For a long time, many avid Star Wars fans have wondered how to play Sabacc. However, the release of the Han Solo origin movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story finally gave fans a glimpse of how to play this intergalactic card game. If you’re keen to finally master it, read on to learn exactly how to play Sabacc.
What is Sabacc?
There have been many classic movies featuring card and casino games throughout the years such as Rain Man, Rounders and Indecent Proposal. Yet, the Star Wars franchise broke the mold when it created its very own card game Sabacc, which *SPOILER ALERT* memorably helped Han win the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Sabacc is a high-stakes card game that originally cropped up in L. Neil Smith-penned novel Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu. However, it didn’t feature in any of the Star Wars movies until 2018, as it was deleted from the canon after Disney dropped the Expanded Universe in 2014. However, it was added back into the movie franchise thanks to the latest tie-in novels. In fact, without Sabacc, Han and Lando’s relationship might never have started, as Hans thinks he can take him on in the game.
The Rules of Sabacc in the Tie-In Novels
The rules of Sabacc do have some differences when comparing the recent movie with the tie-in novels. However, both its scale and set-up is similar in style to most popular card games, so it’s not too difficult to master.
Every player will be dealt two cards, which can range in positive and negative values. The goal of each player is to build a hand that’s worth either 23 positive or 23 negative points. To do so, they will need to either drop or swap their cards. They’ll also need to both make and call bets following any number of rounds.
Players can also factor other special cards, suits or hands, but they’ll need to focus solely on switching both the suits and values of their unprotected cards, which is known as the “Sabacc Shift”.
The Rules of Sabacc in Solo: A Star Wars Story
The game played in Solo: A Star Wars Story is actually much easier to follow in comparison to the novels. While it isn’t stated in the 2018 movie, the version played is the “Corellian Spike”, and it is played with a smaller deck, with hands valued from one to ten. Each player will not be playing to reach either 23 or -23, instead they’ll be attempting to reach zero.
Rather than relying on the ‘card-faces change’ element in the tie-in novels, the game will rely on a pair of Spike Dice, which are used every round of drawing cards. If a player rolls a double on the Spike Dice, which is rare, the cards will need to be folded and re-dealt. Once three rounds have been played, bets must be placed and called.
If playing the Corellian Spike version from the movie, the player who has a value closest to zero will win. However, if two players have the same values, the player who received the most cards in the hand will win the game.
So, now you know how to play Sabacc, all there is left to do is grab your friends and challenge them to a game that would give Han Solo a run for his money.
