NAME: Tempest Poker (alternatively, Tempest "No-Peek" Poker)
GESTALT: Players attempt to make the best 5-card poker hand as various face-cards modify gameplay as translated from Shakespeare's "The Tempest".
GAMEPLAY: Each player is dealt two "hold" cards, face-down. In the "regular" (non-"No-Peek") variation, players are allowed to see what their hold cards are. Additionally, they are dealt one card face-up on the beginning of their turn. If one of the prescribed cards is dealt, it modifies play according to that card's assigned character. (For instance, the King of Spades represents Alonso, the King of Naples... in which case you "send adrift" your two hold cards to the left. The complete list is on DC's blog, http://www.dcspensley.com/art104/ ). Play continues with modifications to the table's poker-hands until each one has a grand total of 7 cards each, from which they derive their best 5-card poker hand.
SESSION: After a brief reading of the prescribed cards, DC dealt our first hand. Each player had a couple of wild-cards to their hand at the time, but Brian Tamayo managed to bet heavily and take the hand. In the second round, he once again attempted to bet big before we could even get our fourth card, effectively flushing DC and myself out of play.
FEEDBACK: This game most DEFINITELY requires a list of the cards and how they modify play (or, better, the modifiers attached to the cards themselves); while the game is informed by The Tempest, those who have not read/seen it will experience great difficulty remembering which card is which character or which modifier. Otherwise it's a literate and interesting twist on "Hold 'Em" Poker.
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