Sabacc, or jhabacc, was a popular card game that was often played for high stakes. Perhaps the most famous sabacc game was the championship round of the Cloud City Sabacc Tournament in which Lando Calrissian lost the Millennium Falcon to Han Solo. Sabacc is a gambling card game played in the Star Wars Universe. It is a difficult game to adapt to real-world play because it uses an electronic deck of cards that can switch values at random. What’s more, the deck is composed of 76 cards, in the following configuration: Four Suits (Sabers, Flasks, Coins, Staves). Sabacc is a game originally found in the Star Wars universe. It is similar in many ways to the game of Blackjack/Twenty-one/Pontoon, with a number of differences: It is played with a special deck. Sabacc is a popular card game and form of gambling within the Star Wars universe. Here's everything you need to know in order to play it for real. By Austin King Oct 19, 2020 The most popular card game in the Star Wars galaxy is Sabacc. Sep 25, 2018 But believe it or not, the rules of Sabacc and the strategies employed by Han Solo and Lando Calrissian in their games are established in Star Wars canon. In the previous version of the Star Wars canon, Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon from Lando in a game of Sabacc (the Corellian Spike variation).

• Sabacc Rules
• Sabacc
• Sabacc Rules
• Sabacc Hand
• Sabacca
• Sabacc Card Game
• Sabacc Dice

Sabacc, or jhabacc, was a popular card game that was often played for high stakes.

Perhaps the most famous sabacc game was the championship round of the Cloud City Sabacc Tournament in which Lando Calrissian lost the Millennium Falcon to Han Solo. Calrissian also won the rights to Cloud City and the title of Baron Administrator in a game of sabacc.

When played professionally the game was overseen by a dealer, either organic as in Coruscant's Outlander Club where four-armed Kiughfid dealers passed out the cards and took up money for the house, or as in other locales where Automated Sabacc dealer droids oversaw proceedings.

The Ryn (a race of sentient beings) claimed to have invented sabacc as a means of training one's spiritual development.

Sabacc Rules

Rules[edit edit source]

The game of sabacc used a deck of seventy six cards featuring sixty numbered cards divided into four suits, and two copies of eight special cards. Each player was passed four cards which made up their hand at the beginning of the game. The suit and value of the cards would shift to different values at random, unless they were placed in the neutral field in the center of the table.

The object of the game was to create a hand holding the value of twenty three, known as Pure Sabacc, or minus twenty three which would be trumped by a positive twenty three. Negative numbers could be created through the use of the special cards which all, with the exception of the Idiot card, represented a negative number.

At the end of their turn a player had to discard all but two of their cards. A new round began and new cards were dealt. A player won the game by either calling their hand when they had twenty three, or minus twenty three, or if their hand was below twenty three or above minus twenty three, but closer to either number than their opponent's. Anything over twenty three and under minus twenty three was a bust. A pure zero was also a bust.

Many private games and professional establishments played sabacc using 'house rules'. House rules used a selection of special modifications to the rules for example often stating that a player could place at most two cards in the neutral field where they were unaffected by shifting, or that an Idiot's Array, consisting of The Idiot, any two and any three would beat anything, even Pure Sabacc, and would win the sabacc pot. Another common house rule was that the bet amount was paid into the sabacc pot on bust, zero, or loss on call.

There were several styles of sabacc play, including Bespin Standard, Empress Teta Preferred, Cloud City Casino, and Corellian Gambit. Each system had slightly different rules. There was also a version (Centran Sabacc) where fives were wild. Other variations included Random Sabacc, in which the house rules were changed at random intervals, and Force Sabacc, which used an altered deck with Light side of the Force and Dark side of the Force themed suits.

Cheating[edit edit source]

As with any kind of gambling the high stakes nature of sabacc often led to cheating. Besides various basic sleight of hand palming tricks, many cheats used a cheater, a small handheld device that could be secretly used to manipulate the game cards and neutral field to give the user an unfair advantage in the game. Another means involved a skifter, a rigged card that was unobtrusively substituted for a normal one in the deck. On some planets cheating at sabacc could mean death.

Deck List[edit edit source]

• Coins, Flasks, Sabres, Staves:

1-11

Commander (12)

Mistress (13)

Master (14)

Ace (15)

• Face Cards:

Queen of Air and Darkness (-2)

Endurance (-8)

Balance (-11)

Demise (-13)

Moderation (-14)

The Evil One (-15)

The Star (-17)

The Idiot (0)

Besides the standard cards listed above, some decks of sabacc also included other types of cards, these non-standard cards included:

The Destroyed Starship

The Satellite

The Wheel

Chance

Hazard

The Universe

Legate (ranked card with value of 11, but trumps ordinary 11)

Behind the scenes[edit edit source]

• Sabacc likely had its origins in the second draft of the script of the The Empire Strikes Back, when Han Solo mentions that his friend Lando Calrissian won Cloud City in a 'sabacca game.'

• The Face Cards in the sabacc deck bear a definite resemblance to several of the Major Arcana cards in the tarot deck, most likely the Rider-Waite deck, given that the value of Endurance is 8, (Strength in the Rider-Waite deck,) and Balance (Justice) is 11. Each Face Card's value seems to match up with the number of its Major Arcana equivalent. In addition, the number of cards in a sabacc deck (76) is similar to that of a tarot deck (78); if one uses the Centran Sabacc deck, used in the Lando Calrissian novels which contain the first named sabacc cards, then it is equal. Further similarities can be found in the belief held by some in the Star Wars universe that sabacc cards can be used to tell fortunes, as Lando Calrissian does in Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu - just as some people use tarot cards in real life.

• In the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic duology, sabacc's predecessor, pazaak makes an appearance, though it is not essential to play it in order to progress in either game.

• Sabacc is usually regarded as the Star Wars galaxy's equivalent to poker, while pazaak could be seen as similar to blackjack.

Sources[edit edit source]

• Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back
• Heir to the Empire Sourcebook
• Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary
• Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary
• Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars: Complete Locations
• Underworld: A Galaxy of Scum and Villainy

See also[edit edit source]

External links[edit edit source]

Introduction: Sabacc

Sabacc

If you are a Star Wars fan and watched Han Solo win the Mellinium Falcon in the movie Solo, you know of Sabacc. Sabacc is a cross between Poker and Black Jack from our universe. While many people know of the game from the movie, many Star Wars fans and I have loved the game for some time, as it is mentioned in many legends novels and stories. I have wanted to play this game for a while, and instead of buying Disney's version, I decided to make my own for a final project in my Creative Technologies class. To complete this project, I used a Lazer cutter, 3D printer, laminator, and Staples. There are other options if you do not have these items available, so please don't let that deter you!

Sabacc Rules

Step 1: The Cards

The first thing that you need to play Sabacc are the cards. Now there are many ways that fans have created cards before by drawing on standard card decks, but for the purpose of receiving a grade in my Creative Technologies class, and to make the game as authentic as possible, I made my own. I was able to find a PDF online of all 76 cards. I then formatted it so that every other page had the back to it and then I printed it at Staples. I requested 110lb cardstock and lamination. Make sure that the lamination is the kind that fuses to the paper, otherwise, when you cut them out, the lamination will come apart.

To cut the cards out I used a laser cutter. This was mainly to get used to using the technologies in our lab, so if you do not have a laser cutter available, cutting with scissors will work fine as well. Doing it with the laser cutter did make the cards all the same size and gave the cards a more worn look on the edges which I am pleased with. However, having the cards is the most important part, the rest is extra.

Sabacc Hand

I attached the pdf in case you would like to cut out your own cards.

Step 2: Dice and Credits

For the dice and credits, I used files from Thingiverse and 3D printed them. Here are the links to where I got the files to print:

Dice- https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2730913

Credits- https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2981640

Now of course not everyone has a 3D printer, and that is okay! I even bought some 6, 8, and 12 sided dice to ensure there are no unintentional weight issues (be sure to have two of whatever dice you use, it will make sense when you learn the rules!). And instead of using printed Star Wars credits, you can use regular Poker chips. I also bought some myself because it takes a while to print all the credits, but if you have the time and ability, make it as authentic to Star Wars as you'd like!

I also spray painted the credits gold and silver to represent different worth of each. Of course, you could paint them whatever color and make as many as you desire, but I chose to make a few and buy Poker chips to add to it.

Step 3: Box for the Cards

Sabacca

This step is not necessary, but I wanted to make a box to keep my cards in. The cards are 3 1/4 by 2 3/8 (slightly smaller than standard playing cards). First I made a paper prototype using foam core. The wood I used was some scraps from our wood shop, so I am not sure of its kind, but it is about 3/10ths of an inch thick. The sides of the box are 3 3/4 by 2 3/4. The top and bottom are 1 3/8 by 2 1/2. The last panel on the back is 3 3/4 by 1 3/8. All dimensions are in inches.

Sabacc Card Game

The design on the box is a laser cut Mandalorian Skull. Again, if you do not have a laser cutter, that is okay. It is only cosmetic!

And as for the box that I keep my game in, I went to my local cigar shop and got a cigar box for cheap that fits everything well and looks nice!

Step 4: Rules

Another very important thing to have is the rules! So I have attached a compilation of rules I found online and Reddit and added myself. If they don't fit how you're wanting to play, feel free to make up some of your own or find others online!

I hope this instructable helps you play an incredible game from the Star Wars universe! I would love to hear how everyone enjoys the game! Thanks for checking this out

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