Kessel Sabacc

Kessel Sabacc was a variant of the card game Sabacc that used two 22-card decks and two six-sided dice; as well as a stock of chips and three shift tokens per player. The game was played over a number of rounds, each round players would take turns investing their chips and using their shift tokens to improve their hand. The ultimate goal of the game was to be the last player with chips in stock.

Cards and Dice

The Kessel Sabacc variation of Sabacc was played with two smaller decks, known as Sand and Blood, each comprising only twenty two cards^[1] rather than seventy six of standard Sabacc.^[2] Each deck is made up of three types of cards: sylops, impostors, and value cards. Each deck has three copies of each value card ranging from one to six as well as three copies of impostor cards. At the end of each round players with impostor cards in their hand will throw two six-sided dice and choose the value of the card from the one of the values shown on the dice. Each deck only had one Sylop card. Sylop cards take the value of the other card in the players hand.^[1]

Shift tokens

Shift tokens are game modifiers that a player can play at the beginning of one of their turns. Players start with three shift tokens of their choice and each can only be played once during the game. Shift tokens have various effects ranging from taxing other players to retrieving spent chips to forcing another player to discard their hand and draw two new cards. Some shift tokens can alter how hands are scored during the reveal.

There are a total of sixteen different types of shift tokens that can be used in Kessel sabacc: Free Draw, Refund, Extra Refund, Embezzlement, Major Fraud, Cook The Books, Markdown, Prime Sabacc, General Tariff, Target Tariff, General Audit, Target Audit, Embargo, Immunity, Exhaustion, Direct Transaction.^[1]

Gameplay

Unlike regular sabacc,^[3] the object of Kessel Sabacc is be the last player with any chip left in their stock. If a player has a losing hand at the end of the round, they lose chips by the difference in value between their two cards. If their hand was a losing pair, they lose one chip. As a result, players want to have a hand as close to a value of zero as possible each round.^[1]

Setup

At the start of the game each player is given a hand made up of one card from each deck. Players also start with a number of chips in their stock. The starting number of chips in every player's stock is the same however different tables may play with more or fewer chips, usually ranging from four to eight. With eight usually used for higher stakes tables.

Also during the start of the game, players select three shift tokens from their personal possession to use during the game.^[1]

Rounds

The game is made up of rounds and each round is made of three turns. Games usually lasts three rounds, though some games can last longer.

During a player's turn they can first choose to play one of their shift tokens. Otherwise they must choose to either draw a new card or stand. In order to draw, a player must spend a chip from their stock to draw one new card from either deck or either deck's discard pile. After the player has drawn they must discard a card of the same family to its discard deck, ensuring that they always have two cards in their hand made of one from each family.

Reveal

After the three turns in a round, or after all players have chosen to stand, they take turns revealing their hand. If a player has an impostor card they throw two six-sided dice and pick one of the values shown on one of the die. If a player has two impostor cards they repeat step for the second impostor card.

A player's hand value is the difference in the values of each of their cards. Players have "Sabacc" if their hand is a value of zero. Sabacc hands are ranked by the value of their paired cards. The closer the card's values are to zero the better the Sabacc hands. Sylop Sabacc or Impostor Sabacc is equivalent to a standard Sabacc hand of the same value. The best hand in the game is a pair of Sylops known as Pure Sabacc. A Sabacc hand made of a pair of ones is known as Prime Sabacc and a hand made up of a pair of sixes is known as Cheap Sabacc.

Players with the best hand at the end of the round will retrieve their spent chips. All other players will pay chips equal to the value of their hand (losing players with Sabacc must pay one chip) All spent chips are then collected and can no longer be retrieved. If more than one player has chips left then the next round will begin.^[1]

History

By 3 ABY^[4], Kessel Sabacc was popular through out the Outer Rim, including on the worlds of Cantonica, Toshara, Akiva, Kijimi and Tatooine. Notable players of Kessel Sabacc were Lando Calrissian, Bosnok, Quint Cresadde and Mehdo.

This section of the article assumes 100% game completion. Any alternate stories may be noted in the "Behind the scenes" section. The events in this section may or may not have been confirmed as canon.

Another notable player of Kessel Sabacc was the scoundrel Kay Vess. Some players found various ways they could cheat at the game, including being able to secretly draw two cards from a deck instead of one. Lando Calrissian and Kay Vess were both such players that could perform a double draw cheat. Some players could try to manipulate thrown dice by using magnets and others would try to secretly check their opponents' hands.^[1]

Assumption ends here.

Behind the scenes

Kessel Sabacc was created for the 2024 Ubisoft video game Star Wars Outlaws. The game was an optional activity and featured on each of the game's planets, as well as part of a number of side and expert quests included in the game.^[1]