Pyramid (card game)



Pyramid is a card game played in the original Battlestar Galactica series.

In the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series it is referred to as Full Colors while the term "Pyramid" is now used to refer to the close-quarters, full-contact sport Triad (term originally used), which is a sport combining some aspects of Basketball and Rugby. The character Samuel Anders plays the sport professionally.

The card game version has been compared (erroneously) to poker and is the primary off-duty leisure activity portrayed in both versions of Battlestar Galactica.

The Cards

 * A Pyramid deck consists of 55 total cards, comprised of nine first-level cards of each of three colors, six second-level cards in each color, three third-level cards in each color, and one capstone card.
 * The cards are in the shape of a regular hexagon (less commonly but still accurately called a sexagon) - a six-sided figure where all sides are the same length and every inside angle is equal (120 degrees). Cards are approximately two and three-quarters of an inch wide from edge to opposite edge and three inches from point to opposite point.
 * The reverse of each card shows the card's color (suit) and level (rank). The edges of each card's reverse have a series of triangles in the card's color to indicate the card's rank.
 * The obverse of the card has a dual-triangle design, with a single golden equilateral triangle outline nearly touching three of a hexagonal card's edges and each base of the outlined triangle contains a small black equilateral triangle beneath it, roughly centered on the gold line. The black triangles have half the side length of the large golden one.

Card Colors ("Suits")
A deck of Pyramid cards contains four colors. Three of these are card colors - Purple, Green, Orange - and a single card, the Capstone, is in black. The color of a pyramid is only a determining factor when tying pyramids are "Perfect Pyramids" only. Otherwise, color does not factor into win/loss decisions.
 * Purple is the highest/best of the three colors/suits in a deck of Pyramid cards. A "Perfect Pyramid" in Purple wins to all other perfect pyramids of equal or lesser level/size.
 * Green is the middle of the three colors in a deck of Pyramid cards. A "Perfect Pyramid" in green, for instance, wins over an Orange Perfect Pyramid but loses to a Purple Perfect Pyramid.
 * Orange is the Lowest of the three colors in a deck of Pyramid cards. A "Perfect Pyramid" in Orange loses to all other perfect pyramids of equal or greater level/size.

Card Levels (Ranks)
Cards are classified into three levels or ranks. Potentially winning hands require specific combinations of these card levels. Unlike the Earth game of poker, Pyramid does not have such a smorgasbord of possible winning hands. Though this may, prima facie, seem to make Pyramid an easier game, Pyramid is not as simple as it may appear and requires foresight, strategy and balancing risk with caution.
 * First Level Cards are essentially blank on the inside with a trio of small equilateral triangles along each of the six edges. There are nine of these cards in each color in a standard Pyramid deck.
 * Second Level Cards are have an outline of an equilateral triangle centered on the card with two small equilateral triangles along each of the six edges. There are six of these cards in each color in a standard Pyramid deck.
 * Third Level Cards are have a solid equilateral triangle centered on the card with one small equilateral triangle along each of the six edges; on these cards, the triangles on the edges are twice as large as the small triangles on the first and second -level cards. There are three of these cards in each color in a standard Pyramid deck.
 * The Capstone Card appears identical to third level cards, expect it's color is black. It is a wildcard and may be used in the formation of any level and color of pyramid. It is intrinsic to the penultimate Pyramid hand, the Capstone Pyramid.

Preparation

 * Like traditional card games on both the Colonies and Earth, the cards are shuffled thoroughly before play. Persons from Earth who are only accustomed to the rectangular cards popular on that planet may find great difficulty in shuffling the hexagonal cards. After the dealer has sufficiently shuffled the cards, the player to the right of the dealer is given the option to "cut" the deck. She does this by removing a portion of cards from the top of the deck and setting it beside the remaining stack of cards. The dealer will then place the remaining cards on top of the cut part and begin dealing. Alternatively, the player may decline to cut the cards, signifying this by lightly tapping the top of the deck once.

Dealing the Cards

 * Cards are dealt from the dealer's immediate left and around the table (often a hexagonal table as well, as this is traditional), ending with the dealer. Each player is dealt six cards face-down (the obverse of the cards, hence, facing up so that players cannot view another player's cards).
 * If a card should fall from the table by the sole error of the dealer, the player to whom the card was dealt may elect to keep the card, ask a new card to immediately be dealt in its place, or ask for a mis-deal. If the player accepts the card, the deal will continue. If the player requests a replacement card, he places the first card on the discard pile, the dealer deals him a new card and dealing or play continues. If the player requests a mis-deal and a majority of players agree, all cards are collected, reshuffled, and redealt. If a dealer makes this error twice on a single deal, a mis-deal is automatically declared.

Player Direction

 * Play begins with the person to the dealer's immediate left and continues to the left around the table. The dealer is the last person to play.

Discard

 * After all players are dealt their cards, players may pick up their cards. They may move them around, place them on the table, or otherwise organize them so long as all cards are within view at all times. (Condensing the cards together is permissible, even though only one card is directly viewable.)
 * Players may discard up to four of their cards, but are not required to discard any cards if they wish to do so.

Draw

 * After all players have chosen their discards, they place them - in dealing order - on the discard pile and announce how many cards they are discarding. The dealer will then deal the same number of cards to the player so that each player, in turn, will again have six total cards. When all players have discarded - this must be done in the proper order - the dealer will state "dealer takes..." and the number of cards taken, clearly dealing himself the declared number of cards.

Best Pyramid

 * Upon receiving the replacement cards, players construct their best possible pyramids. Around the table in the same order as the deal, players announce their hands and lay them out in the correct positioning. A player may elect to "fold" their hand at any time and forfeit any possibility of winning the hand; a folded hand is not required to be shown to other players.

Betting in Pyramid

 * In the game of Pyramid, bets are taken after the first deal and after the second deal. The first round of betting is done before any discards are announced and the second round is done before any player announces their hand. Betting begins with the player to the dealer's left and continues in the same order as the deal.
 * Some games may impose limits on bets, such as a maximum bet or maximum raise. It is considered good form to refrain from betting an amount that cannot be matched by other players in order to force them to fold their hand.
 * Betting on a hand ends when the same bet is reached around the table. This process closely mirrors the process in Earth's game of poker.

How to Win

 * The winner in a hand of Pyramid is determined by the size of their pyramids. There are three levels of pyramids (first, second, and third), two types of pyramids (perfect and non-perfect), and one special pyramid (the Capstone Pyramid).

Winning

 * First Level Pyramids are formed by two third level cards and one second level card. This is the weakest of pyramids and wins over a hand without a pyramid (which is not particularly likely, especially in large play groups).
 * Second Level Pyramids are formed by three third level cards and two second level cards. This pyramid wins over a first level pyramid and loses to a third level pyramid.
 * Third Level Pyramids are formed by three third level cards, two second level cards, and one first level card. This hand, therefore, requires all six cards to be formed and is less likely in small play groups. This pyramid wins over all first and second level pyramids and loses to a Capstone Pyramid.
 * Perfect Pyramids are those that are formed of the same color. For instance, a hand containing three green third level cards and two green second level cards is said to be a "Perfect Second Level Pyramid." A perfect pyramid wins over a non-perfect (mixed-color) pyramid of the same size.
 * A Capstone Pyramid is the highest possible hand in the game of pyramid. It consists of three third level cards and two second level cards from the same color, and the Capstone Card as the first level card. If a first level pyramid uses the Capstone Card as its first level card but the second and third level cards are not of the same color, the hand is a regular, non-perfect third level pyramid only.

Tie-Breaking

 * Non-perfect pyramids are not ranked by color. When two non-perfect pyramids are shown at the same level and no other player can best them, the two with the tying pyramids show their best remaining card (first level is best, third level is worst) to determine the winner. If still a tie, repeat the process to the exhaustion of remaining cards in one's hand. If still tied (not particularly likely), the tying players play a second hand alone to determine a winner.
 * When two perfect pyramids are played on the same hand, the one in the greater color wins. In the case of color-matched perfect pyramids, the high card not part of the pyramid determines the winner.

Possible Hands in Pyramid
The following lists all the possible hands in order of rank; the first one listed wins over all the others while each other hand wins against those shown below it and loses to those below it.
 * Capstone Pyramid (or, simply, "Capstone"): 3 third level cards, 2 second level cards and the Capstone Card. All cards (other than the capstone) must be of the same color.
 * Purple Third Level Perfect Pyramid: 3 third level cards, 2 second level cards, and 1 first level cards, all colored purple.
 * Green Third Level Perfect Pyramid: 3 third level cards, 2 second level cards, and 1 first level cards, all colored green.
 * Orange Third Level Perfect Pyramid: 3 third level cards, 2 second level cards, and 1 first level cards, all colored orange.
 * Third Level Pyramid: 3 third level cards, 2 second level cards, and 1 first level cards, in any color combination. Third Level Pyramids are not ranked against each other (such as by color), thus two players both possessing this hand would be considered in a tie, but this is not very likely.
 * Purple Second Level Perfect Pyramid: 3 third level cards and 2 second level cards, all colored purple.
 * Green Second Level Perfect Pyramid: 3 third level cards and 2 second level cards, all colored green.
 * Orange Second Level Perfect Pyramid: 3 third level cards and 2 second level cards, all colored orange.
 * Second Level Pyramid: 3 third level cards and 2 second level cards, in any color combination. Second Level Pyramids are not ranked against each other (such as by color), thus two players both possessing this hand would be considered in a tie, and the players would show their highest remaining card. Whoever has the higher card - based first on level and then on color, wins; this process cannot be repeated (because each player would only have one card remaining not used in the pyramid).
 * Purple First Level Perfect Pyramid: 2 third level cards and 1 second level card, all colored purple.
 * Green First Level Perfect Pyramid: 2 third level cards and 1 second level card, all colored green.
 * Orange First Level Perfect Pyramid: 2 third level cards and 1 second level card, all colored orange.
 * First Level Pyramid: 2 third level cards and 1 second level card, in any color combination. First Level Pyramids are not ranked against each other (such as by color), thus two players both possessing this hand would be considered in a tie, and the players would show their highest remaining card. Whoever has the higher card - based first on level and then on color, wins; this process can be repeated up to three times if necessary to determine a winner (because each player would have three cards remaining not used in the pyramid).
 * High Card: This is a very unlikely instance, as at least one pyramid is almost always formed in a typical hand, but it is possible. If no player can form a pyramid, then the player with the highest single card wins. Cards are ranked as follows:
 * Capstone
 * First level cards (Purple is highest, then Green, and Orange is lowest).
 * Second level cards (Purple is highest, then Green, and Orange is lowest).
 * Third level cards (Purple is highest, then Green, and Orange is lowest).

Strategy in Pyramid

 * One of the most commonly-encountered risk decisions surfaces when initially dealt a hand consisting of one third level card, two second level cards, one first level card and two other second or first level cards. In this instance, the player has basically two options:
 * She may discard only the two extra cards, hoping to receive at least one third level card (to create a first level pyramid, a weak hand) or receive two third level cards to complete the first level pyramid (a strong hand).
 * Alternatively, she may decide to discard both extra cards and the first level card in order to increase the odds of receiving two third level cards, which would then give a second level pyramid, a hand stronger than the first level pyramid in the first option and weaker - though much more likely - than the first level pyramid that is possible, though not likely, above.

Variations on Basic Pyramid
Many variations of the basic Pyramid card game exist. These include variations without the discarding of cards, dealing cards face-up, discarding cards twice, and dealing more than six cards (usually eight cards, but not always). (Descriptions of such variations will be forthcoming soon.)

Improvisations for Earth
If a deck of Pyramid cards is not available, one may be improvised using three decks of Earth poker-style playing cards. To do so, collect the following:
 * The ACE of HEARTS, CLUBS, and DIAMONDS from all three decks. These will take the place of the First Level Cards. They are easy to recognize by their usually distinctive face and large letter "A" on the top-left and bottom-right corners.
 * The KING and QUEEN of HEARTS, CLUBS, and DIAMONDS from all three decks. These will take the place of Second Level Cards. They are easy to recognize during Pyramid play as "face cards."


 * The TWO, THREE and FOUR of HEARTS, CLUBS, and DIAMONDS from all three decks. These will take the place of Third Level Cards. They are easy to recognize during Pyramid play because of their small number and minimal design.
 * The ACE of SPADES from only one deck. This card will take the place of the Capstone Card. This card is very easily recognizable as most Earth-based playing card manufacturers highly embellish this card.
 * In this improvised deck, PURPLE is replaced by HEARTS, GREEN is replaced by CLUBS, and ORANGE is replaced by DIAMONDS for purposes of color-ranking hands.

Kobolian Solitaire

 * A game played with a standard deck of Pyramid cards, its goal is to form perfect pyramids much in the same way as the Earth card game solitaire with some significant modifications. Perhaps the oldest card game among the Colonies, it derived its name from the planet of the gods, Kobol, where it is believed that it was first played long before the Lords of Kobol fled Kobol to form the Twelve Colonies. (A detailed description will be forthcoming soon.)

Tauron Hold-Em

 * First played on the colony Tauron (hence its name) and popularized throughout the Twelve Colonies of Kobol in the decade preceding the Cylon attack on the Colonies, Tauron Hold-Em is a variation of Pyramid where all players share a set of cards dealt face-up at the center of the playing surface and combine them with cards dealt face-down to each individual. (A detailed description will be forthcoming soon.)

Pyramid Rummy

 * Played with a standard Pyramid deck, Pyramid Rummy is a game using the same concepts of pyramid-building as the original Pyramid game but works without the draw, betting between draws, and a single hand rarely determines a winner. Popular many years/yahren ago, Pyramid Rummy still has many loyal players and is often enjoyed by larger groups with more time. It is usually played to a preset point total and games can last many hands. With larger groups, two or sometimes even three Pyramid card decks may be combined. (A detailed description will be forthcoming soon.)

Additional Notes/Trivia

 * In the re-imagined series, Pyramid is confused with the sport Triad. In the original series, Pyramid was a card game and Triad was a full-contact arena athletic contest. There was a mix-up by producer Ronald D. Moore; he confused Pyramid with Triad and the "new" terms entered into the new series from the mini-series. As a result the current series refers to the sport of Pyramid (which was in the original series called Triad) and has oft dubbed the card game Full Colors.
 * Along with chain-smoking cigars while playing the game, the almost compulsive Pyramid playing of Starbuck is one of the most recognizable aspects of the Starbuck (played by Dirk Benedict) in the original Battlestar Galactica series that was retained in the new series' Starbuck.