Iron Warden

About Iron Warden

Iron Warden is five-card stud against the house, with no drawing. You place an ante and receive five cards face up. The Warden takes five too, and turns one of them over. Then you decide: fold and leave the ante, or raise twice the ante to play the hand out.

When you raise, the Warden shows his cards. He needs at least an ace and a king, or any pair, to open. If he cannot open, your ante pays even money and your raise simply comes back. If he opens and your hand is better, the ante pays even money and the raise pays by your hand, from 1 to 1 for a pair or high card up to 100 to 1 for a royal flush. If his hand is better, both the ante and the raise are lost; equal hands push.

This is the hall with the most thinking in it. A simple rule of thumb is to raise with any pair or better and with ace-king, and to fold most other hands. It is slow by design: one decision per hand, no extras, nothing to chase.

How a round works

1. Choose your ante and press Deal. Your five cards and one of the Warden's appear.
2. Fold to give up the ante, or Raise to add twice the ante.
3. The Warden reveals his hand. He opens with ace-king or better.
4. Not open: the ante pays even and the raise comes back. Open and beaten: the ante pays even and the raise pays by your hand. Open and ahead: both are lost. Equal: push.

Pay table

The ante always pays even money when you play and the Warden does not open, or when you beat him. If he does not open, your raise comes back unpaid.

Fair play

Every result is drawn in your browser from the cryptographic random number generator built into it, the same source used to protect passwords. Nothing adjusts the draws to what you have staked, won back or lost, and no result is held back for later. Over many rounds every hall returns a little less than is staked, as casino-style games do; that difference is the reason the shards keep moving, not a promise of anything.