In-Between (Acey-Deucey)

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card ranks
3. Setup
4. Playing a turn
5. End of a round and of the game
6. Tips for beginners
7. Variants

Overview

In-Between is a quick betting game. You are dealt two cards face up and bet on whether a third card will have a rank in between them. One player, the dealer, acts as the bank: they put chips into a pot (the pile of chips in the middle), and the others bet against that pot one after another. Win, and you take chips out of the pot; lose, and your bet goes in.

• Players: 2 or more – best with 5–8.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and chips (or counters, matches). Play for chips only.

Card ranks

Cards rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. The Ace is high. Suits don't matter.

A card is in between if its rank is strictly higher than the lower card and strictly lower than the higher card. The best two cards you can get are an Ace and a 2 – hence the name Acey-Deucey: then any 3 to King wins.

Setup

1. Everyone starts with the same number of chips (for example 100). Choose a dealer, for example by drawing cards – highest card deals.
2. Agree how many chips the dealer must put into the pot to start (for example 20 chips) and how many rounds the dealer will play (for example three) – together they are the dealer's game.
3. The dealer puts their chips into the pot, shuffles the deck and lets the player on their right cut it (lift off part of the deck and put it underneath).
4. The dealer deals one card face up to every other player. The dealer gets no cards.

Playing a turn

Starting with the player on the dealer's left and going clockwise, the dealer plays against each player in turn:

1. The dealer gives the player a second card face up.
2. The player looks at their two cards and either bets – places any number of chips next to the pot, up to as many as are in the pot right now – or folds: says "pass" and bets nothing.
3. If the player bet, the dealer deals a third card face up: - In between – the player wins: they keep their bet and take the same number of chips out of the pot. - Outside (higher than the higher card or lower than the lower card) – the player loses: the bet goes into the pot. - Same rank as one of the first two cards – this is hitting the post: the player loses double and pays twice the bet into the pot.

Example: Anna has a 4♣ and a J♥; the pot holds 12 chips. She bets 5. The third card is the 9♦ – in between! She takes 5 chips out of the pot, leaving 7. Had the third card been a K, she would have paid 5 into the pot; had it been a 4 or a J, she would have hit the post and paid 10.

With two equal or neighbouring cards (such as 7 and 7, or 7 and 8) no card can be in between, so fold.

End of a round and of the game

• When everyone has had their turn, the round is over. The chips stay in the pot, the dealer gathers and shuffles all the cards and deals the next round.
• If a player bets the whole pot and wins, the dealer's game ends at once.
• After the agreed number of rounds, the dealer takes whatever is left in the pot. Then the player on the dealer's left becomes the new dealer.

The dealer gains if the pot has grown, and loses if it has shrunk or been emptied. Play as many dealers' games as you like – for example until everyone has dealt once or twice; whoever has the most chips at the end wins.

Tips for beginners

• Count how many ranks lie in between: with 11 ranks between (A and 2) you win very often, with only 1 or 2 you should fold or bet very little.
• A big spread still carries a risk of hitting the post – don't bet more than you can pay twice.
• As dealer, a small pot limits how much anyone can take from you in one go.

Variants

Optional – agree before you start.

• Twice through the deck: instead of reshuffling each round, the dealer keeps dealing from the rest of the deck. If there aren't enough cards for everyone's first card, shuffle all the cards and deal again; if the deck runs out later, shuffle the used cards and carry on. When the deck runs out for the second time, finish the round – then the dealer's game ends.
• With an ante: everyone, including the dealer, puts the same small ante (starting bet) into the pot, and the dealer deals to themselves too and bets last. After each round, if chips remain in the pot, everyone antes again and the deal passes left. The game ends when someone wins the whole pot, or you agree to stop and share it out.
• Low Ace: if your first card is an Ace, you may call it low (below the 2). Aces dealt later are always high.
• Pairs: with two equal cards you may pay an extra ante to split them into two hands and play each separately. Or: with two equal or neighbouring cards your ante is returned (a push).
• Hidden cards: each player gets both cards face down. At your turn, fold without showing them, or turn them up, bet and get your third card.
• Minimum bet: every player must bet at least as much as the ante.
• Casino version (Red Dog): the dealer is the bank and pays from their own chips; there is no pot. Everyone bets an ante, then the dealer turns up two cards for all players together:
• Neighbouring cards (such as 10 and J): a push – antes back.
• A pair: a third card is turned up. Same rank again: everyone is paid 11 to 1; otherwise a push.
• Otherwise the dealer announces the spread (number of ranks in between). Each player may raise – add up to their ante again. Then the third card: in between, and the dealer pays by the spread – 1: 5 to 1, 2: 4 to 1, 3: 2 to 1, 4 or more: 1 to 1; outside or equal, and the dealer takes the bets.
• Three posts: a harsher version from Scott McNeely's Ultimate Book of Card Games (listed there under a coarser name). You get three cards face up with two gaps between them. First bet on the gap between the first two cards as usual. Then make a second bet on the gap between the second and third card: at least the ante, at most the pot. Hitting a post on this second bet costs three times the bet.