahlee_98!!

Comments

[88l71.livejournal.com]

Can't remember exactly the ins and outs, but think of Blackjack played with something more like a Tarot deck.

-Tim

[owl]

So you could use it to tell fortunes? (Wasn't there a fanfic about that once? Han and Leia?)

[marionravenwood.livejournal.com]

Luke's Girl (http://www.thechicagoloop.net/yahtzee/brackets/bracketfic/LukesGirl.htm). Absolutely wonderful fic.

But back to your question, there's a chapter where Han is teaching Luke and Leia how to play sabacc, and then he reads Leia's cards, so there's a good bit of detail there. It does sound a good bit like trying to play blackjack with a tarot deck.

[katsaris.livejournal.com]

In the Timothy Zahn trilogy (Volume 1, Chapter 20) we get to see a couple of the sabacc cards mentioned -- namely "The Mistress of Staves", the "4 of coins", the "6 of Sabres", the "Moderation" face card, the "8 of Flasks", the "Idiot" face card, and the "Commander of Coins"...

We are also told that a deck has 76 cards in full.

[owl]

Thanks!

Look!

[marionravenwood.livejournal.com]

You can play sabacc online! (http://www.ehnet.org/sabacc/index.php)

Re: Look!

[owl]

Oooh, cool!

[anthon1.livejournal.com]

Sabacc
a card game played in most every casino, it involves a standard deck of four suits (sabres, coins, flasks, and staves), each having 11 regular cards (1-11) and four ranked cards (the Commander, The Mistress, the Master, and the Ace). The ranked cards are valued from 12-15. The standard deck also includes 2 sets of 8 face cards, known as The Idiot (0), the Queen of Air and Darkness (+/-2), Endurance (+/-8), Balance (+/-11), Demise (+/-13), Moderation (+/-13), the Evil One (+/-15), and the Star (+/-17). Note that Galaxy of Fear 4 - The Nightmare Machine claims there are only 72 cards in a sabacc deck. Non-standard sabacc decks have included such face cards as Chance, Hazard, the Satellite, The Wheel, and The Damaged Starship, among others. The object is to come as close to +/-23 as possible. A score of greater than 23, less than -23, or 0 is a "bomb-out." There are multiple rounds played, and wagering occurs in each round. Two pots may be won; one for each hand, and one for the entire match. There are 5 major forms. At one time, Lando Calrissian was able to tell fortunes with a deck of sabacc cards. He used the various cards much like tarot cards, and Lando considered the Commander of Staves to be a representation of himself. The Ryn nomad Droma claimed that the Ryn were the original inventers of the sabacc deck, but they used it as a spiritual training device: in other words, to tell fortunes Each suit represented an aspect of the individual's being - staves represented spiritual enterprise, flasks represented emotional states, saber represented mental pursuits, and coins represented material well-being. The ranked cards indicated individuals of specific inclination, and the face cards represented specific events or actions.

[Courtesy of the Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia.]

[owl]

Cool, thanks!!