In this article I describe how the ranking works for different hands in the card game bragg. There are a number of different versions of bragg and I will describe the most popular version here. I will start with the highest rank of hand and will also include the probability of obtaining each hand and the amount of possible combinations for each hand.
A prial
A prial is where you have three cards of the same number or rank.
The highest prial is actually a prial of threes, where most people would presume it would be a prial of aces. The prial of aces is the second highest rank of prial and a prial of twos
is the lowest rank.
There are fifty-two possible combinations of prial and the probability of being dealt this hand is 0.24%.
Running flush
A running flush is where you have three cards of the same suit in a sequence.
Unlike in poker where ace, two, three, four, five would be classed as the lowest rank of running flush, in bragg ace, two, three is the highest. This is followed by ace, king, queen, and four, three, two is the lowest.
There are forty-eight possible combinations of running flush and the probability of being dealt this hand is 0.22%.
These figures of probability and possible combinations are actually quite strange as it shows that it is slightly easier to obtain a prial than a running flush. You would therefore think that the royal flush would be the highest rank of hand in bragg, but of course, as already explained it isn’t.
A Run
A run is where you have three cards which are not all of the same suit in a sequence.
As with the royal flush ace, two, three is the highest rank of run, followed by ace, king, queen. Four, three, two is the lowest rank of run.
There are seven hundred and twenty possible combinations of run and the probability of being dealt this hand is 3.26%.
Flush
This is where you have three cards of the same suit which are not in a sequence.
As in poker the highest rank of flush will have an ace in. If two people on the table have an ace flush, it is then decided who wins by the rank of the second highest card. At times people have the same rank of highest and second highest card, at this point the rank of the lowest card comes into play. For example player one has ace of clubs, queen of clubs and five of clubs. Player two has ace of spades, queen of spades and four of spades. In this example player one would win.
There are one thousand and ninety-six possible combinations of flush and the probability of being dealt this hand is 4.96%.
Pair
This is where you have a pair of the same rank with a spare card. Where two people on the table have a pair, it is the player with the highest rank of pair which wins. If both players have the same rank of pair, the one with the highest rank of its spare card wins.
Strangely enough over ninety percent of hands are no higher in rank than a pair.
There are three thousand, seven hundred and forty-four possible combinations of pair and the probability of being dealt this hand is 16.94%.
High card
This is where you have no combinations and basically just have a high card. The highest rank of card in this situation would be the ace and the lowest a two.
There are sixteen thousand, four hundred and forty possible combinations of high card and the probability of being dealt this hand is 74.39%.
As you can see it is not easy to obtain a decent hand in bragg and in fact most hands which are dealt are pretty rubbish. This is why it is such a great game for people who like to bluff.
Bragg is a very popular game in social clubs and card schools up and down the country and is an ancestor to poker.
As well as three card bragg, people also play a seven and nine card version.
