The Star Wars Outlaws Sabacc minigame is a complex and strategic card game where players can gamble and cheat their way to fortune. Sabacc tables and high rollers are found all over the galaxy in Star Wars Outlaws, and there are numerous rewards for winning games: credits, additional outfits, useful extras, and even reputation with certain factions. However, learning how to play Kessel Sabacc isn't easy, especially with "Imposter" and "Sylop" cards confusing matters. Still, if you want to know how to play Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws, we've got all the rules, cheats, nuances and strategies you need to know below. Oh - and let the wookiee win.
How to play Kessel Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws
To play Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws, players need to know the following rules:
- The way to win a round in Sabacc is to get the lowest pair of cards possible in three rounds.
- Example: At the end of a game, Kay has a pair of 2s, and Salacious Crumb has a pair of 4s. Kay has the better hand and wins the round.
- If you can't get a pair, the second best option is to have as small a difference as possible between the values of your cards.
- Example: At the end of another game, Kay has a pair of 3s, Skippy the Droid has a pair of 6s, Salacious Crumb has a 1 and a 3, and Albrekh has a 3 and a 4. Kay wins again - she has the lowest pair - while Skippy comes second, also having a pair. The third place goes to Albrekh though - the difference between his cards is only 1, while Crumb's difference is 2. Albrekh is effectively closer to a pair.
- You have three rounds per match to draw new cards from two decks.
- There's a yellow (Sand) and red (Blood) deck - your pair has to be formed of one card from each deck.
- After drawing a card, you must discard one, so you always have two cards in hand.
- Instead of drawing a random card from the two decks, you can take a card from the top of the discard piles instead.
- You add a coin to the pot every time you take a new card from any deck. You start with eight coins, so if you run out, you can't draw anymore.
- Of course, you can win your spent coins back if you win the match.
- If you run out of coins and lose the match, you're out of the game.
- The full game of Sabacc is won by the last player standing when all others have run out of coins.
That's a very basic explanation of the rules, but it covers the fundamentals. You're trying to win these little three-round matches to keep your coins, and the last man standing wins.
Star Wars Outlaws Sylop and Imposter cards in Sabacc explained
The two "wild cards" found in both decks are Sylop Cards and imposter cards, both of which can be randomly drawn from either Sabacc deck like any other cards.
- Sylop Cards are the best cards in Sabacc - they act as a mirror to your other card. So if you have a yellow Sylop and a red 1 when the game ends, you actually have a pair of 1s. If you have two Sylop cards, it's the best hand in Sabacc - there's no hand that can beat it.
- Example: At the end of a game, Kay has a Sylop and a 2, which is considered the same as a pair of 2s. However, Master Soon Bayts has a pair of Sylops - the best hand in the game. Nothing beats that.
- Imposter Cards are high-risk, high-reward. These cards have no value until the end of the game, whereupon you roll two dice when you reveal your hand. You may then assign the value of either die to the Imposter card.
- Example: At the end of a game, Kay has a 3 and an Imposter card. As she reveals her hand, she rolls two six-sided die, resulting in a 1 and a 3. She wisely chooses the 3 and assigns its value to the Imposter, meaning she ends the game with a pair of 3s.
Star Wars Outlaws Sabacc cheats
There are three cheats for Sabacc that players can find and equip in Star Wars Outlaws, one of which is accessible from the beginning, two of which have to be earned. We'll cover all the methods of cheating below.
- Use Nix to peek at an opponent's cards (default). Pressing up on the D-Pad during your turn allows you to send Nix to peek at all the other players' hands. You need to press Triangle / Y at the right moment to do so without being caught, and do so successfully each time. Keep in mind that you won't get up-to-date info if they draw and discard, so you'll have to send Nix out to cheat again.
- Magnetic Dice that control the outcome (learned from the Star Wars Outlaws Hotfixer). When rolling dice for Imposter Cards, press X/A when the moving bar is in the white section to control the result.
- Double Draw two cards on the sly (learned from the Star Wars Outlaws High Roller). When drawing from any deck, you can choose to Double Draw. You have to play a minigame where you keep an erratically-moving icon in the hot zone when the timer elapses. If you succeed, you take a second card and can use either one.
If you're caught cheating by failing any of the above challenges, other players start to get suspicious of Kay. If you're caught cheating three times, you'll be ejected from the table and won't be allowed to come back for a certain amount of time, forfeiting your buy-in in the process.
You can buy yourself one more attempt by pressing R3/Right Stick at the moment prompted, triggering the Star Wars Outlaws Fast Talk ability. This doesn't reset suspicion to zero - it simply gives you one more chance to get it right that game. If you screw up again, you're out.
Star Wars Outlaws Sabacc Tokens explained
Before playing Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws, players can choose up to three Tokens to bring in with them. These Tokens can be spent to trigger special abilities or modifiers on your turn, each one of which can be activated once per game.
Depending on the Token, these might do all manner of things - allow you to draw cards for free, force other players to discard their hand and draw a new one, allow you to take back some coins from the pot, or similar.
Sabacc Tokens are found all over Star Wars Outlaws, with no specific pattern beyond them being valuable rewards. Some are won at Sabacc tables, but others are found as Treasures in enemy outposts, as rewards for missions, or more besides. Intel found around the galaxy can lead you to finding more of them, so keep an ear to the ground.
Star Wars Outlaws Sabacc strategies
While general Star Wars Outlaws tips are helpful, here are some tips and tricks for playing Sabacc across the galaxy.
- Don't draw cards if you don't need to. If you have a good hand, just choose to stand. It costs coins to draw, and you're risking money for no reason.
- Double Draw early. If you've got the High Roller's double draw cheat, trigger it in round 1 so you can constantly have a second card up your sleeve. It gives you more options in what kind of hand you want to make.
- Nix + the Exhaustion Token is deadly. The exhaustion Token forces a player of your choice to discard their hand and get a new one. On turn 3, have Nix cheat and look at all the enemy hands, then use Exhaustion to force the best of them out. They don't have much time to fix it, and it'll probably end them.
- If you're confident, use Tokens to force a bigger pot. Certain Tokens force players to put more coins into the pot, even if they're not drawing. This can stop them from drawing cards if they run out of coins, but it's also smart to do this if you've got a great hand - it means it hurts them more if you win.
- Get Magnetic Dice ASAP. Magnetic Dice is the easiest cheat to pull off, and without it the Imposter Card is very high risk, arguably not worth picking up. This cheat is what turns it from a punishment into a reward.
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