# The rules of 893 Hold'em

893 Hold'em is a cooperative poker game for 2 to 6 players. The crew plays together against the House over a night of six hands. Nobody may talk about their cards: the only conversation is the calls everyone makes at the same moment.

## Seats

- **The crew** is 2 to 6 seats: friends at the link, or bot regulars who fill empty chairs.
- **The House** sits one masked hand for every two crew seats, rounded up. Two players face one mask; five face three.
- **Each mask watches two seats**, in seat order. Your own heat check is against the mask watching you.

## A night

A night is six hands, and the crew shares two counters:

- **Take (円)** is money won. Reach the night's target by the end to get away clean.
- **Heat (熱)** is police attention. Reach the limit at any point and the bar is raided; the night ends at once.

The target and the limit depend on the table and on how many are in the crew. The lobby shows both before you start.

## A hand

1. **The deal.** Each crew member gets two private hole cards. Each mask gets two face-down cards. Five board cards are dealt face down.
2. **The House Rule.** From the second hand (from the first at the Oyabun table), one House Rule card flips and changes this hand only.
3. **Four calls**: pre-flop, then the flop (three board cards), the turn (one), and the river (one). At each call, everyone still in secretly picks:
   - **Fold (降)**: step out of this hand. Your cards no longer count.
   - **Stay (待)**: keep your stake. Every stake starts at 1.
   - **Raise (攻)**: your stake goes up by one, to at most 3.

   When everyone has locked in, or the call timer runs out (undecided counts as Stay), all calls flip at once.
4. **The showdown.** Two counts are settled together:
   - **Take**: the crew's best active hand faces the House's best. If the crew wins, take rises by every active stake. Everyone still in is paid, even with weak cards.
   - **Heat**: anyone still in whose own hand loses to the mask watching them draws heat equal to their stake, even when the crew wins.
   - Ties pay nothing and burn nothing. If everyone folded, heat rises by one.

A raise says "I'm carrying this one." Riding a teammate's raise turns your heat into the crew's take. Whether that's a good trade depends on how close the crew is to the target and to a raid.

## House Rules

| Kanji | Name | Effect |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 霧 | Fog | The river is dealt face down until the showdown. |
| 鏡 | Mirror | Each mask shows one of its hole cards from the start. |
| 鬼 | Oni | The House sits one extra hand. |
| 静 | Hush | Calls are hidden; you only see who is in and who is out. |
| 炎 | Blaze | Take and heat are doubled. |
| 絆 | Bond | Every raise raises every active stake. |
| 蛇 | Serpent | Ties go to the House. |
| 狐 | Fox | One crew member's hole cards are dealt face up. |
| 逆 | Reversal | Lowball: the weaker hand wins. Oyabun table only. |

## Tables

- **Shitamachi (下町)**, the corner bar. Four House Rules in the deck. Built so a crew that plays well gets away clean about 70% of the time.
- **Kabukichō (歌舞伎町)**. Eight House Rules. About 50%.
- **Oyabun (親分)**, the boss's room. All nine, from the first hand. About 30%.