Round Table Poker

Start practicing your poker face! You'll need it to win Meridell's poker tournaments.

Possible Hands

Before we get into the gameplay, let's talk about the cards. Your fate in the game rests with your hand: the cards you are dealt. Below are listed the ten different classifications of poker hands, from best to worst, descriptions and examples of each, and the odds and percent chance to be dealt each one in the initial deal.

Ties within a classification are broken by the cards which do not contribute to the classification of the hand. For example, if one player has a hand of A/A/J/8/7 and another has A/A/K/3/2, the second player would win—the two Ace pairs are removed, and the rest of the hand is treated as a High Card hand. For hands like straights or flushes, the highest card of the hand determines the value; for example, an Ace-high flush would defeat a Jack-high flush.

How to Play

There are six levels in Round Table Poker; each level is referred to as a tournament. Each tournament has a set number of hands, with higher tournaments involving more hands. Each hand has two rounds, where each player takes turns to make a move. To win a tournament and move on to the next tournament, you have to have the most Neopoints of everyone at the end of the last hand.

First Round

At the beginning of each hand, every player has to "ante up" 10 NP into the pot. This ensures that there's something to win even if no one bets a single Neopoint. To begin the hand, all players are dealt five cards each by the dealer, and the first round of betting begins based on the cards dealt.

Betting works like this: each player is given one of three options:

• Check: Neither bet nor fold; only available when you've bet the same amount as everyone else before you, such as right after the ante and dealing.
• Bet: Allows you to place a bet (increments of 10 NP), which requires the other players to match you or forfeit the hand.
• Fold: Decide not to meet the current bet and thus forfeit the hand.

A few tips: If no one has bet before you, don't fold. There's no reason to, since you won't be paying any more money than you were to begin with, and you may win unexpectedly. If you have an excellent hand, you may want to wait for someone to bet first so that you can raise the bet when it is again your turn. If you're currently in the lead (have the most money), especially by a lot and especially toward the end of a tournament, and are unsure of your chances, fold. There's no reason to chance it and lose the lead you have.

Once someone has made a bet, the three options change, and the betting continues until everyone has placed the same amount of money in the pot or chosen to fold. The three options are now:

• Call: Bet the same amount as everyone before you.
• Raise: Bet whatever the current rate is and add some more, forcing everyone to put more money into the pot or fold.
• Fold: Exactly the same as before—forfeit the hand.

Raising serves two purposes:

1. Because it shows that you think you have a very good hand, it can force people to fold out of fear (this is where bluffing comes in).
2. It can drive up the pot amount so that you win more NPs, which you want to happen when you know your hand is unlikely to lose.

Second Round

After the first round of betting concludes, players are given the chance to discard up to four of their cards and receive new ones in exchange. This is the heart of the game, as players bet in the first round based not only on the cards they were originally dealt, but also on the cards they could have after discarding. Basically, the point is that you want to get a better hand.

When it is your turn to discard, simply click on a card to mark it for discard. You'll see the text "Discard" underneath it. When you're finished selecting, click the "DISCARD" button to receive your new cards.

Your new cards will show up and discarding will continue while you ponder your new cards and how to bet on it. If you have a really fantastic hand to begin with, you don't actually have to discard any cards. So, if you have something like a Straight or a Flush from the get-go it might not be a good idea to discard anything. If this is the case, simply click "DISCARD" without marking any cards and affirm that you do indeed think your hand is fantastic.

After discarding, you will hopefully have a better hand; unfortunately, the other players might as well. The second round of betting begins and operates exactly like the first one except for one change: the increment is now 20 NP.

If your hand after discarding is a High Card and any player bets anything, fold. It's not worth the tiny chance you might still win to place a bet.

After the second round of betting, the player with the best hand wins the pot. Keep in mind that if you folded a better hand than any of the other players had, you won't win because folding constitutes forfeiting. When that happens, you'll know better for next time how to judge your hand and whether or not the other players are bluffing.

The Players

Here's a list of the players you'll face during the tournaments in the order they appear. In each tournament, you'll face four of them. In the final tournament, you'll face a second edition of Nigel of Meridar, rather than a different character.

Player Name	Happy	Normal	Sad
Friar Asquith
Footpad Joe
Lady Vanella
Nigel of Meridar
Prudella
Kalandra
Chortle
Commander Lazarr

Facial Expressions

Your opponents' faces change expression several times throughout the game, but there are only two occasions when their faces matter:

1. after the starting cards are dealt
2. after everyone is finished discarding (not after each individual discard)

Any time besides these, the expression is random and gives you no information. Sometimes it's pretty obvious they're faking—they all feign sadness when they bet to make you think they're bluffing.

Occasion 1: Starting Hand

You want to watch for both happy faces and sad faces during the two occasions, but we'll deal particularly with the happy faces, as those give away more useful information.

After the starting cards are dealt, a happy face means the player has a good hand (at least a Two Pair). Watch these players—if they do not bet in the first round, they are bluffing. The only exception is that a player who bets first or second might, if they have a very good hand (at least a Three of a Kind), wait and hope someone else bets first so they can raise the bet. Note that no computer player will fold on a 10 NP bet in the first round of betting, no matter how bad their hand.

You can guess the type of hand the players have based on how many cards they discard.

• If they exchange one card, they have a Two Pair or a good chance for a Flush or Straight.
• If they exchange two cards, they have a Three of a Kind.
• If they exchange three cards, they most likely have a Pair.
• If they don't exchange anything at all, they probably have at least a Straight, and you should watch them carefully.

They will never discard four cards, though you may.

No he can't read my pokerface!

Occasion 2: After Discarding

Remember how you were watching the number of exchanged cards? When you watch the faces of the players discarding is finished, you'll see whether they were successful in acquiring a good hand (usually at least a high Pair). If they had a Pair, they're looking for a Two Pair or Three of a Kind. If they had a Two Pair, they're looking for a Full House, and so on.

The ones you really want to watch are the ones who had a normal expression at occasion 1, exchanged only one card, and smiled at occasion 2. These are the ones who have really good hands like a Flush or Straight.

Once again, if a player smiles but does not bet, they're probably faking; similarly, if they bet (especially if they're one of the first to bet) and didn't smile, they're probably faking. Another thing to note about betting in the second round is that most players will not bet even if they have a high Pair unless they are fourth or fifth to bet.

Much of the information on the players habits is courtesy of this NT article by aquariss. Many thanks to the author!

Trophies

The high score tables are unlocked when you reach tournament 6 and are scored by total winnings at the end of the 16 hands of the tournament. The first 5 tournaments are irrelevant to the high scores table.

This game has an additional runner-up trophy that you earn automatically upon winning tournament 5. If you get a high scores table trophy, it replaces the runner-up trophy.

You earn me after completing Level 5!

This game guide was written by: Patrick & Zelda