Pilatch Card Games

Terminology

Binary Card
See Up-Down Card
Bet Card
- noun Card used to display whether a player is betting on the downs or the ups. See Up-Down Card
Binary Betting
- noun System allowing players to bet on either of two sets cards, usually community cards. Learn more.
The Downs
- noun The face down community cards in a Pilatch betting game. I'll risk it all on the downs!
Face-Down
- adjective Hiding rank and suit from players.
Face-Up
- adjective Displaying rank and suit to all players.
Flip
- verb
  1. To turn a card so that its side that was previously facing down is now facing up.
  2. To switch one's bet from the ups to the downs, or vice versa in a Pilatch betting game. She check-raised and flipped. I never saw it coming.
Hand
- noun
  1. Cards held by a player.
  2. Cards held by a player, plus the community cards she is betting on.
  3. A pattern of cards' ranks, or suits, or both. E.g., in a game that values five-card hands, five cards of the same suit form a flush. A flush is usually a higher hand than a pair. See Valued Hand.
  4. A period of play, starting when cards are dealt, and continuing until the cards are collected and the deck is shuffled. The blinds will increase next hand.
Rank
- noun

The numeric value of a card, which appears just above its suit icon in either corner. Cards with higher ranks are commonly more valuable than cards of lower rank.

Pilatch uses fifteen different ranks. Ace is the highest rank, followed by King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9... and so on... 1 is the lowest rank. Ace, King, Queen and Jack appear on cards abbreviated as the letters: A, K, Q, J, respectively. The Joker rank is denoted by a star. Each game may define how Jokers interact with other ranks.

Roshambo
- noun A game played with three hand signs that represent rock, paper, and scissors. Details
Suit
- noun A family of cards. Each card in a suit will bear the same icon on two of its corners. Pilatch has three suits: Rock, Paper, and Scissors.
Suit-Aligned
Refers to a quality of the Jokers in some games, where a Joker has the suit of the symbol printed on it. Further behavior of the Jokers may differ between games.
Superior Suit

- noun

For any card, its "superior suit" beats the suit of that card.

A cycle: Rock beats Scissors. Scissors beats Paper. Paper beats Rock.

Example: The superior suit to the Ace of Scissors, is Rock.

Up / Down Card
- noun Card that has "UP" printed on one side, and "DOWN" on the other.
The Ups
- noun The face up community cards in a Pilatch betting game. Two Kings are showing on the ups.
Valued Hand
- noun Refers to the third definition for "Hand" above. In poker this can be called a "ranked hand," or simply a "hand." The Pilatch rules use the term "valued hand" to prevent confusion with other definitions of "hand."