How to Play Texas Hold'Em

This is a guide for those Lighthouse Keepers who may be unfamiliar with the rules of their game. Much like surviving the storm outside the tower walls, Texas Hold'em is a game of skill, strategy, and luck.

Objective of the Game

The goal of the game is simple. Win as many chips (Sanity) as possible by having the best hand or by convincing others to fold. Players use two private cards (hold cards) and five public cards (community card) to create the best five-card poker hand.

Setup

• Players: Typically 2 to 10 players.

• Deck: A standard 52-card deck.

• Chips: Used to place bets.

  
  

Each game round begins with two players posting the "blinds" (forced bets). The player to the dealer's left posts the small blind (in the case of The Black Lamp, 5 Sanity), and the next player posts the big blind (10 Sanity). These ensure there's something to win in every hand.

The Flow of the Game

A round of Texas Hold'em is divided into four stages:

1. The Deal

• Each player is dealt two private cards face down, known as "hole cards."

• These cards are for the player's eyes only and will be combined with the community cards to form a hand.
  

2. The Betting Rounds

Texas Hold'em has four betting rounds. Players can fold, check, bet, call, or raise depending on their position and cards.

• a. Pre-Flop

  • After the hole cards are dealt, the first round of betting begins.

  • From left to right, players decide to call (match the big blind), raise (increase betting more than the big blind), or fold (give up their cards and the pot).

  • Betting continues until all players who have not folded have placed equal bets.

• The Flop

  • The dealer places three community cards face up on the table. These are shared by all players.

  • Another round of betting occurs as in the pre-flop.

  • If no one has bet, players can "check" and pass the opportunity to bet onto the next player.

• The Turn

  • A fourth community card is dealt face up.

  • Another betting round begins.

• The River

  • The fifth and final community card is dealt face up.

  • A final round of betting ensues.

3. The Showdown

If more than one player remains after the last betting round, players reveal their hole cards. The best five-card hand wins the pot. The hierarchy of poker hands, from highest to lowest, is:

1. Royal Flush: A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit.

2. Straight Flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit.

3. Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank.

4. Full House: Three of a kind and a pair.

5. Flush: Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence.

6. Straight: Five consecutive cards, not of the same suit.

7. Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank.

8. Two Pair: Two sets of pairs.

9. One Pair: A single pair.

10. High Card: The highest card if no other hand is formed.

Strategies for Beginners

1. Initially, only play strong hands to avoid losing any chips.

2. Don't chase hands. If you don't have something by the flop, it is probably best to fold.

3. Be smart about bluffing. Only bluff when the cards on the table could make a great hand with one or two lucky hold cards.

4. Know your friends. Try to spot patterns in your friends betting behavior and reactions.

5. Listen to this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hx4gdlfamo

Lighthouse Keeper Name Generator

Need a name for a lonely lighthouse keeper playing a deadly game of cards while an eldritch storm wails on the tower walls? Of course, you do! Grab a few dice and generate a name using this table.

Step One: Generate an Epithet

For example: "Muttering"

d20	Epithet
1	Old
2	Pale
3	Quiet
4	Lonely
5	Spotted
6	Tall
7	Grinning
8	Wide
9	Ragged
10	Gentle
11	Muttering
12	Odd
13	Hollow
14	Salty
15	Foggy
16	One-Eyed
17	Scarred
18	Blue
19	Young
20	Iron

Step Two: Generate a First Name

For example: "Muttering Hester"

d20	First Name
1	Elias
2	Obed
3	Enoch
4	Hester
5	Lavinia
6	Silas
7	Zebulon
8	Mercy
9	Ephraim
10	Althea
11	Jonah
12	Temperance
13	Barnabas
14	Prudence
15	Mordecai
16	Kezia
17	Thaddeus
18	Jedediah
19	Cordelia
20	Malachai

Step Three: Generate a Last Name

For example: "Muttering Hester Teignmouth"

d20	Last Name
1	Celeste
2	Dantzig
3	Parr
4	Augusta
5	Caleuche
6	Medan
7	Lovibond
8	Deering
9	Baychimo
10	Marlborough
11	Maru
12	Orlova
13	Zebrina
14	Teignmouth
15	Palatine
16	Eurydice
17	Bannockburn
18	Valencia
19	Simmons
20	København

Congrats! You are done. Go play The Black Lamp!

RETRO/KILL: Early Access

Hello Everyone!

Today is a day that is many months in the making.

Today is the first time I am posting publicly about the game I have been designing for the last year: RETRO/KILL

What is RETRO/KILL? 

R/K is a rules-light TTRPG about time travel, assassins, and the biggest bastards in human history. In R/K you play a Retrokiller, a post-human agent of the transtemporal Union of Concerned Assassins. You are an elite team with one mission:

Travel to the past and eliminate your target before they destroy the future.

Why should you play RETRO/KILL? 

• Rules light. All you need to play is the first ten pages of the book and a standard set of tabletop dice and as the GM, you never need to roll (unless you want to). It is fun, fast-paced, and you never need to hunt through the rulebook.

• Easy to learn, fun to master. You only have three stats. To act, roll a d20. If you roll under your stat number, you succeed. It can get a little more complicated than that but when in doubt, roll a d20.

• Easy to prep and to play. Playtesters have said that you can prepare multiple sessions in 20 minutes or less and creating a fully playable character takes about five minutes. No complicated character sheets and barely any math.

• Cool mechanics! I am really proud of R/K's inventory system. Each item has a die associated with it and each item takes up a number of inventory spaces equal to the associated die. For example, if a knife allows a player to subtract a d4 from their roll, it also takes up four spaces in their character’s inventory. Players can use their time-travel powers to plant items they need in the environment making for fast-paced and fun strategic gameplay.

• You get to assassinate some truly evil people. You will never experience a catharsis as sweet as blowing Ronald Reagan out of an airlock while playing a cybernetic punk from the 26th century.

  
  

How you can help!

• Become a playtester! The game is still in early access. If you want to help make it perfect, you can play it with your friends and send me some feedback on how it went! Everyone who submits feedback will be credited in the final game. Sign up to become a playtester here: Playtester Signup Form
  

• Like/Share/Repost/Comment/Boost on social mediaI am going to be posting about R/K a lot. Help boost my posts so we can get more eyes on the game! If you don't already follow me, you can find all my socials at: lorelock.co/links
  

• Become a Patron. Patrons make this possible. Support me financially by subscribing on Patreon or by purchasing one of my products. Become a Patron: patreon.com/lorelock

  
  

• Tell your friends about RETRO/KILL!I love it when folks tell me about something they think I will love. If you have a friend who you think would like RETRO/KILL, please send them my way!

  __________

  Thank you so much for all of your support. Without your encouragement, feedback, and kindness I could not make anything. You are the best.