Appearances

The Appearances list here needs some work. I know there are a bunch more that need to be added. My memory of the Han Solo trilogy is a little fuzzy, but wasn't Han and Lando's famous card game in Rebel Dawn? Also, I keep thinking there's at least on X-wing book with a sabacc game, but I can't remember which. And one more thing: what's the timeline placement for Crisis on Cloud City? -- Ozzel 18:03, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

• I added Rebel Dawn, and moved CoCC to the right place. Thanos6 18:09, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

In Dark Apprentice (p43-48), Han loses the Falcon to Lando (apparently, I haven't finished the book yet).

Also, there are the oft-repeated refereces in various books to Han winning a planet during his courtship of Leia..

Pazacc

• "Obviously descended from Pazacc"?

It seems that was intended by Bioware, but where's the canon proof? Canon goes against this statement, if no-one objects I'm going to remove it.

pazacc and sabacc are similar, in one you are trying to get 23 points and in the other one you are trying to get 20 points in order to win

Say that it's "possibly descended from Pazaak."

• • • Humans are similar to Meercats, I don't think we're descended from the though. HavetStorm 18:33, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

in Force Heretic III Han Solo plays (and wins) a version of sabaac not listed here. oops wrong section this belongs in appearnces70.56.114.85 15:33, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Shifting

Someone should explain what this actually means.

• It is perfectly explained in Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon What made it especially difficult was that the cards were “smart” - each was, in fact, a sophisticated electronic chip capable of changing randomly to another value, while the card it replaced changed to something else. This made for a fast-paced, nerve-wracking game combining elements of skill and fortune.-- Jedi Marty 04:50, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Force sabaac

The artice states that Force sabacc was a variation of the normal game, where light and dark side themes were used. But in the force sabacc article, it says that it is simply a saying. Which is canon? Can someone clear this up please? Soresumakashi 11:54, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Number of card discrepancy

Under "Rules", it says that there are "sixty numbered cards divided into four suits". Then later in the Deck List, it lists 2-11 (10 separate cards) plus Commander, Mistress, Master and Ace, for a total of 14 cards each suit, 56 cards total. I'm fairly sure that there should a be a 1 card in each suit but I can't back it up with sources. Could someone confirm please? - BatTUrd 10:09, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

• There were seventy-eight of these, in five suits:Sabres , Staves, Flasks, and Coins, plus the special suit of face cards with negative values. from Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon. Btw I think the main deck should be (1-11) and not (2-11). Probably depends on type of sabacc deck (total count).--Jedi Marty 04:50, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

June 28th Edit

--Narroc 23:22, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

While doing some research for a fan novel, I ran across wild discrepancies in the explanation and gameplay mechanics of what can be called traditional sabacc. Older books have information that's clearly inaccurate, but only insofar as you could simply explain that those games played in the older books are variants of traditional sabacc, even if they're not declared as such. Newer books explicitly tell the reader when the characters are playing variants, and as far as I can tell, this tradition began with The Courtship of Princess Leia. It's obvious that older books simply didn't have accurate source material to explain the game yet, and so the authors did their best. Even my 1st Edition Guide to the Galaxy does not accurately explain the cards and the hands.

Card quantities

Some books deal two cards, others five, and the rest either three, or four. A minimum of two cards is required to achieve a pure sabacc, but three are required to achieve an Idiot's Array.It would seem logical, then, to assume that the minimum number of cards dealt is three, since three are required for the Array, and the probability of a player getting two cards ranked between 10-13 in a single hand is very low, removing the only other way to take the sabacc pot.

Dark Apprentice, for example, has a pair of sabacc duels between Han and Lando, one played with random sabacc, where different rules of different variants of sabacc are combined on the fly to form a new game. Another is played with what is assumed to be a variant, though it is never named, in where Han wins with a standard Earth poker hand; a flush, using five saber cards that never exceed a rank of eleven.

• The offical rules from Crisis on Cloud City state that each player is dealt two cards to begin with. This is later followed by the Shifting phase, Calling phase and then the Drawing phase. Here the player has the option of drawing one card from the deck. In subsequent rounds if the player already has more than two cards in his hand they may swap one card from the deck for one in their hand. They may also simply draw another card. Put simply, from the official rules, the minimum with which you start with is two cards, then you may end up with any number of cards as the rounds go on due to their being positive and negative cards. Jartka'irn 04:49, November 30, 2011 (UTC)

Method of play

The procedures for gameplay vary dramatically, even when the game is described as plain sabacc. In Rebel Dawn, for example, the cards are not all dealt at once. No clear indication is given as to how many cards each player starts with, but it's explained that a player can ask for an additional card, bringing the current total to four, if they so wish. Han uses the Queen of Air and Darkness, the Five of Coins, the Six of Staves, and the Master of Coins to win a pure sabacc victory, taking out Lando's bluffed Idiot's Array, which contained an Idiot, a Two of Staves, and a Seven of Flasks.

The Courtship of Princess Leia utilizes a variant known as Force Sabacc, where either positive or negative values are considered trump over each other, and the cards are dealt one at a time up to four, though the player may call the game at the third card, contradictory to all other sabacc principles. The fourth card is still dealt, even if the players call the game before that point, and the game ends as soon as the values are calculated. Han won the planet of Dathomir from a Drackmarian warlord named Omogg in this manner, using a natural sabacc of -23.

Dark Apprentice features an even more odd variant, where five cards are dealt at the start, and while the cards themselves are scrambled only according to the rules set in play at the time, their values also change each time the rules set changes.

Regular win

I haven't read the novels in which Sabacc has appeared, but in reading the article, I noticed that it is unclear how regular hands are won. I am under the impression that in a Standard Sabacc game, you are trying to get as close to 23 or -23 as possible. A hand of 21 beats a hand of 20, a hand of -21 beats a hand of -20, a hand of -21 beats a hand of 20, but a hand of 21 beats a hand of -21. Is this correct? This should really be made clear in the article, as it is as important as how the game ends. 69.140.37.27 04:37, January 17, 2011 (UTC)

The answer is there, perhaps the wording needs to be cleared up a bit. I made sure that I checked the information before posting it.

which can only be won by a player whose winning hand is either a pure sabacc, which holds a value of either 23 or -23 (going over or under these respectively institutes a bomb-out; an automatic loss sometimes requiring the player to pay a penalty), with the former trumping the latter, or by holding an Idiot's Array, a hand containing a card called The Idiot, worth zero, a Two of any suit, and a Three of the same suit.

I'll edit this to clarify it a bit. --Narroc 07:32, January 17, 2011 (UTC)

What is the difference between Pazaak and Sabacc?

I know that Pazaak has a point total of 20 whereas Sabacc has a point total of 21. As far as I am aware and please correct me if I am mistaken, outside of the Bioware games of knights of the Old republic 1 & 2 Pazaak is not played or even mentioned at all. Han Solo and others always play Sabacc.is Pazaak simply Sabacc under a different name and point total? --Hawkeye1889 (talk) 03:54, May 27, 2013 (UTC)

Inconsistency in Path of Destruction?

I've been rereading Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, and I think its depiction of sabacc has some noticeable inconsistencies with others that might be worth mentioning. For one, it says that you want a hand as close to 23 as possible rather than as close to an absolute value of 23 as possible. That could just be poor phrasing, but at one point, Dessel receives a hand of -23, and it's viewed as a bombout. I think that at the least, there are a few rules differences worth noting, but I wanted feedback on the rest of it.—Unsigned comment by 69.80.149.120 (talk • contribs)