How to Play
The aim of Outlaw Poker is to score fewer points than your fellow outlaws by the end of the game. Lower your score by pairing up cards and discarding high-value ones.
Game Setup
1. Remove "Outlaw Cards" from the deck
2. Shuffle the deck
3. Deal 8 cards to each player. The first column is dealt face-up.
Note: The player may not look at these face-down cards.
4. Deal 1 Outlaw Card to each player. The Outlaw Card is dealt face-down.
Note: The player may look at this card.
5. The remaining cards become the draw pile. Flip the top card over to form the discard pile
6. You can start the game! The outlaw to the left of the dealer begins, and turns proceed to the left
Gameplay
1. On your turn, draw a card from either the Deck or the Discard Pile
2. On your turn you may:
3. The Iron Hand (First Column Rule):
The first column is what we call the "Iron Hand", and there are a few things to know:
You can spend as many turns as you want swapping and changing these two cards for a better hand.
However, once you decide to flip or swap cards from any of the other columns, the first column is locked and can no longer be changed for the rest of the round.
This column is not considered part of the player grid once it is locked.
Ending A Round
A round ends when one player has all their cards face up.
Once this happens, each other player gets one last turn. After this, all remaining face-down cards are revealed.
Scoring
At the end of each round, the outlaws tally up their scores. Scores are calculated by adding together the vertical columns.
The cards' values are as follows:
- Face value: Numbers count as their face value (e.g., a 6 is worth 6 points).
- Negative cards: Some cards, like -5, subtract from your total score.
- Matching cards: If you’ve matched cards in a column, they are worth 0 points. Negative cards do not cancel out.
- Wild cards: Wild cards match whatever card they are paired with.
Winning
The game lasts for 10 rounds, and the outlaw with the lowest overall score wins the game. If a player reaches a preset score (like 100 points), the game can end early.
That's Outlaw Poker! Try to outsmart your opponents and ride off into the sunset with the lowest score!
