Editing Vice and Steel (section)

==The Game==

Some groups may find it a bit disconcerting to be playing Five Card Stud, a very American poker reference, while in a game of Vice and Steel. The good news is that the standard playing deck for poker is also known as "The French Pack" and was in use in France from the 1500s. So all that players disturbed by the nomenclature need do is change the name of the draw games and maybe a few terms, if they so desire*. 

* The Joker becomes The Excuse, or the Fool – and is still wild. Other cards change as follows: Roi (king), Dame (queen), Valet (jack). 
* Stakes can remain Stakes, or can become Penalty. They could also be called “Chelem” (Slam) – a term used in Tarot when someone takes every trick in a hand. 
* Five Card Stud can be called a Garde (the Guard). 
* Three Card Stud can be called a Prise (a take). 
* Seven Card Stud can be called a Garde contre le chien (a Guard against the kitty – fitting as players usually get stakes for such a hand). 
* A draw hand for an NPC can be called a Garde sans le chien (a Guard without the kitty – no automatic stakes). 

''(Note that these terms are being used horribly incorrectly – they are often Tarot terms stolen to make the poker resolution of Dust Devils sound more French, but the terms are not used this way in actual play, as Tarot is a very different game from Poker.)''