Brittle Days

Here are the rules for an impromptu game of Hoi An Style Poker.

You will need 1 or more players. The field of play is any of the bars or cafés in Hoi An, Quảng Nam Province, Viet Nam.

A street view is strongly recommended for high-scoring games.

The object of the game is to have a good time. Discard any rules that may be inhibiting this objective. To win the game, you must draw a strong poker hand. The best hand wins.

Firstly, deal each player a refreshing beverage from the bar.

Then, shuffle the pack. In Hoi An Style Poker, the pack is comprised not of cards, but of your fellow tourists. There are 2 ways to deal:

• Time slice. “The next 5 minutes are yours, I’ll take the 5 after.”
• Direction slice. “Anyone from the left is mine, from the right is yours.”

Anyone dressed normally is a point card and scores nothing. Ignore them.

Scoring cards consist of anyone wearing tailored clothes in a hideous fabric. As in poker, you want to make sets of alike scoring cards. They must be drawn at the same time. So a couple wearing matching watermelon fabric would count as a pair. A stag night in the same would could as 4-of-a-kind. A family of different ages would count as a flush. Two couples would be two pairs, but only if they walk by at the same time.

Suits are determined by the pattern of the fabric. The more hideous, the higher-scoring. 2 people in matching white shirts scores less than 2 wearing banana-print.

When someone draws a high-scoring hand, cheer and drink. You may wish to ask your winning hand to pose for a photo with you.

The winner is the person who has the best time.

Yoh! 🍻🃏

Addenda:

Stacking the deck is absolutely allowed to the point of being encouraged.

You may include yourself in the draw if you walk with someone dressed the same.

You may buy clothes for other people.

You may not wear greater or fewer than one outfit at a time.