The Official Rules of Tripoley
The game of Tripoley was invented by Stanly Hopkins in 1932. Since his original version of the game many other variations were invented and most consist of the same principles.
The game is intended for 2-9 Players (some will say that the best way to play the game is with 4-7 players), and it requires the following equipment: Gambling Chips, a single deck of cards, bet tracking utilities such as a pen and paper and the Tripoley Board. The game has many variations but this is the most popular one!
The course of the game
Following Tripoley rules, in the beginning of the round all players must place chips on every segment on the board (9 chips in total) even if there are already chips on the board from previous rounds.
Afterwards, the dealer deals the deck of cards to all of the players plus an additional hand that does not belong to anyone. It is possible that some players will get more cards then others, but it is irrelevant, as the game is built of rounds and this status will change from round to round.
In case the dealer is displeased with his hand he can switch it with the extra hand (without examining it first) and by doing so making his original hand into the extra hand.
First Stage - Hearts
After the cards are dealt, the players begin picking up chips from the board according to the relevant segments. For example, a player that has the King of Hearts will take the chips from the relevant segment. A player that has a straight of 8-9-10 of the same suit will take the chips from that segment. In case more then one player has that straight flush, then the players will divide the chips equally.
Since there is an additional hand that no one is using, some chips will not be collected. In such a case the chips will remain there for future rounds.
Second Stage - Poker
In the second stage of the game, every player chooses the best 5 cards Poker hand from his original hand, and a round of Poker begins. A player may choose not to use his best cards so as to not reveal them before the next stage.
The player sitting to the left of the dealer begins this round. He can either Bet or Check. The other players also can either Bet or Check. If all of the players checked, the hands are revealed and the best hand wins the Pot.
In case a player makes a bet the following players can no longer Check. However, they can do the following:
- Retire from the Poker round by Folding and by doing so giving up on the Pot. (Fold)
- Add to the Pot by matching the betting player. (Call)
- Add to the Pot a higher amount then the previous betting player. (Raise).
The rounds go clockwise until one of the following events occurred:
- All players fold except one. In this case the last player wins the Pot and does not have to show his cards. This means that it is not necessary for the best hand to win the Pot.
- All the players that did not fold, and all called their Bets. In such a case, the players that are still in the game will reveal their cards, and the player with the best hand wins the Pot. In case of a Tie, the tied players will split the Pot.
In general, in this stage of the game, it is customary to decide on a maximum value for bets.
Third Stage - The Rummy Round
In this stage the player add their cards from the poker round to the remaining cards in their hand, The starting player is the player that won the poker round (in the event of a tie, the starting player will be the player sitting to the left of the dealer). The starting player discards their lowest card from any of the suits (there is no significance which suit is chosen).
After discarding the opening card the rest of the players discard cards in sequential order. The move can end for one of two reasons: 1 - a player discards the ace, thus ending the sequence. 2 - None of the players are holding the next card in the sequence (it is in the extra pile or in the dead pile as it has been used already).
At the end of the game, the player who discarded the ace or the highest card make their next move by discarding their lowest card in the suit of their choice (it can not be the same suit as the previous suit).
The game ends when one of the players gets rid of all of the cards in their hand. The winning player takes all the chips from the area called the "kitty", and they also receive chips from their opponents correlating to the remaining cards in their hand.
In the case that a player discards the last card of the series (ace or another stopper) and can not discard a card as the remaining cards in their hand are from the previous suits discarded, the player to their left makes the next move. If the next player can also not make a move the player to their left takes a turn and so forth until one of the players can make a move. In the event that none of the players can make a move, a new card is revealed and each player places chips in the kitty corresponding to the value of the cards in their hand. The winner of the next Rummy round will receive all of the chips from the kitty.
Ending the Game
According to Tripoley rules, The game end when the players choose so, or depending on the predetermined limit. At the end of the game it is likely that there will be remaining chips and in this case there are two options: (1) divide the remaining chips equally between the players. (2) replay the Poker round without adding bets. Which means dealing each player 5 more cards and the winner of that round receives the remaining chips.
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