Emperor Game

Emperor is a banking card game popular with Hesperian gamblers. It is a fast-moving game allowing players to drop in and out quickly, with simple stakes and easy to understand rules that make it quick to catch on regardless of culture or language. Because the game is entirely random and therefore completely fair, it is extremely common for both the banker and players to cheat. The most universal advice given to new players is "there are no honest Emperor banks on Hesper".

Gameplay

Emperor is played with a standard 52 card deck of cards. The suits are ignored, and the cards are given values equal to their face value, with the Knight, Queen, and King being worth 11, 12, and 13 points respectively.
The game begins with the banker discarding one card face-up. They then deal out two cards face-down. Players use a mat or table displaying the possible outcomes they can bet on. Players will bet which card will be the higher card. Additional bets can be made for whether the difference between the cards is five or greater. Lost bets are taken by the banker, a correct bet pays 2:1, and a correct bet with on a 5 point difference pays 3:1. If both cards are the same, the banker takes half of each bet. Bets are paid out immediately, allowing players to decide to enter, leave, or continue between each hand.
When only three cards remain in the deck, a final bet is taken on what order the final three cards will be in, with correct bets paying 4:1. In the event that two of the cards are the same, the payout is reduced to 3:1 - if all three are the same, the bet is nulled.

Cheating

As Emperor is a game with almost even odds, both players and bankers inevitably turn to cheating to try and obtain an advantage. While cheating is all but universal and understood to be happening by all involved, getting caught in the act is another matter, with cheating players often being quickly and violently removed from the game and cheating bankers finding themselves at the mercy of mob justice.

Bankers

• Stacked decks: Bankers may employ trick shuffles to stack the decks in their favor, typically by increasing the number of draws where both cards are the same. Knowing which cards are on the table also enables further cheating.
• Card stacking: Bankers may surreptitiously deal additional cards, then use sleight of hand to adjust which one is shown based on the bets players have placed. As this alters the number of cards in the deck, it can be difficult to pull off in a more quiet or private game.
• Bet moving: While extremely risky, at very hectic tables a banker may physically move a player's bet to a different part of the mat, either to force a loss or reduce the amount of a win.

Players

• Bet moving: Since new bets are often placed at the same time that previous bets are paid out, players have a much easier time than bankers of sneakily moving their bet after the deal has been made.
• Table tricks: Essentially a more subtle form of bet moving, players may use tricks to move or alter their bets such as attaching their chips to a fine string or hair.
• Bet changing: Players may use sleight of hand to stack or remove additional chips without actually moving or changing their bet, or to move chips between their bet and that of another player with similarly colored chips.

Collusion

A common form of collusion involves one or more players being aware that the banker is stacking their deck, and using tells to know what a hand's outcome will be. The players will intentionally time their wins and losses to obfuscate any patterns that might otherwise be caught in the banker's cheating. Though this method can lead to the most reliable profit for those involved, players and bankers caught colluding tend to receive the worst of their peers' judgement.