Catch a Wave Rules

This exciting card game can be found in some American casinos, but it isn't particularly widespread. Catch a Wave is usually played on blackjack tables in offline casinos. Indeed, this game slightly resembles blackjack.

Basic rules

The game uses eight 52-card decks; cards are assessed according to their face-value, with the Deuce being the lowest and the Ace the highest. Suits have no meaning.

The player makes a bet on one or several boxes and the dealer deals one card on each box bet upon and one for himself. All cards are dealt face-up.

The objective of the game is to be dealt as many cards as possible. The player takes a risk each time he is dealt another card, and has the option to stop taking cards at any point. Since original cards are dealt, the player can either stop taking cards or take one more card. If he chooses to be dealt another card, he has to indicate whether the new card will be higher or lower than the last card dealt to him. When the next card is dealt, if the player guessed incorrectly, he loses his bet. The bet is also lost if the two cards are of equal rank. If the player guessed correctly, he again makes the decision about whether to be dealt another card or not.

The player can continue taking cards until he has been dealt seven cards. Therefore, if he guesses correctly six times in a row, the game on the box is stopped. In this case, the player wins and his bet is paid 6:1. This is the maximum win in the game, and is called catching a wave.

If the player has stopped taking cards on his boxes with at least one bet remaining in the game, the dealer starts adding cards to his hand. If the dealer’s first card is a 7 or lower, the house assumes that the second card will be higher. If his card is an 8 or higher, the house makes the opposite assumption. The dealer deals himself a card and, if the assumption was wrong, the deal is stopped and the player’s remaining bets are paid 1:1. If the assumption is right, then the dealer is subject to the following rules:

• if the dealer’s last card is between a 5 and a 10, he stops taking cards
• if his last card is a 4 or lower, he assumes that the next card will be higher
• if his last card is a Jack or higher, he assumes that the next card will be lower

If the dealer makes an incorrect assumption at any point, the player’s bets are paid 1:1. Unlike the player, the dealer doesn’t stop after six correct assumptions, and continues taking cards. When he stops playing, the final results on boxes are determined. If the dealer has more cards than the player, the player loses his bet. If they have the same number of cards, the bet is returned to the player. If the player has more cards than the dealer, the player’s bet is paid proportionally to the difference. For example, if the player has five cards, and the dealer has two cards, the difference is 3 and the bet is paid 3:1.

Additional information

The player can play on up to four boxes. The minimum and maximum bets are indicated on the game table.

To make a bet, it is first necessary to choose a chip with the desired face-value. At the beginning of the game, this chip is chosen by default, and the chip with the minimum face-value fixes itself onto the cursor. If the player wants a chip with a different face-value, he can select it by clicking on that chip with the cursor. The player can also use the scroll wheel on his mouse to change the chip’s value. After the chip is selected, the player can place a bet by clicking the mouse on the desired part of the game table and his bet will appear there. Each subsequent click adds another chip of the selected face-value to the bet. If the player wants to remove the last chip from his bet, he can remove the chip fixed onto the cursor by clicking the cursor on any empty part of the game window and then clicking on this bet.

The "Clear" button can be pressed to remove all the bets from the table. If the player wishes to repeat his bets from the previous hand, he can press the "Rebet" button. The "Deal" button will begin the game after the bets have been made.

During the hand the player has three options:

• stop taking cards
• indicate that the next card will be higher than the previous one
• indicate that the next card will be lower than the previous one

These actions are performed by pressing either the "Stay" button, the "Hi" button or the "Low" button, respectively.

Cards are shuffled before every hand.