ZOOT! POKER
Zoot Deck
Each ZOOT deck contains 118 letter cards and 4 wild cards
Letter Frequency
Each letter appears a certain number of times :
A-10 B-2 C-2 D-4 E-14 F-2 G-5 H-3 I-9 J-2 K-2 L-4 M-3 N-6 O-9 P-3 Q-2 R-7 S-5 T-6 U-4 V-2 W-3 X-3 Y-3 Z-3
Point Value
Every card has a point value :
VOWELS - 1 CONSONANTS - 3 VWXY - 10 JQZ - 20 WILD - 0
OBJECT
The object is to win the “pot” which is the aggregate of all bets made by all players in any one deal. The pot may be won either by having the highest-ranking ZOOT! hand or by making a bet that no other player calls.
Choose a Dealer
Place the deck face down in the middle of the table. Each player cuts the deck. The player who turns up a card closest to A becomes the first dealer. All cards are then returned to the deck.
Shuffle the Deck
Include one or more wild cards if desired. Each player is dealt 5 cards. The remaining cards are placed in the center as a draw pile, and the top card is turned over to start the discard pile.
Betting
Betting is the key to ZOOT! Poker - the game, in essence, is a game of chip management. In the course of each ZOOT! Poker deal, there will be one or more betting intervals in which the players have an opportunity to bet on their hands. Minimizing losses with poor hands and maximizing winnings with good hands is the underlying skill that ZOOT! Poker requires.
Ante Up
Before the cards are even dealt, the rules of the Poker game being played may require that each player put an initial contribution, called an "ante," of one or more chips into the pot, to start it off.
Betting Intervals
Each betting interval, or round, begins when a player, in turn, makes a bet of one or more chips. Each player to the left, in turn, must do one of three things :
- CALL : The player puts into the pot the same number of chips
- RAISE : The player puts in more than enough chips to call
- DROP / FOLD : The player puts no chips in the pot, discards their hand, and is out of the betting until the next deal. When a player drops, they lose any chips that have put into that pot. Unless a player is willing to put into the pot at least as many chips as any preceding player, they must drop out.
A betting interval ends when the bets have been equalized - that is, when each player has either put in exactly as many chips as their predecessors or has dropped. There are usually two or more betting intervals for each Poker deal.
After the final interval there is a "showdown," which means that each player who remains shows their hand face up on the table. The best ZOOT! Poker hand then takes the pot.
Bluffing
If a player makes a bet or a raise that no other player calls, they win the pot without showing their hand. Thus, in Poker, there is a bluffing element, and the best combination of cards does not always win the pot!
Identical Hands
Two hands that are identical, card for card, are tied since the suits have no relative rank in Poker. In such a case, the tied players split the pot.
ALLOWABLE WORDS
In order to score points, the word must be in the Zoot dictionary. No proper nouns, acronyms, abbreviated, or hyphenated words are allowed. All words must use seven letters.
Checking
If a player wishes to remain in the game without betting, they "check." This means, in effect, that the player is making a "bet of nothing." A player may check provided no one before them in that betting interval has made a bet. If another player has bet, they cannot check but must at least call the bet or drop.
Sandbagging
A player who checks may raise a bet that has been raised by another player. This is called "sandbagging," which is allowed, unless it has been decided beforehand that this practice is forbidden. If all players check during a round of play, the betting interval is over, and all the players still in the pot remain in the game.
Wild Cards
A wild card is specified by the holder to be the card needed to combine with the other cards in a player's hand to form a word. Wild cards in a Poker game add variety, and of course, they greatly increase the chances of getting a word. Their value is 0. The value of a hand is 0 if no word can be formed.