Cash Game Scarney: Can a Dead Hand Bluff? (5 Viewers)

[Jimulacrum]

This seems like a lot of trouble. Maybe necessary in Jacks or Better, given it's the name of the game.

In Scarney, what is the harm in the saying a dead card merely renders your hand valueless at showdown (but still playable as a bluff until then)?

I get why a rule has to exist around timely discards, but invoking the word "fouled" in the case of Scarney seems like a preferential thing. It doesn't have to be treated as a game-invalidating event to have the functionally equivalent effect, i.e., deterring players from failing to discard on time. Under the "valueless at showdown" rule, failure to discard costs the entire showdown value of your hand, which makes timely discarding a no-brainer practically always.

To address a player who could lose all his cards in "dirty" Scarney and try to run a desperation bluff with a hand that would be visiibly killed, now we have someone who might want to fail to discard on purpose. But how often would that really be a viable play? More often than not it would be an embarrassing spew, and players would quickly learn not to do it. Maybe 1 in 10,000 hands it could turn out to be a brilliant play that highlights the strategic richness of the game. I don't think that would be a bad thing.

 

[Mr Winberg]

I think this thread highlights an important distinction in scarney: Is "not discarding" bluffing or cheating. When playing with new players it's important to get everyone on the same page. I have always explained the discarding of cards as something that is forced, not something that necessary only if you want to claim the pot at showdown.

While problems can arrise if the winner has a fouled hand (as brought up in this thread), has anyone actually experienced this happening? How did you solve it?

I would probably split the pot among the player(s) that folded last, bettinground-wise. I would let the bettor get back the last bet, but if it happened again I might not