LionL816's Blog

New casino style playing card game release

Hi everyone. My name is Louis and I'm the inventor of The Backhand Series which is a collection of three casino style playing card games. This would fit in the family of blackjack variants, but is as far from blackjack as the sun is from the moon. I invented the Series in October of 2016 and would love the opinions of this exciting forum of gaming enthusiasts. I have a ton of respect for The Wizard himself and appreciate the opportunity to share these wonderful games with all of you. So as to not make this one post too long, I'll give the game objective, rules and game play for just the first game in The Series which is called: "Backhand, the card game."
************************INTRODUCTION***********************
"BACKHAND, the card game" is the first game in The Backhand Series, the easiest to learn and plays the fastest. All the games in The Backhand Series share some common characteristics, so lets review these:
(1) All cards are dealt face up
(2) There is no loitering (i.e. "stay" or "hold")
(3) No splitting, doubling or insurance
(4) Initial player ace is discarded and replaced by the next card in the deck
(5) Played with a standard deck of playing cards with the jokers removed
(6) No special game pieces or custom cards necessary
The next thing to remember is that there is no dealer hand in Backhand, the card game, so the player plays against the deck.
************************OBJECTIVE***********************
The game's objective is to correctly guess if/when the next card will bust your hand by calling out "backhand!" If you guess correctly, and the next card in the deck does bust your hand (player's total hand value greater than 21), then you win...but if it doesn't you lose! There are two additional ways to win in this game. The next way to win is by successfully "playing the push." This means that the player chooses to take a hit card with an initial hand value between 17-20. If the hit card does not bust the player's hand, they win, but if the hit card does bust their hand, they lose. The final way to win in this game is to successfully hit to a five card hand without busting.
************************HOW TO PLAY***********************
DEAL two cards face up
REMOVE any aces and replace them with the next card in the deck. Next card must be kept (regardless of number/suit). This will be your initial player hand.
ADD the numerical value of two cards together (face cards = 10, Aces = 1). This is your initial hand value.
HAND TYPES: Low hand (initial hand value between 2 and 11), Play hand (initial hand value between 12 and 16) or Push hand (initial hand value between 17 and 20)
HAND OPTIONS: Player chooses options based on hand type.
Hand Type Hand Options
Low hand Take a hit card
Play hand Take a hit card, call backhand
Push hand Take a hit card, push hand away for new hand
************************RULES***********************
(1) Player must play the hand all the way through (i.e. resolve hand with successful or unsuccessful outcome).
(2) The player shall never be dealt more than five cards in a hand
(3) Suits do not matter
(4) A five card hand shall not include a backhand card
(5) After the Ace Rule is satisfied, the player is presented with the options to take a hit or call backhand until the hand is resolved
(6) Calling "backhand" is not an option on push hands
(7)THE ACE RULE: If a player's first two cards contain an ace of any type, said ace (or aces) are discarded and replaced by the next card/s in the deck immediately after the initial player hand is dealt. Once the ace (or aces) are replaced, a hand type is determined and options are presented to the player based on the new hand type. If an initial player ace is replaced with another ace, the new ace shall not be discarded because it is not an initial player ace.
************************DEFINITIONS***********************
SO WHAT IS BACKHAND, REALLY?
The act of calling Backhand is when the player is effectively guessing that the next card in the deck will bust their hand. Once the player calls backhand, the dealer draws the next card from the deck and the numerical value of the card is added to the current player hand value. If the new total hand value exceeds 21, the player wins the hand because they guessed correctly. If the new total hand value does not exceed 21, the player loses because of an incorrect guess.
WHAT IS A 'PUSH' IN BACKHAND?
To push a hand simply means that the player can choose to push their initial player hand away in return for a new hand from the deck. After the first hand is replaced, a new initial hand value and hand type is determined and play will resume. If the new hand contains an ace, the Ace Rule must be satisfied. If the new hand is another push hand, the player can again elect to push that hand or take a hit card. The options available for a push hand will always remain available to the player, no matter how many push hands are dealt to them consecutively. Pushing is only available to the player when the player’s initial hand value is between 17 and 20. A player cannot request to push the hand after being dealt their third card. A player cannot request to push on a low or play hand type.
************************SUMMARY & INVITATION***********************
Thanks for taking the time to read this post and I truly appreciate the opportunity. I also look forward to any constructive feedback you may have to offer on any of the three games. You can find all the information about the games (including videos and our news blog) at our webpage www.backhandrules.com or by searching the web for "The Backhand Series" or under their individual: "Backhand, the card game," "Buffalo Bayou Backhand" and "Missouri City Backhand." In addition to our website, you can also find us on most social media platforms.