Seka Rules: The Complete Guide

Seka rules take five minutes to learn: every player gets three cards, the points of cards of the same suit are added up, and the highest total takes the pot. The hard part is not the rules but the betting: who puts in how much, who backs off, and who says "vachvenot" (Georgian for "let's show"). Below is the version of Seka most often played in Georgia: 36 cards, the ace worth 11, two aces worth 22, and the seka itself, three cards of one rank, which beats any total. Where tables differ, we say so.

Seka cannot be played on tamashebi.cc yet. Its page (/seka) describes the rules, and a Play button will appear there when it opens. When it does, the only stake will be the virtual Domino Coin, never money. In the meantime you can play nardi, Joker or domino.

What Seka is

Seka is a three-card game in which hands are not played out trick by trick, as in Bura or Joker, but compared. You receive your cards once and never change them. Then the bargaining starts: each player decides whether to keep up with the stake. In the end either one player is left at the table and takes the pot without showing anything, or two are left and they turn their cards over. A hand often lasts less than a minute.

There are no trumps in Seka, no drawing from a stock and no points carried from one hand to the next. Every hand stands alone: it starts with an opening stake and ends when someone takes the pot. That makes Seka a good fit for a short session with friends: you can stop after any hand and nothing is left unfinished.

The game is well known across the Russian-speaking world too, where it goes by Seka, Svara or Trynka, and the rules shift a little from place to place. At a Georgian table Seka is mostly played among friends, for points or matchsticks. So before you start it is always worth agreeing on three things: how many cards you play with, whether two aces count together, and what happens on a tie.

The deck and the deal: three cards

• Deck: 36 cards, six to ace. Some tables use 32 cards (seven to ace); the rules stay the same.
• Players: two to six. The more players there are, the stronger the hand that usually wins.
• Deal: the dealer gives each player three cards face down. The rest of the deck is put aside and is not used in that hand.
• Opening stake: before the deal everyone puts in the same opening stake. These stakes make the pot, which is what the hand is played for.
• The deal passes on every hand, usually clockwise.

Turns and taking the pot

In Seka a "turn" does not mean playing a card; it is a decision about the stake. Betting starts with the player next to the dealer and goes round the table. When it is your turn you have three choices:

1. Call: put in as much as the last player put in, and stay in the hand.
2. Raise: put in more. Now everyone else has to match the new stake or drop out.
3. Fold: throw your cards in face down. Whatever you already put in stays in the pot; you lose nothing more in this hand and win nothing either.

The rounds go on until only one or two players are left. If everyone else folds and one player remains, he takes the pot without showing his cards. His hand may well have been weak, and nobody will ever know. This is where bluffing lives: in Seka the winner is often not the player with the best cards but the one who held out the longest.

Some tables also allow playing "blind": the first player stakes without looking at his cards, and anyone who has looked must put in double. This is a house rule and has to be agreed in advance.

"Vachvenot": what it means

"Vachvenot" ("let's show") is the key word of Seka. When two players are left, either of them may say it, that is, demand that the cards be shown. To do so he matches the last stake: the showdown is not free. Both turn their cards over and the higher score takes the pot.

• Only the last two players can call for a showdown. While three or more remain, the betting goes on.
• Whoever calls for the showdown must match the stake; you cannot just ask to see the cards after a raise.
• A showdown cannot be refused: once the stake is matched, both hands are shown.
• If the scores are equal, it is svara; see below.

Points and the number 31

In Seka every card has a value, but only cards of the same suit count together. If all three cards are of one suit, all three are added. If two share a suit, those two count and the third does not. If all three are of different suits, your score is just your most valuable card. The highest possible total in one suit is 31: an ace and two ten-point cards, for example the ace, king and queen of hearts (11 + 10 + 10).

Points table

• Ace: 11 points.
• King, queen, jack and ten: 10 points each.
• Nine, eight, seven and six: face value, so 9, 8, 7 and 6.
• Two aces: 22 points whatever their suits. This is the only case in which cards of different suits count together.
• Seka: three cards of the same rank (three sevens, three jacks and so on). It beats any total, 31 included. Between two sekas the higher rank wins; three aces count as 33, the strongest hand of all.

A few examples. Ace of hearts, king of hearts, seven of clubs: the hearts add up to 21. Ten, eight and six of diamonds: all one suit, 24. Ace of diamonds, ace of spades, nine of clubs: two aces, 22. King of hearts, nine of diamonds, seven of spades: no suit repeats, so only the king counts, 10.

Now a full hand. Three players are left. Nika has the ace and king of hearts and the seven of clubs (21), Levan has two aces and a nine (22), Tamar has the ten, eight and six of diamonds (24). Nika cannot stand two raises and folds. Levan and Tamar remain; Levan matches the last stake and says "vachvenot". Tamar's 24 beats Levan's 22 and the pot is hers. Had Tamar held three sixes she would still have won, because a seka is not counted as a total; it always ranks above.

A tie: svara

If the two players at a showdown have the same score, it is called svara. Under the most common rule the pot stays on the table and the hand is dealt again for the two tied players; at some tables others may buy back in by adding half the pot or an agreed amount. Some groups do not play svara at all and split the pot instead. This is exactly the rule to settle before you start.

One hand from start to finish

The rules become clearer when you walk through one hand step by step. Four people are playing: Ana, Giorgi, Dato and Eka. Each puts in one point as the opening stake, so the pot holds four. Eka deals, so Ana, sitting next to her, opens the betting.

1. Ana has the nine of hearts, six of diamonds and jack of spades. No suit repeats: 10 points. She puts in one point, a cheap call to see what the others do.
2. Giorgi has the ace and nine of clubs and the eight of diamonds. The clubs make 20. He raises to three.
3. Dato has a seven, a queen and an eight in three different suits: 10. Paying three for that is not worth it, so he folds.
4. Eka has the king, ten and seven of diamonds: three of one suit, 27. She matches Giorgi's three and raises by two more, to five.
5. Back to Ana. Paying five with 10 points is plainly too expensive, so she folds. The point she put in stays in the pot.
6. Giorgi and Eka remain. Giorgi thinks: 20 is a good hand, and Eka might be bluffing. He matches the five and says "vachvenot".
7. Both show: Giorgi's 20 loses to Eka's 27. Eka takes the whole pot: the four opening stakes, Ana's call and both players' bets.

This hand shows the whole logic of Seka. Dato and Ana lost little because they got out in time. Giorgi lost a lot because he went all the way with a good but not good enough hand. Eka held three cards of one suit, which is rare in Seka, and rightly built up the pot before the showdown came.

What changes from table to table

Seka has no official rulebook. It is a folk game, and it is played a little differently in different towns, sometimes in different families. The things that most often vary:

• The deck: 36 or 32 cards. With 32 cards there are no sixes, so the weakest seka is three sevens.
• The order of sekas: usually three aces are highest, but at some tables three sixes or three sevens rank top.
• A joker: in some versions one card (often a black seven) stands in for any card and counts 11. Ordinary Georgian Seka has no joker.
• Svara: replaying between the tied players, replaying with everyone, or splitting the pot.
• Blind play and the raise limit: how much the stake may grow in one go.

Common mistakes

• Adding up cards of different suits. The ace of hearts and king of spades make 11, not 21: the suits do not match.
• Forgetting two aces. Two aces are 22 whatever their suits and beat many single-suit hands.
• Counting a seka as a total. Three sixes are not 18; they are a seka and beat even 31.
• Calling for a showdown without matching the stake. Seeing the cards has a price.
• Mixing Seka up with Bura. Seka has no tricks, no trumps and no drawing: three cards are dealt once and that is it.
• Not agreeing the house rules: 32 or 36 cards, how svara is played, whether blind play is allowed. Most table arguments start right here.

Frequently asked questions

What is the strongest hand in Seka?

Under the most common rule, three aces, worth 33. In general three cards of the same rank (a seka) beat any total. At some tables three sixes or three sevens rank highest among sekas; that is a house rule.

How many players does Seka need?

At least two. It is usually played by two to six people with a 36-card deck; with more players the deck still suffices, but the game slows down.

Is Seka a gambling game?

Seka is a table game with stakes, but the stake can be points, chips or matchsticks. On tamashebi.cc, once Seka opens, the only stake will be the virtual Domino Coin, which cannot be exchanged for money.

Are Seka and Svara the same game?

Very close. In Russian, Seka is often also called Svara, while at a Georgian table "svara" mostly means the tie: replaying a hand when the scores are equal.

• Seka online: the game page
• Seka combinations and how to count them
• Seka strategy: how to play better
• Bura or Seka: how the two games differ
• Bura rules, step by step

Games on tamashebi.cc are free to play. Some tables use Domino Coin, a virtual in-game coin: it is never money, cannot be bought or cashed out, and means nothing outside the site. The games are for fun and for skill. The site is available in Georgian, English, Russian and Turkish.