Game Overview

In this cooperative poker game, you take on the roles of a gang of bank robbers trying to crack the combination locks of three safes one after another through perfect coordination and blind intuition. You are not allowed to speak freely; instead, you communicate via chips to collectively assess who has which card combination. You may not share information about your hand with the other players. You may only speculate on the hands of the other players with information that is available to everyone (you may not share any information that relates to your own hand). At the end of each round, the poker hands of all players should be revealed in the correct order from weakest to strongest to crack a safe and avoid triggering an alarm.

Goal of the game: Crack 3 safes before 3 alarms are triggered.

NOTE: The 1 chip is for the WEAKEST hand. By taking the 1 chip, you are signaling that you believe you have the weakest hand.

NOTE: Aces are high, except in a straight, where it can be either high or low.

Sequence of a Round

A round consists of 4 phases and a showdown:

Phase 1 (Hand cards or pre-flop):
Everyone receives two face-down cards. Everyone simultaneously takes a white chip, signaling the estimated strength of their current hand. The 1 chip is for the weakest hand, the highest chip is for the strongest hand. The highest 2-card hand is a pair.

Phase 2 (The Flop):
Three community cards are dealt face-up. You reassess your hand in combination with the community cards, and take/exchange the yellow chips to indicate the CURRENT strength of your hand.

Phase 3 (The Turn):
A fourth community card is revealed. You take/exchange the orange chips to indicate the CURRENT strength of your hand.

Phase 4 (The River):
The fifth community card is revealed. You take/exchange the red chips to indicate the CURRENT strength of your hand.

Showdown:
Hands are revealed one-by-one from lowest (red) chip to highest. The poker hands shown must be of equal strength or increasing.

Success: Each revealed combination is equal to or stronger than the previous one. → Reveal a safe.
Failure: A combination is weaker than one already shown. → Trigger an alarm.

Allowed Actions

1. All players play simultaneously.
2. Each player may have only 1 chip per color.
3. You may take a chip from the center or from other players.
4. You may put a chip you have taken back into the center.

You must not talk about your own hand cards (not even in chat).
You may only discuss information that is clearly visible to everyone.

Tie-breaking

In the case of identical combinations:

1. Higher main value (e.g., higher pair/three of a kind).
2. Then side cards (kickers) from high to low.

Exactly the same 5 cards = a true tie → order does not matter.

Poker Combinations