GikoBetting, #1

House edges:

• Video poker - 0.5% - best payout 800-1 (royal flush)
• Blackjack - 1% - best payout 3-2 (blackjack)
• Craps - 1.4% - best payout 30-1 (two or twelve side roll)
• Roulette - 2.7% - best payout 35-1 (single number)

How do I play blackjack?

House edge is roughly 1% but players cannot split (yet). However, considering that the dealer doesn't automatically win on blackjack, you have a chance to "push" ...

There are four operations:

• !deal <amt> -- start a new game, betting <amt> gikocoins (default is 1). If you get a blackjack, payout is 3:2
• !hit -- get another card. If your total goes over 21, you lose. You can hit as many times as you want, but every time you hit, the chance of "busting" goes up.
• !stand -- stop drawing cards. Now the dealer draws until his total is 17 or more, and totals compare. If you beat the dealer, you get paid out 1:1.
• !dd -- double down. Double your bet, hit once, then stand.

How do I play craps?

House edge is close to 1% for the main bets, probably the most fair game in any casino.

There are two operations:

• !craps <win/lose> <amt> -- start a game of craps. If you bet to win (default), then on your first roll, a roll of 7 or 11 is an instant win, while a roll of 2, 3, or 12 is an instant loss. If you roll 4-6 or 8-10, the objectives change; that number you rolled becomes a point, and you keep rolling until you get your point or 7. If you roll your point, you win; if you roll a 7, you lose. If you bet to lose, the rules turn around: 2/3/12 are win on the first roll, 7/11 are lose on the first roll, and for second or later rolls, 7 is win and the "point" is lose. Pays out 1:1.
  • Invoke like !craps , !craps 20, !craps lose 30, !craps win 50
• !roll <sidebet> <amt> -- if you didn't win or lose in your first roll, (eg you rolled 4-6 or 8-10), a point's been established; continue to !roll the dice until you win or lose. To make things a little exciting, there are also optional per-dice bets that you can make that instantly win or lose, with a default stake of 1. These are risky with high returns. The field is a fantastic bet because the house edge is very low, yet it can pay out 3:1.
  • Invoke like !roll, !roll field 10, !roll seven 100, !roll craps

A special bet exists called the field. If you roll 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12 you win, if you roll 5, 6, 7, 8 you lose.

Bets return even money, except rolling a 2 returns double your money, and rolling a 12 returns triple your money.

How do I play roulette?

Roulette is a game where a wheel with slots numbered 0-36 is spun and people win or lose money based on where they guessed the ball would go. Unlike blackjack, which may take 2-5 turns to finish a game, or craps, which may take 5 or 10 or even more turns to resolve, every spin of the roulette wheel is one-off. This is single zero, European style roulette. The command to spin the wheel is

• !spin <bet> <amt> -- where amount defaults to one.
  • invoke like !spin 0, !spin even 20, !spin 10 100, !spin first

The most basic and highest paying bet is to bet on a single number, eg !spin 0 -- which bets one gikocoin that the ball will land on #0 -- or !spin 5 10 -- which bets 10 gikocoins that the ball will land on #5. If the ball lands on your number, you get paid 35:1.

House edge is 2.7% on all spins, because all spins lose on 0, unless you bet on 0.

How do I play video poker?

This is another simple, classic game that resolves in only two turns. Of all the giko gambling games, it has the lowest house edge and the highest possible return.

• !poker <amt> -- start a new hand of 5 cards, with an optional wager amount (default is 1)
• !drop <cards> -- discard any cards (eg, !drop 1 2 discards the first two cards, !drop 2 4 5 discards cards #2 #4 #5, !drop 0 discards no cards), replace them with new cards from the deck, and evaluate hand for payout.

In order to score a token for a pair, the lowest scoring hand, you must have Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces -- a pair of 2s or 5s by themselves get you nothing.