Real Deal Games Parlay Demo

PARLAY DEMO HAND

The goal of Parlay is to make the best (highest point value) word and best 5 card poker hand that you can. The cards used for your word and poker hand do not have to be the same cards.

Poker Hand ranks (what beats what) are shown on the right. The Parlay instruction booklet and poker info card also explain poker hand rankings in detail.

Paul, Jenn, and Mia are playing in the demo hand.

It's Paul's deal and he decides to play TEXAS HOLD'EM?
(The rules for Parlay are the same from game to game - only the way that the cards are dealt varies.)

Paul deals each player 2 cards, face down (but we can see them for the demo hand)

HIGHEST RANK
Straight Flush	10JQKA
Full House	AAA JJ
Flush	35810A
Straight	56789
3 of a Kind	777
Two Pair	55 JJ
Pair	88
High Card	A
LOWEST RANK

Now each player has the opportunity to either hold both cards or exchange one. Starting to the dealer’s left. . .

Jenn decides to hold both cards because she has a very high point letter (Qu), a nice vowel (A) to go with it, and the beginnings of a flush (any 5 cards of the same suit).

Here notice that although the Qu is worth 35, it is on a deuce, the weakest poker rank. The entire deck is balanced this way.

Mia also holds both cards. She has a pair (77)and likes the looks of her D and Y.

Paul has 2 vowels, worth only 5 each, and no potential poker hand, so he chooses to discard his 3 of spades, and deals himself a new card face down.

Now the dealer turns up 3 cards ('The Flop') from the top of the deck next to each other in the middle of the table. These cards are community cards meaning they are shared by all players to make their word and poker hand.

Jenn decides to exchange her 10("A"). It’s not helping her much since there's no way she can get a flush now.

Jenn is dealt a J("I") face down. Things are looking up – she can make the word "QuAIL" and has 3 of a Kind (JJJ)

Things are looking even better for Mia. She has a Full House (777 JJ) and can make the word "BADLY" worth 55 points. She doesn't even consider exchanging a card.

Paul also holds both cards since he sees the word "MOB" and is shooting for either a straight or a flush using his current cards.

Now a fourth community card ('The Turn') is dealt face up next to the others.

A Q ("R") is dealt. . .

Jenn holds her cards.

Mia holds her cards.

Paul now sees the word "BLAM" which is worth more points than "MOB", but he’s not 100% sure it’s a word, and he also still has a chance at a flush so he holds his cards too.

Now the fifth and last community card ('The River') is dealt face up next to the others.

Dealing is finished, and now all players make their best word and 5 card poker hand, and write their word and word score (the total value of the letters in their word) on their score sheet.

Jenn's word is "QuAIL" (Qu/35 + A/5 + I/5 + L/5) = 50 points

Mia's word is "BADLY" (B/15 + A/5 + D/10 + L/5 + Y/20) = 55 points

Paul's word is "BROOM" (B/15 + R/5 + O/5 + O/5 + M/15) = 45 points

STAYING AND FOLDING

Now all players decide whether they are going to STAY or FOLD

Only players who STAY score a bonus for winning the poker hand or for having a 5, 6, or 7 letter word.
5 letters = 15pt. / 6 letters = 45pt. / 7 letter = 100pt.

!!WARNING!! there is a risk in staying!

Out of all players who STAY, only the player with the most points for the hand (hand score) gets their points. All other players who stayed score nothing!

Players who choose to FOLD score points for their word score, but qualify for no bonuses.

Players hide their STAY/FOLD chip under their face down cards with the chip side face up indicating their choice, being sure not to let any other players see.

Jenn STAYS with "QuAIL" worth 50 and 3 of a Kind (JJJ)

Mia STAYS with "BADLY" worth 55 and a Full House (777 JJ)

Paul didn’t get either the straight or the flush he was working for. Although "BROOM" is a decent word worth 45 points, he’s going to play it safe and FOLD.

After all players have placed their STAY/FOLD chip under their face down cards, starting to the dealer’s left, all players announce and spell their words in turn.

If a player believes a word to be invalid or improperly spelled, she may call the player's bluff and challenge the word. This is covered in detail in the instructions but is not an issue here because all players in the demo hand are OK with the words played.

END OF THE HAND

Now all players reveal their STAY/FOLD chips.

Players that chose to FOLD write down their hand score (word score + bonuses).
Paul's score sheet looks like this:

Game Score is simply the running total of a player's hand scores.

Jenn and Mia both chose to STAY, so they first compare poker hands to find out who wins the bonus for best poker hand (Poker Bonus).

Jenn has 3 of a Kind (JJJ)
Mia has a Full House (777 JJ)

Full House beats 3 of a Kind, so Mia wins the Poker Bonus!

The Poker Bonus is always equal to the player's word score.

Mia's word score for this hand is 55, so Mia writes 55 under Poker Bonus on her score sheet.

Mia also has a 5 letter word and so scores a Word Length Bonus of 15 points.
5 letters = 15pt. / 6 letters = 45pt. / 7 letter = 100pt.

Jenn's "QuAIL" is NOT a 5 letter word since the Qu only counts as one letter!

Paul made the 5 letter word BROOM, but doesn't get the 15 point length bonus because he folded.

Now the players who chose to STAY compare their Hand Scores (Word Score + Bonuses) to see who wins the hand and who gets a big fat ZERO!

Jenn's Hand Score (Word Score + Bonuses) for the hand is:
Word Score 50 + No Bonuses = 50

Mia's Hand Score (Word Score + Bonuses) for the hand is:
Word Score 55 + Word Length Bonus 15 + Poker Bonus 55 = 125

MIA WINS THE HAND!
and Jenn gets a ZERO because she stayed and lost!

So their score sheets look like this at the end of the hand:

One final note:
Although it was the case with this demo hand, winning the Poker Bonus does not guarantee you will win the hand! The player with the highest points wins the hand, and scoring the poker bonus does not always result in the highest points. In fact, a 7 letter word will usually win out over a good word and winning poker hand.

If you have any questions after viewing the demo hand, please check out our Parlay FAQ, or just email us at info@realdealgames!