Even non-hardcore fans of Star Wars are probably familiar with Sabacc, the high-stakes card gambling game in which Han Solo deprived Lando Calrissian of the Millennium Falcon – the most fantastic starship in all the galaxy, which made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. Calrissian famously claimed that Sabacc is life, not a fight. That one can bring all the cleverness imaginable, but an unknown factor that no one can control will always linger in Sabacc, making it civilized chaos.
For many, this fictional game of skill and chance, similar to casino classics like poker and blackjack, is one of the most recognizable elements of the criminal underworld depicted in the Star Wars franchise, initially introduced in the second draft of the Empire Strikes Back.
Sbacc has gained such high popularity within the Star Wars subculture that it has found a special place in galactic lore, even though its origins are somewhat shrouded in mystery. It still represents the essence of daring gambles and unpredictable outcomes featured on and off-screen in Star Wars mythology. Below, we explain how one plays it and then explore its similarities to poker and blackjack.
The Rules of Sabacc
For those not heavily into Star Wars or intergalactic smuggling, here we break down the mechanics of Sabacc, which gets enjoyed with a seventy-six-card deck. Sixty of these cards get distributed in four suits. Sabers, Coins, Staves, and Flasks, each boasting fifteen per suit. Pin cards are numbered one through eleven, along with a commander, Mister, Master, and Ace, numbered twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen, respectively. The other sixteen are two sets of eight cards boasting distinct names: balance, the idiot, endurance, moderation, evil, queen of air and darkness, demise, and the star.
Two to eight gamblers can participate in a Sabacc gambling round, where players take turns as the dealer per hand, or they designate one to assume this role. The goal in a round here is for a player to have a final whose total is as close as possible to twenty-three or negative twenty-three without surpassing these figures. Getting twenty-four gets considered bombing out, and the cited hand of twenty-three or negative twenty-three, known as the Pure Sabacc, can only get beaten by the Idiot’s Array, a hand that no one can conquer, consisting of The Idiot, a two-card of any suit, and a three card, again of any suit. In Sabacc, ties get settled via an RNG device, which awards the win to the gambler who rolls the highest number.
There is a bit more nuance to the game to explain, but that is enough for us to draw comparisons to the noted gambling picks for now. We should add that two pots exist: a hand and a progressive one that builds and goes to the matchwinner.
Sabacc & Poker
Poker is, without question, the world’s most famous card game, enjoyed by millions around the globe. It is especially popular online, where Internet platforms lure gamblers in with sizeable match bonuses. For example, this EveryGame review notes that one of the Web’s most trusted virtual poker rooms supplies a 200% match for new players.
In poker, like in Sabacc, players look to form winning hands by picking/managing hands. Of course, the structure of how this gets accomplished differs. That is so because in Sabacc, there are positive and negative cards ranging from minus to plus ten, and the deck includes unique face cards. In poker, you have the fame and super-established hands that pretty much everyone who has picked up a pair of cards knows – pairs, three-of-a-kinds, flushes, straits, the drill.
In poker, no one aims to hit a numerical target, like in Sabacc, but the tactics revolve around getting the best five-card hand one can put together. So, the main difference between the two lies in how hands get formed. Sabacc’s goal is purely numerical, while poker focuses on achieving specific combinations of suits and ranks. Still, risk-taking and bluffing are crucial components in both, but the Sabacc shift adds an element of unpredictability in Sabacc that is not present in poker. It occurs randomly and causes the values of all cards to fluctuate, changing their numerical value entirely, with players attempting to counteract the effects of a Sabacc shift by “freezing” their hand or locking their current values, protecting against changes.
Sabacc & Blackjack
As anyone who has walked through a casino floor knows, in blackjack, one aims to hit a card hand that totals twenty-one or beat the dealer’s hand by getting to this figure as close as possible without going over it. If one does, then he busts, and the dealer wins. So, the target value similarity is there between both games, as well as the dealer gimmick.
Naturally, the balance of proper decision-making and luck plays a massive role in Sabacc and blackjack, which are also defining features of these two gambling choices, forcing players to calculate risks. However, tactics can come undone in Sabacc through an unpredictable shift. Hence, twenty-one action is more predictable, and relying on statistical knowledge, gamblers in most variants can lower the operator’s house edge in blackjack down to 0.5% by sticking to gameplay charts that tell them what moves they should make in given scenarios.