Each system that is a signatory to the Interstellar Trade Treaty is required to maintain a starport within its space, and to provide at no cost within that zone adequate warehousing for goods and accomodation for travelers moving through the starport.

The local systems cover the costs of these facilities with the expectation that they will recover the costs through the benefits to their economy of the increased trade. Each system has devised its own means for raising the money to cover the cost of starport operations. Some systems raise the money through import and export duties, some raise the money through taxes on their citizens, and some raise the money through the licensing and operation of casinos in or near the starport zone.

Games offered generally fall into three broad categories: ante games, banking games, and scoring games. Ante games are played as a series of rounds in which each player antes a certain wager at the start of the round, and the pot is split among players at the end of the round based on the rules of the game (some games split the pot among multiple players based on the rules of the game). Banking games are played as a series of rounds, with each player having a turn to function as banker and indicate the size of bets he will cover; settlement is made witht he banker at the end of each round. Scoring games are played until a certain condition is met (such as a particular score being reached or a particular number of rounds being played); settlement is then made based on the difference between the winner's score and the losers' scores.

Most casinos cap a player's winnings from the house at 50,000 PlutoCrats per six-month period¹, but place no limit on a player's winnings from other players.

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Cribbage

This is a fast paced scoring game played by two to four players. A game ends when the first player reaches 121 points (even if in the middle of a round or if not all players have scored yet for the end of a round). Settlement ranges from 100 PlutoCrats per point to 1,000 PlutoCrats per point. A player buys into the game at game start by putting up a stake for 120 points (thus at 100 PlutoCrats a point a player must stake 12000 PlutoCrats). Upon making 61 points the player draws out PlutoCrats covering the points made so far, and continues to draw out PlutoCrats to cover points made. The player who first makes 121 receives the unclaimed portion of all other players stakes (players who fail to make at least 61 points lose their entire stakes). A player who leaves the game early loses the entire unclaimed portion of their stake.

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Poker Dice

This is an ante game. Each player contributes to the pot and the player who throws the highest poker hand on five dice wins the pot. Players may join the game or depart without penalty between rounds.

Progressive Poker Dice

This is a non-ante variation of Poker Dice. Each player throws to make the highest scoring poker hand on five dice. The player with the highest poker hand receives a progressive payout from each losing player based on a comparison of the relative strength of their hands. Players may join the game or depart between rounds without penalty.

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Qualification Dice

This is a banking game. Each round the bank rotates to the next player at the table. The bank states the maximum wager that will be covered for the round. Each player then places their wager and all players throw. The banker then sets the qualifying roll to be made, declares whether a high or low point wins, and declares whether the bank is standing on its first roll. Each player has two rolls to improve their hand; after all players have attempted to improve their hand the banker may optionally throw once to improve the bank's hand. Players who fail to beat the bank lose their wager to the bank; players who beat the bank win a payout based on the qualifying throw selected by the bank.

Progressive Qualification Dice

This is a very fast-paced scoring game variation of Qualification Dice. The game lasts for twelve rounds; in each round the players throw to make oone of the twelve qualifiers from Qualification Dice (beginning with the easiest qualifier in the first round and finishing with the hardest qualifer in the twelth round). The qualifying player with the highest point in each round receives points for the round; in the event of a push (tie) no player receives the points for the round. The winner is the player with the highest point total after the twelfth round, losers settle for between 100 and 1000 PlutoCrats per point (as agreed prior to the start of the game).

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1 A single day in the PlutoCrat world lasts approximately eight minutes in the real world; the 50,000 PlutoCrat limit is per 24 real world hours. 24 hour periods are currently measured from midnight MST.