07. Adelante

(Forwards, Avanti, Avant, Vorwërts, Vpřed, Framåt, Forover, or Blücher)

Adelante is a conventional card game, based on the Renaissance game, Cacho (also known as Commerce in England). It is considered to be the precursor of modern Poker. These rules rejuvenate the game, bringing it into the 21st century by updating the betting system based on Poker experience, and by splicing in the hand-building mechanisms of Blackjack. Together, Adelante incorporates the best of those two systems while eliminating some of the repetitiveness of both. The original 3 card simplicity is retained and if you choose to play the game with Spanish suit cards (which I recommend) then the entire flavour of another place and time can be captured.

There are three layers to Adelante, revealing its genetic history. The three layers are shown here to aid learning (but ignore it if it is confusing).

For a start, everyone is dealt 3 cards. No more, no less. You are trying to make the ‘best’ hand out of these 3 cards.

Layer 1: Start with Cacho Each player may toss out a card and buy a new one from the dealer, paying a coin in the pot Repeat until someone declares (in the original you were looking for 3 of a kind) Compare hands. Winner takes pot.

Layer 2: Now add Poker Each player may buy cards as in Cacho, but he may also raise a bet, forcing the others to put in at least an equal amount to keep playing Repeat until someone declares Compare hands. Winner takes pot.

Layer 3: Now add Blackjack Find a target number (Each player is now buying cards in order to make 1 or more of his cards add up to no more than the target) Bet like Poker Compare hands. Winner takes pot.

Putting it together: Adelante

• Deal each player 3 cards face down
• Player to left of Dealer decides how may dice he wants to roll (between 1 and 5) and tells everyone
• Then he ‘locks a card’ by putting it face down on the table and making the first bet (he sets the limit on betting – either by saying the amount at the start or if not, then this first bet is considered the limit going forward)
• Everyone who wants to be in must at least See this bet and also lock in a card (locked in cards cannot be changed – you’re stuck with them for the hand so choose wisely based on the number of dice rolled). They may also raise, if they wish,
• The first player then rolls the dice he stated earlier to find the target
• Then he can buy a card (for the sum indicated by the Dealer), discarding one from his hand of 2 cards, and/or
• He can make a bet, or
• He can quit (or Fold, to use the Poker term) and take no further part in the hand
• Going around the table each player can similarly buy, bet (and see) or fold
• This happens 2 times, giving every player 2 chances to improve their hand
• Once all bets are resolved on the 2^nd circuit, the remaining players (that have not folded) flip over their locked card and add any cards from their hand to make their final claim.
• Compare results. Closest to (but not more than) the target wins. If more than one player has the same score, then the highest card is used to determine the winner using this hierarchy: Swords, Cups, Clubs, Coins. Winner takes pot.
• The winner of a hand becomes the Dealer for the next hand.
• At the end of the hand if every player is found to have been bluffing (they had scores over the target), then the ‘least wrong’ player claims 1 token from the pot for every other player that stayed in.