This is one of those games where a lot of money can be won, or lost, on the turn of a card and in the absence of money, us skint mortals have to use tokens. Any number of people can play but if more than about 7 or 8 play, it can get tedious waiting for your turn, especially if you have been losing and in that round everybody else seems to be winning.

A dealer is selected (the usual way is the Black Jack method) and he retains the deal for a maximum of 3 deals.

The dealer places in the centre of the table, an agreed amount of cash or tokens. This is generally a minimum of ten times the number of players. This "Kitty" cannot be added to or taken away from, by the dealer during his turn as dealer.

The cards are shuffled and cut and the dealer deals one card at a time to each player in turn, until each player has three cards.

THE DEALER DOES NOT DEAL ANY CARDS TO HIMSELF.

The remaining cards are placed face down in front of the dealer.

The first player to the dealer's left MUST bet at least one token, that any one of his three cards will be the same suit as, and of a higher value than, the top card of the stack. The top card of the stack is turned over and placed alongside. The card that the dealer turns over from the stack, must be placed so that any cards underneath cannot be seen.

If the player wins, he takes from the kitty an equivalent number of tokens that he bet and of course retains the tokens that he bet. If the player loses, then his bet goes to swell the kitty.

The player's spent hand is placed face down to one side of the dealer. The remaining players make their play.

After each player has made his play, all the cards are collected in, shuffled, cut and dealt out for a second time.

After the third deal and play, the deal passes to the next person on the left and whatever is left in the kitty is returned to the person who put up the kitty.

The new dealer then puts up his own minimum kitty. A dealer can place any size of kitty providing that it is at least the minimum. If during the game, the kitty is reduced to nothing, the game stops, all the cards are gathered in and that dealer has lost all his DOSH. The deal passes to the next person.

There is no limit to the amount a player may bet, providing that the bet is no more than is in the kitty at the time the bet is placed. If a player wishes to bet an equivalent amount to the total in the kitty, he usually turns over his three cards and at the same time says "SHOOT."

Some players consider it to be protective if they present a very high kitty. They work on the theory that it will take a very good hand to go "SHOOT" and if the kitty is high enough it's sheer size will prevent a "SHOOT." A good theory but often not quite right.

Over the years it has become the practice for the dealer to hold the stack in his hand. As this makes "funny" dealing easier, this practice should not be entertained.

To illustrate:
A player's hand contains a five of hearts, a king of clubs and a queen of spades and he bets three tokens. The dealer turns up the two of diamonds. The dealer wins because the player's hand does not contain a diamond. The three tokens are placed into the kitty.

A player's hand contains an ace of clubs, a four of hearts and a seven of diamonds and he bets one token. The dealer turns up a three of hearts. The player wins because his four of hearts beats the dealer's three of hearts and he takes one token from the kitty, whilst retaining the token that he bet with.