S.D. Admin. R. 20:18:16:15.21 - The play High Card Flush

High Card Flush must be played according to the following rules:

(1) High Card Flush must be played on tables designated by the licensee for the play of High Card Flush. A single deck of cards must be used.

The rank of hands in High Card Flush, from highest to lowest, is ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an ace may be used to complete a straight flush or straight formed with a 2, 3, 4, and 5. All suits are considered equal in rank;

(2) Each player shall make an initial bet in the amount specified at the table by the retail licensee and shall place the bet in ante wagering area and, optionally the flush and straight flush wagering areas, not to exceed the posted table limits, in front of the player's position. The optional progressive bet is made on the sensor in front of the player's position. The flush, straight flush and progressive wager are placed to play for hand value only; the ante and odds bet are placed to play for hand value and against the dealer. All bets may be placed if the player wants to play all ways;

(3) Any dealer tip delivered as a wager may be placed on any one, or all, of the trips, pocket, ante, odds or raise bets, if the player has placed a personal wager on the same hand. If a player continues play with a raise wager, the dealer's tip ante may remain in play whether or not the player adds a raise wager for the dealer;

(4) Immediately before play begins and after each round of play has been completed, the dealer shall shuffle the cards. After all players have placed wagers, if the progressive is on the game, the dealer shall press the appropriate button on the keyboard. The sensors shall lock in the bet and light up, indicating a progressive wager. The dealer shall remove all progressive bets from the table. Otherwise, following shuffle and cut, the dealer deals seven cards to each player and to the dealer, face downward and one at a time in rotation among the players and the dealer. The first player to receive a card is the player to the left of the dealer; the dealer receives cards last or if a mechanical shuffling device is used, seven-card groups must be dispensed for every player, and the dealer is last;

(5) An incorrect number of cards dealt to a player or to the dealer is always a misdeal. An exposed card is not a misdeal. If the dealer exposes a card, the dealer turns the card over and continues dealing;

(6) Wagers are collected or paid in this order: raise, ante, flush and straight flush, if applicable. The optional progressive wager shall be collected before cards are dealt. The sensor shall stay lit during the round of play if a progressive wager was made and winning hands shall be paid at the completion of the round of play;

(7) Once a player looks at the players seven cards, the player must either fold the hand and surrender the players ante wager or place a raise wager equal to the ante wager, unless the players hand consists of five or more cards of the same suit. In that instance, a player with five suited cards may increase the raise wager up to double the players ante wager and a player with more than five suited cards (6 or 7) may increase the raise wager up to triple the players ante wager. If a player makes a raise bet, that player shall place an additional wager in the raise wagering area in front of the player's position and place the cards face down under the ante wager. Once a player makes a raise bet, the player is locked into the hand and must wait to see if the player beats the dealer's hand to be paid;

(8) If a player has placed an ante, flush or straight flush bet and does not wish to play, the player may fold and forfeit any or all bets. After each player who wishes to fold has folded, the dealer collects all bets and the cards from each player who folded. As the dealer collects the folded cards, the cards are spread face down to count the cards and then placed in the discard rack. If a player has a bet placed on the straight flush bonus, but decides to fold the players ante, the player is to take the cards with the straight flush and tuck them under the straight flush bet and discard the remaining.

(9) After each player has decided to play or fold, the dealer shall expose the dealer's seven cards and call out and show their highest flush that the players have to beat. Once the dealer has determined what the highest hand is, the dealer takes either of the following actions:

(a) If the dealers best possible flush is lower than a 3-card 9-high flush, the dealer shall, starting with the player farthest to the dealers right who has placed a raise wager and proceeding counter-clockwise around the table, pay each player even money on their ante wager and return each players raise wager and settle all other wagers in accordance with the posted paytables; or

(b) If the dealers best possible flush is a 3-card 9-high flush or higher, the dealer shall, starting with the player farthest to the dealers right who has placed a raise wager and proceeding counterclockwise around the table, turn the cards of each player who has placed a raise wager face up and announce the best possible flush hand that can be formed:

i. If the players hand is ranked lower than the dealers hand, the player shall lose and the dealer shall immediately collect any ante and raise wagers made by the player and place the wagers in the chip tray;

ii. If the players hand is ranked higher than the dealers hand, the player is paid even money on the players ante and raise wagers; or

iii. If the players hand and dealers hands tie, the ante and raise wagers push.

(10) For flush bets, if a player's hand contains a 4-card flush or better, the player wins, regardless of the dealer's hand. If the player's hand contains less than a 4-card flush, the player loses. The player is paid according to the following flush bonus paytables, which must be included as part of the table layout;

Flush Wager Paytable	HCF/F B	HCF/F B	HCF/F B	HCF/F B	HCF/F B	HCF/F B	HCF/F B
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
# of Flush Cards
7	300	100	200	300	200	500	400
6	100	20	20	75	60	50	60
5	10	10	10	5	12	12	12
4	1	2	2	2	1	1	1

a. All odds shown above are "to 1."

b. Only the highest qualifying hand is paid.

(11) For straight flush bets, if a player's hand contains a 3-card straight flush or better, the player wins, regardless of the dealer's hand. If the player's hand contains less than a 3-card straight flush, the player loses. The player is paid according to the following straight flush bonus paytables, which must be included as part of the table layout;

Paytable	HCF/SFB	HCF/SFB	HCF/SFB	HCF/SFB	HCF/SFB
# of Straight Flush Cards	1	2	3	4	6
7	8000	500	500	1000	500
6	1000	200	200	500	200
5	100	100	100	100	100
4	60	50	75	75	60
3	7	9	7	7	8

a. All odds shown above are "to 1."

b. An Ace may be used as either the lowest or highest rank of the suit.

c. Only the highest qualifying hand is paid. Should a player's seven-card hand consist of more than one Straight Flush, only the highest ranking Straight Flush will be paid.

(12) If the High Card Flush progressive wager is offered, a player has bet on the optional progressive wager, and the player's hand contains 3 or 4-card straight flush the player could win depending on the paytable the licensee chose, regardless of the dealer's hand. If the player's hand contains less than a 3-card straight flush the player loses. The player is paid according to the following payment schedule, which must be displayed on a table placard or video progressive sign:

Hand	Paytable 1	Paytable 2
7-Card Straight Flush	100%	100%
6-Card Straight Flush	10%	10%
5-Card Straight Flush	250	900
4-Card Straight Flush	40	50
3-Card Straight Flush	3	0
1-Card or 2-Card Straight Flush	0	0
Hand	Paytable 3	Paytable 4
7-Card Straight Flush or 9TJQKA Suited	100%	100%
6-Card Straight Flush or A23456-89TJQK Suited	10%	10%
5-Card Straight Flush	250	800
4-Card Straight Flush	40	50
3-Card Straight Flush	3	0
1-Card or 2-Card Straight Flush	0	0

The original progressive wager may not be returned to the player. The seed amounts adjust up or down accordingly with changes made to the wager amount:

For Progressive winners:

(a) The percentage pays are paid from the progressive jackpot shown on the progressive meter;

(b) Other hands are paid from the tray; these payments do not come off the meter;

(c) If there is a progressive winner, the dealer shall contact a supervisor;

(d) If more than one progressive hand payable from the progressive meter hits at the same table during the same time, house procedures are then followed for paying the prize; and

(e) After awarding the progressive winner, the meter may be reduced, depending on the winning hand. Awarding a 100% award will reset the meter to the seed amount, plus any reserve amount. The dealer continues handling progressive awards in a counter-clockwise fashion.

Notes

S.D. Admin. R. 20:18:16:15.21

43 SDR 131, effective 4/17/2017

General Authority: SDCL 42-7B-7.

Law Implemented: SDCL 42-7B-4(3), 42-7B-7, 42-7B-15.