Hell of a Deal
Hell of a Deal Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Hell of a Deal™ is based on Texas Hold'em Poker. The core rules are summarized here for those who are less familiar with them or simply in need of a refresher.
In Texas Hold'em Poker, each player is dealt 2 private cards (known as 'hole cards') face down that are theirs alone. During the Betting phase, a total of 5 Community cards are dealt face-up to form the 'board'. All players use these shared Community cards in combination with their own hole cards to each make their best possible 5-card poker hand (see Poker Hand Rankings below.)
An Ace can be used either as the Highest card or the Lowest card (acting as a 1), at the owning player's discretion.
A round of Texas Hold'em has four betting phases. After cards are dealt in each Betting phase, a player must either place a Bet to continue playing or Fold, discarding their hand and forfeiting their current bet.
Betting Phases
- Pre-flop: Each player is dealt 2 private "hole cards" face down.
- The Flop: 3 Community cards are dealt face up in the center of the table.
- The Turn: A 4th Community card is dealt face up.
- The River: The 5th and final Community card is dealt face up.
If more than one player remains after the final betting phase, a Showdown occurs where players reveal their cards and declare their final scoring hands to determine the winner. The highest ranked hand wins.
Poker Hand Rankings
- Royal Flush: A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit.
- Straight Flush: Five cards of the same suit in numerical order.
- Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same Value.
- Full House (aka a Boat): Three of a Kind plus a Pair.
- Flush: Five cards of the same suit, not in order.
- Straight: Five cards in numerical order, mixed suits.
- Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same Value.
- Two Pair: Two different pairs.
- Pair: Two cards of the same Value.
- High Card: The highest Value card in your hand if no other combinations are made.
When playing with Wild cards, the highest possible Hand Rank is 5 of a Kind (5 cards of the same Value).
Contents
- Standard 52-card Poker deck
- 35 Favor cards
- 16 Curse cards
- 14 BOSS cards (10 Minions, 1 Nick Hauss, 3 The Devil Himself)
- 4 sets of 7 Player chips: Earn a Soul, Heal Any Player's Temptation, Devilish Offering, Draw a Favor, Reveal 2 cards, Wild
- 1 Dealer Button
- 4 Used Offering chips
- 15 One Soul chips
- 4 Six Soul chips
- 1 Bones die
- 4 Temptation tokens
- Community Board (2 neoprene mats)
- 4 neoprene Player mats
Cooperative Poker??
In Hell of a Deal, players are not competing against one another but rather are working together against a series of Bosses. Players play their own poker hands, hoping to win against the Boss and helping the other players to do the same.
Each game will pit the players against 4 Bosses, the Minions of Hell, with unique abilities that change the rules of the game significantly. Winning hands will earn your team Souls (the coin of the realm) while losing hands will deprive you of them. There are lots of ways to cheat – and you'll need to – but cheat TOO much and the Temptation can bring about your downfall.
Then you will move to The Big Table. The 5th Boss is always Nicholas Hauss, the wickedly charming proprietor of The Last Resort & Casino. At least one player must win their hand against Nick Hauss in order for the team to advance. Having outraged your host by beating him, Nick (The Devil You Know), transforms into the 6th Boss, The Devil Himself. There are 3 unique versions of him and the one you face is determined at random (The Devil You DON'T Know).
Winning the Game
The players ALL win the game if at least one player wins their hand against The Devil Himself, without the team losing. A team loss will always void a win.
Losing the Game
The team loses the game if either of the following occurs:
- Temptation: Two or more players reach the 10th space on the Temptation Track.
- Souls: When facing NICK HAUSS or THE DEVIL HIMSELF, the team cannot pay a Soul they have lost.
Communication
Though this is a cooperative game, there are strict limits to table talk. Specifically, players may not discuss or infer ANYTHING about hidden cards, be it their playing cards or Favor cards. You may not openly discuss or infer specifics about your hand strength or wants.
Limit those discussions to broad comments about "feeling good," "I'm solid," or "waiting on the River" without providing any inferences to otherwise unknowable information. Do not hold your hand in a way that it might be viewed by another player. Strict adherence to these rules will greatly enhance your experience in playing the game.
That said, any card that is revealed (flipped face-up on the table) can be freely discussed, including strategies and specifics regarding what is visible. Letting the table know that there is a partial Straight or Flush developing on the board is permitted. Saying you are now one card away from a Flush is NOT. Discussing the potential strength of the Bosses hand is okay, provided it does not include any information gained from a private viewing of the Boss's hand.
Set Up
Community Board
- Place the Community Board mats as shown in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the Favor cards and place them into a face-down deck on the matching space of the Community Board.
- Shuffle the Curse cards and place them into a face-down deck on the matching space the Community Board.
- Place a Temptation token for each player on the "0" space of the Temptation track.
- Place one of the 4 red "Used" Devilish Offering tokens, with the "Used" side face-down, onto each of the Devilish Offering spots.
- Place 1 yellow Soul chip per player onto the Community Board in the Souls pot. Place the rest of the chips off the side of the board nearby.
- Shuffle the 52-card playing deck and place it face-down on the Community Board on the red deck space.
- Place the Bones die near the play area.
- Create the Boss deck:
- Gather the following Boss cards: Deadly Aloor, Eenie Meanie, Miss Fortune & Demona. Place them into a face-down stack in this order, with Dedly Aloor being the topmost card. Place Nick Hauss underneath the bottom-most card in the stack.
- Gather all 3 of The Devil Himself cards, shuffle them face down, and place one at random underneath Nick Hauss without looking at it.
- The remainder of the Boss cards, including the unrevealed 2 Devil Himself cards, are placed back in the box. They will not be used this game.
- Place the Boss stack onto the Community mat in the Boss space marked with the face of Nick Hauss.
Note: In subsequent games, you may choose (or randomly select) your first 4 Boss cards.
Player Set Up
- Each player will take a player mat and place it on the table in front of them. The color and suit of the mat's background correspond to the Temptation tokens for easy player identification.
- Take a set of Player chips and put them onto the matching spaces of your player mat, stacking the 2 Earn a Soul chips. (If you don't see a matching symbol, flip over the chip.)
- Deal each player one FAVOR card face down. Read the card, keeping the information to yourself.
- Give the Host of the game (alternatively, the player who played poker most recently) the Dealer Button. That player will deal the first round.
Bottom of player mat matches your Temptation token on the Temptation track.
Fold: Discard your hand & Roll the Bones. Suffer all negative chip effects of your Bet.
Curses: 3 Maximum. Then take Temptation instead.
Playing the Game
Reveal the Boss
- Flip the top Boss Card from the Boss Deck face up.
- Read aloud the Boss's special rules text box and their default minimum hand.
- Each Boss comes with its own unique strengths and game-changing special rules. Resolve any specific setup instructions per the rules on the card, if any.
- Printed in the middle of the card is the BOSS's minimum hand.
When determining the final scoring hand during the SHOWDOWN phase, the Boss will choose the stronger of the two hands, either:
a. The default minimum hand printed on the card — Or — b. The best 5-card hand possible with their dealt hole cards plus Community cards.
IMPORTANT: The Boss's default minimum hand cannot be combined with their hole cards or Community cards. Ex. the Boss's default hand is Q,Q,10,10. A Queen in their hole cards or in the Community hand cannot add to the strength of the default hand. (It would not become a Full House.)
If a player loses a hand to a Boss, it costs 2 Soul chips from your communal pot, per hand lost, as shown as reminder text on the Boss card. (Nick Hauss and The Devil Himself have a 4 Soul penalty for losing instead.)
Resolve Curses (if any)
- Skip this step for the 1st Boss.
- Starting with the 2nd Boss, if any players have face-down Curse Cards on their Player mats, flip them face-up. Announce the effects to the table and resolve those effects.
Some Curses will have a continuous effect throughout the round, while others are one-time effects. Either way, keep the Curse cards face up on your Player mat. A player may only ever have three Curse cards (active and/or facedown combined). If you already have three, and gain another – don't take the card. Instead, suffer a Temptation for each gained in excess, advancing your Temptation token one along the Temptation Track (see Temptation p.12).
Deal Cards
- Deal each player 3 cards facedown from the standard 52-card deck. (The usual 2 hole cards you'd expect playing Texas Hold'em, plus one additional card, "up the sleeve". (This is the first way you'll 'cheat'.)
Important: Even though you have three cards in your hand, you cannot use all three cards in your final scoring hand. You must use one of your hole cards and MAY use two in conjunction with the Community cards.
The third card (or other additional cards you may receive) just gives you more options to choose from. To avoid the mistake of convincing yourself you can play all three, you may find turning the third card in your hand sideways a good reminder. (Losing a hand this way is a hard lesson, so be sure to stress this "can't-play-3-cards" rule to new players. Someone always forgets.)
- Deal the Boss 2 cards facedown (unless otherwise stated on the Boss card's ability text) in the spaces next to the Boss card. These are the Boss's hole cards.
Play the Round
For each step of the phases below, play begins with the player to the left of the Dealer Button, then proceeds clockwise. Allow each player to complete all their actions before moving to the next player.
Betting Phases
Pre-Flop
After cards are dealt, players privately examine their hand and judge its initial strength:
- Each player, in turn order, chooses to either Bet or Fold. (See Betting and Folding, p. 11-12)
- After their Bet, the player may also play one or more of their Favor cards, paying any cost required and resolving its ability. (p. 12) You may not play a Favor card without Betting first, but you may play any number of them.
Once all players have acted, proceed to the Flop Phase.
Note: Experienced Hold 'Em players often Fold during the Pre-Flop if their cards don't seem strong enough. Because there are so many ways to "cheat" in this game, it is almost always better to wait until after the Flop to consider Folding.
The Flop
- "Burn" 1 card by discarding it face-up into the discard pile. All cards in the discard are public information and viewable at any time.
- Deal 3 cards from the deck face-up to the Flop spaces (marked as "666") on the Community board.
- Players, in turn order, again choose to Bet or Fold, following the same process as during the Pre-Flop phase including playing Favor cards.
The Turn
- After all players have acted on the Flop, Burn 1 card (discard it face-up into the discard pile).
- Deal one card from the deck face-up to the Turn.
- Players repeat the Bet/Fold process.
The River
- After all players have acted on the Turn, Burn 1 card.
- Deal one card from the deck face-up to the River.
- Players repeat the Bet/Fold process.
After the River, all players who are still "in" (not folded) proceed to the Showdown Phase.
Showdown Phase
Reveal Player Hands
- Each player reveals their cards and selects 1 or 2 cards from their hand and up to 4 Community cards (from the Flop, Turn, and/or River) to create their 5-card Final Scoring Hand.
- Refer to Poker Hand Rankings on page 2 or the Player mats for hand strength ratings.
Reveal the Boss's Hand
- After all players have revealed their hands, reveal all cards in the Boss's Hand.
- Determine the Hand Rank of the Boss's revealed cards. Compare the strength of:
- The Boss's Hole card(s) (using 1 card is mandatory) plus the best possible Community cards
- versus
- The Boss's Default Minimum Hand
The Boss uses whichever result is stronger.
Compare Hands
Each player compares their hand individually against the Boss's strongest hand.
-
Players with weaker hands lose and take punishments as described below.
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Players with stronger hands win and collect rewards as described below.
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Ties: Sometimes a player will match the Hand Ranking of the Boss. Let's use Two Pair as a guide for how to break ties:
- The Higher Pair wins. K-K-4-4-2 beats Q-Q-J-J-10
- If still tied, the Higher of the Lower Pair wins. K-K-9-9-2 beats K-K-4-4-2
- If still tied, check the Kicker. A kicker, aka a side card, is a card in a poker hand that does not itself take part in determining the rank of the hand, but that may be used to break ties between hands of the same rank. J-J-9-9-A beats J-J-9-9-K
- If still tied, the result is a Push. In a Push, the player neither wins nor loses. They do not collect rewards, nor do they take any penalties. This is not considered "beating the boss" or losing to them.
If the Boss is using their default minimum hand, they have no Kicker cards listed. Ties are therefore considered a Push.
Important: More than one player may win during a round. Players compare their hands only against the Boss's hand — not against each other.
Collect Penalties & Rewards
Winning Hands
Each player who wins collects 1 Soul for every Earn a Soul chip they wagered in their Bet area. Take a yellow Soul chip from the pool and place it into the Community pot on the Community board. If you run out, utilize the 6 Soul chips to swap out some 1's.
Losing Hands
First, flip all chips in your Bet area over. Take the penalties listed for each chip you bet (see Betting p.11-12). The penalties will either cause the player to suffer one or more Temptation and/or cause them to draw one or more Curse cards.
Anytime you draw a Curse card, it is always drawn face-down and placed on your Player mat. It will not become active until the start of the next round.
Then, for each player who loses the hand, remove the number of Souls listed on the Boss card from the Community pot and place it back into the pool. There's no further penalty for losing excess Souls to the first 4 Bosses, but if you can't pay all the Souls to Nick or The Devil Himself, you've lost the game. The initial 4 Bosses are a loss of 2 Souls, or 4 Souls when playing against Nick Hauss or The Devil Himself.
Folded Hands
A Folded hand is considered a Losing Hand and suffers all the same penalties. However, the player who folded likely minimized their penalties by not betting additional chips. In addition, a folding player must roll the "Bones" die. The Bones die results:
- Draw a Favor card (Lucky you).
- Suffer a Temptation.
- Gain a Curse card.
Cleanup Phase
- If the Boss was one of the 4 initial bosses, discard it, even if no players beat the Boss. However, when facing Nick Hauss or The Devil Himself, at least one player must win the hand to advance. If not, the Boss remains and must be faced again in the next round.
- Flip all "Used" Devilish Offering tokens to their ready side.
- Players discard all face-up Curse cards that had been active this round from their mats. All face-down Curse cards remain for the next round.
- Players return chips from their Bet area to the designated spots on their mats.
- Pass the Dealer button clockwise.
- Collect all the playing cards and hand them to the new Dealer to shuffle for the next round.
Betting
Betting in Hell of a Deal works very differently due to the cooperative nature of play. You are not betting against each other and there is no common pot to place chips in. Instead, each player has their own Bet area on their player mat.
To place a Bet, choose one (and only one) unused chip from the bottom row of your Player mat and place it into your personal Bet area. Placing a Bet commits it for the duration of the round and signifies that the player has remained "in" the round. You may not "Check," delaying the bet to see what others do. Players must simply Bet one chip or Fold.
There are two categories of chips: Earn a Soul chips and Power chips. The benefit of each chip is printed on the front. The punishment for losing a Bet is printed on the back of the chip.
Earn a Soul chip
You have two of these chips. Earning Souls is critical to surviving the end game at the Big Table, so if you feel you have a strong hand, you will want to bet one or both of them during the round.
If you win, this chip will earn a Soul for the team, adding a 1 Soul chip to the Community pot on the main board. If you lose, flip the chip over and instead Suffer 1 Temptation, advancing your Temptation token 1 space on the track.
Power Chips
Power chips allow a lot of interesting ways to 'cheat' in the game. When you bet a Power chip, you immediately gain the benefit shown on the front of the chip. There are 5 different powers available.
Heal a Player's Temptation
When this chip is bet, immediately choose any player and move their Temptation token back 1 space on the tracker. Note: a token can never be moved back through Flame Barrier it has passed on the tracker. So, a player passing into the 5th space or the 10th can never move back below those thresholds. If you lose, flip the chip over and personally suffer 2 Temptation, even if you healed another player.
Devilish Offering chip
Place this chip into your Bet area in order to use any one of the four available Devilish Offering abilities on the Community mat. Then, flip the Offering token of the ability you chose to the USED side. You may only utilize Offerings that have not been previously used this round. They will reset during Clean up.
Strategic Note: Since only one player can use a given ability per round, it is often best to delay using them until late in the hand. You may lock out another player unnecessarily.
It is considered good etiquette to ask if any other players were planning to use a given Offering before doing so yourself. It is permitted to pull back your Devilish Offering chip and bet something else instead if the group discussion convinces you. That said, if it is your turn, you make the final decision as to whether you will use a given ability or not. REMEMBER: if you gain an extra card, you can still ONLY use 1 or 2 of them.
The four Devilish Offering abilities are:
- Reveal a Boss Card: Choose one of the Boss's face-down hole cards and reveal it. It remains face-up for the rest of the round.
- Look at 2 Cards, Keep 1: Look at the top 2 cards from the main deck and examine them privately. Place one into your hand and discard the other face-up to the discard pile.
- Swap a card with a Player: This allows you to choose any of your cards and swap it, with a willing player, for a card they have chosen. Players may not discuss or infer anything about unrevealed cards in their hands. Each chooses the card they wish to trade. The power of this ability will become clearer with the Reveal 2 Cards power chip. Favor cards may be chosen as a card to swap.
- Draw a card from the Discard pile: The Discard pile is face-up, public information. The discards can be fanned for easy identification during play. Using this ability allows you to dig through and choose a card from the Discard pile and place it onto the Revealed area on your player mat. The card is part of your hand.
If you lose, flip the Devilish Offering chip over and suffer 2 Temptation.
Draw a Favor chip
When you place this chip into your Bet area, you immediately draw the top card of the Favor deck. Favor cards provide a broad range of benefits and new ways to 'cheat'.
You may hold up to three Favor cards in your hand. If you draw a Favor when already at the maximum, immediately choose any of your Favors and discard until you have no more than three.
Favors can be played on your turn, AFTER you have made a Bet. You may not play a Favor without committing a Bet at the beginning of your turn. The exception is any card with an Instant icon, which can be played at any time, even when it is not your turn. Some Favors require a Price to play, either suffering a Temptation or gaining a Curse card for next hand.
Example Favor cards:
- Up Your Sleeve (Instant; Price: Temptation) — You may use a third card from your hand in your final scoring hand.
- Double Down (Price: Curse) — All players may raise 1 extra chip.
If you lose, flip the Draw a Favor chip over and gain a face-down Curse card for next hand.
Reveal 2 Cards chip
Bet this chip and immediately reveal any two of your cards (playing cards and/or Favor Cards), by placing them face-up onto your player mat. Revealed cards on your player mat are still part of your hand. Once revealed, the cards are public information. So you can tell players that you plan on using a particular card or that you have no use for it. This may be useful for others interested in swapping cards.
If you lose, flip the Reveal chip over and gain a face-down Curse card for next hand.
Wild chip
The Wild chip can be used as a duplicate of any chip. When you place the chip into your Bet area, declare which chip you intend to use. It can become a third Earn a Soul chip or a second of any Power chip. Given the strength of this, there is an upfront cost of 1 Temptation to use the chip.
If you lose, flip the Wild chip over and gain a face-down Curse card for next hand.
Note For ALL chips
During the Clean Up phase, all your chips reset and return from the Bet area to their starting positions. They may be used again in the following round.
Temptation
Temptation is your most valuable asset - as well as the most dangerous. It can power abilities, but everyone loses the game as soon as a second player has reached the 10th space of the Temptation track. Managing it well is critical to your success.
Temptation is gained as a cost for certain Favor cards, by losing bets and through the abilities of various Bosses. Temptation can be Healed (removed) by the Heal Any Player's Temptation chip and through some Favors but can never be healed past a point of no return, a Flaming Barrier, on the Temptation track. Once you are at 10 Temptation, you can never have less.
If you suffer Temptation and are already at 10, the Temptation must be suffered by another player. The team may assign the Temptation to players however they wish, but all Temptation must be taken.
The Temptation track has Flame Barrier thresholds at the 5th and 10th spaces that a healed token can never move back through.
New Challenges
Hell of a Deal can be made as challenging as you like. After your first game, you can select the initial 4 Bosses at random or choose which Bosses you'd like to face. It is strongly recommended that The Devil Himself is always a random selection.
You can even choose to handicap one or more players with an amount of starting Temptation already on the Tracker.
Got more ideas on fun bosses? We'd love to hear from you. Who knows who may be passing through The Last Resort & Casino next...
FAQ
DISCARD: The discard pile is always face-up. It is public information, and the cards can be examined and discussed freely. So, while it is called a "pile" you may instead decide to fan the cards for easy viewing.
VALUE: (A, K, 10, etc) is also known as its "Rank" in poker terminology. We have used Value to lessen confusion between the Rank of a card and the Rank of a hand.
ROUND: also known as a "Hand" of poker. Likewise, we have used Round to lessen confusion between a Hand of poker and your Poker Hand.
Eenie Meanie
The current High Card of the Community board, as well as any cards of matching value, cannot be used by players. (Treat Aces as High cards)
The High card can and likely will change, making it difficult to wager confidently. An Ace will always rank as the Highest value.
On the odd chance that his ability makes it impossible to form a 5-card hand, rank what legal cards you can play. Hands requiring 5 cards (Straights, Flush, etc) will not score with fewer (without a Favor that allows it).
Jack Potts
After the Flop, reveal 3 cards from the deck. Any cards matching the value of a Community card are stacked onto the matching card (Max 1). Discard the rest. Repeat for the Turn and River. Added cards are legal Community cards.
For clarity, 3 cards are revealed for Turn and River as well.
The ability only grants a single card of matching Value to stack on a given Community card. Additional cards of the same Value are discarded, unless a second copy of that rank is also on the board.
Cards that do not have a match on the Community board are also discarded immediately.
Remember, one or two of your Hole cards must be used in your final scoring hand, regardless of how rich the Community cards become on the board.
Miss Fortune
If you play a Favor, draw a Curse for next round.
This ability triggers for EACH Favor played. The Curses earned through her ability come face-down for next round, as do all Curses gained mid-turn.
Demona
Whenever a heart is placed into the Flop, Turn, or River: players must suffer a Temptation or Fold. Players who don't Fold may bet TWO chips on their next bet.
When you bet 2 chips, both chips will activate as normal. Choose which chip to play first and complete any abilities before betting the second chip. Favors may be played before and/or after the second chip.
The Boatman
After hands are dealt: deal 1 face-up "Toll" card next to THE BOATMAN. Players can't use cards matching a Toll card's value in their scoring hand unless they pay a Soul. THE BOATMAN may use the Toll card in their scoring hand.
Even with the added Toll cards, the Boss can only use the best one or two of their cards, not more than that. The extra cards just provide additional options. The cost of a Soul is a per card payment. If the Souls pot is empty, players may not use his ability.
Red Jack
Deal players 2 face-up cards, not 3. If at anytime your hand totals over 21, suffer a Temptation & draw a Curse. At exactly 21, you earn 1 Soul. After Jack reveals in the Showdown, deal cards to his hand until the total is over 16. He can use all the cards as part of his hand. If over 21, he must use his default hand.
Red Jack weaves the game of 21 Black Jack into your poker hand. Instead of being dealt three cards, players are dealt 2, face-up. You can draw and/or discard cards as normal during play with Devilish Offerings, Favors, Swaps, etc and all cards you add to your hand are face-up.
If the total value of your hole cards are ever over 21, you take a penalty. An Ace can be counted as "11" or "1". Face cards are counted as "10". When using the "Look at 2 cards, Keep 1" Devilish Offering, the act of looking at the cards doesn't trigger a check, only when you add the kept card to your hand.
Nick Hauss
Play against Nick until at least 1 player Wins. Deal Nick 3 cards. He may use all 3 in his scoring hand. Players cannot heal Temptation.
"The House always wins."
The Devil Himself
Play against The Devil until at least 1 player Wins. Deal The Devil 3 cards. He may use all 3. Players must discard all previously drawn Favor cards. You may not Fold.
"...Enough"
Dedly Aloor
At any time on their turn, players may draw an additional card and may choose to suffer 1 Temptation. If they do not suffer 1 Temptation, DEDLY ALOOR draws an additional card as well.
Repeat any number of times. The card drawn is a standard poker card. You may not draw Favors with his ability.