Brag

TABLE 18: The ranking of Brag hands

Introduction
Development
Introducing Poker
Ranking Hands
Chips
The sequence of play
Shuffling
Dealing
Betting Interval
Betting Small and Big Blinds
Table stakes
Using wild cards
Probability of holding
First betting interval
Strategy-1
Strategy-2
seven card stud
Other forms of poker
Texas Hold'em Basic Hand
Five - Six card Omaha
Poker Sense
Slow Playing
Other Gambling Card Game
Blackjack
Brag
Seven-card Brag
Gin Rummy
Glossary

Edmonds Hoyle, who died in 1769 aged nearly 100, wrote about Brag, although he had never heard of 99 percent of the games whose rules are set out in modern ‘Hoyles’. Brag is an ancestor of poker, and many textbooks still describe ‘classical’ Brag, although it is a game practically never played these days. However, many modern versions of Brag are played. The following version is perhaps the most popular.

The game is for three or more players, perhaps about six being the best number. The standard pack of 52 cards is used, the cards generally ranking from Ace (high) to 2, but with exceptions as detailed in the ranking of hands, given opposite. The object of the game is to win the pot by having the best hand remaining at the showdown. There are six classes of hand, as shown opposite.

HIGHEST        LOWEST
Prial     Running flush
Run      Flush
Pair      High card

The ranking of hands within each class, and the probabilities of each class of hand, are shown in Table 18 overleaf.

Rumming Flush

	Combinations	Probability	Description
Prial	52	0.24%	Three cards of the same rank. Among Prials, the highest is usually regarded as a prial of s3s, after that a prial of aces down to a prial of 2s.
Running flush	48	0.22%	Three cards in sequences of the same suit. Ace cab count high or low, thus A, K, Q is a sequence, as is 3, 2, a. So far as sequences rank , a, 2, 3 is the highest, followed by A, K, Q, then, K, Q, J down to 4,3,2
Run	720	3.26%	Three cards in sequence. Again A, 2, 3 ranks highest, followed by A, K, Q down to 4, 3, and 2.
Flush	1,.96	4.96%	Three cards of the same suit. Within flushes that with the highest-ranking card wins (Ace being high), if equal second highest, if again equal third.
Pair	3,744	16.94%	One pair with an odd card. Within pairs the highest – ranking pair wins (Aces high), if equal the odd cards decides.
High card	16,440	74.39%	None of the above combinations, i.e. three cards of differing ranks not o the same suit. The highest card (Ace high) determines the best hand, if equal the second, etc.

Ranking of Brag Hands

The Brag hands, with the number of possible such hands, and the percentage probability of being dealt them, are shown in Table 18. It will be seen there is an anomaly here, in that a running flush is slightly harder to get than a prial, although it is ranked lower. Over 90 per cent of hands produce no better than a pair.

Preliminaries

Brag is a staking game and a minimum and maximum stake should be agreed beforehand. The maximum stake is not the maximum for a single bet or raise, but the maximum a player may bet on one hand. The length of time for the game should be agreed, and once the time is up the game should end as soon as all players have dealt an equal number of hands. It is also game where some schools prefer the cards to be shuffled between each deal and others not. A compromise is to agree a light shuffle.

Dealing

Players cut the cards to determine first dealer, the holder of the highest card dealing. Dealer shuffles and the player to his right cuts. After each hand the deal passes to the left. Whatever has been agreed about shuffling, the cards should be cut before each deal. Before dealing, the dealer puts in the pot an initial stake between the agreed limits. He then deals the cards one at a time to each online poker player, including himself, starting on his left an ending when all players have three cards.

Betting and showdown

As stated, the dealer has put a stake into the pot. Beginning with the player to his left, and in rotation, each player, including the dealer, must do one of the following:

Put in a stake equal to the dealer ’s
Raise the stake by equaling the dealer ’s stake and adding an extra stake, without exceeding the maximum agreed stake.
Throw in his hand.

Once the stake has been raised, following players must equal it or raise it, and when the turn comes round to those who have already staked, they must equal or increase the stake, too. Unlike in poker, the betting does not necessarily stop once all players’ stakes are equal because the last raiser may rise again, provided the maximum stake for a hand has not been reached.
The betting ends only when one of the following occurs:

All players but one has folded (when the remaining one takes the pot).
The stakes of all who remain in are equal and the last raiser does not wish to raise again.
The agreed maximum stake the players may bet on one hand has been reached.

If there is a showdown, the player with the best Brag hand wins the pot if hands are tied, the pot is shared equally.

Variants

Some schools do not admit a prial of 3s as the best hand, but rank prials from Aces (high) to 2s (low). In addition, some schools do not allow a run of a, 2, 3 to beat A, K, Q. Instead of being the highest run, a, 2, 3 becomes the lowest.