CARD GAME

RULES
FOR A

STANDARD DECK

100+ Games with Variations

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Contents
Children’s/Family Games

Go Fish (2, 3-6) 5

Old Maid (2, 3–8, 9, 10) 5

Beggar the Neighbor (2) 5

War (2, 3, 4) 6

Trash (2-4, 5, 6) ) 7

Cuckoo (6+) 7

Crazy Eights (2-8) 8

Crates (2, 3, 4, 5) 9

Spoons (Crates Variant) (3-8) 10

Memory (2-8) 10

Quick Reaction Games

Snap (2-6) 11

Slapjack (2, 3, 4–10, 11, 12) 11

Egyptian Ratscrew (2-7) 12

Spit (2) 13

Spoons / Pig (4+) 14

Nertz (2–4, 5, 6, 8) 15

Kemps (4, 6, 8, 10) 16

James Bond (2, 3) 17

Bluffing Games

Cheat (2, 3–10) 17

Skull (3-6, 7-12) 17

Truc (2, 4) 18
Climbing Games
GOPS (2, 3) 19 In climbing games, each player in turn must play a
higher card (or combination of cards) than the
Climbing Games previous player. A player who cannot or does not
wish to beat the previous play can pass. This
President / Warlords and Scumbags (3, 4–7, 8, 9) 20 continues for as many rounds as necessary until
someone makes a play which no one will beat.
Big Two (2, 3, 4) 22 That player wins the "trick" and leads to another
one. Because players can pass, their cards are not
Fight the Landlord (3, 4) 25 used at an equal rate and some will run out before
others. Often the aim is to get rid of cards, but
Struggling Upstream (4-6) 26
sometimes it may be to win cards in "tricks".
Climbing games, like trick taking
Guan Dan (4) 28
games and beating games, must have a card
ranking order. Often higher cards beat lower ones
Tiến Lên (2, 3, 4) 30
irrespective of suit. Usually it is possible to play
Zhēng Fēn (3-6) ) 31 combinations as well as single cards, so these too
must be ranked.
Tichu (3, 4, 6, 5-12) 32 Climbing games are quite widespread in the orient,
especially China. Only in recent years have they
Haggis (2) 33 become known in the West.
In many games of this group a mock social status,
Fishing Games ranging (for example) from emperor to peasant, is
awarded to the players according to how well they
Scopa (2, 3, 4, 6) 34 do on a hand. This status is then perpetuated in
subsequent hands by making the losers give away
Scopone (4) 36 their best cards to the winners, as well as suffering
other indignities.
Escoba (2-4) 38

Casino (2-4) 39
Fishing Games
Zwicker (2, 3, 4) 41 In fishing games each player has a hand of cards and there is a
layout of face up cards on the table. Each player in turn plays a
Rummy Games card. If it matches a card or cards in the layout, the played card
and the matched cards are captured and placed face down in
Canasta (2, 3, 4) 45 front of the player. If the card played does not match it is
added to the layout.
Rummy (2-6) 51 In the Western style of fishing games, cards are only played
from the hand, not turned up from the stock. It is generally
Gin Rummy (2, 3, 4) 52 possible to use a card to capture several cards at once if the
ranks of the captured cards add up to that of the played card. A
500 Rummy (2-8) 53
great variety of these games in various forms are found
Hand and Foot (2, 3, 4-6) 55 throughout the world.

Marriage (2-5) 57

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 Machiavelli (2-5) 58

Kalooki (3-6, 7+) 58

Trick Taking Games

(Trick Taking Explained) 60

Whist (4) 62

German Whist (2) 62

Knock Out Whist (2-7) 63

Solo Whist (4) 64

Bridge (4) 65

Up and down the river (3, 4-6, 7) 71

Euchre (4, 6) 73

Five Hundred (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) 75

Hearts (3, 4, 5) 78

Gong Zhu (4, 5) 79

Spades (2, 3, 4, 6) 80

Pinochle (2, 3, 4) 83

All Fours (2, 3, 4) 90

Pitch (2, 3-6, 7) 92

Don / Phat (4) 94

Spoil Five / Twenty-Five (2, 3-9, 10) 96

3-2-5 (3) 97

Sergeant Major (3, 4) 98

Rook (4) 99

Piquet (2) 100

Skat (3, 4) 102

Sheepshead (3-5) 106

Écarté (2) 107

Rummy Games
Preferans (3, 4) 107 In this large group of draw and discard games, the
object is generally to improve one's hand by
Napoleon (2-4, 5, 6) 108 forming it into sets of matching cards (usually
groups of the same rank or sequences in a suit).
Mighty (3, 4, 5, 6-8) 110 The basic move is to draw one (or more) cards
from an undealt stock or from the (face up) discard
Barbu (4) 112 pile, possibly meld a set or sets, putting them face
up on the table, and then discard a card.
King (4) 114 Rummy games seem to be ultimately of Chinese
origin. Although they are now widepread
Schieber Jass (4, 6) 115 throughout the world, games of this sort were
unknown outside the orient until the twentieth
Klaverjassen (4) 118 century.
Klaberjass (2) 119

Schnapsen (2) 120 Trick Taking Games

Briscola (2-6) 121 This is the largest group of outplay games.

Normally, each player is dealt an equal number of
Briscola Chiamata (5, 6) 123 cards. A trick consists of each player in turn
playing one card face up to the table (a few games
Belote (4) 124 have multiple tricks where several cards may be
played at once). Playing the first card to a trick is
Coinche (4) 125 called leading. There is some rule to determine
which card wins the trick (for example the highest
Majorlet / Bezique (2) ) 127 card of the suit led). The cards played to the trick
are captured and generally placed face down in
Tarneeb (4) 129 front of the winner of the trick. Usually the winner
of a trick leads to the next. Knock Out Whist is a
Kaiser (4) 130 good introductory trick taking game.

Court Piece (4) 132

Ninety-Nine (2, 3, 4, 5) 133 Adding Games

WYSIWYG (2) 134 In adding games players play out cards in turn, and
the values of the cards are added together as they
Adding Games are played. The object is generally to reach or
avoid certain point totals.
Ninety-Eight / Ninety-Nine / One-Hundred (2-6 / 2, 3–7 / 3-10) 135

Cribbage (2, 3) 137

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Other Games

Palace (2, 3-5, 6-8) 139

Spite & Malice (2, 3, 4) 140

Fan Tan (3, 4-6, 7, 8) 141

Army Ants (2) 141

Mao (2, 3-8, 9-12) 142

Literature (6, 8) 144

Rolling Stones / Enflé (4-6) 145

Getaway (3-8) 146

Zetema (2) 147

Durak (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) 148

Golf (2-8) 151

King’s Corners (2, 3-5, 6) 155

Blitz / Scat / 31 (2, 3-9, 10-12) 156

Eleusis (3, 4-7) 157

Deduce or Die (3-6) 158

Cuttle (2) 160

Regicide (1, 2-4) 161

Solitaire

Solitaire (Klondike) (1) 162

Spider Solitaire (1) 162

Yukon (1) 162

Pyramid (1) 162

Free Cell (1) 163

Streets and Alleys (1) 163

Accordian (1) 163

Forty Thieves (1) 163

Clock Solitaire (1) 163

Devil's Grip (1) 164

Canfield (1) 164

Baker’s Dozen (1) 164

Seahaven Towers (1) 164

Aces Up (1) 164

Beleaguered Castle (1) 165

Tri-Peaks (1) 165

Calculation (1) 165

Bowling Solitaire (1) 165

Gridcannon (1) 166

The Bogey (1) 166

Scoundrel (1) 166

Mini Golf (1) 167

Card Capture (1) 167

Other Solitaires (1) 167

Recommendations 168

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 Go Fish 2, 3-6

Go Fish
This game is often just known as Fish, but the name "Fish" (or Canadian Fish or Australian Fish
Russian Fish) is also sometimes used for the more complex partnership
game Literature. Go Fish is best for 3-6 players, but it is possible for 2 to play. A Paul Gardner-Stephen reports that in Australia a variant is often played in which the
standard 52 card deck is used. The dealer deals 5 cards to each player (7 each for 2 object is to collect pairs. 7 cards are dealt to each player from a 52-card pack. The
players). The remaining cards are placed face down to form a stock. player with most pairs plays first. At your turn you ask for a card matching one you
have in your hand. All pairs must be put down as soon as they are obtained - you
The player to dealer's left starts. A turn consists of asking a specific player for a cannot hoard a pair in hand as a basis for asking for the other two matching cards. A
specific rank. For example, if it is my turn I might say: 'Mary, please give me your player who runs out of cards draws a new hand of 7 cards from the undealt stock.
jacks'. The player who asks must already hold at least one card of the requested rank, Play continues until everyone has run out of cards, and players score a point for each
so I must hold at least one jack to say this. If the player who was asked (Mary) has pair they have made.
cards of the named rank (jacks in this case), she must give all her cards of this rank to
the player who asked for them. That player then gets another turn and may again ask This game is sometimes played with special cards, and sometimes with a 54-card
any player for any rank already held by the asker. pack including two jokers, which act as normal cards forming a pair. Jonny Groves
describes a similar game played in the USA, and suggests that a pair of jokers should
If the person asked does not have any cards of the named rank, they say 'Go fish!'. be scored as 2 points rather than 1 since it is harder to make than other pairs. For
The asker must then draw the top card of the undealt stock. If the drawn card is the similar reasons, collecting two pairs of the same rank should score 3 points rather
rank asked for, the asker shows it and gets another turn. If the drawn card is not the than 2.
rank asked for, the asker keeps it, but the turn now passes to the next player to the
left. A variant Backstab Fish is played in Adelaide with 108 cards including four jokers.
There are 4-10 players, 7 cards each are dealt and the aim is to make sets of four
As soon as a player collects a book of 4 cards of the same rank, this must be shown equal cards, suits being ignored. At your turn you ask a specific player for a specific
and discarded face down. The game continues until either someone has no cards left number of cards of a rank of which you hold at least one: for example you could ask a
in their hand or the stock runs out. The winner is the player who then has the most player for three sixes if you hold a six. The player gives you the exact number of cards
books. you asked for, if she has them: if not - for example if she only has two sixes - you have
Variations of Go Fish to draw a card from the stock and the turn passes to the player you asked. In this
Some people play that rather than asking for a rank, you must ask for a specific card. game you are not required to lay down four of a kind. You can keep them as a basis
You must already hold at least one card of that rank. For example, you say: 'Tom, for asking for more cards of that rank, but if you do not put them down you may lose
please give me the seven of diamonds'. If Tom has it he gives it and you get another some or all of them if another player asks for them.
turn. If he doesn't, he says 'Go Fish!' and you draw from the stock. In the unlikely Omben / Minuman
event that you draw the seven of diamonds you get another turn; if you draw The Indonesian version of Go Fish is known as Omben in Javanese or Minuman in
anything the turn passes to the left. Indonesian, both names meaning "drink". It is said to be best for two players, each of
If you play this variation, you need to agree whether it is permissible to ask for a card whom begins with a hand of 4 or 5 cards (according to agreement) drawn from a 52
which you already hold in your hand. Obviously you'll have to fish and your turn will card pack. The players take turns to ask their opponent for a rank, such as 8 or king,
end, but you might do this deliberately to mislead the other players into thinking that and the opponent must give the asker all cards of that rank that he or she holds. If
you didn't hold that card. the opponent has no such card the asker must "drink" by drawing cards from the pile
Some people play that when the stock runs out, you carry on playing until all the of undealt cards: the asker continues to draw until he or she finds a card of the rank
cards have been made into books. Obviously after the stock has run out there is no that was asked for. Whenever a player has four of a kind in hand, it must be
'Go Fish!'. If the person you asked doesn't have the card asked for, the turn passes discarded face up. The winner is the first player to get rid of all their cards - it does
on. not matter how many or few sets they have made. If the stock runs out, the player
with fewer cards is the winner. Note that in this game the players ask alternately,
Some people play that when a player runs out of cards, the play does not end, but irrespective of whether the card asked for is found in the other player's hand or the
the player draws a new hand of 5 cards from the stock (or the whole stock if fewer draw pile.
than 5 cards remain there).
Authors
Some people play that after a player fishes unsuccessfully, the turn passes to player
who was asked and said "go fish" rather than to the next player player to the left. This is Go Fish without the stock pile. All the cards are dealt out as equally as possible
to the players. A turn consists of asking a player for a rank (or a specific card if you
There are various ways of scoring. For example, you may play a series of hands, play that version). If they have it your turn continues; if not the turn passes to the
scoring one point for each book you make. The game continues until someone wins next player player to the left. As in Go Fish, you must have a card of the rank you
by reaching an agreed target score - for example, 10 points. asked for. Books of 4 cards are discarded. The game continues until all the cards are
A few people score according to the cards in the books, for example 2-10 face value, formed into books, and whoever gets most books wins - or you can score one point
11 for jacks, 12 for queens, 13 for kings, 15 for aces. per book and play to a target score.
This game is called Authors in the USA, because it was originally played with special
educational cards showing pictures of famous authors.

Old Maid 2, 3–8, 9, 10

Introduction If you get rid of all your cards you are safe and you take no further part. The turn
This children's game is known by various names in many parts of the world, for passes to the next player to your left, who spreads his or her cards for the following
example it is Schwarzer Peter (Black Peter) in Germany, Vieux Garçon or Le player to draw one. Eventually all the cards will have been discarded except one
Pouilleux in France, Ekae in Thailand. queen (the old maid) and the holder of this queen loses.
Players and Cards Variations
It can be played by two or more players. From a standard 52 card pack remove one In some countries, where the game has a male name, such as Black Peter, it is a Jack
queen leaving 51 cards. It is also possible to play with a special pack - that is removed rather than a Queen, and the loser is the holder of the odd Jack at
see variations below. Deal and play are clockwise. the end.
Play It is also possible to play a reversed version of Old Maid. The mechanism of the game
is exactly the same, but when everyone else has run out of cards the holder of the
The dealer deals out all the cards to the players (generally some will have one more odd card (the last Queen or Jack or the Old Maid card) is the winner.
card than others - this does not matter). The players all look at their cards and discard
any pairs they have (a pair is two cards of equal rank, such as two sevens or two Old Maid is sometimes played with a special pack of cards: all the cards come in
kings). matching pairs except for a single Old Maid card, whose holder at the end is the
loser. Some German sets of Quartett cards come with a Black Peter card so that they
The dealer begins. At your turn you must offer your cards spread face down to the can also be used for this game. Several types of Old Maid cards can be obtained
player to your left. That player selects a card from your hand without seeing it, and individually or in collections of childrens' games from amazon.com, from whom I
adds it to her hand. If it makes a pair in her hand she discards the pair. The player receive a small commission on orders.
who just took a card then offers her hand to the next player to her left, and so on.

Beggar the Neighbour 2

This popular children's game is also sometimes known as Strip Jack Naked, Beat Your When the payment is complete (e.g. A has played a queen and B has played two
Neighbour Out Of Doors or Taxes. In Trinidad, Barbados and maybe other Caribbean ordinary cards on it), the person who played the pay card (A in this case) takes the
islands it is known as Suck the Well, and in French it is sometimes called Bataille whole face up pile and puts it face down underneath their own cards, and then
Corse (Corsican battle). Other names for it are Egyptian War or Egyptian Rat continues the game by playing their top card.
Killer and so on, but these names are more commonly used for a more elaborate It often happens that while paying for a card, you turn over a pay card yourself. When
version version of the game where the pile can also be won by slapping pairs of equal this happens the previous pay card is cancelled and your opponent now has to pay
cards - see the Egyptian Ratscrew page for details. for your new pay card.
Divide a standard pack of 52 cards roughly in half. Each of the two players holds their Example: A plays a queen; B plays a six and then a jack; A plays an ace; B plays
half face down. The players take turns to turn over their top card and play it face up 3,7,king; A plays 10,4,6. The king has been paid for so B takes the centre pile.
in the centre of the table, thus forming a pile. There are two kinds of card - the ace, The player who first runs out of cards loses.
king, queen and jack are pay cards and the 2-10 are ordinary cards.
There is no skill in this game (you just turn your top card when it is your turn) and the
Play continues alternately until a pay card appears. The opponent of the person who game can go on for a long time - possibly indefinitely. Richard P Mann has published a
played the pay card must pay for it by playing several times in succession. The page listing the longest known games.
payment rates are:
It is possible for more than two people to play. The cards are dealt as equally as
 4 ordinary cards for an ace possible (with three players one player will have an extra card) and players take turns
 3 ordinary cards for a king to play. When a pay card is played, the following player plays the required number of
 2 ordinary cards for a queen cards, stopping if another pay card is played, which the next person must pay for. The
direction of play in the Caribbean version "Suck the Well" is counter-clockwise, while
 1 ordinary card for a jack in Britain and North America the game is played clockwise

5
 War 2, 3, 4

Introduction opponent's face-up pile, then instead of playing it normally you can use it to steal
This is a children's game played in many parts of the world. No strategy is involved - that pile. You put your card face up on top of the pile your are stealing and then take
simply the ability to recognise which of two cards is higher in rank, and to follow the the whole of the stolen pile and place it on top of your own pile without changing the
procedure of the game. The standard two-player game is described first, then the order of the cards. You then look at the next card from your face down packet and
game for three or four players, a version in which captured cards can be stolen, a play it (or, in a game of more than 2 players, possibly steal another pile and play the
Russian version of it called Drunkard (P'yanitsa), and a German version Tod und next card).
Leben. If each player's card matches the top card of the other player's capture pile, they can
See also the War Variations page, for variations of War submitted by readers. both steal and the two capture piles are exchanged.
War for two players The three cards played face down during a war are not looked at and cannot be used
to steal an opponent's pile, but the following card can be used to steal instead of
In the basic game there are two players and you use a standard 52 card pack. Cards
competing to win the war if it matches an opponent's pile.
rank as usual from high to low: A K Q J T 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Suits are ignored in this game.
Once you have played a card and let go of it, you can no longer use it to steal an
Deal out all the cards, so that each player has 26. Players do not look at their cards,
opponent's pile. Sometimes players miss stealing opportunities accidentally, but you
but keep them in a packet face down. The object of the game is to win all the cards.
may deliberately choose to play your card rather than stealing with it. For example
Both players now turn their top card face up and put them on the table. Whoever you might prefer to use it to win a war rather than steal a small pile.
turned the higher card takes both cards and adds them (face down) to the bottom of
As soon as a player's packet of face down cards runs out, the player's face-up pile is
their packet. Then both players turn up their next card and so on.
turned over and shuffled to make a new face-down packet of cards to play from.
If the turned up cards are equal there is a war. The tied cards stay on the table and
A player who runs out of cards during a war loses immediately.
both players play the next card of their pile face down and then another card face-up.
Whoever has the higher of the new face-up cards wins the war and adds all six cards As the game was originally described, there is the possibility for a pile that was stolen
face-down to the bottom of their packet. If the new face-up cards are equal as well, to be stolen back immediately if both players draw a card the is equal to the top card
the war continues: each player puts another card face-down and one face-up. The of one of the stacks. This depends on the timing of the play. If A's face-up pile has a 9
war goes on like this as long as the face-up cards continue to be equal. As soon as on top and A and B both have 9's as their next play card, then B can steal A's pile and
they are different the player of the higher card wins all the cards in the war. A can steal it back, provided that B steals before A has played. If B waits until after A
has played the 9, then A can no longer use it to steal and the cards remain with B.
The game continues until one player has all the cards and wins. This can take a long
This is rather unsatisfactory, since in this situation A and B might wait indefinitely for
time.
the other to play first. The following rule is suggested as a solution: if you play a card
Most descriptions of War are not clear about what happens if a player runs out of that matches your own pile, it protects your pile from being stolen during that turn of
cards during a war. There are at least two possibilities: play. So in the example A can play the 9 normally and B cannot steal A's pile. B can
1. If you don't have enough cards to complete the war, you lose. If neither player only play the 9 normally for a war.
has enough cards, the one who runs out first loses. If both run out P'yanitsa (Drunkard)
simultaneously, it's a draw. Example: Players A and B both play sevens, so there
Leo Broukhis contributed this Russian version of War, which he says is mostly played
is a war. Each player plays a card face down, but this is player B's last card.
by kids in summer camps on a rainy day.
Player A wins, since player B does not have enough cards to fight the war.
Number of players:
2. If you run out of cards during a war, your last card is turned face up and is used
2, although 3 or 4 is not unheard of.
for all battles in that war. If this happens to both players in a war and their last
Deck:
cards are equal, the game is a draw. Example: Players A and B both play sevens,
36 cards - A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6 of each suit. It would be possible, but
so there is a war. Player A plays a card face down, but player B has only one
unusual, to use a 52 card deck.
card, so it must be played face up. It is a queen. Player A plays a card face up
Goal:
and it is also a queen, so the war must continue. Player B's queen stays (B's last
There are two versions: in one the aim is to avoid collecting all the cards;
card) while player A plays a card face down and one face up, which is a nine.
in the other it is the opposite - not to run out of cards
Player B wins the war and takes all these seven cards (the five cards that A
Deal:
played and the two cards that B played) and the game continues normally.
All the cards are dealt face down evenly to the players, who hold the
War for three or four players cards as packs, still face down.
War can also be played by three or more players in much the same way. Deal out as Course of play:
many as possible of the cards so that everyone has an equal number (17 for 3
The play consists of the number of tricks. Each trick is played as follows:
players, 13 for 4).
each player (in no particular order) turns the top card of their pack face
All players simultaneously turn over a card and the highest wins all the cards tuned up and places it on the table. Whoever has placed the highest rank card
up. If two or more players tie for highest there is a war - everyone plays their next wins the trick, collects the cards on the table, and puts them at the
card face-down and then turns up a third card. This continues until one of the face-up bottom of his pack face down in no particular order.
cards is higher than all the others, and then that player wins all the cards in a war.
The ranking of the cards is from ace (high) down to six (low), except that
Note that all players take part in a war, not only the ones who had the highest cards. a six beats an ace. In other words, if a six and an ace are played the six
A player who runs out of cards drops out. The game goes on until only one player has counts as the highest card and wins the trick, but if a six is played an no
cards, and that player wins. one played an ace the six counts as lowest. (If you played with 52 cards it
Variations would be the 2, not the 6, that would beat the ace.)
Many players play three face-down cards in a war rather than just one. When equal If there is a tie for highest then either:
cards are turned up the players play the next three cards from their pile face down,  everybody puts a new card face up on top of the card they played
sometimes saying "W - A - R" and then turning up the next card to decide which the previous trick, or
player wins all ten cards. Some say "I - de - clare - war" with the word "war" said as
the new face up card is played.
 everybody puts a new card face down on top of the card they
played the previous trick, then a card face up.
Some add two jokers to the pack, in which case they count as the highest cards,
It must be agreed beforehand which of these two methods will be used.
above the aces. Since the jokers are very powerful, some prefer to make sure that
In either case whoever plays the highest of the new face-up cards wins
both are not given to one player, but separate them from the pack before dividing it
the trick, or if there is a tie the process is repeated.
between the players and then burying one joker in each player's stack of cards.
End of the game:
In the Romanian variation Război, the number of cards played in a war is determined
by the value of the card that caused the war. For example if both players turn over In one version the loser is the player who is left with all the cards at the
sevens, the war consists of each player playing seven cards, the last of then face up to end. This is the drunkard ("had all the booze"). In the other version,
determine the winner. I am not sure how picture cards are treated in this version - whoever loses all their cards first loses and is the drunkard ("spent all
maybe they all have the value 10. If one player does not have enough cards for the the money").
war, all players play the same number of cards as the player who had fewest. If there Tod und Leben (Life and Death)
is a war and one of the participants has no cards at all to play, that player loses. Günther Senst played this simple variant as a child in Mecklenburg, Germany.
Many variations submitted by readers of this site will be found on the War  A 32-card pack is used, the cards ranking from high to low: A - K - Q - J - 10 - 9 - 8
Variations page of the Invented games section.
- 7. The suits have no significance.
Steal War  The cards are thoroughly shuffled and each of the two players receives 16 cards
This variation, reported by Gary Philippy and Hayes Ruberti, is a sort of hybrid of War face down.
and Stealing Bundles. The basis is a normal game of War, in which wars consist of  Both players simultaneously turn up their top card. The player with the higher
three cards played face down followed by one face up. The deck includes two jokers,
card takes the two-card trick.
which are the highest cards.
 If the players' cards are equal, each player simply turns the next card, so that
When cards are won, they are not added to the bottom of the winner's card supply
the trick consists of 4 cards. And so on.
but placed in a pile face up beside the player. Each player has a single face up pile.
Newly won cards are added to the top of the pile and the winner can choose which of  If the players' last cards are equal, they get one card each.
the new cards to place on top.  After both players have played all 16 cards, whoever has won more cards wins
As players take cards from the top of their face down packet to play, they look at the round.
them before playing them. If the rank of your card matches the top card of an  The game can continue for as many rounds as the players desire.

6
 Trash 2-4, 5, 6

Introduction currently contains a face up Jack can be placed in that location displacing the Jack,
This American children's game for two or more players is also sometimes known as which can then be moved to any other location with a face down card, displacing the
Garbage or Ten, but as both these names are also used for other card games, we call card that was there. A Jack might have been placed in the Two-slot, for example. If
it here by its commonest name Trash. the player draws or turns up a Two, the Jack can be moved to another slot and
become a Seven, for example, so that the Two card can now be played in the Two-
The aim is to be the first to complete a layout, initially of ten cards Ace to Ten, and slot.
although there are occasional decisions to be made it is essentially a game of pure
luck. It is very unlikely that the face down stock pile will run out before anyone completes
their layout, but it is theoretically possible if there are more than two players and the
Players and Cards draws are very unlucky. If this should happen, the cards of the discard pile, apart
2 players use a standard international 52 card deck. With more players, more decks from its top card which is left in place, are shuffled to make a new stock pile.
can be added to avoid running out of cards. For example 3 or 4 players can use 2 Subsequent Hands and Winning
decks shuffled together, 5 or 6 players use 3 decks and so on.
The winner of the hand is the first player to complete their layout by having an
During the game Aces count as one, cards 2 to 10 have their face values, Jacks are appropriate face-up card in each location.
wild, and Queens and Kings automatically end the player's turn.
The cards are then shuffled and redealt, but the winner of the hand has one fewer
The turn to play passes clockwise. card in their layout. After winning one hand a player only has locations A-9 and Tens
The Deal become unplayable for them. A player who has won twice only has locations A-8, and
The cards are shuffled and each player is dealt a layout of 10 face down cards in two so on.
rows of 5 in front of them. Players are not allowed to look at their cards. The winner of each hand plays first in the next hand.
The game continues until a player has only one location and wins the hand by filling it
with an Ace or Jack. This player wins the whole game.
Variations
For a shorter game, it can be agreed that the winner is the first to reduce their layout
The remaining deck is stacked face down in the middle to form a stock pile. to a particular number of locations, for example the first player to achieve a 6-card
layout wins.
The aim of the game is to be the first to fill your layout with face up cards from Ace to
Ten in the correct positions as indicated. Alternatively players may agree to play a fixed number of deals or for a fixed period
The Play of time, after which the player with the smallest layout wins.
The first player draws from the stock. If it’s a pip card A-10, the player places that Some play that the turn to play first in a hand rotates clockwise rather than passing
card in its correct location in the layout (the top left card is the 1=Ace position, etc.). to the winner of the previous hand.
To do this, the player must remove the face down card that is occupying that location
and turn it face up. This card, in turn, is placed in its appropriate location, if available, Some play with a different wild card - for example Kings are wild and Jacks and
displacing the face down card that was there. This continues until the player finds a Queens are unplayable. Some add Jokers as additional wild cards.
card that cannot be placed - a Queen or a King or a number card whose location is Some play with all picture cards wild. In that case the only unplayable cards are
already occupied by a face up card with that number. The player must then discard numbers that you already have on your layout or that are larger than the largest
the unplayable card, placing it face up on the table next to the stock pile to begin a numbered spot remaining on your layout.
discard pile, and the turn to play passes to the next player. Inge M reports two variants that give the loser(s) of a hand an extra chance to reduce
Subsequent players begin their turns by drawing either the top card of the face down their layouts:
stock pile or the top card of the discard pile (the card discarded by the previous a. At the end of a hand the player(s) other than the winner turn up the
player). In practice a player will always choose the top card of the discard player if it remaining face down cards in their layouts. If it turns out that a player
corresponds to an available location in their layout. They then place their card face happens to have all these cards already in their correct places then they
up in the correct location in their layout, if available, displacing the card that was also reduce their layout by one for the next deal.
there to its own location, and continue until they find an unplayable card, which they b. In addtion to the above, in a two-player game, at the end of a hand the
add to the top of the discard pile to end their turn. loser, before turning up their cards, has three "free" draws in which to
Since Jacks are wild, a Jack can be placed face up in any location containing a face attempt to complete their layout. It seems to me that this will result in a
down card, displacing the card that was there. Also a pip card whose correct location large number of deals where both players complete their layouts, but
maybe with some players this is the desired result.

Cuckoo 6+

Cuckoo is also known as Chase the Ace or sometimes Ranter Go Round in Britain. In Some also play with special rules about queens and jacks:
the USA it is sometimes called Screw Your Neighbor, though (confusingly) this name
is also sometimes used for other card games. Though related games are sometimes  If someone tries to trade with you and you have a queen they instead must
played with special cards, Cuckoo can be played with a standard 52 card pack. The trade their card with the person on their right. (If that person also has a queen,
direction of play differs in different countries - in what follows we assume clockwise. the player between the queens is not allowed to trade).
Each player starts with an equal number of lives, say 3, and each puts a stake in the  If you have a jack and someone tries to trade with you, you show them the jack
pot, which will be collected by the overall winner. Just one card is dealt to each and they are not allowed to trade. Trading continues with the person whose
player, and each player may look at their own card. The object is not to be left turn comes next.
holding the lowest card. Suits are irrelevant and the cards rank K (high), Q, J, 10, 9, 8, David Murphy reports another American variation in which if two or more players
7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low). have the same ranking card at the end, they are safe from losing a life. If they end up
Each player has one turn, beginning with the player to dealer's left, continuing lowest, the lowest unique rank loses. It is not quite clear what should happen in the
clockwise round the table and ending with the dealer. At your turn you may either rare case where no one has a unique rank - I suggest that it must be a draw, so that
keep your card or try to exchange it with your left hand neighbour, in the hope of no one loses a life on that hand.
getting a better card. Your neighbour must accept the exchange unless she has a king,
in which case she exposes the king and you keep your card. The dealer, whose turn
comes last, can try to exchange with a card cut from the undealt stock, but if the card
obtained is a king, the dealer must keep her original card.
After everyone has had a turn, everyone exposes their card and whoever has the
lowest card loses a life. If several players tie for lowest they all lose a life. Players who
have lost all their lives are out of the game, and the last person left in wins.
A problem occurs if both or all the remaining players have one life and they tie for
lowest card, so that they are all eliminated from the game. There are at least four
possible rules:
1. These players are declared joint winners and split the pot equally between
them.
2. These players keep their last lives and another deal is played between them.
3. The tieing players cut cards and the one who draws the highest card takes the
whole pot.
4. The game is declared undecided, and the pot is carried forward to the next
game, each player adding a new stake to it.
5. The game is declared undecided. The pot is carried forward to the next game,
but nothing is added to it.
I would be interested in comments on which of these methods is correct or preferred
- please let me know. Meanwhile, players should agree in advance how such
situations will be resolved.
P.J. Ackerson reports an American version of Screw Your Neighbor for 3-26 players in
which everyone starts with four lives, represented by four equal piles of money
placed in front of them. The last person left in wins all the money. There are three
possible rules on the way kings are used:
1. Some play that kings are traded like any other card and have no special effect.
2. Some play that anyone who is dealt a king must flip it face-up immediately after
the deal. If there are any kings in the deal then no one is allowed to trade and
whoever was dealt the lowest card(s) loses a life.
3. Kings get flipped over when someone tries to trade with one and no further
trading takes place on that deal.

7
8
 Crazy Eights 2-8

Introduction and Alternative Names Others require you to continue drawing until either you can play or the deck is
exhausted.
Crazy Eights is a game for two or more players, in which the object is to get rid of the
cards in your hand onto a discard pile by matching the number or suit of the previous Changing Suit
discard.
The special card that changes suit is nearly always the Eight, at least in places where
This game was a precursor to the commercial game UNO. the game is called Crazy Eights. In many countries and regions the equivalent game
goes by other names and a different card may be used to change suit - for example in
There is a huge number of variations of this game, and many alternative names. It is the British game Switch it is often the Ace, and some other variants use the Jack or
sometimes called Crates, Switch, Swedish Rummy, Last One or Rockaway. In the Seven.
Germany it is Mau-Mau; in Switzerland it is Tschausepp; in the Netherlands it
is Pesten. Some British players call it Black Jack, which is unfortunate as it can lead to Some play that you can only play an Eight that matches the previous card's suit or
confusion with the well-known American banking card game Blackjack. rank.
Basic Game Some play that you can play an Eight at any time but when playing an Eight you do
not nominate a suit. The next player must simply match the suit of the Eight you
The basic game of Crazy Eights uses a standard 52 card pack, or two such packs played or play another eight.
shuffled together if there are a lot of players. The dealer deals (singly) five cards to
each player (seven each if there are only two players). The remainder of the pack is One correspondent (Szu Kay Wong) gives the rule an Eight can be played on any card,
stacked face down on the table as a stock from which cards will be drawn. The top but the player can only nominate a different suit if the Eight matches the rank or suit
card of the stock is turned face up and placed beside the stock to start the discard of the previous card. Some players use jacks or aces rather than eights as the cards
pile. which have the power to change suit.
Starting with the player to dealer's left, and continuing clockwise, each player in turn Multiple Equal Cards
must either play a legal card face up on top of the discard pile, or draw a card from
the undealt stock. The following plays are legal. Some allow a player holding two or more equal ranked cards to play them all at once,
provided that the first of them is a legal play. If they are special cards all the special
1. If the top card of the discard pile is not an Eight, you may play any card which effects take place. For example if the top card of the play pile is the 5, the next
matches the rank or suit of the previous card (for example if the top card was
the king of hearts you could play any king or any heart). player could play 9, 9 and 9 in that order, and the next player would have
to play a 9 or a heart. If the equal cards are special cards all the special effects take
2. An Eight may be played on any card, and the player of the Eight must nominate place. For example if an Ace reverses direction, playing two Aces together will reverse
a suit. it twice, leaving the direction of play unchanged. If a Queen skips the next player, a
pair of Queens will skip two players (in a two-player game that would be your
3. If an Eight is on top of the pile, you must play either another Eight or any card of opponent's turn and your own next turn, leaving your opponent to play next). If a
the suit nominated by the person who played the Eight. Two requires the next player to pick up twos cards, a pair of Twos will require the
If an Eight is turned up by the dealer as the first card of the play pile, it is treated as next player to pick up 4 cards (or play another Two).
though the dealer had played it. The dealer looks at his or her hand and nominates a Last Card
suit, and the first player must play a card of that suit or another Eight.
Some groups have a special word that must be said by a player when they have just
A player who has only one card left in their hand must alert the other players by one card left. Failure to say this word can result in picking up more cards. On the
saying "last card". A player who fails to do this before the next player takes their turn other hand, some groups do not require a player with one card to warn the other
must draw two cards from the top of the stock as a penalty. players.
The first player who gets rid of all their cards wins, and the other players score End of Stock Pile
penalty points according to the cards they have left in their hands - 50 for an eight, 10
for a picture, and spot cards at face value (one point for an ace, two for a two and so When the stock pile is exhausted, the rules given in most books to not envisage
on). shuffling the play pile to make a new stock. Instead they specify that play continues
without drawing. A player who cannot or does not wish to play just passes. If all pass,
If the stock pile is exhausted, the played cards, except for the last card, are shuffled the game is blocked. Play stops and everyone scores for the cards remaining in their
and stacked face down to make a new stock and the game continues. hands. I think that in practice this version of the game is rarely played.
Special Cards
Crazy Eights Countdown
Apart from the Eights, usually there are other cards that have special effects when
played. Typical rules are as follows. This variant has become popular in North America. Each player begins the game with
a score of 8, and eight cards are dealt to each player. When a player gets rid of all
Skip their cards, this does not end the play. Instead, the player subtracts 1 from their
score, and is immediately dealt a new hand of cards equal in size to their new score.
When a Queen is played, the next player in rotation misses a turn, and The other players keep the cards that they have and the play continues. The winner
the turn passes to the following player. In a two-player game the of the game is the first player who reduces their score to zero.
opponent is skipped and the same player plays again.
Each player's current score determines the rank of the card that is wild for them. So
Reverse direction at the start of the game everyone has Eight as their wild card, and the game is like
When an Ace is played, the direction of play reverses, becoming normal Crazy Eights. But later in the game it is possible for each player to have their
anticlockwise if it had been clockwise, or vice versa. In a two-player own, different rank of wild card, which can be played on any card and allows the
game an Ace has no effect. player to nominate the suit to be played next. Each time a player runs out of cards,
their wild card changes, first from Eight to Seven, then Six and so on down to Ace.
Draw cards When a player with a score of 1 and Ace as wild card runs out of cards, their score
becomes 0 and they win the game.
When a Two is played the next player must either draw two cards or play
another Two (an Eight cannot be played in this case). If several Twos The changing wild card introduces several new situations and players need to agree
have been played by consecutive players, the next player must either how to resolve these. The following rules are suggested.
play another Two or draw two cards for each two in the sequence. The
penalty cards cannot be played in the same turn - after the penalty cards 1. When a wild card is played, the player nominates a suit. The next card played
have been drawn, the turn passes to the following player, who can must either be a card of that suit or the player's own wild card.
continue with any card of the same suit as the last Two, or another Two
or an Eight to change suit. o Example. My score is 6. I play the 6 and nominate hearts. If the next
player's score is 7 that player must either play a heart, or play a wild 7 to
If one of these special cards is turned up as the first card of the play pile, it is treated nominate a suit, or draw a card. The next player is not allowed to play (for
as though the dealer had played it. If the turned up card is an Ace, play begins example) the 6 even though the rank is the same as my wild Six.
anticlockwise and the player to dealer's right has the first turn. If the turned up card
is a Two the first player must play another Two or draw two cards. If the first card is a 2. When a player's wild card rank also has a special effect, the player nominates a
Queen, the first player is the the player two places to the left of the dealer. suit and the card also acts as a special effect card as follows.
If the last card played by the winner happens to be a special card, the special effect is o Wild / Skip. The next player is skipped and the following player must play
ignored. For example the card on top of the play pile is the 10 and the next the nominated suit or a wild card. For example, suppose that our house
player's only remaining card is the 2. The player plays the 2 and immediately rule is that 4 skips the next player, 4 is my wild card, and I play the 4
wins. The hands are scored as they are - no one has to draw cards as a result of the 2. nominating diamonds. The next player is skipped and the player after that
must play a diamond or one of their own wild cards.
Variations
Crazy Eights is one of the easiest games to modify by adding variations. In particular o Wild / Reverse. The direction is reversed and the next player in the new
the roles of the special cards are often changed, for example using a different card, direction must play the nominated suit or a wild card. For example,
such Jack instead of Queen to cause the next player to skip a turn, or Four instead of suppose that Aces reverse direction. We are playing clockwise and I play
Ace to reverse direction. Sometimes there will be additional special cards with other the A nominating spades. The direction reverses to anticlockwise and
effects - for example it may be agreed that the Queen of Spades requires the next the player to my right must play a spade or one of their own wild cards.
player to draw 5 cards. The result is that almost every group of players has their own
house rules, and it would be rare to find two groups that play exactly the same way. o Wild / Draw Two. The next player must either draw two cards or play a
Two of the nominated suit. For example, the players in order and their
Deal
scores are A(2), B(5), C(6). Player A plays the 2 nominating clubs. Now
The number of cards dealt to each player initially may vary. For example some begin B must either play the 2 or draw two cards. If B plays the 2, C must
with eight cards each.
either draw four cards or play any Two (since the 2 was not wild). If B
Drawing Cards draws 2 cards, C must play a club or a wild 6 or draw a card, since clubs
In the normal game, you may always use your turn to draw a card. However, some was the suit nominated by A. Another example: player A plays the wild
people play that you may only draw if you are unable to play - if you can play you 2 and nominates diamonds. Assuming that we are playing with a single
must. deck, player B is forced to draw two cards, and C will then have to play a
diamond or a wild card. Playing with a double deck, B's only legal play to
Some allow the drawn card to be played immediately if it is a legal play.
avoid drawing two cards would be the other 2.
Some allow more than one card to be drawn - either up to a fixed number of cards,
after which if you still cannot (or will not) play the turn passes to the next player. Here is a blog post and discussion about Crazy-8-Countdown describing a version in
which Jacks skip the next player, Twos make the next player draw two cards or play
another Two as usual, and the Queen of Spades makes the next player draw five

9
cards. Multiple cards of equal rank can be played together. No 'reverse direction' card If any player is deemed (by general consensus) to have broken any rule then they
is mentioned. As in normal Crazy Eights, when multiple cards are played in one turn must draw a card from the pack. Such a draw does NOT constitute a player's turn.
and some or all of them are special cards, the special effects apply even for cards that This standard penalty may only be incurred if the breaking of the rule is announced
are covered, but it is the last card played that has to be followed by the next player. within a reasonable time after the event.
Variant: Some groups allow a card of equal rank to be played on a wild card even if it Penalties may also apply for asking questions about rules, being too slow to play,
is not in the called suit. For example a wild 5 is played calling 'diamonds' but the falsly accusing someone of breaking a rule. However, if there are areas of a rule that
is genuinely not clearly defined, a timeout may be called to clarify this rule. If a
next player plays 5 instead of a diamond, even though 5 is not wild for them. This timeout is falsely called, the penalty will occure.
rule is the most frequent cause of arguments in this game so it is a good idea to agree
in advance whether your house rules allow this play or not. Examples of new rules can include playing runs of cards (like in Rummy), swapping
hands of cards when a certain card is played, swapping seats or making funny noises
Gordon Lancop's Crazy Eights Countdown app for Android features special cards for when a certain card is played, enforcing taboo words that must not be spoken (such
Skip, Reverse, Draw Two and Draw Five which can be configured according to the as “yes” and “no”), enforcing that everyone plays with non dominant hands, making
player's preference. cards be worth one more than their value, and making a player speak only in sets of
three words when a three is played until another three is played.
Bartok
Another extreme rule include adding an extra hand is dealt, face up, to a ghost player
Bartok plays similar to crazy eights, with the exception that new rules may be added called "Bill", who sits opposite the winner of the previous round, who is to be Bill's
to the game. After many rules are introduced, the game becomes very crazy. "caller". Bill has turns like any other player, but Bill's plays are decided by the caller. If
Bill has only one card left, then he automatically draws another card (for failing to say
In a standard game of Bartok, when a player has one card remaining, they must call Bartog), but the caller must make sure that Bill follows all the other rules. If Bill
out “Bartok”. Failure to do so will result in a penalty. breaks a rule, then the caller has to draw the penalty card.
A round ends when the winner is decided (either by conventionally shedding all Another extreme rule is to run parallel games. If numbers permit, two or more
cards, or by a new rule in place). The winner shall then invent a new rule which will separate games may be run, each with its own set of players and rules. Each game
come into effect in the next round. New rules may repeal or override older rules. acts as per usual for a single game, with one extra rule: On card player must swap
New rules must not be obviously biased towards or against any player. New rules places with a player of choice, in another game.
may not directly effect the creation or content of later rules. Other players may
express their dissatisfaction with any new rule, but so long as the rule meets the
previous guidelines, the winner's word is final. New rules are truly up to the
imagination of the winner.

Crates 2, 3, 4, 5
Crates is another variation of crazy eights played with a 52 deck that involves scores When a player plays a 5, each other player must draw a card. These cards must be
based on cards left in peoples hands (like in the traditional rules of UNO). Crates may drawn in order, in the current direction, to ensure that any pressure goes to the
be played with partnerships. correct player or partnership.
The Deal Scoring
A game of crates consists of 15 hands. In the first hand, each player is dealt 8 cards; in Upon the completion of a hand, the person who gets rid of their last card gets 0
the second hand, 7 cards, and so on until the eighth hand, in which each player is points. The remaining players then add points to their score based on the cards
dealt 1 card. On the next, ninth hand, each player is dealt 2 cards; on the tenth hand remaining in their hand according to the following point values:
3 cards, and so on until the fifteenth hand, in which each player is dealt 8 cards. Card Point Value
The deal begins with any player, and rotates to the left thereafter. When all cards Ace 1
have been dealt, the dealer places the deck of remaining cards on the table, turns up 2 20
the top card of the deck, and places it next to the deck, to start the discard pile. 3 3 (but see below)
The Goal 4 15
The goal of Crates is to win by being the player with the fewest total points 5 30
accumulated during the game. 6 30
The Play
General method of play 7 20
At any moment during the play, there is a current suit, a current rank, and a current 8 50
direction of play. The current suit is the suit of the top card of the discard pile unless 9 30
that card is an 8 or a 9, in which case the current suit is the suit chosen by the player 10 25
who played the 8 or 9. The current rank is always the rank of the top card of the Jack 10
discard pile. On each hand, the initial direction of play is clockwise. Queen 10
The card turned over by the dealer to create the discard pile is treated as if it had King 10
been played by the dealer in the ordinary course of play, except that, if it is an 8 or a At the end of the game (after 15 hands), the player with the lowest cumulative point
9, the dealer must choose a suit before examining his or her hand, and if the turned total is declared the winner.
card is a 9, the suit must be of the same color as the 9. Scoring threes
The general rule of play is that each player must play a card that matches the current A three left in the hand at the end of play scores 3 points, but it may also be used to
suit or the current rank, or play a wild card (an 8 or 9). The only exception to this rule cancel out another card in the player's hand. An eight may not, however, have its
occurs during a 2-sequence. When a player cannot play on the discard pile, that point value canceled.
player must draw one card from the deck, and play proceeds to the next player in the Example: In a hand containing A, 3, 3, 6, 7, 9, K, the threes may be used to cancel out
current direction. the point values of the 6 and 9 (as they're the highest scoring cards remaining), and
When a card is played, there may be some further action to be taken before the next therefore it counts 1 + 3 + 3 + 20 + 10, or 37 points. If a hand is left with only threes at
player's turn. See the table of card actions for the list of such actions. the end of play, each three instead counts -50 points.
When a player has exactly two cards, that player must say "one card" in a clearly Shuffle pressure
audible fashion when playing a card. This applies even if the card played is a 6, which If a player has to draw a card, but the stock is exhausted, they must then shuffle the
cannot actually leave the player with one card after the turn ends. If the player must cards remaining in the discard pile (except for the top card), and be subject to
make some other announcement (e.g., specify a suit for a wild card, or announce the a shuffle pressure penalty. The first shuffle pressure adds 5 points to the player's
total of a 2-sequence), "one card" must be said first. A player who fails to say "one score, and every shuffle pressure following doubles the score of the last one; for
card" when required to do so is penalized by having to draw two cards on his or her instance, the second shuffle pressure adds 10 points, the third 20 points, and so on.
next turn. If the player does not get another turn in the current hand, the penalty is The penalties for the shuffle pressures are independent for each player, and double
forgotten. throughout the game.
Ending a hand If a player has to draw a card, but there are no cards in the draw pile and no cards in
When one player no longer has any cards, the hand is over, unless a 2-sequence is in the play pile (except for the top card), then they get a shuffle pressure, and the round
progress, in which case the 2-sequence continues until it ends normally, at which ends immediately.
time the hand is over, even if every player now has cards.
The following table summarizes the effects of playing a given card on the play of the Variants
game:
 Short game: A short game of Craits only consists of the first eight hands,
starting with the eight-card deal and ending with the one-card deal.
Summary of card actions during play  If the direction of rotation in the previous hand finished as counter-clockwise
A: used in a 2-sequence upon the last card played, then both the progression of the dealer and the
2: start a 2-sequence direction of the deal may proceed to the right rather than to the left, resulting
3: none in a bizarre sequence of dealers. It is theoretically possible for a game to go
4: skip the next player through with only two players dealing at different times!
5: Cards for everyone  The kings and queens may be removed in a two-player or three-player game to
6: same player plays again; if the player can't play a card (or is left without a result in a greater risk of shuffle pressure.
card), they need to draw a card from the stock.  The "one card" rule also may apply in the hand in which one card is dealt; each
7: next player but one takes a card (if only two or three are playing, the next player must then say "one card" upon receiving their card from the dealer.
player takes a card from the stock before taking a turn).  Instead of drawing cards on their next turn, a penalty of one card from the
8: wild, and change to any suit stock may be drawn immediately by the player who failed to call "one card".
9: wild, and change to same-color suit  If a player goes out during "the count", and ends up drawing cards upon the
completion, play may continue for the hand.
10: reverse direction of play
J: none
 A three may cancel any other non-three card in the player's hand, including an
eight.
Q: none  There are many other scoring variants. The most common are punitive scoring
K: none rules, where threes can't cover aces or threes either, and if you have extra
2-sequence: threes that can't cover anything, they are worth 100 points each (if you have
When a player plays a 2, it starts a "2-sequence", known by some players as "the only threes, they are still worth -50 each.)
count". Thereafter, each player must play an A or 2, of any suit. When one player  Going out on a hand is worth -10 points.
cannot do so, that player must draw a number of cards equal to the total number of
pips played in the 2-sequence. The 2-sequence is then over, and the next player plays
following number or suit, as usual. Note that this applies even if the player has gone
out during the 2-sequence, so a player may have to draw cards after going out.
Cards for everyone:

10
 who played the final King, depending on the direction of play. Anyone who plays out
Spoons (Crates Variant) 3-8 of turn should be razzed.
Queen
When played, this reverses the direction of play. The correct phrase to say is
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE REAL-TIME GAME OF THE SAME NAME. "Switchback". Anyone who plays out of turn (for example, the player to the left after
Spoons is a hilarious card game of the Eights group, closely related to Craits yet much play has shifted to the right) should be razzed.
more physically active. Television and card game trivia buffs might be interested to Jack
know there was a "Mork and Mindy" card game published back when the show was When played, the player (and everyone else) has to yell "Spoons!" and grab for a
popular, the rules of which were almost directly copied from Spoons. spoon. Since there is one fewer spoon than the number of people, someone ends up
Principles of the Game without one. That person has to say the interjection phrase and draw two, or else be
The objective of Spoons is to get rid of all your cards before anyone else. To keep this razzed. If someone grabs more than one spoon, they (not the spoonless ones) are the
from being too easy, there are a number of rules to remember, violation of which ones who have to draw. In cases where two players have grabbed the same spoon,
always results in the same penalty (draw a card). the one who has a hold closer to the end of the handle wins. Brute force
The Deck - It is best to use a pack of 104 should never prevail, as this often leads to disputes.
Number of Players - From three to eight may play. Ten
The Spoons - For a group of N players, there should be N-1 spoons. They should be A person who plays a ten has to play again. The name of this card is "Repeat!" As in a
piled in the center of the table, where any player can reach them. For safety's sake, normal turn, the player must either draw or play another card -- which can also be a
do not attempt to use any other utensils (forks, knives, grapefruit spoons) in this ten! This is a sneaky way to win a game, holding onto three or four tens then going
game. out in a big burst, but beware -- the more you hold in your hand, the more it will
Razzing count against you if someone else goes out first (explained in the scoring section).
Rule violations are pointed out (literally) by "razzing". Any and all players who Also, your final card cannot be a ten -- if you play a ten then have no more cards, you
recognize the violation have to point at the perpetrator and make a certain noise -- then cannot play again so must draw!
the preferred sound is "ZZZZT!" or "ERRRR!", perhaps best described as the sound Eight
one hears on game shows when a question is answered incorrectly or time runs out. Eights are wild. They can change the suit of the discard pile to any suit; upon playing
Players who can't make this noise can use one of their own, for example, an eight, one must announce the name of the suit, as in "Spades!" Failing to
"dingdingdingdingding!" announce this is, as usual, punishable by razzing.
The razzed player has to draw a card. When doing this, he or she must say some Deuce
interjection agreed upon at the start of the hand (this can change from hand to hand Starts "the Count". When a two is played, this changes the nature of discarding. The
as well). Generally, this is a polite, yet humorous interjection, such as: "Curses, foiled player announces "Two!", and the following players have to either play an ace
again!", "Oy, Vey!", "Great Caesar's Ghost!", "Oh, woe is me!", or "Bummer!" If the (counting it as 1) or a two, and announce the total of all the twos and aces played in
razzed player doesn't say this exact phrase, he or she gets razzed again! the count so far. The first player who cannot play a two or an ace has to draw as
There is a statute of limitations on razzing, however. If the error is not pointed out many cards as have been counted out (after, of course, saying the appropriate
before two other players have completed their plays (either drawing or discarding), interjection phrase, on penalty of being razzed).
the rule bender gets away with it -- and, in fact, can razz anyone who razzes them! For example, player A plays "two!" Player B drops an ace on the pile (any suit) and
The Deal announces "three!" Player C drops a two on the pile and says "five!" Player D has no
First dealer is determined randomly; in subsequent hands, the deal passes to the left. aces or twos, and so says "Oy, Vey!" (or the appropriate interjection) and draws five
The number of cards the dealer gives out depends on the number of players: for cards. Play continues with the person following Player D.
three or four, deal seven each; for five or six, six each; and for seven or eight, five "The Count" can get pretty vicious if you have a crowd that likes to hang on to their
each. The remainder of the cards are placed in the center of the table, forming a aces and twos just in case of just such an emergency. The theoretical maximum
stock. The top card of the stock is turned over to begin the discard pile. Whatever anyone could ever have to draw is 24 cards, but this would surely be a rare case.
powers the turn-up has are deemed to originate from the dealer (e.g. if the dealer Usually it is anywhere from two to six.
turns up a King, he or she determines who is affected by it). The dealer must If anyone gets down to one card during "the Count", they must announce it after
announce the "name" of the card (explained below) as they turn it over, or else get their play. If anyone goes out of cards during "the Count", the game continues until
razzed. someone is unable to play a deuce or an ace, and draws their cards. There is the
The Play possibility that someone will go out, play will continue around the table, and they
Unless a Queen was turned up, the game starts off with the person on the dealer's (with no cards, unable to play a two or ace) will be the ones having to draw! If, after
left and proceeds clockwise. In their turn, players must either draw a card or play a the Count victim has drawn his or her cards, one or more players are still out of cards,
card from their hand face up onto the top of the discard pile. To discard, the card the one who went out first is the winner; the others each have to draw a single card
played must match the top card of the discard pile in either suit or rank (if the top off the discard pile, saying the appropriate interjection.
card is a 5 of spades, for example, a spade or a five can be played). Upon discarding, Ace
the player must say the "name" of the card, or else get razzed. If you have a card you An ace has no particular powers, but does have two different ways of being
can play, you do not have to play it -- but if you do not play, you must draw (drawing announced. In regular play, it is called "Ace"; in "the Count", it is called by whatever
a card of your own free will is not the same as being razzed; you do not have to say total it brings the count up to.
the agreed-upon interjection. Anyone who razzes you for not saying the phrase after When the Stock is Exhausted
you draw freely can be razzed!) If you can play the card you drew immediately, you The player whose turn it is must take all the cards under the top discard (which
may; otherwise, play passes on to the next person. remains the same) and shuffle them, placing them back on the table to form a new
When a person gets down to one card, they have to announce "one card!", or else stock.
get razzed. Holding your cards to prevent others from seeing how many you have is Scoring
not only unethical, it is punishable by razzing as well. Whoever has went out scores zero for that round. Everyone else scores points for the
When a person discards his or her last card, they have to be careful to announce the cards remaining in their hand according to the following schedule:
"name" of that card as well -- otherwise, they'll be razzed and just have to draw 30 points: each 10 or 8
another! 20 points: each K, Q, or J
Names and Powers of Cards 10 points: each A or 2
Except for cards with special powers, all cards are "named" according to their rank, 5 points: each of the remaining ("powerless") cards.
regardless of suit. For example, on playing a six of spades, one has to say "Six!" The This game is played to different endpoints. Typically, game ends when someone
following cards, however, have special powers. reaches 500 points. This is not a tight rule, however; some groups who play this can
King reach 500 in just two or three hands, especially when they're learning the game
When a player plays a King, he or she must select an opponent and say, "Draw two, (being "razzed", blasting each other with Kings, hoarding aces and twos to drive up
(opponent's name)!" The opponent can then either: the count). On the other hand, more efficient players, especially a smaller group, may
1. Say the interjection phrase and draw two cards (or else be razzed in need only play to 200 or so.
addition to their troubles), OR Variations
2. Play a King from their hand on the discard pile immediately -- returning The use of objects other than spoons: Spoons are not available everywhere (riding
the attack onto the attacker, at one card higher than before. The the bus, goofing off in the office, visiting a bachelor's apartment), so a variety of
opponent should say "Draw three, (attacker)!" substitutions have been used over the years. Acceptable substitutions should be
The original attacker then has the same options above -- either drawing three cards, small enough to grasp in one hand easily, sturdy, and have no sharp edges or points.
or playing another King and increasing the count to "Draw four, (opponent)!" This Here are some examples of acceptable and unacceptable spoon-substitutes.
back- and-forth can continue until one side or the other runs out of Kings, up to a Acceptable:
theoretical, final maximum of "Draw NINE, (attacker)!" (Both should have run out of Stones, bottle caps, empty aluminum cans, chess pieces, poker chips, large coins...
Kings by then; if not, someone's cheating). Unacceptable:
Regardless of whose turn it was at the beginning of the Trump War (as this is called), Marbles (they roll away and get lost), drinking glasses (they shatter), valuable items
normal play is considered to start again from either the left or right of the person such as rings (they always get lost), edible items (always having to be replaced)...

Memory 2-8

Introduction and take another turn. If they do not match, you turn them face down, without
This simple and popular memory game is also known as Concentration or Memory. changing their position in the layout, and it is the next player's turn.
In Japan it is called Shinkei-suijaku. In Britain it is called Pelmanism after Christopher When playing with an ordinary 52-card pack, cards "match" if they have the same
Louis Pelman, who founded the "Pelman Institute for the Scientific Development of denomination - a six matches a six, a king matches a king and so on. Suits are ignored.
Mind, Memory and Personality" in London in 1899. Play continues until all the cards from the layout have been taken as matched pairs.
Players and Cards Scoring
Two or more people can play. A standard Anglo-American 52-card pack can be used, Each player scores one point for each pair taken. The player with most points is the
or any other kind of cards, provided that the backs are indistinguishable and the faces winner - if two or more tie for most points they all win.
can be matched up in pairs or quartets.
Variations
Preparation
Some special packs for this game have only two identical cards of each type, making
The cards are thoroughly mixed and spread face down on the playing surface - table it harder to match cards at the beginning. Since the game in any case becomes easier
or floor. The cards should not overlap, and can be arranged in a regular pattern or the fewer cards that remain in the layout, it seems preferable to reduce this effect by
spread irregularly as desired. having four of each card, so that the first card of a new type has three possible
Play pairings rather than just one. But those who prefer to play with just two cards of each
Players take turns to play. At your turn you turn face up two cards of your choice type using a standard pack can agree that cards only match if they are of the same
from the layout. If they match, you take these two cards, store them in front of you, denomination and the same colour.

11
12
Snap 2-6

Introduction two consecutive cards match, any player who notices this may call
Snap is a very simple children's game for two or more players played in Britain, North "snap" and the first player who calls wins the centre pile and adds it to
America and perhaps other countries. It is a rare example of a card game of almost their own cards face down. A player who calls "snap" incorrectly must
pure skill, the skills required being accurate observation and quick reactions. give the top card of their pile, face down, to the player of the card for
which they wrongly called "snap". As usual, players who tun out of cards
Snap seems to have first appeared towards the end of the 19th century, perhaps drop out of the game and the last player holding cards is the winner.
originating as a simplified but in some ways more exciting version of Snip Snap
Snorum. If two or more players call "snap" simultaneously, the central pile is
moved aside to become a "snap pool". Subsequently, if the top card of
Players and Cards the centre pile matches a snap pool, the first player who calls "snap
Snap is suitable for from two to about six players: with more than six it becomes pool" wins the snap pool pile.
unwieldy. A standard 52-card pack is used. Suits do not matter, only the ranks A, 2, 3, Simultaneous calls
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K. Some people prefer to play with special cards: any pack
consiting of a reasonable number of sets of identical or matching cards is suitable. Some play that if two or more players shout snap at exactly the same
Various designs of Snap cards are available from amazon.com: time, the matching piles are combined into a single pile, which forms an
additional snap pool, placed in the centre of the table. If two or more
Deal and Play people call "snap pool" at the same time, the player pile that matches
Anyone may deal. The cards are shuffled and dealt out to the players as equally as the snap pool in question is added to it.
possible. Players do not look at their cards but keep them in a face down stack in Alternatively, problems with simultaneous calls can be solved by having
front of them. an object in the middle of the table, which is to be grabbed by anyone
The player to dealer's left begins and the turn to play passes clockwise. At your turn calling snap. If several people try to put their hands on the object. the
you simply turn the top card of your face-down pile and place it face-up alongside. In one whose hand is underneath, inm contact with the object, is clearly
this way each player forms a pile of face-up cards beside their face-down pile. If at the first.
any moment two of the face-up piles have matching cards at the top (for example In single pile snap, the players may be required to slap the centre pile
two sixes or two kings), anyone who notices this shouts "snap!". The first person who when calling snap. When several do this, the player whose hand is
shouted "snap!" takes both matching face-up piles and adds them face-down to the underneath gets the pile. The game then becomes rather similar to Slap
bottom of their face-down pile. The game then continues as before, beginning with Jack.
the player to the left of the last one who turned a card.
Only owners of equal cards may snap
If you have no face-down cards left when it comes to your turn, you simply turn over
your face-up pile to make a new face-down pile and turn over the top card as before. In the game in which each player has their own pile, some play that only
If you have no cards left at all, you are out of the game. The last player in is the the owners of the matching cards are allowed to call snap, and the first
winner. to do so wins both piles.
When turning up cards, you are not allowed to peek at your card before the other Animals
players can see it. To ensure this, cards should be turned over facing away from the In this variant of Snap, which is suitable for about four to eight players, each player
player, so that if it is turned too slowly the turning player will see it last. chooses a different animal at the start of the game. The dealer deals the cards to the
If a player shouts "snap" in error, when there is no match, that player's face-up pile is players face up, one card to each player in turn, forming a face up pile in front of each
taken away and put in the centre of the table, where it becoms a snap pool. If this player. When the top cards of two piles match, the owners of those two piles must
happens several times there can be several snap pools. If the top card of any player's call the name of the other player's animal. The first to do so correctly wins the other
pile matches the top card of one of the snap pools, the first player who calls "snap player's pile and places it under their own. The winner is the player who has most
pool" takes both piles. cards when the deck runs out.
Variations Some play this with animal noises rather than animals. Some play that when claiming
a match you have to say the name of the noise made by the other player's animal,
Single Pile rather than making the noise. For example if your pile matches the cat's pile, you
Very young children may play a version where players turn over their have to say the word "meow", not making a meowing sound
cards onto a single pile in the centre of the table. In this version, when

Slapjack 2, 3, 4–10, 11, 12

There are at least two versions of Slapjack. Both the versions I know involve slapping Irish Snap
cards.
This British game was described to me Osiris Atom-Ra under the name Slapjack,
 In Slapjack, only jacks are slapped, the first slapper collects the cards, and the though it is more commonly known as Irish Snap.
aim is to collect cards. This game can be played by any number of players - but is best for 4-8 players. The
 In the Irish Snap, cards are slapped when they match a called card, the slowest aim is to lose all your cards.
slapper collects the cards, and the aim is to get rid of cards. A normal pack of 52 cards is dealt clockwise face down to all players. The players are
not allowed to look at their cards.
Both versions are played with a standard 52-card pack and can be played by any
reasonable number of players from 2 upwards. They are probably best for about 4-10 The dealer starts by placing their top card in the centre of the playing area, revealing
players. the face of the card at the same time (as you do in snap). (See Slapjack above for
suggestions on how to do this fairly.) As the card is being put down the dealer shouts
Slapjack 'Ace'.
Divide the pack roughly equally between the players. Everyone holds their cards as a
face down pile. Going around the table clockwise, each player paces the top card of Play then moves clockwise and the next player puts their card down on top of the
their pile face up in the centre of the table, making a face-up pile. When someone first card and shouts 'Two'. The next player puts theirs down on the centre pile and
plays a jack, the first player to slap it - i.e. put their hand palm down on top of the shouts 'Three' and the next player does the same and shouts 'Four' etc... After 'Ten',
centre pile - wins the centre pile and adds these cards face down to the bottom of 'Jack', 'Queen', 'King', the calls continue with 'Ace', 'Two' and so on.
their own pile. Play then continues starting with the player to the left of the one who If it so happens that the card you put down matches the card value you shout out
won the cards. then you and all the other players must "slap" the pile by putting one hand on the
pile of cards, palm downwards. The last player to do so - the player whose hand is on
When playing a card you must not peek at it in advance; you must turn it over so that top - must pick up the entire heap of played cards from the centre and add it face
everyone sees it at once. It is best if the card is moved to the centre of the table face
down and then turned "away from" the player (so that if anything the others will see down to the bottom of their own pile of cards. Play begins again with the player
it a split second before the player). immediately to the left of the player who picked up (play starts again with the player
shouting 'Ace').
If several people slap, the person whose hand is underneath (i.e. in contact with the
card) is the winner of the cards. A referee might be needed if you are very This continues until there is only one person with cards to put down. That person is
competitive about this. the loser.

If a player slaps a card that is not a jack, the player who slapped has to give the top Note: if someone puts their hand on the pile and the face value and the value
card of their own pile face down to the person who played the card that they wrongly shouted don't match, then they must pick up the entire heap.
slapped. That person adds it to the bottom of their own pile. Variation
If you run out of cards you no longer play a card when it is your turn, obviously. You Trevor Redmond reports a variation of this game in which the aim is to find a winner,
are still entitled to take part in the slapping of the next jack and if you win you are rather than a loser. In order to win, you have to play all your cards and then slap the
back in the game. If someone else wins, or if you meanwhile slap a card that is not a pile one more time at the next legal opportunity. If, having run out of cards, you are
jack, you are out of the game. the last to slap, or if you slap when you should not, you have to pick up the pile as
usual and the game continues.
When one player has all the cards, that player wins. If you wish, you can play with the
time limit, and if no one collects all the cards before then, the person holding most
cards when the time limit is reached is the winner.

13
Egyptian Ratscrew 2–7

Introduction
Egyptian Ratscrew is an unusual, extremely fast-paced game vaguely reminiscent of
slapjack, spit, speed, stress, nurse, etc. for two or more players. It can get pretty hot.
- which will result in you instantly winning the game. But beware of slapping triple
Anyone can play, but to be good requires quick thinking, fast reflexes, and tough
sixes -
hands.

Equipment
You will need:
- which results in everyone losing, and mandates that the deck be completely burned
A standard deck of 52 cards by midnight and that no one else can play Ratscrew until the next day. This isn't
A sturdy playing surface superstition, this is pyromania.
For added confusion, you may also slap four-in-a-row such as
Lighter fluid or other fire starter.
Matches

Basic Play or even sequences that go around the corner such as

The deal: First shuffle the deck seven times. This is because there is some
mathematical folklore to the effect that this is a good way to ensure a totally
randomized deck (I thought it was six but a couple alert players told me otherwise).
Then divide the deck into approximately equal stacks, one for each player. When this for which you may pick up the pile and continue play as for pairs.
is done, each player may grab a stack, with the dealer taking the remaining stack. Note: if a player slaps incorrectly (whether accidentally or intentionally), the player
Each player should hold their stack face down in one hand without looking at its who most recently played a card picks up the pile and continues play, unless a player
contents. slaps his own card, in which case the player before him picks up the pile and plays.
The goal: The goal is to get all the cards. Then you win. For instance, if a pair occurs, and a player plays a card on top of it before another
The play: Assuming players have situated themselves in some orderly fashion, the player manages to slap the pair, and instead slaps something that is not a pair -
player to the left of the dealer plays her top card face up on the playing surface
where everyone can reach it. Note that cards must be played such that the player
cannot see it before the other players and have an unfair advantage. The wise players
also takes care to take their hand off of a played card as quickly as possible to avoid - then the player who played the 3 in this case would get to pick up the pile. Also note
injury and let play continue quickly and smoothly. that if someone who is not in the game slaps something that is not a pair, triple, or a
If the card played is a number card (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, or 10), the next player clockwise run, they are ignored and play continues as usual.
plays a card on top of the previously played cards and play continues around the
table until a letter card (ace, king, queen, or jack) is played. Depending on the letter
card played, the next player has a fixed number of chances to play another letter Miscellaneous Rules And Notes
card. For an ace, there are four chances, three for a king, two for a queen, and one If a player picks up cards they didn't win and this is noticed before he puts them
for a jack. If the player fails to play a face card, the previous player (the one who on the bottom of his deck, he has to return them. Shame on him for trying to cheat.
played the face card) picks up the pile and places it on the bottom of her stack and
play begins again with her. Otherwise, play continues with the next player. Here are If this is noticed after he puts them in his deck but before play goes around the
some example sequences: table once, he must split his deck in half and let the cheated player take his choice.
Shame on him for cheating.
If this goes unnoticed before play goes around once, the cards are rightfully his.
Good going!
Now the next player must play up to two cards: If a player incorrectly slaps more than five consecutive cards, they are out of the
game. This is to prevent excessive stalling when a player only has a few cards left.
Players should make all reasonable effort to keep cards in the order played when
picking up piles.
Now the player who played the queen takes the deck and continues play.
If a player reveals their next card before it is their turn to play, they must set it
aside face up where other players can slap it. When it is time to play the card, any
player can then place it on the pile. If the card is then "slappable," then it can be
The next player has three chances... considered already played and players can attempt to slap it without moving it to the
pile. This rule is extended to multiple cards.
If a player plays a card accidently, it is ignored and set aside as above even in the
case where it would otherwise be slappable.
...and he plays a face card after two. The following player now has four chances... It is perfectly legal to drop a card in order to slap the pile. If it is revealed in the
process, it is treated as above.
If a player "hovers over the pile" in preparation to slap, it is fair to slap their hand
down on the pile. This is then treated as though they slapped the pile accidentally.
...and she manages to play a jack. The next player has but one chance: If you play with someone else's cards it is considered courteous to warn them that
there is an outside chance you may be required to burn them.
If the game is played with jokers (intentionally or accidentally), jokers can always
be slapped.
...and fails. The player of the jack picks up the pile and continues play.
If you are statistically-minded, some effective strategies might present
themselves. A good memory will always beat a fast hand.
Slapping
(the fun part) If the game is completely out of control and no one seems to be playing any cards
Occassionally in play, people (not limited to current players!) can try to "slap" the below a nine, you may be using a pinochle deck.
pile. This can be an actual slap, a subtle tap, a quick sweep, or even a full-force There's probably stuff I've forgotten to put here, but that doesn't mean it's not a
hammer-fist(keep in mind that payback is fair). For instance, if the two top-most rule. I'm not just making this up, really. Check the notes page below for variations.
cards form a pair -

SLAP RULES SUMMARY

Double – When two cards of equivalent value are laid down consecutively. Ex: 5, 5
- then anyone may attempt to be the first to slap the pile. Whoever slaps the pile first Sandwich – When two cards of equivalent value are laid down consecutively, but
picks it up and restarts play. If they were not previously in the game, they now enter with one card of different value between them. Ex: 5, 7, 5
the game and determine their position in the order of play. Sometimes it may be Top Bottom – When the same card as the first card of the set is laid down.
difficult to determine who slapped the pile first, as there may be tangled fingers, a Tens – When two cards played consecutively (or with a letter card in between) add
broken table, or sometimes blood(players may consider instituting a "no rings" up to 10. For this rule, an ace counts as one. Ex: 3, 7 or A, K, 9
policy). If an impartial judge is not available, play should continue as though the pair Jokers – When jokers are used in the game, which should be determined before
did not occur. game play begins. Anytime someone lays down a joker, the pile can be slapped.
Other "slappable" combinations include triples (only occurring when people fail to Four in a row – When four cards with values in consistent ascending or descending
slap pairs) - order is placed. Ex: 5, 6, 7, 8 or Q, K, A, 2
Marriage – When a queen is placed over or under a king. Ex: Q, K or K,Q
Triples – When three cards of equivalent value are laid consecutively. Ex: 5, 5, 5. This
only occurs when people fail to slap pairs, and the player will immediately win.

14
 Spit 2

Introduction  the play becomes blocked when both players run out of spit cards, but both
Spit and Speed are games for two players in which the aim is to get rid of your cards players still have cards in their stock piles.
as fast possible. The players do not take turns - physical speed and alertness are In either of these cases, both players choose a spit pile by slapping it with their hand -
required to play faster than your opponent. On each deal, by being first to play all normally both players will try to slap whichever pile they think is smaller. If the two
your stock pile cards you can reduce the number of cards you have in the next deal. players choose different piles, each player takes the pile they chose; if both choose
By being successful for several deals you can eventually get rid of all your cards, the same pile, the player who gets there first (i.e. whose hand is underneath) takes
thereby winning the game. the chosen pile and the other player takes the other pile. Both players add any spit
The difference between Spit and Speed is in the arrangement of the stock piles. cards and stock cards remaining on their side to the spit pile they took, shuffle their
In Spit, which will be described first, each player has a row of stock piles, usually five, cards well, and deal new layouts as before from the cards they have. One player will
each with the top card face up. In Speed, described at the end of the page, each probably have more spit cards left in in their face down pile than the other. When
player has a single face down stock pile and a hand of five cards. ready, both players shout "spit" and play continues as before.

The name Spit or Speed is also sometimes used for the game which on this website is If one player has fewer than 15 cards, that player will not be able to deal a complete
called California Speed, in which the players race to get rid of their cards by covering set of stock piles. In this case the player deals the cards into five stock piles as far as
pairs of equal cards in a layout. they will go, and turns over the top card of each. However, such a player can no
longer spit, so there will only be one spit pile, started by the other player.
Players and Cards
End of the game
Two players only, using a regular 52 card deck. (the older the better, because the
cards get abused!!). Shuffle well and divide the cards equally - 26 to each player. When playing with only one spit pile, the first player to get rid of their stock cards
does not take any cards from the centre; the other player takes the single spit pile
The Layout and the unplayed stock pile cards. When playing with only one spit pile, if the player
with no spit cards in hand also gets rid of their layout cards first, then that player has
Each player now deals a layout consisting of five stock piles in a row. The first stock no cards left at all and has won the game.
pile has 1 card, the second 2 ... the fifth 5. Deal these piles face down and then turn
the top card of each stock pile face up (or deal them that way in the first place). That Variations
leaves a pile of 11 cards in each player's hand, where they must stay! These are
the spit cards, and the players should not look at them. Stock pile layout

The Play Some people play with only four stock piles - containing one, two, three and four
cards.
After both players acknowledge readiness, both shout "spit" while turning over the
top card in their hand (their first spit card). These two cards are placed side by side Some people deal eleven cards to the centre stock pile, and the other four have just
between the players' stock piles. These two cards and the cards that will be played on one card each.
top of them are the spit piles. The full layout should now look something like this: In David Shapp's version, the procedure for dealing a new layout is different. The
player who first gets rid of all of their stock pile cards has a free choice of which spit
pile to take. There is no slapping - the player will simply take the pile they judge to be
smaller. The other player then takes the other (probably larger) spit pile and their
remaining stock cards and both players deal a new layout. When the play is blocked
and neither player can any spit cards, but both players have stock cards, then the
player with fewer stock cards remaining has first choice of spit pile. From the
feedback I have received, the alternative version in which the spit piles are chosen by
slapping is more widespread.
Rules for playing on Spit piles
Some play that the cards played on the spit piles must alternate in colour (i.e. on a
black 5 you can only play a red 6 or a red 4).
Some play that if on your stock piles you have two cards of equal rank showing (such
as two nines), you can move one of these cards on top of the other, thereby exposing
a face-down card that can be turned face up, or creating a space.
Speed - version with five-card hands
The players now play simultaneously as fast as they want. The object is to get rid of
all the cards in your stock piles onto the spit piles. Using only one hand, and In the variation usually known as Speed, each player has a hand of five cards, held
moving only one card at a time, you can either: concealed from the other player, and a single face down stockpile. You play cards
from your hand to the face up spit piles, and whenever you play a card from your
1. play the face up card from the top of one of your stock piles onto either spit hand you can draw one from your stock pile, so that you keep five cards in your hand.
pile. To play a card on a spit pile it has to be next in sequence up or down. Suit In this version the face-down spit cards are kept either side of the face-up spit piles.
and color do not matter. Cards can turn the corner - for example on an ace you
can play a two or a king; To begin, you deal face down in the centre two piles of ten spit cards with two single
cards between them, and a stock pile of 15 cards in front of each player, so that the
2. if one (or more) of your stock piles has its top card face-down, turn the top card layout is like this:
of such a pile face-up;
3. move a face up card from the top of a stock pile into an empty stock pile space if
there is one - note that you can never have have more than five stock piles. 15 cards
Example: In the diagram, player A can play the ace or the three, and then turn up the
next card in that stock pile. Playing the 3 is inadvisable as it would allow player B to
play the 4. Player B can play the 8 and then it is a race as to whether B manages to
play the 9 before A can play 7.
10 1 card 1 card 10 cards
A card counts as played as soon as it touches the pile or space onto which it is to be cards
placed. A played card cannot be retracted and as soon as it is played the opponent is
entitled to play on it.
If a position is reached where neither player can play (i.e. none of the exposed stock
pile cards can be played to either of the spit piles and it is not possible to turn up
another stockpile card after moving cards into spaces if necessary) then both players 15 cards
shout "spit" again, and each turns up their next spit card and places it on top of the
spit pile they started. Play then continues as before.
If neither player can play and one player has no spit cards left, then the other player (Some play with 20 cards in each stock instead of 15 and just 5 cards in the piles at
spits alone on only one spit pile. The player can choose either pile, but having chosen, each end of the centre row instead of 10.)
must continue to spit on that pile whenever no play is possible until one player runs
out of stock cards. Each player draws a five card hand from the top of their 15 card stock, and when they
are ready the two single cards are simultaneously flipped face up. Both players then
New Layout play from their 5 card hands to the two centre piles - either the next higher or the
next lower card in rank. If you run out of plays but have fewer than 5 cards in hand,
A new layout is dealt when either draw the cards from your stock to replenish your hand to 5 cards, and continue
 one of the players manages to get rid of all their stock pile cards, or playing any cards you can.

15
When neither player can play, though both have 5 cards in hand, a new spit card is When your stock runs out you continue to play from your hand without replenishing
simultaneously flipped from each end pile of the centre row onto the two centre it. When your hand runs out as well, you have won the deal; you score one point for
piles. If the reserves of spit cards in these end piles run out, shuffle all the cards each card in your opponent's hand and stockpile. The first player whose score
except the top one from each of the two centre piles and place them face down on reaches or exceeds an agreed amount (for example 25 points) wins the game.
either side of the centre cards to form new reserves.

Spoons / Pig 4+

Introduction the circle of players and the cards are dealt and played the same way as in Pig - the
game can be played either with a stock or without a stock.
These are very simple and enjoyable games for a large number of players. Up to 13
can take part using a standard 52 card pack; more if two or more packs are used. The A player who collects four of a kind takes one of the spoons. As soon as a spoon has
players sit in a circle, and are dealt four cards each. The object is to collect four cards been taken, all the other players are entitled to take a spoon each, even if they do
of the same rank, by passing cards one at a time to your left-hand neighbour while not have four of a kind. Since there is one spoon fewer than the number of players,
receiving cards from the player to your right. one player will be left without a spoon. This player is the loser of this deal.
There are two different ways of playing: with or without a stock pile. There are also A series of deals can be played in which the loser, or a player who has lost three
two different ways to end each hand: in Pig the players touch their noses, while times, is eliminated from the game. Each time a player is eliminated you must
in Spoons they grab a token from a central stock which contains one fewer token remove one spoon from the game; if playing without a stock you also remove one set
than there are players. of four equal cards from the pack.
Normally the loser of each hand loses a life, though in some versions they are There are more dangerous versions of this game known as Forks and Knives, using
eliminated immediately. In the versions with lives, each life lost gives the player a those utensils instead of spoons.
letter of a word, and players drop out when they complete the word. The word
usually corresponds to the name of the game, so in Pig, each player has three lives Vatra and Magarac
while in Donkey they have six. Vatra (Fire) and Magarac (Jackass) are versions of Pig without a stock that are played
Pig with no stock pile in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The basic game is similar to the game above, except that
players pass cards in turn rather than simultaneously. There is also a somewhat more
This version of the game requires four cards of one rank for each person playing. For challenging variant that is played an extra "travelling card".
example, with seven players you could use all the aces, kings, queens, jacks, tens,
nines and eights from a standard pack (28 cards). With four you could just use the The basic game is for 3 to 13 players using a deck of 4 cards of the same rank for each
aces, kings, queens and jacks (16 cards). The cards are shuffled and dealt out to the player: for example 4 players will use 16 cards, and you would use the full 52 card
players so that everyone has four cards. deck for 13 players. The players sit in a circle and the randomly chosen dealer shuffles
and deals all the cards, clockwise one at a time, so that each player has four. Player to
All players simultaneously place one unwanted card face down to their left, and then the left of the dealer begins the game by passing one card to the left. Each player in
pick up the card that the player to their right has placed. Then they do the same clockwise order, after receiving a card from the right, checks to see whether he has
again, and continue until someone collects four of a kind. There are no turns - the four-of-a-kind, and if not passes one card to the left. Any card may be passed,
passing happens as fast as the players wish, but during the play cards must only be including the card the player just received. So the player to dealer's left has four cards
passed one at a time, and you must never have more than four cards in your hand at during his turn and three cards otherwise, while the other players have five cards
one time, so you are not allowed to pick up a new card from your right-hand during their turn and four cards otherwise. he then must choose one of his cards and
neighbour until you have reduced your cards to three by discarding one to your left. pass it to the player on his left, face down.
If you manage to collect four of a kind you do not say anything. Instead you quietly A player who has four-of-a-kind may inmmediately anounce it by laying or slamming
touch the end of your nose with your index finger, and stay in that position. As soon his hand (meaning both the cards and the hand holding them) onto the playing
as one player touches his or her nose, all the other players may do the same, even if surface and yelling "Vatra!" ("Fire!"). Once this has happened, all other players must
they do not have four of a kind themselves. The last player to touch his or her nose do the same thing as soon as they can: the last player to do this is the loser of the
loses. It is surprising how players will sometimes continue to study their cards for hand. Note that a player must put his hand down and yell "Fire!" to be safe from
quite a long time, not noticing that everyone else is touching their noses. losing, doing just one thing but not the other doesn't count. The loser of the hand is
punished as described below, and the turn to deal passes to the left.
Many play that the loser now drops out of the game, and the next deal is played with
one fewer player - of course four cards of one rank must be removed from the pack The Travelling Card
each time a player drops out. When there are only two players left, they are the joint
winners. The travelling card is an extra card that is added to the deck. Usually it is the 7 of
diamonds but if the four sevens are in play some other odd card can be used, for
For a longer game, you can give everyone three lives. Players only drop out when example a joker. The deal will now end with the player to dealer's left, who will have
they have lost three times. The lives can be represented by letters of the word PIG: five cards at the start. Before play begins, the holder of the travelling card must turn
the first time you lose you get a 'P', the second time an 'I', and the third time a 'G', it around so all the other players can see it and know where it started. The travelling
and you drop out. Some play that it is illegal to talk to a PIG - that is, someone who card is then turned back facing its owner, who then shuffles his cards under the table
has lost three lives. Anyone who does so becomes a PIG themselves. This gives the or behind his back.
players who have been knocked out something to do - they can distract the surviving
players and try to persude them to talk to them. As in the basic game, the player to dealer's left begins. Playera will have four cards
except during their turn, after receiving a card and before passing one on, when they
In Australia the game is sometimes called Hog rather than Pig. The loser of each deal will have five. When a card is passed, the player to whom it is given can refuse it,
is the Pig, and a player who has been a Pig three times becomes a Hog and drops out provided that he has not yet seen what it is: the player to his right must in that case
of the game. pass a different card, which cannot be refused.
Pig with a stock pile If a player manages to complete a four-of-a-kind, but his fifth card is the travelling
card, then that player cannot yell "Fire!" and win. Instead he must pass a card. If he
This version is played with a full pack of 52 cards, or more than one pack if there are succeeds in passing the travelling card (either immediately or after his first offer is
more than 12 players. Four cards are dealt to each player and the remaining stock of refused), keeping only his four-of-a-kind, he can then yell "Fire!" and win.
undealt cards is placed to the right of the dealer.
Punishment
The game is played in the same way as the version without a stock, described above,
except that the dealer draws cards from the stock, and the player to dealer's right The two versions of the game, Vatra and Magarac, differ according to how the loser
placed unwanted cards face down on a discard pile. The rule that you can never hold is punished.
more than four cards at a time still holds, and you can only discard and draw one card
at a time. The dealer can discard cards and draw replacements from the stock as fast In Magarac, the loser of each hand gets one letter of the word Magarac (which
as he or she likes. The other players are restricted only by the speed at which the means Jackass, which conveniently also has 7 letters). The game continues until a
player before them passes on cards. When the stock is exhausted the discard pile is player has lost 7 times, spelling out the whole word. This player loses the whole game
used as a new stock. and is mockingly called jackass by other players.

The object of the game is the same as in the game without a stock - to collect four of Vatra uses a more authentic form of punishment, but is usually only played by young
a kind. The first player to collect four of a kind touches his or her nose, and the other boys. One of the players gathers up the cards and shuffles them and another player,
players then do the same, the last to do so being the loser. There is a slight advantage usually the winner of the hand, is chosen to issue the punishment. The loser names
in dealing in this version of the game, since as dealer you don't have to wait for your one of the cards in the deck (other than the travelling card), stating its rank and suit,
right-hand neighbour to discard. Therefore it is usually agreed that the winner of and also chooses whether to begin from the top or the bottom of the deck. The
each hand (the first to collect four of a kind) deals the next. player who shuffled takes cards one by one from the top or bottom as specified by
the loser and shows them, continuing until the card selected by the loser appears.
As in the game without a stock, the loser may be eliminated from the game; Meanwhile the loser places his hand palm down on the table. Each card that appears,
alternatively the loser may lose a life, players who lose three lives being eliminated. It up to and excluding the named card, results in a punishment according to its suit:
is not necessary to adjust the deck as players leave the game, and it is possible to
play for a single winner, who is the first to collect four of a kind when only two  Spade - The punisher hits the loser's hand with his fist, like a hammer. (The
players remain. punisher should not hit with his knuckles, because there is then a risk of
breaking bones).
Variations  Club - The punisher runs his knuckles over the loser's hand twice in the shape of
Some players deal five cards each rather than four. The cards are still a cross.
passed one at a time and the aim is to collect four of a kind among your  Diamond - The punisher twists the skin on the back of the loser's hand.
five cards. Others deal only three cards each, and the aim is then to  Heart - The punisher pats the loser's hand as one would pat a dog or a cat.
collect three of a kind.
When the loser's card comes up, his punishment is over and the new hand is dealt.
Spoons
For this game, in addition to cards and people, you need a collection of spoons, with
one fewer spoon than the number of players. The spoons are placed in the centre of

16
Some Tips  If you are the winner or punisher, do not be too agressive: players who hit the
If you have good reflexes, keep your eyes and ears open for a player yelling "Fire!" losing player really hard usually get hit hard themselves in return when they
and react quickly enough you will never lose, but there are plenty of other things you lose.
can do to improve your chances. Other variations and web pages
 To maximise your prospects of collecting four-of-a-kind, never pass a card that's Tongues is a variant where instead of touching ones nose or grabbing spoons, one
part of a pair unless your other 3 cards are a three-of-a-kind. must stick out their tongue. This is a more subtle sign than touching ones nose.
 Observe whether the player to your left keeps the card you give him or passes it The French equivalent of Spoons known as Bouchon (meaning cork) is played with
on. You will then know whether he wants the cards of that rank or not. corks. The loser of each hand gets a letter of the word B-O-U-C-H-O-N, so you are not
 In a 3 or 4 player game it is possible to collect one card of each rank, making it eliminated until you have lost six times.
impossible for other players to win.
 If playing with a travelling card, watch your opponents closely, and you may be In Australia, Donkey is a game similar to Spoons played without a stock but with 5-
card hands, so that a player who has 4-of a kind can continue playing after
able to guess from their behaviour where the travelling card is.
surreptitiously claiming a token. As you would expect, the loser of each hand gets a
 When playing with a travelling card, sometimes it is worth refusing the first card letter of the word D-O-N-K-E-Y. It is described on Adrian Morgan's Donkey page.
you are offered if you know the travelling card is not to your right. This may
force your right-hand opponent to give you a card that he wanted to keep. The Romanian version Popa Prostul is played without a stock pile but with an extra
 If you lose when playing Vatra, it is worth watching carefully as the cards are card, a joker called Popa Prostul. The dealer begins with five cards of which he
gathered and shuffled: you might be able to estimate the position of a certain immediately discards one to the left, and the other players with four each.
card. Do not choose a heart, since the card you choose does not cause a Subsequently players must not hold more than four cards - they must always discard
punishment, and so you would as many as possible of the cards before your one to the left before picking up the one passed from their right. A player who picks
card to be hearts. up the joker must keep it for one turn, passing a different card, before passing the
joker on after picking up the next card. A player who has four of a kind puts his cards
face down after which everyone does the same, the last to do so being the loser.

within your own tableau and into the common area. You cannot touch another
Nertz 2–4, 5, 6, 8 player's tableau or take cards out of the common area.
If two or more players try to play to the same foundation at the same time, the first
Introduction played card (generally the one which ends up lowest in the heap) stays there, and all
The game of Nerts is also known as Nertz, Pounce, Racing other players must return the equivalent cards they had just tried to play on that
Demon, Peanuts, Squeal or Scrooge. It is a competitive patience game for two or same foundation pile to their previous positions. If there is a tie which cannot be
more players, using a pack of cards for each player (or team). The players race to get resolved, both cards stay.
rid of the cards from their "Nerts piles" (also known as "Pounce piles", etc. - You are never forced to play a card if it isn't in your best interest - you can always
depending on what you call the game) by building them from the ace up onto wait.
common foundations.
Work piles
Players and cards
A player's four work piles begin with one card each. Work piles are built in
There can be two or more players. It is a very good two-player game, a fun game for descending order, alternating color, overlapping the cards. Thus a red six is placed on
three or four. With five people playing as individuals it begins to get out of hand but a black seven, a black ten on a red jack, and so on. You can move any card in one of
with an even number of players from six upwards you can play a partnership version; your work piles onto another of your own work piles if it fits, and any cards on top of
partners sit next to each other and share a pack. the card are moved go with it. When a space results, it may be filled by a card from
Each player or team needs a standard 52-card pack - the cards ranking A(low) 2 3 4 5 your Nerts pile, your waste pile or another work pile. The exposed cards of each of
6 7 8 9 10 J Q K(high). Each deck must have a different back design. There is the four work piles (i.e. the lowest ranked cards of each pile) are available to be
a variation in which two jokers are added to each deck. played onto the foundations.

Initial setup If one of your work piles is empty, you are allowed to save time by placing a card
underneath a pile if it ranks one higher than the bottom card and is opposite in
Each player deals a Nerts pile (Pounce pile) of thirteen cards in one pile, twelve cards colour. For example, if you have a work pile headed by a red jack, and another work
face down and the thirteenth face up on top. Next to this pile, each player deals four pile with nothing in it, and the top card of your Nerts pile is a black queen, it is
cards face-up, side by side and not overlapping, to begin four work piles. The permissible to take the black queen and slide it under the red jack, rather than first
remainder of each player's cards are held face-down as a stock; these cards will be putting the black queen in the space and then moving the whole work pile headed by
turned three at a time onto a face up stack, forming the player's waste pile. the red jack on top of it.
Players need to arrange themselves and their tableaus in a triangle, box, circle, etc. Nerts / Pounce pile
around a common area that all players can access easily. The common area is where
the foundations will be placed and built on. Cards from the top of your Nerts pile can be played onto empty spaces in your work
piles. If they fit, they can also be played onto one of your existing work piles, or they
The layout of a game of Nerts / Pounce in progress looks something like this: can be played directly onto a foundation. When you have played the top card of your
Nerts pile you can turn the next card of the pile face up. When your Nerts pile
becomes empty, you are entitled to call "Nerts!" ("Pounce!"), though you need not
do so immediately.
Foundations
Foundations piles are built in the common area. They are always begun with an ace,
and can be built up by playing the next higher card of the same suit (for example the
nine of spades on the eight of spades) until the king is reached. Players can always
start new foundation piles by placing any available ace in the common area. Other
available cards can be played onto an existing foundation where they fit, provided
that another player doesn't get there before you. The cards available for playing to
foundation piles are: the top card of the Nerts pile, the exposed cards (lowest ranked
cards) of each work pile, and the top card of the waste pile. Any player may play onto
any foundation. When a foundation is filled up to king, it is turned over and set aside.
Stock and waste pile
You can turn over cards from your stock three at a time and put them face-up onto
your waste pile (the waste pile has no cards at the start of play). Be sure to keep the
cards in the same order when you do so. The top card of your waste pile may be
played to one of your work piles or to a foundation pile if it fits. If there are only one
The play or two cards left in the stock, place them on the waste pile, and then turn the waste
pile over to start a new stock; do not pick up the waste pile and place it underneath
Players play simultaneously as fast as they like, not taking turns, moving cards around so that you can deal three cards.
their own tableau according to the rules given below, and where possible building on
the foundations in the common area. The players' main objective is to eliminate their If it happens that all players are stuck (no further legal moves), or no one wishes to
Nerts piles, by playing cards from them onto their work piles or onto foundations. A play any more cards, then everyone picks up their waste pile to re-form their stock,
player whose Nerts / Pounce pile is exhausted may call "Nerts!" (or "Pounce!"), at and then puts the top card of the stock on the bottom. (This happens frequently in a
which point the game immediately ends. Cards which were in the air being moved two-player game and rarely with more players.) If you get stuck but others can still
from one point to another may complete their move, but no further play is allowed. play, you have to wait for everyone else to get stuck (or decide they do not want to
make any more moves) before you are allowed to transfer your top stock card to the
It is not necessary to call Nerts! / Pounce! as soon as your Nerts / Pounce pile is bottom.
empty. You may choose to carry on playing for a while to try to improve your score
further. Scoring

Players are only allowed to use one hand at a time to move cards, but may hold their When someone calls "Nerts!" (or "Pounce!") play ends and scoring takes place. Each
stock in their other hand. Only one card at a time may be moved, except when player (team) scores one point for each of their own cards that they managed to play
moving a block of cards from one work pile to another. You can only move cards into the common area. To determine this, the foundation piles have to be sorted out
according to the owners of the cards - this is why it is necessary that the decks have
different backs. All players except the one who called Nerts then subtract two points

17
for every card left in their Nerts pile when play ended. Thus calling Nerts does not Some people, rather than totalling the score over a series of hands, play
guarantee the highest score, but more often than not it does result in a good score. each hand as a separate event in which the player with the highest score
wins.
If all players get so stuck that no card in their stock will play, play stops and the score
is calculated as usual. In this case everyone will have to subtract two points for each Turning cards from stock pile onto waste pile
card that is left in their Nerts pile.
Some players reverse the order of each set of three cards, so that the
Further deals are played until one or more player's scores reach or pass an agreed card which was on top of the stock becomes the card which is
target score (usually 100). At this point the player with the highest score wins from uppermost on the waste pile.
each other player in proportion to the difference between their scores.
Some play that the stock cards are turned up onto the waste pile one at
Partnership Game a time rather than three at a time.
Nerts / Pounce can be played by more than five people if they play as partners. Hand instead of waste pile
Partners will sit next to each other. Each partnership plays just like an individual
player except that they are able to help each other out (an extra set of eyes and Some play that each player has a stockpile and a hand of 7 cards. Cards
hands can come in handy). One partner can go through the stock pile three at a time, may be played from the hand to the waste piles or common area, and
while the other partner keeps an eye on the Nerts / Pounce pile. after playing cards from hand, new cards may be drawn from the discard
pile to replenish the hand up to 7 cards but never more than 7. The
Variations players have no discard pile. This variant may be characteristic of the
variant of this game known as "Scrooge". In this version it is possible,
Jokers (optional but fun) especially with two players, for the game to become blocked with all
Two Jokers are added to each deck. Jokers can stand for any other card. playable cards buried in the players' stock piles or Nerts / Pounce piles. I
When played a joker onto a foundation, a player must follow the suggest that if this happens, all players should show their hands to prove
following protocol: before moving the Joker, the player must announce they have no playable card - if any playable card is found, the owner is
the rank and suit it represents; only then can the player move the joker obliged to play it and the game continues. If there is really no play for
onto the foundation. A player may touch a Joker, and even pick it up enyone, all players place their 7 hand cards on the bottom of their stock
halfway, but the announcement of rank and suit must be completed piles, draw 7 new cards from the top of their stock piles, and when all
before the Joker leaves the pile it is on. The reason for this rule is to give are ready the game continues. If any players have other ways of handling
other players a fair chance to realise that they can play the next card top this situation, please let me know.
of the joker, denying the player of the joker the chance to get un-stuck Commercial Versions of Nerts
by doing the same. When playing Jokers on the work piles no
announcement needs to be made. A Joker on top of a work pile or on Dutch Blitz® is another commercial game closely related to Nerts. It is sold as a
the Nerts or waste pile can be placed on any work pile without a Pennsylvania Dutch card game. It consists of four decks of 40 cards containing
thought. If a regular card is moved onto a Joker, however, the Joker's numerals from 1 to 10 only. The Blitz pile is the equivalent of the Nerts pile and
rank and color are fixed until the cards above it are removed. Jokers contains 10 cards at the start. The post piles are the equivalent of the work piles -
score like any other cards. each player has five post piles in the two player game, but only three post piles when
there are more than two players. The waste pile becomes a wood pile, and the
Number of cards dealt to Nerts / Pounce pile foundation piles are called Dutch piles. It may be that on religious grounds the
Rather than 13 cards, some people deal 12 cards (11 face down and one Pennsylvania Dutch are offended by the picture cards in the regular playing-card
face up), and some deal 11 cards (10 face down and one face up). deck, and this could explain the existence of this version with numerals only. Rook
cards are used by some Protestant communities in the American mid-west for similar
Scoring variations reasons.
Some people award a bonus of 25 points to the player who calls Ligretto is a German proprietary version of the same game, which apart from the card
"Pounce!". design is almost identical to Dutch Blitz. Each player has a pack of 40 cards,
numbered 1 to 10 in four colours. The tableaux in this game consist just of a row of
Some people deduct only one point for each card remaining in a player's three cards (or more with fewer than 4 players) with no building allowed. One game
Nerts / Pounce pile. box contains 160 cards - enough for four players, but boxes are available in various
colours and themes, and by combining these more players can be accommodated.
Solitaire Frenzy is another commercial Pounce / Racing Demon game, from JAX.

Kemps 4, 6, 8, 10
Players and Cards KEMPS
There are usually four players, but it is possible for a larger even number of people to As soon as this is said the hand is over. The partner of the person who said "KEMPS"
play. The players are divided into teams with two players in each team; the partners must reveal their cards. If they have four of a kind the opposing team receives a letter
sit across from each other. starting out with "K". With more than 4 players, all of the opposing teams get a letter.
One standard deck of 52 cards is used (if there are more than eight players, two If the partner does not have four of a kind, then the team that incorrectly called
decks may be used). "KEMPS" receives a letter. The dealer then deals for the next hand.
Object of the Game STOP KEMPS
Hand Goal: As soon as this is said the hand is over. "STOP KEMPS" is said when a player suspects
To obtain four of a kind (i.e. four cards of the same rank) and for your partner to say the opposing team of having "KEMPS". If one of the opposing players does in fact
"KEMPS", or to say "KEMPS" yourself when your partner has four of a kind. have four of a kind, then the team who was 'stopped' receives a letter. However, if
Alternatively you can win the hand by saying "STOP KEMPS" when a player from "STOP KEMPS" is said and the opposing team does not have "KEMPS" then the team
another team has four of a kind, before their partner says "KEMPS". who said it receives the letter. The dealer then deals for the next hand.
Game Goal: Example: Team A thinks Team B has four of a kind. Team A says "STOP KEMPS".
In each hand the losing team gets a letter of the word KEMPS as a penalty. The first When the hands are checked neither player of Team B has "KEMPS", so Team A gets
team to spell the whole word K-E-M-P-S loses the game. a new letter.
Preparation - agreeing signals Real Deal
First decide who is playing with whom. Then each two player team goes away and If a point is reached when no one wants any of the face up cards, and the dealer has
privately agrees a signal that they can secretly use to tell each other when they have no more fresh cards to deal, the hand ends and no one gets a letter. This is called
four of a kind. The signal can be a body movement, a gesture or a hand signal, but a real deal. The dealer then deals for the next hand.
words are not allowed (for example saying "elephants" cannot be used as a signal). End of the Game
You can have several signals and can use more than one in a game. You can also use The first team to lose five hands, thus getting five letters spelling the whole word K-E-
meaningless signals to confuse the opponents, but you are not allowed to have any M-P-S loses the game.
signals with a meaning other than "I have four of a kind". Cheating by using signals Variations
with other meanings is known as "table talk" and is penalised by loss of the game if
discovered.  Some people play that at the end of the deal, the play starts when the
dealer says "GO"
After any hand any team is allowed to agree new signals; they may want to do this if
they suspect that the opponents might have guessed some of their existing signals.  Some people only allow one card to be picked up at a time. The player
The more subtle the signal the better. must discard a card before picking up another.
The Deal Peanut Butter
Choose a dealer. This can be done at random or someone may volunteer. The dealer Elton Pinto writes that in the variation Peanut Butter:
deals four cards to every player. After everyone has looked at their cards, the dealer  You say 'peanut butter' if you suspect that your partner has four of a
deals four more cards, one at a time, in a row face up in the middle. kind
The Play  You say 'jelly' if you suspect that an opponent has four of a kind
When the last card has been turned up, any player can pick up one (or more) of the  Verbal signals are allowed
face up cards from the middle, add it (them) to their hand, and immediately discard a  The two teams agree beforehand how many hands should be played (the
different card(s) face up in its place. Players do not take turns. A player who picks up end of a hand is when someone says peanut 'butter' or 'jelly'). This must
more than one card must discard an equal number of different cards, to reduce their be an odd number.
hand back to four cards. If two players want the same face up card, the first player to Hints
touch it gets it.
Players continue replacing cards, as often as they want to, until no one wants any of  Use simple signals.
the four face up cards. The dealer then sweeps these four cards away, and deals out  Make an agreement with your partner to look for the signal after each
four new cards on the table. Play then continues as before. This is repeated until the time that the cards are swept away.
deck is gone or someone yells "KEMPS" or "STOP KEMPS".  Don't be obvious as to which cards you are going for.

18
 Observe the other team carefully.  If you figure out what cards your partner is going for, discard cards that
 Confuse the other team by occasionally picking up cards you don't need. will help your partner.
 Use fake signals to make the other team yell "STOP KEMPS", without
confusing your partner.

19
 James Bond 2, 3

Introduction For example, if the pile you are looking at is 4, 4, 7, and K (suit doesn't matter), and
This children's game seems to be of fairly recent origin - I have not yet seen it the four face up cards are 4, 6, 3, and J, then you might want to trade either the 7 or
described in any card game books - but is already quite widespread. The players race the K for the 4. Whether you release the 7 or the King will depend on what you think
to collect packets of four equal cards by exchanging cards one at a time with a layout your opponent has. If you saw him/her take a King earlier, then you may want to hold
of four face up cards. onto your King and play the 7.
The game is popular in California but I have also come across players in Sweden, Play is simultaneous - there are no turns - everyone plays as fast as they can.
Britain and Finland. It is usually known as James Bond, but there are also people who However, a player is only allowed to look at one pile at a time. The pile you are
call it Atlantis or Chanhassen. Mikko Saari reports that in Finland it is called Lännen holding must be put back face down on the table before can pick up and look at
nopein (Fastest in the West). Probably it has other names in other places. In each another pile.
case the name of the game is what you shout to claim that you have won. You cannot exchange more than one card at a time. If you want two cards from the
Players and Cards middle, you must first exchange one card, then another card. There must be four
cards in each pile and four cards face up on the table after every exchange.
A standard 52-card international pack (without jokers) is used. Usually there are two
players but it is also possible for three to play. The first player who manages to collect four matching cards in each of their six piles
shouts "James Bond" and turns their piles face up, to show that they have won.
Deal
Variations
The cards are dealt into face-down piles of 4 cards in front of the players: 6 piles for
each player when two play, or 4 piles each if there are three players. The last four Some players say "book" each time they complete a pile of four equal cards, and
cards are placed face up in a row between the players. "book, James Bond" when they complete the last pile. Saying "book" is not required,
in fact it may be a disadvantage to give away this information. Players who feel they
Play are ahead do this to put their opponent under pressure.
When everyone is ready, the dealer yells "Go!", and play begins. Players pick up one The word used to claim a win varies from place to place. "James Bond" seems to be
pile at a time, look at the four cards, and if they wish they can exchange a card from the most widespread, but some use other words such as "Chanhasse" or "Atlantis".
the pile they are looking at for a face-up card from the table, the aim being collect
four cards of the same rank in each pile - for example four sixes or four queens. Some groups allow more than one card to be traded simultaneously. For example if
you see 4-4-8-9 face up on the table, you would be allowed to grap both fours at
once in exchange for two cards from the pile you are currently playing.

Cheat 2, 3–10

Introduction 2. If any of the played cards is different from the called rank, the challenge is
This game is generally called Cheat in Britain. In many books it appears as I Doubt It. correct, and the person who played the cards must pick up the whole discard
Elsewhere it holds a name with a swearword. The aim is to get rid of all your cards by pile.
playing them to a discard pile. Since cards are played face down, giving players the After the challenge is resolved, play continues in normal rotation: the player to the
option to lie about the cards they are playing, but if the lie is exposed they must pick left of the one who was challenged plays and calls the next rank in sequence.
up the pile. The first player to get rid of all their cards and survive any challenge resulting from
In this game each player plays the next rank above the previous player. their final play wins the game. If you play your last remaining card(s), but someone
Players and Cards challenges you and the cards you played are not what you called, you pick up the pile
and play continues.
The game can be played by from 2 to 10 players. One standard pack of 52 cards is
used. Variations
Play If there are a lot of players, you may use two or more packs shuffled together.
All the cards are dealt out to the players; some may have more than others, but not For some people the sequence of ranks which have to be played goes downward
by much. The object is to get rid of all your cards. Select at random who should go rather than upward, beginning A, K, Q, J, 10, ...
first and continue clockwise. Some people play that you can (claim to) play either the next rank above or the next
On the table is a discard pile, which starts empty. A turn consists of discarding one or rank below the rank announced by the previous player. For instance if the player
more cards face down on the pile, and calling out their rank. The first player must before you played some cards an said "two tens", and you do not wish to challenge,
discard Aces, the second player discards Twos, the next player Threes, and so on. you have a choice of playing jacks or nines.
After Tens come Jacks, then Queens, then Kings, then back to Aces, etc. Some allow cards of the same rank as the last card to be played, as well as the next
Since the cards are discarded face down, you do not in fact have to play the rank you higher or lower rank.
are calling. For example if it is your turn to discard Sevens, you may actually discard In the Chinese game known as 吹牛 (chuī niú = bragging) or 说谎 (shuō huăng = lying)
any card or mixture of cards; in particular, if you don't have any Sevens you will be played in Fujian province, there is no restriction on the rank of cards to be played
forced to play some other card or cards. except that the cards in each set played must all be (claimed to be) equal. It would
Any player who suspects that the card(s) discarded by a player do not match the rank therefore be possible to play the whole game without lying, but then it would take
called can challenge the play by calling "Cheat!", or "I doubt it!" (depending on what you more turns to get rid of your cards than a player who was able to lie successfully.
you call the game). Then the cards played by the challenged player are exposed and This version is normally played with several decks shuffled together, so that a player
one of two things happens: can claim to play a large number of cards of the same rank without it being an
obvious lie. This game is described in Mae Channing's blog.
1. If they are all of the rank that was called, the challenge is false, and the
challenger must pick up the whole discard pile; Some play that you can try cheat by playing more cards than you claim to have
played - for example say three eights while playing three eights and a jack. This can
be challenged in the usual way and you pick up the discard pile if your play did not
match your call.

Skull 3-6, 7-12

Setup  The challenger may then reveal any card from the top any other player’s
Each player takes a game mat which is placed in front of them, Skull-side up, and stack.
chooses a pack of 4 cards with the same back, which are held in that player's hand,  This challenger continues to flip cards one at a time.
keeping the card faces hidden from the other players. A first player is chosen. (NOTE,  When a Skull is revealed, the challenger stops flipping cards. He has lost
this is a commercial game with it’s own components. Instead of skull cards and mats, the bet.
each player should just take four cards; three numbers and one picture. Black cards  All players take their cards back into their hands.
can be substituted for mats.)  The challenger loses one card from the game.
 Opponent that revealed skull selects one of challenger’s face down
Object of the Game Win 2 bets. shuffled cards to be discarded face down to center of table. If challenger
1. Start of the hand Each player chooses one card and places it face down on his mat. revealed own skull, he looks at his cards and chooses one to discard face
down.
2. Placement of cards: Place a card or challenge Starting with the first player and  If the challenger loses their last card, they are eliminated from the
going clockwise around the table, each player may either: game.
 Place another card face down on their mat  If challenger flips number of Roses equal to his bid, the bet is won.
 Or they may challenge. A player with no cards in hand must challenge.  Player flips his game mat to the Roses side.
 If a player has won his second bet, he wins the game!
3. Challenge: Pass or raise the bid The player who issued the challenge bids the  Challenger plays first next round. If challenger was eliminated, first
number of cards he intends to flip. Going clockwise, each player must then either: player is the owner of the revealed skull. Eliminated challenger chooses
 Raise the stakes by increasing the previous bid first player if he revealed own skull.
 Or pass his turn and push in his game mat to the middle of the table Lingo
This continues until all players but one have passed. Remaining highest bidder called  “Burn out”: A bet that would reveal all cards on the table.
the “challenger.”  “Under the gun”: The second player to speak after a challenge is issued.
4. Revelation The challenger must reveal the number of cards he bid.  “The cop”: The last player to speak before the highest bidder.
 “Stoned”: A player with only one card remaining.
 The challenger starts by revealing all the cards on his own mat.

20
Truc 2, 4

Introduction The betting

Several versions of Truc or Truque are played in various parts of Spain. This page Each hand is initially worth one point; this is the amount scored by the winning team
includes a description of the form played in Catalonia; others will be added in future. in the unusual case where the cards are played out to the end without any betting.
Truc is the basis of the more elaborate game Truco which is popular in several South The score for the hand can be raised to two or three during the play in a way similar
American countries. Truc is also played, with slight differences, in some places in the to doubling in backgammon. The first raise to two points can be done by either team;
South of France. if it is accepted, only the team that accepted it has the right to propose a new bet of
Truc is closely related to the old English game of Put, which was first described by three; the bet of three can then be accepted or rejected by the first team.
Cotton in "The Compleat Gamester" (1674). Every player, as long as he has the right to do it, can bet at his turn to play, before or
Truc in Catalonia after playing his card. Note that if the player immediately before you
bets after playing his card, you must be careful not to play a card without first
The players, cards and card ranking
considering whether or not to accept the bet. If you play without saying anything, the
Truc is a game for four players in fixed partnerships; it can also be played by two, but bet is considered accepted.
the two player game is considerably less interesting. As usual you sit opposite your
A bet made outside a player's turn does not count. For example if you try to
partner. It's played anticlockwise to a final score of twelve points and each hand is
bet after the following player has already played a card, your bet is void. Your partner
worth from 1 to 3 points, depending on the bets.
(whose turn it now is) needs to repeat the bet to make it valid (if your team still
Truc is played with a standard Spanish 40 card deck of four suits: wants to bet).
 coins (oros) The usual words for betting are truc for a bet of two and retruc for a bet of three, but
 cups (copes) any meaningful way can be used. Bets can be accepted implicitly, buy playing a card,
 swords (espases) or explicitly, by saying something like "yes", "I want it" or "OK". In response to a bet
of two, "three if you play" - accepts the two-bet and bets three in return. Bets can be
 batons (bastons) rejected explicitly (by saying "no", etc.) or implicitly by putting your cards face down
The cards in each suit run from 1 to 7 and 10 to 12 with the 10 called Sota (Valet), the on the table.
11 Cavall (Horse) and the 12 Rei (King). If a bet is accepted, play continues and the winner of the hand scores the final bet
The card order from highest to lowest is 3, 2, 1, 12, 11, 10, 7, 6, 5, 4. Only the rank of (two for truc, or three for retruc). If the bet is not accepted, the play of the hand is
the cards counts, the suits are not important. abandoned and the proposing team wins the score that was in effect before the bet
The deal (one if truc was proposed and rejected, two if retruc was proposed and rejected).
The first is dealer is chosen randomly; the turn to deal then passes to the right after If one team has a score of eleven points, they must decide whether or not they wish
every hand.Before each deal, the dealer shuffles all the cards and the player to the to play the hand. If they decide not to play, the other team scores one point. If they
left of the dealer may cut. In this case the dealer deals three cards - one at a time - to do want to play, the hand is automatically worth three points without the need for
every player, beginning with the player to his right. any betting. If both teams have eleven points, the hand is played without betting and
The player to the left of the dealer can choose not to cut, but simply tap the cards. In the winners win the game.
this case, as long as neither team has more than 10 points, the dealer has the option Tactics of signalling and betting
to deal just one card to each player, so that the hand will consist of only one trick, The dealer and the player to the dealer's left, the last two to play to the first trick, will
rather than three. This option does not apply when either of the teams is within one normally act as team captains and direct the game. Their partners should signal their
point of the target score, having 11 points; in that case three cards each must be cards to the captains to allow them to judge when to bet, when to raise, what to play,
dealt. and so on. There is little point in passing signals in the other direction.
The play Betting is a very important part of the game. A team which is behind will tend to bet
The player to dealer's right leads to the first trick and the winner of each trick leads to freely in order to catch up, while the team which is ahead will be more cautious. It is
the next. As we shall see later, quite often the play is stopped before all the cards rare for a hand to be played to the end; it is more usual to play only the first trick and
have been played out. In that case the cards not played are not shown, but shuffled part of the second, and then throw in the cards because a bet is made and rejected.
into the pack along with the played cards ready for the next hand. Truc in France
The play of the tricks is very easy, as there are no restrictions; any card can be played A game very similar to the Catalan game Truc is played in Southern France: in
when it's your turn, regardless of suit. The highest card wins the trick. If there are two Rousillon (Truc) in the Pays Basque (Truka), in Poitou (Tru) and in Sarthe (Trut). It
or more equal highest cards from different teams, the trick is a draw, and nobody used to be played with a 36 card pack; as this pack lacks 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s, the seven
wins it. Note that equal cards have equal value without regard to the order in which and six took the place of the three and two as the highest cards, giving the ranking: 7,
they are played, or the number of them (for example if both members of one team 6, A, R, D, V, 10, 9, 8. More recently, as 36 card packs are no longer generally
play threes, these do not beat a single 3 played by the other team - the trick is a available in France, Truc is played with the 32 card pack generally used for Belote.
draw). The winner of each trick leads the next one; if a trick is drawn, the same player The six takes the place of the eight, and the cards rank from high to low: 7, 8, A, K, R,
who led before leads again. If the trick is won by two partners playing equally high D, V, 10, 9. In some places the order the top cards has been rationalised, so that the
cards, the partner who played earlier leads to the next trick. eight beats the seven.
The hand, and the associated bet, to be explained later, is won by the team that wins There is a description of the French game in E. Lanes: Nouveau Manuel Complet des
two of the three tricks. If one trick is a draw, then the team that wins the first of the Jeux de Cartes (Paris 1912), a translation of which was published in Sid Sackson's
remaining two tricks wins. If two tricks are drawn, the winners of the third trick of book "A Gamut of Games". The game can be played by two players or by four in
course win the hand. If all three tricks are drawn, the non-dealing team wins the partnerships, partners facing each other. Three cards are dealt to each player.
whole hand. The tricks are only played as far as is needed to win the hand, so for Instead of leading to the first trick, the player after the dealer can propose a redeal,
example the third trick is only played if the first two were won by opposite teams or and if all agree, the cards are thrown in and new hands are dealt from the remainder
were both drawn. of the pack. If anyone insists on playing, there is no redeal and the cards must be
In a hand where only one card is dealt (because the cards were not cut), the winners played. The trick play is the same as in the Catalan game, and the target score is 12
of the single trick win the hand; if the trick is drawn, the non-dealers win the hand. points. Usually the game is played in rubbers - the first player to team to win two
Communication and Signals games is the overall winner.
While the game is in progress, conversation is allowed without restriction, provided The betting is somewhat different from the Catalan game - there is no limit on the
that all four players can hear it. So partners can instruct each other about what card size or number of bets, except that the same team cannot bet twice in succession in
to play, the convenience of betting, bluffing, try to confuse the opponents, and so on. the same hand. Initially the hand is worth one point. A player has the right to bet if
Also, signals are allowed, by which players can communicate to their partner what no bet has yet been made or if the previous bet was by the opponent(s). A player
cards they hold. Naturally they will try to do this while the opponents are not looking, who has the right can bet immediately before playing a card, and can propose to
but as the signals do not need to be true, you can also try to confuse the opponents raise the stake for the hand by any amount. The other team either accept the
by passing misleading signals, at the risk of confusing your partner as well. The signals proposed new stake (saying "play") or concede, in which case the betting team score
which are allowed vary somewhat between players. Here is a typical set: the amount of the previous stake.
A player can also bet "my (our) remainder". If the other team accepts, the winner of
 Close one eye: means you hold a three.
that hand wins the whole game. If the other team concedes, they pay the amount of
 Pout your lips: means you hold a two. the previous stake without further play. Obviously it is particularly advantageous for
a player or team that is far behind to bet the remainder - the other team will often
 Show the tip of your tongue: means you have an Ace.
concede rather than risk their lead.
Lanes mentions that in some places the 8 is the lowest card rather than the second
highest, the ranking being 7, A, R, D, V, 10, 9, 8.
Le Truc Redescribed whose card is to be played. So there are 6 opportunities in all, though of course only
The cards are ranked 7, 10, A, K, Q, J, 9, 8. Suit does not matter. A scoring round is 12 5 can actually be taken. At the end of the hand, the dealer changes.
points. Each hand starts as being worth 1 point, but at various points in the hand one The non-dealer can ask for a re-deal (which involves setting aside the dealt cards, and
player may say Double? If his opponent agrees, the hand is now worth twice as many dealing three new ones to both players), which can be accepted or declined by the
points. If doubling would cause your score so far+ the score on the hand to exceed dealer. This gives further scope for bluffing, because while it can be used to get rid of
12, you say My Remainder? which, if accepted, means the hand is playing to exactly a bad hand, it can also be used to disguise a good hand (in the hope the dealer
the score you need to reach 12. If this is more than he needs to reach 12, he reaches declines).
12 if he wins, and if it is less he does not, though he can always offer his remainder at
the next doubling point. If a player declines a double, his opponent wins the hand at
NOTE: The rules described here are a variant of Truc described by Sid Sackson in his
the undoubled score.
book A Gamut of Games. Sackson notes that as he understands the original,
traditional rules (that is, not his variant), players are free to propose any increase in
Each player is dealt three cards. At this point there is the first opportunity to double.
the stakes they desire. Thus in the traditional game, increases don't have to take the
Eldest (=non-dealer) has the priority in making a double, if both players try to. At
form of a doubling of the previous stakes. (So for instance, I could propose increasing
each opportunity only 1 double can occur. Then Eldest leads to the first trick. Higher
the stakes from 1 to 4, say, or from 1 to any other number up to 12; or if the stakes
card wins, if tied the trick is put aside and the winner of the next trick wins that one
are now 5, say, I could propose increasing the stakes from 5 to any other number up
as well (if the trick tied is the last trick, the winner of the previous trick wins it. If all
to 12.)
three tricks are tied, eldest wins). The winner of the trick leads to the next one (if the
trick wass a tie, the person who lead to that trick leads next). At every stage before a
card is played, there is an opportunity for doubling, priority going to the person

GOPS 2, 3

Introduction prize cards together, then for three prize cards if there is another tie, and so on. If the
This unusual game of bluff is also known as Goofspiel or Goofenspiel. The player's last bid cards are equal, the last prize card (and any others remaining from
name GOPS is an acronym for "Game of Pure Strategy", which in a sense it is, since immediately preceding tied bids) are not won by either player.
the players all begin with the same cards and therefore have exactly equal chances. Scoring
The origins of the game are unclear. The earliest known printed description appeared When both players run out of bid cards the play ends. Each player totals the value of
in 1957 in the American game theory textbook Games and Decisions by Luce and the diamonds they have won in bids (ace=1, 2-10 face value, J=11, Q=12, K=13) and
Raffia (published by Wiley and reprinted by Dover in 1989). Alex Randolph reports the greater total wins the game.
having seen a game with a similar mechanism played soldiers of the Fifth Indian
Strategy
Division in Brindisi, Italy in 1943, using coloured and numbered slips of paper rather
than playing-cards for bidding and round cards showing various symbols as prizes. He Since you lose your card when you bid it, you will want to conserve your higher cards
used this as a basis for his successful game Hol's der Geier (1988) which also for bidding on higher prize cards. Ideally, you wish to beat your opponent's bid by
appeared in an English edition under the name Raj. exactly one point, thus causing him to lose the most and concerving your bidding
power. Thus, you should carefully judge exactly what the card from the bid pile is
Players and Cards
worth: if you do not have the card you wish to bid for it, it is better to bid higher than
The basic game is for two players, using three suits from a standard 52-card pack. lower. If you must bid lower, then bid very low, using a 2, 3, or 4, thus losing as little
Cards rank Ace (low), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K (high). As a prize, the Ace is worth bid power as possible in the turn.
1 point, cards 2-10 face value, Jack 11, Queen 12 and King 13.
Variations
Gops can be adapted for three or more players see variations, adding an extra
Some play that if the bids are tied, the prize card is discarded as well as the bid cards,
complete suit for each extra player - so 3 players use a whole 52-card pack and 4-7
and the next bid is for the next prize card only.
players would use cards from two packs.
Some count the ace as the highest card (worth 14 points as a prize) rather than the
Setup
lowest.
The cards are sorted into suits. One suit (traditionally diamonds) is shuffled and
Gops for three or more players
stacked face down as a prize pile. Each of the other players takes one complete suit.
In the two player game the players fight with spades and clubs and the heart suit is The play is essentially the same. Each player starts with a complete suit of 13 cards.
not used. Each time a prize card is trurned, all players place their bid face down and
simultaneously reveal their cards, the highest winning the prize.
Play
There are several possible ways of dealing with ties for highest card, which become
The top card of the prize pile is turned face up. Then each player selects a card from
more frequent the more people play.
their hand with which to bid for it and places it face down. When both players are
ready, the bid cards are revealed simultaneously, and the higher bid wins the prize Method 1. All tied cards are disqualified, and the prize is won by the highest unique
card. The bid cards are then discarded and the prize card is placed beside the player card played. If all cards are tied (for example Q-Q-Q in a three-player game or 9-9-5-5
who won it. The next card of the prize pile is turned face up and players bid for it in in a four-player game), the prize card is discarded.
the same way. Method 2. Another card is turned from the prize pile and the players bid again. It
If the bids of the two players are equal, the bid cards are discarded but the prize card needs to be agreed whether players not involved in the original tie for highest are
remains on offer. A new prize card is turned face up and the next bid is for the two eligible to win in the second round of bidding.

22
President / Warlords and Scumbags 3, 4–7, 8, 9

Introduction
President has many alternative names: Scum, Rich Man Poor Variations in playing procedure
Man, Bum, Landlord, Emperors and Scum, Root Beer, Butthead, Capitalism. In Opening Lead
Australia it is often called Warlords and Scumbags, perhaps because the politician
Paul Keating once famously used the word "scumbag" to describe his opponents. In On the first deal, some play that the player holding a specific card of the lowest rank
France it is Trouduc or Trou du Cul; in Germany: Einer ist immer der Arsch; in leads. Generally this will be a three, for example the 3, but in variations where
Hungary it is Hűbéres (vassal); in the Netherlands it is Sluitspieren or Klootzakken. threes are wild it will be a four.
The game has recently spread throughout the Western world, especially among On subsequent deals, some play that the Scum from the previous hand leads, rather
young people, but is probably of Chinese origin. In games of this type (which I than the President.
call climbing games), each player in turn can either pass or play a card or combination Single-round play
which beats the previous play, and the usual object is to get rid of all one's cards as
soon as possible. Such games have been known in the West only since the 1970's, but Some people play that after someone leads, each player gets just one opportunity to
there are many of them in China, perhaps the most famous being Zheng Shangyou. pass or beat the previous play. Whoever played highest then leads again. So in the
The immediate ancestor of President is perhaps the Japanese game Dai Hin Min. example given before, if the play went:
As the game has spread, numerous variations have developed. I will describe a typical A B C D E
basic version first, and list some variations at the end. As the variations are so
numerous, I have tried to group them into types for easier reference. 4 Pass Pass 6 99
4 6
The Basic Game
Objective A does not get a chance to beat E's pair of 9's. It is now E's turn to lead any card or
set.
The aim is to get rid of all your cards as soon as possible. The last player left with
cards is called the scum, asshole, or whatever term of derision is locally used. I think that multi-round play, as in the basic game, must be the original method. All
the Chinese climbing games use it. Probably single-round play is a Western
Players and Cards modification, influenced by trick-taking games.
About 4 to 7 people using a standard 52 card pack. The suits are irrelevant and the Compulsory beating
cards rank, from high to low, 2 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3.
Some people play that if you can beat the previous play, you must. Passing is only
Deal allowed if you are unable to play. Again, I believe this is a recent modification, and it
The game is played clockwise. All the cards are dealt out. Some players may have one seems to make the game less interesting.
more than others. No playing after passing
Play In Australia, some people do not allow a player who has passed to play at subsequent
The player to dealer's left starts by leading (face up) any single card or any set of turns during the same trick. If you pass, you must wait until someone wins the trick
cards of equal rank (for example three fives). Each player in turn must then either and leads again. So the play example given above would look like this:
pass (i.e. not play any cards), or play face up a card or set of cards which beats the
previous play. A B C D E
A single card is beaten by any higher single card. A set of cards can only be beaten by 44 Pass Pass 66 99
a higher set containing the same number of cards. So for example if the previous
player played two sixes you can beat this with two kings, or two sevens, but not with JJ Pass KK
a single king, and not with three sevens (though you could play two of them and hang
onto the third). Pass
It is not necessary to beat the previous play just because you can - passing is always Now that A, B, C and D have passed, E's pair of kings cannot be beaten; the cards are
allowed. Also passing does not prevent you from playing the next time your turn set aside, E leads a new card or set, and everyone is allowed to play again.
comes round. General variations in which cards can be played when
The play continues as many times around the table as necessary until someone Larger sets of cards beat smaller sets of lower rank
makes a play which everyone else passes. All the cards played are then turned face
Some people do not require players to play an equal number of cards to the card or
down and put to one side, and the player who played last (and highest) to the
set they are beating. It is also possible to play more cards than the previous player, as
previous "trick" starts again by leading any card or set of equal cards.
long as they are also higher in rank than the previous play. For example, in this
For example the play might go: variation:
A B C D E  a single 8 could be beaten by a single 10 or a pair of 10s, but not by a pair of 5s;
44 Pass Pass 66 99  a pair of 9s can be beaten by two or more 10s but not by a single 10.
Larger sets beat smaller sets irrespective of rank
JJ Pass Pass Pass KK
Another variation found occasionally is that a set of more cards beats a set of fewer
Pass Pass AA Pass Pass cards irrespective of rank, so that a single 9 can be beaten by a pair of fives, which in
turn could be beaten by three fours.
Pass Pass
Equal plays allowed
C then starts again by leading any card or set. Some people allow a card or set to be beaten by another card or set of equal rank.
When a player whose turn it is to play has no more cards left, the turn passes to the For example a pair of sevens can be beaten by another pair of sevens, or by any
next player in rotation. Therefore in the example, if the two aces were C's last two higher pair.
cards, it would then be D's turn to play anything. Equal play skips next player
Social Status Some people play that if you beat a play with an equal play, the turn skips the next
The first player who is out of cards is awarded the highest social rank - for Americans player who has cards, and passes to the player after that. In particular this means
this is President - the next is Vice-President, then Citizen and so on down. The last that if there are only two players left in and you equal the previous play, you
player to be left with any cards is known as the Beggar, Scum, or by various terms of immediately get another turn to play.
abuse. For Europeans the ranks can be King, Minister, ... , Peasant or Boss, Foreman, When this variation is combined with the variation that allows a larger set of cards on
Worker, Bum. a smaller set, it may be that if more than one equal card is played, more than one
If keeping score, the players get points depending on their position - for example 2 player is skipped. For example if a six is played, and the next person plays two sixes,
for the President, 1 for the Vice President and nothing for the others. More the following two players are skipped; if three sixes were played on a six the next
importantly, the players of higher status are entitled to enjoy and generally abuse three players would be skipped.
their power over the lower ranking players. Four of a kind inverts ranks
For the next hand the players move seats. The President selects the most This can be combined with the suit ranking variation described below. When a player
comfortable chair, the Vice President sits to the President's left, and so on around to plays four of a kind, then for the rest of that deal, the rules of play are changed. From
the Asshole who sits to the President's right, probably on a crate or packing case. that point on, each player must play a card (or combination) lower than the previous
The Asshole is responsible for shuffling, dealing and clearing away the cards when play (and now between two pairs of the same rank, the one containing the club is
necessary. As the players are now seated clockwise in order of rank, the first card is lower and therefore beats the other.) If another 4 of a kind is played, then the order
dealt to the President, the second to the Vice President, and so on down. is reversed back the original. This tends to produce reversals of fortune, breaking the
When the deal is complete, the Asshole must give his highest card to the President, cycle of the 1st place player after winning several hands in a row.
and the President gives back in exchange any card which he does not want. Four of a kind reverses ranks and direction of play
The President then leads any card or set of cards and the game continues as before. This variation was reported by Hamish Allan of Scotland. Equal plays are allowed, and
End of Game if four single cards of the same rank are played in succession (with or without passes
in between), or if one player plays a set of four equal cards, then the direction of
If scoring, set a target and the game ends when someone reaches (say) 11 points. play and the ranking of cards reverses. This is called a revolution. Playing a pair on an
equal pair does not cause a revolution, however.
In the normal ranking, threes are transparent and the two is high and low. In
reversed ranking threes are still transparent but now aces are highest and lowest - so
the rank from high to low is (A)-2-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-(A); a single ace beats
anything and anything beats an ace.
 Other types of card combination can be played ranked set provided that the colour of each card is reversed - for example two red
It is possible to allow other card combinations to be played besides sets of equal sevens beat two black sevens, and a red and a black seven beats a black and a red
rank. seven.
1. if you add single and multiple sequences the game becomes rather like Zheng Suit Ranking
Shangyou; Theodore Hwa reports a variation in which the suits rank spades (high), hearts,
2. if you add poker-like combinations such as full houses the game becomes diamonds, clubs (as in Bridge). When playing single cards, a card of equal rank to the
like Big Two. previous card can be played, provided that the suit is higher. For example if someone
Variations in the cards used and their ranking played the 7 you could beat this by playing the 7 or the 7 or any 8 or
Double Deck higher card, but you could not play the 7, because clubs are lower than
When there are a lot of players, a double deck of cards is sometimes used. diamonds.
Aces high Between equal ranked pairs, the pair containing the spade is higher, irrespective of
Some people play with aces as the highest cards - the cards rank from high to low A- the suit of the other card. So for example, the pair Q- Q can be beaten by the
K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2. pair Q- Q.
Jokers Variations in Social Structure and Scoring
Some people include one or more jokers in the pack. These usually rank above the Joining and leaving a game
twos. If the jokers are distinguishable, it may be agreed that the coloured (or
otherwise more impressive) joker beats the other one.  Players may leave the game after any hand. The players below them then move
up one place in rank.
Some people also use jokers as wild cards, which can represent any rank. Some play
that a natural combination beats an otherwise equal combination containing a wild  New players may join the game after any hand, and they start in the lowest
card (e.g. 6-6-6 beats 6-joker-joker), some play that the combination with wild cards position (asshole or scum).
beats the natural one, and some play that they are equal - so that neither beats the Card Exchange
other (or each beats the other if equal plays are allowed).
The President receives the Scum's two highest cards, and gives the Scum any two
Another variation is to use the jokers only as wild cards, with no intrinsic rank of their cards in exchange. The Vice President and the second-to-last player exchange one
own. card similarly.
40 card pack (Klootzakken) James Lundeen reports a version (called Butthead) in which the Butthead passes the
C.A. van Wijk reports that in the Netherlands, Klootzakken is played with a 40 card President his two best cards and the President passes the Butthead three of his
pack lacking 4's, 5's and 6's, the cards ranking from high to low: 3 2 A K Q J 10 9 8 7. choice. Similarly the vice-butthead and vice-president trade one and two cards
Cards are not set aside after a trick but accumulate in a pile on the table. There is no respectively. This makes it harder to get out of the butthead position as you are
changing of seats at the end of a hand, but the winner trades two unwanted cards for passed more bad cards.
the loser's best two cards. The loser plays first in the next hand. Expose a card to assign hands
Variations involving particular cards After the deal but before the players pick up their cards, the top card of each hand is
Single two wins turned up. The president gets the hand with the highest card facing up, vice president
gets the second highest and so forth.
Some people play that a single two beats any combination (in the basic game you
would need three twos to beat three aces). The person who plays the two clears Trading Cards
away the cards (or directs the Scum to clear them away, if you play that the Scum has In this version the players in the middle of the order are called merchants (so with six
to do this) and leads anew. players the ranking could be Landlord, Noble, Upper merchant, Lower merchant,
Two is highest and lowest Peasant, Scum). While the lowest players must give their best cards in exchange for
the highest players' unwanted cards, the merchants in the middle must trade. That is,
In this variation a single two can be played at any time, but the play continues and
the next player can play anything. This rule may have been borrowed from Palace, they must give each other one card, but they can haggle as to which cards to trade,
another recent card game played predominantly by young people worldwide. and in this way they may both be able to improve their hands. The haggling might
begin:
Jokers
UM: "I have a seven"
As with the two, when it is highest, some people play that a single joker beats any set LM: "I have an eight. Want to trade?"
of lower cards. UM: "I don't need an eight. How about a nine?"
Black threes or jack of diamonds high and so on. If they can't agree, they must give each other a card anyway - in this case
Sometimes players use some other specific card(s) as high cards beating the twos - each will give an unwanted card to the other.
such as the jack of diamonds or the black threes. Anthony O'Dea suggests a more extreme version of this, called "The Hand of
Jokers, jacks and twos high Collusion". With six players, everyone gets 9 cards (both Jokers used). Players then
Sofia, from Toronto, reports a version in which the rank of the cards from the top is: "collude" in pairs, swapping as many cards as necessary. Usually the President
joker, jack, two, ace, king, queen, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. The jokers, jacks and twos colludes with the Arsehole, the 2nd player with the 5th and the 3rd with the 4th.
have special powers: After collusion, everyone must still have 9 cards. Play then proceeds as normal. The
first to go out gets 6 points, and so on. Winners are the pair with the most points.
 Any pair of aces or below can be beaten by a single two, jack or joker.
Scoring
 Any three of a kind of aces or below can be beaten by a pair of twos, or by a Another scheme, when playing with 5 or 7 players, is as follows. With 5 players the
single jack or joker. scores given to the players, from first to last, are 2, 1, 0, -1, -2. With 7 players the
 Any four of a kind of aces or below can be beaten by three twos, two jacks or a scores are 3, 2, 1, 0, -1, -2, -3. The scores for a hand also indicate how many cards
single joker. each loser has to exchange with each winner at the start of the next hand.
These numbers of cards are all doubled if playing with two decks. Fixed seats
Jokers, Twos and Threes Wild Some people play without switching seats after each hand. It is still the Asshole who
shuffles and deals and the President who leads to the first trick (or the Scum leads if
In Hűbéres (the Hungarian version of the game), all the jokers, twos and threes are all you play that version).
wild. Played along with a normal card (or cards) they take on the rank of that card;
played singly or in entirely wild sets they rank highest and all equal to each other. Hats
Twos high, threes and jokers wild In Hamish Allan's version, the players wear hats corresponding to their social rank.
When there is a revolution, everyone turns their hat inside out. Also in this version, if
In this version all the threes and the two jokers are wild cards that can represent any you are the top ranking player (in this case called the Rich Man) and you fail to win,
other card. The twos are the highest cards but have no special property. you must immediately throw in your cards and you become the lowest ranking player
Transparent cards (Poor Man). The player who ran out of cards first is the Rich Man and the others
Some people play that threes (or some other agreed rank if threes have another continue playing for the remaining positions.
meaning) are transparent. This means that you can use a three to beat any single Only the Scum may touch the cards
card, and a set of threes to beat an equal number of cards of any rank, and the threes After the first card is played, no one is allowed to touch any cards on the table except
you play take on the rank of the cards they have beaten. For example if A plays a pair the Scum. If you do, then you automatically become the Scum for the next round.
of kings and B beats it with a pair of threes, the threes count as kings and subsequent Note that you only become the Scum if you deliberately reach out and touch the
players have to beat a pair of kings or pass. If all pass, B's threes have won, the cards cards; someone throwing the cards at you doesn't count.
are cleared away and B leads.
Procedural Faults
Threes high, below the two
The winning player (in this version called the Landlord) shuffles and the Scum cuts,
Some play that a single three can beat any card or set except a two. A three can be after which the Landlord deals. Forgetting to offer the cards to be cut, or any kind of
beaten by a two (unbeatable) or a four (fours are transparent in this version). misdeal is a fault. After two faults the Landlord becomes the Scum and everyone else
Variations involving Suits and Colours moves up one place. The Landlord also becomes the Scum if there are two
Following Suit consecutive games in which the result does not lead to a change in players' positions.
In this variation, a single card can only be beaten by a higher card of the same suit. Hűbéres
This makes it much harder to get rid of single cards. In Hűbéres, when played by six people, the ranks are Király, Nagybirtokos,
Reversing Colour Kisbirtokos, Nagyparaszt, Kisparaszt, Mocsár (king, big landowner, small landowner,
big peasant, small peasant, swamp). The king and swamp exchange three cards, the
This is a variation on allowing equal plays. You can beat a single card with an equal big landowner and small peasant two cards, and the small landowner and big peasant
ranked card, provided that it is the opposite colour - so a red five can be beaten by a
one card.
black five, but not by another red five. A set of cards can be beaten by an equal

24
Big Two 2, 3, 4
3 beats
Q- 10-
2-
7.
J- 9- 6- 4, which beats A- K-

Introduction 3. A Full House consists of three cards of one rank and two of another
This climbing game probably originated in coastal China around 1980; it became very rank; between two full houses, the one whose triple is of higher
popular in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan and also in the Philippines and Singapore; it rank is better - so for example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-K-K.
has also spread to some western countries. It has several alternative names: 4. Four of a kind (or quads) are made up of all four cards of one rank,
plus any fifth card. The fifth card must be included - four equal
 Big Two, Big Deuce or Deuces are the names commonly used in the English
cards by themselves are not a playable combination. Between two
speaking world (mainly USA and Australia).
fours of a kind, the rank of the four cards determines which is
 Da Lao Er (大老二) is Mandarin Chinese and literally means "big old two", but also higher.
has a vulgar meaning.
 Choh Dai Di or simply Dai Di - written 鋤大地 or more often as 鋤大 D , surprisingly 5. A Straight Flush consists of five consecutive cards of the same suit,
twos ranking below threes and aces ranking high or low, as in
using a Western letter D for the last syllable. I am not certain from what Chinese
straights. The rank of the highest card determines which of two
dialect this term originates. In Cantonese, "di2" is a slang term for the two in
straight flushes is higher; between two equal ranked straight
card games: the first way of writing it seems to have a literal meaning connected
flushes, the one in the higher suit is better, so the Royal Flush in
with the earth, but in fact, like "D", it is just a phonetic approximation to the
sound. There is general agreement that the whole phrase refers to the fact that spades A- K- Q- J- 10 is the highest straight flush
in this game the two is the highest rather than the lowest card, and that "Big and the best five-card combination, but there are variations on this
Two" is an accurate translation of the sense. One correspondent told me it is rule.
Hokkien (Fujian) meaning 'play the biggest smallest'; another says it is not
A combination can only be beaten by a better combination with the same number of
Hokkien, but that 'Dai D' is Hong Kong (Cantonese) slang for 'the little guy', and
cards: so a single card can only be beaten by a single card, a pair by a better pair and
the whole name means 'step on the little guy'.
a triple by a better triple. You cannot for example use a triple to beat a pair or a
 Bu Bu Gao Sheng (步步高升) ("step by step rise higher") is another name used for straight to beat a triple. However, a five card group can be beaten by a five card
this game in Taiwan. group of a stronger type - any flush beats any straight, any full house beats any
 Pusoy Dos is the usual name used in the Philippines, with the stress on the straight or flush, any four of a kind plus an odd card beats any straight, flush or full
second syllable of Pusoy. Ruben Canlas Jr. tells me that this translates into house and any straight flush beats all of the other type of five card group.
English as "Poker Two" - "Pusoy" being the Filipino name for Poker.
Note that although the playable combinations are similar to poker hands, there are
 Mathijs Claasen reports that in the Netherlands it is called Sjalaliën. important differences. For example, there is no "two pair" combination, and although
There are many variations of this game. First I will describe the basic game as played a four of a kind requires a fifth card to complete the combination, a triple cannot be
in China. accompanied by extra cards (unless of course these make it into quads or a full
house).
Players and Cards
The Deal
The game is for best for four players, each playing for themselves. (It is possible to
play with three or two - the necessary adaptations are given later.) Deal and play are normally anticlockwise. Any player may deal first; thereafter the
winner of each hand deals the next. The dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's
A standard 52 card pack is used, the cards ranking from high to low: 2-A-K-Q-J-10-9- right cuts.
8-7-6-5-4-3. There is also an ordering of suits - from high to low: spades, hearts,
clubs, diamonds (but see variations). Having completed the cut, the dealer exposes a card to determine who will be dealt
the first card. This is done by lifting the top part of the pack, showing the bottom card
Object of the Game of the lifted part, and replacing the lifted section on top of the pack, so that this
The object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all of your cards, by playing them second "cut" does not disturb the order of the cards in the pack and the exposed card
to the table. Cards can be played singly or in certain combinations. If you cannot be remains in the middle. To determine who gets the first card, count the players
first to play all your cards, then your aim is to have as few cards as possible when starting with the dealer and continuing in the direction of play until the rank of the
another player finishes. exposed card is reached. So if it was an ace, 5, 9 or king the dealer will get the first
card, if it was a 2, 6 or 10 the player to dealer's right, if it was a 3, 7 or jack the player
Playable Combinations opposite the dealer and is it was a 4, 8 or queen, the player to dealer's left.
There are four types of legal play: single cards, pairs, triples and five card groups. The dealer deals out the cards, one at a time, starting with the player designated by
the above process and continuing anticlockwise until all the cards are dealt. So
Single cards
everyone will have a hand of 13 cards, which they can look at and sort.
These rank from two (high) down to three (low), and between cards of
The Play
the same rank a higher suit beats a lower suit.
The player who holds the three of diamonds begins and must play this card, either by
Pairs
itself or as part of a legal combination. The person to this player's right plays next,
A pair of equal ranked cards - twos are highest and threes are lowest. and so on round the table. At your turn you must either pass (play no cards) or beat
Any higher ranked pair beats one with lower ranks. Between equal the previous play by playing a higher combination of the same number of cards. All
ranked pairs, the one containing the highest suit is better - for plays are made by placing the cards face up in the centre of the table, so that a heap
example 9- 9 beats 9- 9 because the spade is higher than is formed. This continues for several circuits if necessary, until all but one of the
players pass in succession, no one being able or willing to beat the last play. When
the heart, but Q- Q beats J- J because queens beat jacks. this happens, the heap of played cards is set aside face down (or in many places, the
Triples players just leave all the played cards in a face-up heap on the table). The person who
played highest (all the others having passed) begins again by playing any card or legal
Three equal ranked cards - three twos are highest, then aces, kings, etc. combination of cards.
down to three threes, which is the lowest triple.
You are never under any obligation to beat a card or set of cards just because you are
Five card groups able to - you may always choose to pass and keep your high cards for a better
There five types of playable five-card combination. In ascending order opportunity. Passing does not prevent you from playing when your turn comes round
they are: straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush. again.
Example: At a late stage in a game, South starts with a 4, East beats it with a jack, you
1. A Straight consists of five cards of consecutive rank with mixed (North) pass, West plays an ace, South and East pass. You suspect that West will be
suits. A straight with higher ranks beats a lower one, irrespective of able to win by playing all her remaining cards as a group if you pass, so you now play
the suits of the cards. When the ranks are the same, the suit of the your 2, which you held back before.
top card determines which is higher. So for example K- Q-
Everyone is allowed to know how many cards the other players have in their hands at
J- 10- 9 beats Q- J- 10- 9- 8, which any time - if asked you must answer truthfully.
beats Q- J- 10- 9- 8. Twos do not rank high in The first player who succeeds in playing all the cards in their hand wins. As soon
straights, but below the 3, so the highest straight is A-K-Q-J- as this happens, the play ends and the hand is scored. (The other players do not get a
10 including the ace of spades. Aces can be counted as low to make chance to get rid of cards by beating the final card(s) played by the winner.)
the lowest type of straight 5-4-3-2-A, which is beaten by 6-5-4-3-
Scoring
2 and 7-6-5-4-3. An ace can be used at either end of a straight, but
not in the middle, so collections like 3-2-A-K-Q or 2-A-K-Q-J are not The players other than the winner score penalty points for the cards remaining in
valid straights (but there are variations on this rule). their hands. The penalty is one point per card in your hand if you have 9 cards or
fewer, two points per card if you have 10, 11 or 12 cards, and three points per card
2. A Flush consists of any five cards of the same suit. A flush in a
(i.e. 39 points) if you have all 13 of your cards left at the end, because you never
higher suit beats a flush in a lower suit, irrespective of the ranks of
played any cards at all. The winner, having no cards, gets no penalty points for the
the cards. Between two flushes in the same suit, the one with the
hand.
higher top card is better. So for example 9- 7- 6- 5-

25
This game is often played for money. In this case, before starting to play the players A- 2- 3- 4- 5 beats 2- 3- 4- 5- 6, which beats A-
agree a stake - for example $1 per point - and at the end of the session each pair of
players settles up according to the difference between their scores. When playing for 2- 3- 4- 5).
money, if the person playing after you has only one card left, you should take
precautions as follows to hinder them from winning: Ranking of flushes

 If single cards are being played, you should play your highest card. Some play that the rank of a flush is determined by the rank of its highest card; the
suit only becomes relevant if the highest cards are equal. So for example 2- J-
 If it is your turn to lead, you should lead a combination more than one card if
possible; otherwise you should lead your highest card. 7- 5- 3 beats A- J- 10- 7- 6, which beats A- K- J-

If you ignore these precautions, and as a result the person after you wins by playing 9- 8. This is the usual version played in Hong Kong.
their single card, you have to pay the losses of all three players.
Some compare all the ranks first, from the top card downward, as in Poker. Only if all
Variations five ranks are equal does the suit of the highest card determine which flush is higher.
There are many, many variations of Big Two - in fact I have not seen any two Using this method, A- K- J- 9- 8 beats A- J- 10- 7-
independent descriptions of the rules that agree completely. 6 because the king is higher than the jack.

One Chinese web site (GameSky - unfortunately no longer in existence), used the Order of royal flush, quads and straight flush
names Da Lao Er and Bu Bu Gao Sheng for a slightly different game from the one Some play that only a Royal Flush (A-K-Q-J-10) can beat a four of a kind. Any four of a
described here, which they called Choi Dai Dee. According to this site, in Dao Lao Er
or Bu Bu Gao Sheng there are no flushes, and a full house cannot be used to beat a kind beats any other straight flush. So A- K- Q- J- 10 beats 2-
straight. Four of a kind or a straight flush can be played out of turn to beat any 2- 2- 2- 6, which beats 3- 3- 3- 3- 8, which beats K-
combination. When someone wins the others score 1 per card if they have 10 or Q- J- 10- 9.
fewer cards, or 2 per card if they have 11 or more.
Playing without triples and flushes
Direction of play
Some play without triples and flushes - I have one report of this from Singapore (Gary
Some people play clockwise - I believe this is especially common in America, where Chan) and one from Taiwan (Todd Latta). So only single cards, pairs and 5-card
virtually all card games are played in that direction. Harold Hutabarat tells me that combinations can be played and the only 5-card combinations are straight, full house,
clockwise play is usual in Indonesia. Some people play alternate hands anticlockwise four of a kind, and straight flush.
and clockwise, which neutralises the advantage or disadvantage of playing next after
a certain opponent. (The person playing immediately after a weak player is at an Playing quads without an odd card
advantage).
Some allow four of a kind can be played by itself, without a fifth card. In this case
Dealing and starting the play fours form a separate type of combination, which can only beat lower fours and be
beaten by higher fours.
Many groups omit the procedure for deciding who receives the first card of the deal -
the deal simply begins with the player to dealer's right (if playing anticlockwise) and Honour hands beat all combinations
therefore ends with the dealer.
An honour hand is a four of a kind plus a card or a straight flush. Some allow an
honour hand to be played not only to beat a lower 5-card hand, but also to beat
In many groups, instead of the holder of the lowest card (normally the 3) playing
singles pairs or triples. played it. Jonathan Dushoff reports that this variation is
the first card after each new deal, this only applies in the very first deal of a session.
common in Lukang (central Taiwan).
Thereafter the winner of each hand plays first in the next.
Two extra cards with a straight flush
Some play that when the holder of the lowest card starts, this lowest card does not
have to be included in the first play. In Todd Latta's version, a straight flush is played with any two extra cards, making a
seven card combination. A four of a kind plus a card or a straight flush plus two cards
Others play that the 'loser' of each hand plays first in the next - the loser being the
can be played to beat any single card or other combination. A four of a kind plus a
player who had most cards at the end of the play. If there is a tie for most cards, then
card can only be beaten by a higher four plus a card or a straight flush plus two, and a
those involved in the tie must expose their cards and each form the largest playable
straight flush plus two is only beaten by a higher straight flush plus two.
combination that they can from their cards. The next dealer and starter will be the
player whose combination has the smallest number of cards, or in case of equality Dragon wins
the weakest of these combinations.
In Hong Kong, some play that a player who is dealt a dragon, which is one card of
In Indonesia, the game is played in "rounds" of ten deals. Only the first deal of the each rank: A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K, immediately wins the game. Each of the other
round is begun by the 3. The next nine deals are started by whoever won the players scores as though they lost without playing any cards (39 penalty points).
previous deal, and this player can begin with any legal card or combination. After No Play after a Pass
each round (10 deals) is completed, all the cards are placed face down and each
player draws one card. The highest will shuffle the cards and deal the player with In Indonesia, a player who has passed is not allowed to play cards in subsequent
3 will start the play of this first deal of the new round. turns of the same trick. Having passed, you cannot play again until a card or
combination is passed by all players and the play is restarted. If you play a card or
Order of suits combination and no one else beats it, you are allowed to beat your own cards. In this
case, no one will be allowed to beat your second play, since they have all passed your
In the game Pusoy Dos, played in the Philippines, the order of suits from high to low
first play. Example: you hold 3-3-8-8-10-10. You lead your 3-3 and the second player,
is diamonds, hearts, spades, clubs. In this case it is the player who holds the holding 2-2 and no other pairs, decides not to waste these high cards. The other two
3 rather than the 3 who starts. players also pass. Now you can play your 8-8, the player with 2-2 is not allowed to
play, having passed, and so you win with your 10-10.
Some players in Taiwan and a few in Hong Kong interchange clubs and diamonds, so
that the order is spades (high), hearts, diamonds, clubs (low) - as in Bridge. In this Last Card
case the 3 starts. Some require that a player who has only one card left must announce this.
Use of twos and aces in straights and straight flushes Some require that if you are playing immediately before a player who has only one
card you must play your highest single card or a combination of more than one card.
Some play that A-2-3-4-5 is the highest, rather than the lowest type of straight or
(This could be against your interests - you might otherwise wish to help the player
straight flush. Some play that 2-3-4-5-6 is highest, beating A-2-3-4-5, which in turn
after you to win, so as to catch another player with a large number of cards.)
beats A-K-Q-J-10. Some play that 2-3-4-5-6 is highest, but A-2-3-4-5 is lowest.
In Indonesia, a player with only two cards or only one card is obliged to announce
Some do not allow A-2-3-4-5 as a valid straight or straight flush at all. Some allow
this, but the next player is not placed under any constraints as a result.
twos to rank high in these combinations, so that 2-A-K-Q-J is valid and is the highest
type of straight or straight flush and 6-5-4-3-2 is lowest. Some play that you cannot win by keeping the two of spades as your last card.
Yet others count 6-5-4-3-2 as second highest, between 2-A-K-Q-J and A-K-Q-J-10. The Playing until only one player has cards
logic behind this ranking is that you compare the cards in descending order of their
normal rank, so 2AKQJ beats 26543 because ace beats 6, and 26543 beats AKQJT Some do not end the play when one player runs out of cards. Instead the others
because 2 beats ace. continue to play, dropping out as they run out of cards, until only one player remains.
If a player's last card (or combination) is not beaten by any other player, the turn to
Some simply play that for straights and straight flushes, the cards rank from 2 (high) start again with any legal play passes to the next player in turn after the one who has
to 3 (low) and twos and threes are never consecutive, so that the highest type of just finished.
straight is 2-A-K-Q-J and the lowest is 7-6-5-4-3. Karl Boehnker tells me that this
version is the most common one in Hong Kong. Scoring variations

In Indonesia, straights containing a two (A-2-3-4-5 and 2-3-4-5-6) beat all other Some play that only the winner collects money from each of the other three players,
straights, and between each other they are ranked according to the suit of the two ( according to the number of cards each has left. there are no payments between the
losers.

26
 Some play that the double score for having 10 or more cards at the end applies only Straight flush: -40 points
to the starter - the person who played the first card of the deal.
Four twos: -80 points
Some play with greater penalties - double score if you are left with 8 or 9 cards, triple
with 10-12 and quadruple with 13 cards. b. If you play one of these combinations as the final cards in your hand, so ending
the play, the score for it is doubled.
Some reckon double penalty points for any hand with 8 or more cards when
someone finishes. Some apply a further double for 10 or more cards (i.e. 40 points c. The player who finishes the game with a normal card (from 3 to Ace) or a
for 10 cards, 44 for 11 and so on). Some double the penalty yet again for each two combination of normal cards scores -5 points. Each two used in the combination
remaining in a player's cards at the end. So if you had nine cards at the end including that ends the game is valued as -10; for example if you end the game with a pair
two twos you would lose 9 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 72 points. of twos, then you get -20.

Anthony Kam reports a variant, which may be rare, in which it is d. The scores of the players other than the winner are calculated as follows:
the difference between the number of cards held by each pair of players that
determines whether the payment between that pair of players is doubled. For o Each card from 3 to Ace remaining in hand scores 1 point
example, playing with double payments for 9-11 cards, a player with 10 cards would
pay 20 stakes to the winner, but only 8 stakes to a player with two cards (because 10-
o Each two remaining in hand scores 5 points.
2 is less than 9).
o A player left with 11 or 12 cards when the play ends scores double points.
Some simplify the scoring by simply paying one point per card, without doubling. If you still have all 13 cards then your score for that hand will be multiplied
Unfortunately this reduces the incentive for a player to take a risk in order to catch by three.
someone with a large number of cards.
Hong Kong Big Two
Some play that if the winner's last play consists entirely of twos (a single two, a pair
Ivan Ip describes a version of Big Two that he says is standard in Hong Kong (though
of twos or even three twos), the penalties for the other players are doubled.
other variants certainly exist there). Flushes are compared according to the rank of
Some count penalty points by adding up the values of cards left in the players' hands. the highest card. JQKA2 is not a valid straight or straight flush. The highest straight or
There are various scales of values, for example in some groups numeral cards 2-10 straight flush is A2345, then 23456, TJQKA, 9TJQK, and so on down to 34567 (lowest).
score 1 point each; jacks, queens and kings 2 points; aces 3 points; and twos 4 points A dragon wins the hand outright. The deal cannot be won by playing a single 2 as
each. Some count 1 point for a three, 2 for a four, 3 for a five, and so on up to 11 your last card. The second and subsequent deals are begun by the winner of the
points for a king, 12 for an ace and 13 for a two. These penalty points are doubled for previous deal.
a player who has 10 or more cards.
Three Player Game
Jonathan Dushoff reports a version played in Taiwan in which the winner is paid a
fixed amount by the loser only. Which player is the loser is determined by looking at Seventeen cards are dealt to each player, and the last card is placed face up in the
the remaining cards of the players other than the winner: centre of the table (one report says that this last card is dealt face down). The holder
of the three of diamonds adds this extra card to their hand. If it turns out that the last
 If anyone has a honour combination (straight plus or quads plus a card) the
face down card is the 3 then the holder of the 3 must take it. The rest of the
holder of the highest such combination loses.
play is as in the four-player version.
 If no one has an honour combination, the holder of the highest two or ace loses; Some play that from the second deal onwards, immediately after the deal, the loser
of the previous deal must give their highest card to the winner in exchange for an
 If there are no honour combinations, twos or aces, the holder of the largest
unwanted card from that player. This rule applies only to the three-player game.
number of cards loses;
Some play with only 13 cards dealt to each player. In this case the holder of the
 If there are no honour combinations and there is a tie for most cards, the holder lowest dealt card starts. Anyone who passes must draw a card from the undealt stock
of the highest card loses even if it is lower than an ace. and add it to their hand. When the stock is used up, play can continue without
drawing, or in some groups the played cards that have been set aside are shuffled
The Philippine game Pusoy Dos is normally played with positive points rather than
and used as a new stock for drawing. Some play that if you pass when a combination
penalty points. The winner (the first player to run out of cards) normally scores 1
of cards was needed, you draw not one card but the number of cards you would have
point and the others score nothing. However, if you win and your last play includes a
had to play.
deuce (two) you score 2 points; if it contains two deuces you score 4 points, if it
includes three deuces you score 8 points, and if you were to win by playing all four Normally the payment per card at the end from a player holding more than 13 cards
deuces you would score 16 points. is the same as from a player with 13 cards, usually 3 points per card.
When playing the version that goes on until only one player has cards left, the person Two Player Game
who runs out of cards first wins five points, the second player wins 3 points, the third
wins 1 points and the last one gets no points. Practice varies on the number of cards dealt. Some play that 17 cards are dealt to
each player and the remaining 18 cards are set aside unused. Others play with 21
Harold Hutabarat reports that in Indonesia the following scoring is used: cards each and 10 cards unused, yet others with 13 cards each and 26 unused. The
play is as in the four-player game; the holder of the lowest dealt card starts.
a. Special cards: The following combinations are rewarded with negative points if
played during the hand and not beaten. They are worth nothing if the holder Some play that a player who passes must draw a card or cards, as in the equivalent
does not play them before the play finishes, or if they are played and beaten. variation of the three-player game.
Four of a kind (any but four -20 points.
twos):

27
 Fight the Landlord 3, 4

Introduction triplets and from each other. Although triplets of twos cannot be included, a
Fight the Landlord (Dou Di Zhu) is a climbing game primarily for three players, but two or a joker or one of each can be attached, but not both jokers.
also playable by four. In each hand one player, the "landlord", plays alone and the 10. Sequence of triplets with attached pairs - an extra pair is attached to each
others form a team. The landlord's aim is to be the first to play out all his cards in triplet. Only the triplets have to be in sequence - for example 8-8-8-9-9-9-4-4-J-J.
valid combinations, and the team wins if any one of them manages to play all their The pairs must be different in rank from each other and from all the triplets.
cards before the landlord. The game is said to have originated in Hubei province but Although triplets of twos cannot be included, twos can be attached. Note that
is now popular all over China, and is also extensively played on line. attached single cards and attached pairs cannot be mixed - for example 3-3-3-4-
Players, Cards and Deal 4-4-6-7-7 is not valid.
The three-player game will be described first. The differences in the four-player 11. Bomb - four cards of the same rank. A bomb can beat everything except a
game are explained near the end of the page. rocket, and a higher ranked bomb can beat a lower ranked one.
This game uses a 54-card pack including two jokers, red and black. The cards rank 12. Rocket - a pair of jokers. It is the highest combination and beats everything else,
from high to low: including bombs.
red joker, black joker, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. 13. Quadplex set - there are two types: a quad with two single cards of different
Suits are irrelevant. ranks attached, such as 6-6-6-6-8-9, or a quad with two pairs of different ranks
As in most Chinese games the cards are not really dealt, but taken from the deck by attached, such as J-J-J-J-9-9-Q-Q. Twos and jokers can be attached, but you
the players. cannot use both jokers in one quadplex set. Quadplex sets are ranked according
to the rank of the quad. Note that a quadplex set can only beat a lower
One of the players shuffles the cards, gives them to the player to his left to cut, and
quadplex set of the same type, and cannot beat any other type of combination.
stacks them face down in the middle of the playing surface. One card is turned face
Also a quadplex set can be beaten by a bomb made of lower ranked cards.
up and inserted somewhere near the middle of the stack - this will determine who
starts the auction. The dealer then draws the top card from the deck, looking at it but Note that passing does not prevent you from playing on a future turn.
not showing it to the other players. The player to his right does the same, then the Example Player A (the landlord) leads 3-3-3-9 to get rid of some low cards, player B
third player, then the dealer and so on counter-clockwise around the table until each passes, player C plays 5-5-5-7, player A plays K-K-K-J and player B plays A-A-A-3. C and
player has 17 cards. The last three cards are left face down on the table until after the A pass, so B can start again with anything. He leads a single 4.
auction. It saves time if you look at your cards and sort them as you pick them up. Note B could have played his aces on his the first turn, but preferred to pass to give
Auction his partner a chance to get rid of some cards. After B has passed, C should play if
possible, so as not to give the landlord (A) a free chance to lead again. Having beaten
There is an auction to determine which player will be the landlord, and play alone
A's second play, B leads a low card to give C the choice of playing another unwanted
against the other two. The possible bids are 1, 2 and 3. The player who drew the face
card or putting the landlord under pressure by playing a high card.
up card in the "deal" is the first to bid. Each player in turn may either pass or bid
higher than the highest bid so far. If everyone passes the hand is thrown in and there Scoring
is a new deal. If there is a bid, the bidding continues counter-clockwise, each player If the landlord runs out of cards first he has won, and each opponent pays him the
passing or bidding higher than the previous bidder, until two consecutive players pass amount of the bid - 1, 2 or 3 units - provided that no bomb or rocket was played. If
or someone bids 3, which ends the auction since it is the highest possible bid. The one of the other two players runs out before the landlord, the landlord loses and
final and highest bidder is the landlord. This player now picks up the three face-down must pay the amount of the bid to each opponent. For each occasion when any
cards from the middle, for a total of 20 cards. player played a bomb or rocket, the payment for the hand is doubled. So for example
Play in a hand in which two bombs and a rocket were played, a player who bid 3 will win
24 points from each opponent for going out first, or pay 24 to each opponent if
The landlord plays first, and may play a single card or any legal combination. Each
another player goes out first.
subsequent player in anticlockwise order must either pass (play no card) or beat the
previous play by playing a higher combination of the same number of Note that since the opponents of the landlord stand to win or lose equally, they form
cards and same type. There are just two exceptions to this: a rocket can beat any a temporary partnership. When playing against the landlord it is just as profitable to
combination, and a bomb can beat any combination except a higher bomb or rocket - help your partner to run out of cards first as to win yourself. Because of this the
see definitions below. The play continues around the table for as many circuits as partners will usually not beat each other’s cards, and the weaker partner will play to
necessary until two consecutive players pass. The played cards are then turned face help the stronger partner.
down and put aside, and the person who played the last card(s) begins again, leading Four-Player Game
any card or legal combination. The four-player form of Fight the Landlord is played mainly in Zhejiang and Jiangsu
In this game, there are thirteen types of combination that can be played: provinces, including Shanghai. It uses a double deck, including two red and two black
1. Single card - ranking from three (low) up to red joker (high) as explained above jokers - 108 cards altogether. Each player takes 25 cards and 8 cards are left over for
the landlord, who plays alone from a hand of 33 cards against the other three players
2. Pair - two cards of the same rank, from three (low) up to two (high)
in partnership.
3. Triplet - three cards of the same rank
The combinations that can be played differ from those in the three-player game,
4. Triplet with an attached card - a triplet with any single card added, for example listed above, as follows:
6-6-6-8. These rank according to the rank of the triplet - so for example 9-9-9-3
beats 8-8-8-A.  Single card attachments are not permitted - i.e. combination types 4 and 9 are
exluded.
5. Triplet with an attached pair - a triplet with a pair added, like a full house in
poker, the ranking being determined by the rank of the triplet - for example Q-  There are no quadplex sets - combination type 13 is excluded.
Q-Q-6-6 beats 10-10-10-K-K.
 A bomb (type 11) can consist of four or more cards of equal rank, and a bomb
6. Sequence - at least five cards of consecutive rank, from 3 up to ace - for with more cards beats a bomb with fewer cards irrespective of the ranks of the
example 8-9-10-J-Q. Twos and jokers cannot be used. cards.
7. Sequence of pairs - at least three pairs of consecutive ranks, from 3 up to ace.
Twos and jokers cannot be used. For example 10-10-J-J-Q-Q-K-K.
 For a rocket (type 12) you need all four jokers.
You cannot play a red and a black joker together as a pair, but you can use a pair of
8. Sequence of triplets - at least two triplets of consecutive ranks from three up to
red jokers or a pair of black jokers either as a pair by itself or to attach to a triplet.
ace. For example 4-4-4-5-5-5.
The payment for a hand is doubled for each bomb of 6 or more cards and for each
9. Sequence of triplets with attached cards - an extra card is added to each triplet.
rocket, but bombs of 4 or 5 cards do not affect the payment.
For example 7-7-7-8-8-8-3-6. The attached cards must be different from all the

28
Struggling Upstream 4-6

Introduction In the same way a higher single suited sequence beats a lower one, and
if the ranks are equal a 'pure' sequence beats an 'impure' one.
Zhēng Shàngyóu is a Chinese card game whose name can be roughly translated
as Struggling Upstream. For some Chinese people this name is reminiscent of the (iv) Multiple sequence
Cultural Revolution - it said to be a literary quotation referring to the perseverence of
This consists of equal numbers of cards (two or more) of each of three or
a fish swimming against the current in the early spring. Will Tomlinson has pointed
more consecutive ranks (such as 9-9-10-10-J-J). The cards rank as for
out that this is the topic of the "Trilogy of a Fish" by the poet Shi Zhi (Guo Lusheng),
single sequences with 3 low and Ace high. Suit is irrelevant. Jokers can
born 1948. The game exists in several variations, and has various alternative names.
be used as wild cards to stand for any other card. Twos can also be used
According to Zhang Shutai, the most interesting version is the partnership game for
as wild cards, with the limitation that you cannot use twos to stand for
six players, also known as Sān jiā xĭ (三家喜 - family of three) or Huŏjiàn (火箭 - rocket).
all the cards of a particular rank - at least one card of each rank must be
For simplicity, however, the first version described here is the individual game. This is
natural or a joker. A multiple sequence can only be beaten by a better
a skilful and light-hearted card game for four or more players, probably best with 5 or
multiple sequence containing the same number of ranks and the same
6.
number of cards of each rank. A multiple sequence containing higher
In the form set out here Zheng Shangyou was brought to the UK by John McLeod, ranks is better than a lower one, and if the ranks are equal, a 'natural'
who learned it during a visit to China by some British Go players in 1979 from our multiple sequence beats one with wild cards.
interpreter Zhang Chuansheng. In Britain we gave it the name Pits, which is easier for
Examples of sets
us to pronounce, and refers to the predicament of the losing players, who find
themselves in a pit from which it is hard to escape.  7-2-2 can be played as three sevens. This can be beaten by 7-7-7 (natural
It is closely related to several other games - the Japanese Dai Hin Min (or Dai Fugo), sevens), which can be beaten by 8-8-joker.
Vietnamese Tien Len, Chinese Big Two and the Western derivative President. I have  9-2-2, 9-2-joker, 9-9-2 and 9-9-joker are all equal; none of them can be played
classified this group as climbing games. to beat the others, as they all contain wild cards.
Equipment and Objective  2-joker can be played as a pair of twos; this is beaten by 2-2, a natural pair of
twos.
Zheng Shangyou uses a 54-card pack consisting of the standard 52 cards as for bridge
or poker, with the addition of two distinguishable jokers, referred to here as Red and Examples of single sequences
Black. The object of each hand is to be the first to play out all one's cards and thereby
gain 2 points, or second and gain 1, towards a rubber-winning total of (usually) 11.
 Please note: twos cannot be used in single sequences. The following
are not valid sequences: 2-3-4, Q-K-A-2, 5-6-2-8.
The Deal  Please note: a sequence must contain at least three cards. 6-7 is not a valid
The initial dealer is chosen at random. The cards are dealt to the players singly, sequence.
anticlockwise, starting with the dealer. Depending on the number of players, some  Q- K- A is beaten by 3- 4- 5, which can then only be beaten
may have more cards than others - this does not matter. by a higher sequence in a single suit.
The Chinese method of dealing is as follows. The dealer shuffles the cards, places the  The presence of 'impurities' in the form of wild cards is only used as a deciding
cards face down in the centre of the table and helps herself to the top one, followed factor between otherwise equal-ranking plays, e.g. 6-Joker- 8 beats
by the player to her right, and so on. The players take single cards in counter-
7- 8- 9, because the Joker is deemed to represent the 7. This Heart
clockwise rotation until the pack is exhausted. Western players may prefer to have
the dealer distribute all the cards as in most Western card games - this will not affect sequence would be beaten by 6- 7- 8 on account of purity, or by a
the rest of the game. higher single suited sequence, pure or impure.

The Play Examples of multiple sequences

The dealer begins by leading any playable combination.  Multiple sequences must have at least three consecutive ranks. The following
are not valid:
The opportunity to play proceeds anti-clockwise, and at each turn a player chooses to
pass or to play. A player who has passed is not debarred from playing if the chance o 6-6-6-7-7-7 (only two ranks)
comes round again. After the lead, all plays must:
o 5-5-7-7-8-8 (not consecutive)
 contain the same number of cards as the lead
 form the same type of pattern o 7-7-8-8-8-9-9 (each rank must have same number of cards)
 be higher-ranking than the previous play
o 7-7-2-2-9-9 (illegal to substitute twos for both eights)
Play continues until all but one of the players pass in turn, whereupon all the played
cards are gathered up and put aside. Whoever played last (and therefore highest)  5-5-6-2-7-joker (impure) can be beaten by 5-5-6-6-7-7 (pure), which is beaten
starts again by leading any playable combination. by 6-joker-7-2-8-8 (higher).
By this means, the players will eventually run out of cards. The first player to do so  K-K-A-A-2-joker is valid only if you regard the 2 and joker as substitutes for
wins the hand, the second comes second, and so on. The hand is played to the bitter queens. Twos cannot be used as a natural rank in a multiple sequence. Q-Q-K-K-
end, until only one player has cards left, for reasons explained below. A-A is therefore higher.
If the player due to lead has no cards, the turn to lead passes to the right.
 This is very unlikely to come up, but 10-10-10-J-J-J-Q-Q-Q-K-K-
Playable combinations K does not beat 4-4-4-4-5-5-5-5-6-6-6-6, because although they are both 12
cards, they are different shapes of multiple sequence.
There are four types of playable combination, as follows:
Scoring
(i) Single card
The rank from low to high is 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2, black joker,
 The first player to run out of cards gains 2 points.
red joker. Suit is irrelevant.  The second player to be out of cards gains 1 point.

(ii) Set of 2 or more cards of the same rank

 The third player to get rid of her cards can begin to shuffle the cards, as she will
be the next dealer, and therefore start the play of the next hand.
These rank in the same way as single cards, suit being irrelevant. Twos or  The last and second to last players are penalised in the next hand by having to
jokers can be used as wild cards to stand for any lower card. A set give up their best cards to the winners - see below. These are the pit dwellers.
containing wild cards is beaten by an equal ranked 'pure' set.
If there are only four players, the player who was third is also second to last, so that
(iii) Single sequence of three or more cards of consecutive rank player both deals next and has to give up a card.
The rank from low to high is 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A. Twos cannot If there are six players, the player who comes fourth gets no score and suffers no
be used in single sequences - neither as wild cards, nor as natural cards penalty.
in their own right. Jokers can be used as wild cards to stand for any card
from three to ace. Any single suited sequence is better than any mixed Second and subsequent deals
suited sequence of the same length. Immediately the cards have been shuffled and distributed, the players who came last
When comparing two mixed suited sequences, the one containing higher and next-to-last must each throw their highest-ranking card face-up on the table. If
ranking cards is better. Between equal ranking mixed suited sequences a they have several equal highest cards they can choose which to throw. The player
'pure' sequence beats an 'impure' sequence containing one or more who came first takes whichever of these she prefers and adds it to her hand, leaving
jokers. the other for the runner-up. These top two players then each discard face-up an
unwanted card of their choice; the next-to-last player of the previous hand chooses

29
one of these and adds it to her hand, leaving the other unwanted card to the lower Four players with partnerships
pit-dweller who must add it to her hand. Play then begins as before, with the dealer
Four people can also play a partnership game, with partners sitting opposite. The
making the first lead.
rules of play and scoring are exactly as in the individual game, but partners combine
Partnership Game their scores. If you are first or second, and your partner is third, you may choose to
throw away a high card - maybe a wild card - to help your partner, who gets first
With 4 or 6 players it is usual to play as two teams. The six player partnership game is
choice of the discards.
said to be the most interesting version of Zheng Shangyou, and the following
description of it is based on information from Zhang Shutai. In Beijing this six player Variations
game is also called San jia xi (三家喜) which means something like "happy family of
three". In Chengdu, in Sijuan province it is called Huojian (火箭) which means rocket. Some allow twos as valid natural cards in sequences, so for example K- A-

There are two teams of three, each player sitting between two opponents. Before the 2 would be a valid single suited sequence, beating Q- K- A.
cards are shuffled prior to the first deal a card is drawn from the pack and then Hints on play
replaced. Whoever draws this card in the first deal will start the first hand.
The appeal of the game, particularly for pit-dwellers, is to discover how skilful play
The rules of play are as usual, and the order in which the players run out of cards and some luck with the cards dealt can enable one to 'struggle upstream' and end up
determines the scores for the teams. If the players who finish first and second are on on top. One should try to keep plans flexible, and be ready to re-assess the hand
opposite teams, the scores are as follows: according to the play of others.
 The team of the player who finishes first adds 3 points to its score. The most urgent priority is to get rid of your low cards. The only way you can ever
 The team of the player who finishes second adds 2 points to its score. play an isolated 3 is by leading it, so if you are fortunate enough to have the lead,
 The team which does not contain the player who finished last adds 2 extra take advantage of it to get rid of such a card. The same applies to low combinations,
such as 3-4-5-6. If your hand contained 3-3-4-5-6, you might lead the 3-4-5-6 in the
points to its score.
hope that no one else had a sequence of 4, and then follow up with your 3.
So for example if a team takes 2nd, 3rd and 5th place, they score 4 (2 for coming
Do not lead high cards, unless you can see a safe way to get rid of all your cards by
second and 2 for not coming last) and their opponents score 3 (for their first place).
doing so. High cards are best used for gaining the lead. Use the lead to get rid of low
If the first and second places are taken by members of the same team, the scoring is cards. With 4-4-7-2-2 as your last five cards, lead the 4-4, take back the lead with the
different, and depends on the position of the third member of that team: 2-2, and then play the 7. Do not lead 4-4-2-2 as a set of four fours; if someone has
four sixes, you will probably left holding your 7 after everyone else has finished.
 If the third team member takes third place, the team has all of the top three
places and scores 10 points for this; the other team scores nothing. If you have a group of cards like 3-4-5-5-6-7 it will often be best to play this as two
sequences: 3-4-5 and 5-6-7, especially if one of them is single suited. If you had the
 If the third team member comes fourth or fifth, the team scores just 5 points for
lead you might lead the five card sequence 3-4-5-6-7 if you were fairly sure no one
the top two places; the other team scores nothing.
could beat it (or if you were desperate), and if no one else plays a 5 card sequence
 If the third team member comes last, the team with first and second place you could then go out by leading the 5. It will almost never be right to play the two
scores 5 points and the other team scores 2 for not having last place. fives as a pair. That would leave you with four low cards (3, 4, 6, 7) which can only be
In the second and subsequent hands the fifth and sixth players from the previous played singly.
hand must give up their highest cards to the first and second players (the first player It is unwise to store up a rock-crushing 9-card sequence while repeatedly passing, if
has first choice), and these players give any unwanted card in exchange (fifth player one has no 'entry' to the lead with a probable winner (e.g. Joker or Q-K-A sequence).
has first choice). In fact if you are first or second and your partner is fifth, you might Consider splitting it into shorter sequences - for example you might take the lead
well choose to return a good card to help your partner. with the upper four cards and then play the lower five.
In the second and subsequent hands the play is started by the player who Try to avoid being trapped with too few cards to follow a lead late in the hand (or
finished fifth in the previous hand. conversely exploit this problem in someone else's hand!). Don't be surprised if
The object of the game is to reach a score of 50 points or more, and the first team to derisive fingers are pointed when you're left with 3s at the end!
do so are the winners. If both teams reach 50 on the same deal the team with the Some attention to what cards are out, particularly wild cards, will obviously help to
higher score wins. If it is a tie another hand is played. ensure the success of one's winning strategy.

30
 Guan Dan 4

Introduction b. If the previous play to the trick was a bomb, play a higher bomb.
Guan Dan is a Chinese card game whose name means throwing eggs. It is said that c. Pass and play no card, if unable or unwilling to play. Passing does not prevent a
the second character was originally 弹, which is also pronounced 'dàn' and means player from playing cards at a future turn in the same trick.
bombs or grenades, referring to the bombs in the game, but the less violent
interpretation now prevails. The game is closely related to Zheng Shang You and If three consecutive players pass, the trick is over and the player who played the last
other climbing games, but distinguished from them by the process of promotion card(s) to the trick leads to the next trick.
introduced from Sheng Ji games such as 100. Guan Dan originated in Huaian, Jiangsu A player with no card left in hand passes every opportunity to play. If the player
Province and is probably the most popular climbing game in Jiangsu, Anhui and other whose turn it is to lead has no cards left, the lead passes to that player's partner. The
provinces nearby. There are often tournaments broadcast on local TV channels. play continues until both players of one partnership have run out of cards.
The popularity of this game can be attributed to several features. Most of playable Any player who has 10 cards or fewer must declare on request exactly how many
combinations are restricted to 6 or fewer cards, so that games proceed at a moderate cards he or she still holds.
pace and it is difficult for a player holding some lucky combinations to win suddenly,
though it sometimes happens. There is a great variety of possible combinations of Ranking of cards and playable combinations
cards which makes the game more balanced than some other climbing games, and There are seven types of ordinary play.
the wild cards give rise to even more possibilities. All these features make for a game
of significant strategic depth. i) Single cards
Single cards are ranked in level order. A wild card played as a single card
Players, cards, levels and objective
is equal in rank to a level card. For example at level 6, a wild 6 is
Four players are divided into two partnerships with partners sitting opposite each
equal in rank to a 6: neither beats the other.
other. A double deck of standard international cards is used. There are 108 cards in
ii) Pairs
the deck altogether including four jokers, two red and two black.
A pair consists of two single cards with the same rank. Pairs are ranked
The basic rank of the cards is, from high to low, red joker, black joker, A, K, Q, J, 10, in level order, in the same way as single cards. Note that two black
9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, (A). This will be called the natural order of the cards. When jokers or two red jokers can make a pair, but a black joker and a red
forming sequences, aces can be used as low cards, below the 2. joker cannot be played as a pair. A wild card can be played with any
card except a joker to make a pair. If the two wild cards are played
Deal and play are counterclockwise, and the objective is to play all your cards before together, they form a pair equal in rank to any pair of level cards.
the other players (and to help your partner to do so). The team of the player who is iii) Triples
the first to run out of cards wins the hand, and the order in which the other players A triple consists of three single cards of the same rank. Triples are
finish determines the amount by which the winners are promoted. A team's score is ranked in level order, in the same way as single cards. No triple of jokers
expressed as a level. There are 13 levels, corresponding to the card ranks from 2 up is possible, so the highest triple is a set of three level cards, which can
to A (ace). Both teams start at level 2, the winners are promoted to a higher level, only be beaten by a bomb.
and the objective is to win on the highest level A. iv) Full houses
In the second and subsequent hands, the winners of the previous hand are the A full house consists of a triple and a pair and is ranked by the triple
declarers and their level determines the level of the hand. Cards of the rank that is in level order, regardless of the rank of the pair. Therefore for example
equal to the level of the hand have special powers in the play. These will be 8-8-8-K-K cannot follow 8-8-8-5-5 because the triples are equal. Since
called level cards. jokers cannot form a triple, the highest full house is one with a triple of
level cards.
1. For most purposes, level cards rank above the aces and below the black jokers v) Straights
instead of in their natural position. This will be called the level order of the A straight consists of five single cards which are consecutive in natural
cards. order and are not all of the same suit. An ace can be used as a high card
ranking next above the king or as a low card ranking next below the two.
2. The level cards in hearts are wild cards. They can be used to represent any
Jokers can never be used in a straight, and level cards take on their
card except a joker.
natural numerical position. For example at level 7, 7 comes between 6
The first hand is always played at level 2, so the level order from high to low is red and 8 in a straight, not above the ace: 6-7-8-9-10 is always a straight,
joker, black joker, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and both twos of hearts are wild. whereas 6-8-9-10-J is never a straight. Straights are ranked by their
highest ranked single cards in natural order, so the highest straight is 10-
If for example, the declarers are on level 8, the level order is red joker, black joker, 8, J-Q-K-A and the lowest is A-2-3-4-5 (ranked as 5). An Ace cannot be used
A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Both eights of hearts are then wild. in the interior of a straight: K-A-2-3-4, Q-K-A-2-3 and J-Q-K-A-2 are not
The deal allowed. Wild cards can be used as usual. For example at level 7, 3-
In China, cards are usually drawn from the deck by the players rather than dealt by a 4- 7- 6- 7 could be played as a straight ranked as 7, and it
single player. After the shuffle and cut the deck is placed face down in the middle of would be beaten by 4-5-6-7-8.
the playing surface, usually spread slightly, and players take turns to draw single vi) Tubes
cards from the top of the deck. Chinese players consider this method easier than A tube consists of three consecutive pairs in natural order. Pairs of level
Western style dealing when there are a lot of cards in the deck, but it may be easiest cards take on their natural numerical position in tubes, in the same way
to use whatever method the players are most accustomed to. as in straights. Pairs of jokers can never be used in a tube. Tubes are
For the first hand of the game, a player is chosen at random to shuffle the deck. The ranked by their highest ranked pairs in natural order as the same way as
player to the left of the shuffler then flips the top card of the deck face up and cuts straights. Aces can be high or low. The lowest tube is A-A-2-2-3-3, ranked
the deck, so that on completion of the cut the face up card is somewhere in the by the 3-3 and the highest is Q-Q-K-K-A-A, ranked by the A-A. K-K-A-A-2-
interior of the deck. The player who shuffled then draws the first card, followed by 2 is not allowed.
the player to the right and so on anticlockwise round the table until all the cards have vii) Plates
been drawn and everyone has 27 cards. The player who drew the face up card will A plate consists of two consecutive triples in natural order.. Triples of
begin the play. level cards take on their natural numerical position in plates, in the same
way as in straights. Plates are ranked by their higher ranked triples in
From the second hand onward, the result of the previous hand determines who natural order as the same way of straights. A-A-A-2-2-2 is the lowest
shuffles, who cuts, who draws first and who begins the play. The player who plate, ranked by 2-2-2 and K-K-K-A-A-A is the highest plate, ranked by A-
finished first shuffles, the player to the left of the shuffler cuts the cards A-A.
(without turning any card face up) and the player who finished last draws the first Bombs
card, followed by the others in counterclockwise order as usual. If the winning team
in the previous hand finished first and second, the losers decide between them who There are nine types of bomb ranked from lowest to highest: quadruples, quintuples,
should should draw the first card. straight flushes, sextuples, septuples, octuples, nonuples, decuples, four-joker.

The play A quadruple, quintuple, sextuple, septuple, octuple, nonuple, or decuple consists of
respectively four, five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten cards of equal rank. Bombs
In the first hand, the player who drew the face up card leads to the first trick, and this consisting of sets of equal ranked cards are ranked within their types in level order in
lead may or may not include the face up card. From the second hand onward, the the same way as single cards, with bombs of level cards ranked highest since there
first player is determined by the tribute paid for the previous hand (see tribute are not enough jokers to make these types of bomb. So for example at level 9 the
below), which in turn depends on the result of the previous hand. highest quintuple bomb is 9-9-9-9-9, the second highest is A-A-A-A-A and the lowest
The player who leads to a trick plays a card or combination of cards from his or her is 2-2-2-2-2.
hand, the other players play or pass in turn in counterclockwise order, and the trick A straight flush consists of five consecutive cards of the same suit in natural order. As
continues for as many circuits as needed until three players pass in succession. with straights, aces can be high or low and jokers cannot be used. Like straights,
There are seven types of ordinary playable cards and combinations, and there are flushes are ranked by their top cards in natural order so that the lowest straight flush
special combinations called bombs. The player who leads to a trick can begin it with is A-2-3-4-5 and the highest is 10-J-Q-K-A, irrespective of the level.
any ordinary playable card or combination or with a bomb. When a trick is in A four-joker bomb consists of two black jokers and two red jokers and is the highest
progress, on each turn a player has the following options. ranked bomb.
a. If the previous play to the trick was an ordinary card or combination, play a A bomb can be beaten by a higher bomb of the same type, or by any bomb of a
higher card or combination of the same type, or play any bomb. higher type. So for example at level 4, A-A-A-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4 which is beaten

31
by 2-2-2-2-2 (the lowest quintuple bomb) and the highest quintuple 4-4-4-4-4 is The opening lead
beaten by the lowest straight flush A-2-3-4-5 of a suit.
From the second hand on, it is the player who pays the higher ranked tribute, or in
Wild cards can be used in the making of any type of bomb except a four-joker bomb. the case of a 1-3 or 1-4 win the only tribute, who begins the play by leading to the
In fact nonuple and decuple bombs can only be constructed with the help of wild first trick. If the two opponents paid equal ranked tributes, they agree between them
cards, and since there are only two wild cards in the game, within a hand there can who should play first in the new deal. If no tribute was paid (because the players
be at most two nonuples or one decuple. liable for tribute held both red jokers), the player who finished first in the previous
hand leads to the first trick in the new hand.
Wild cards
Strategy
As explained above, there are only two wild cards: the level cards in the heart suit. So
in for example in the first hand, which is always at level 2, the two 2 are wild. Since this is a partnership game, the aim is not only to get rid of your own cards but
Wild cards can be used in place of any cards needed to make up a also to help your partner. To do this effectively it is important to know who has the
combination except for jokers. If wild cards are played as single cards or as a pair of better chance of winning. If you have a good chance to win yourself, you can play a
wild cards they rank as level cards, above the ace and below the black joker. similar strategy to that of individual climbing games, in which you eliminate low
unmatched cards at an early opportunity, keeping only strong combinations. But if
Anyone who plays a combination that includes wild cards must declare what cards your hand is worse than your partner's it may be better to sacrifice your own chances
they stand for. Two wild cards can stand for different cards in one combination. of winning to help your partner. A hand that contains two or three bombs but is
There may be a choice - for example at level 4, 4- 4- 8- 8- 9- 9 otherwise weak can be useful for this. You help your partner by bombing the
could be played as a tube 7-7-8-8-9-9 or a tube 8-8-9-9-10-10 or a plate 8-8-8-9-9-9. opponents' strong combinations if partner is unable to beat them, and then leading
cards that are favourable to your partner.
Scoring
You can make some deductions about the strength and nature of other players'
The first player who runs out of cards wins the hand on behalf of his or her team. Play hands from the cards that they lead or play to a trick.
continues until the other member of the winning team also runs out of cards. If the
second member of the winning team finished second it is a 1-2 win, if third it is a 1-3  Leading a low single card, pair, triple, or full house to a trick is usually a signal
win and if fourth it is a 1-4 win. that the player has some high cards of the same kind. The player plans to use
these high cards to regain the lead, thereby controlling the game, or at least to
The winners of a hand become the declarers of the next hand and are promoted to a force the opponents to use a bomb to take control. However, sometimes this
higher level. The losers the opponents. kind of lead may indicate that the player has a good chance to finish if he can
just get rid of these cards, or sometimes he is just trying to help his partner.
 A team that wins 1-4 goes up one level.

 A team that wins 1-3 goes up two levels.

 Leading a tube or plate is usually a means to drive out an opponent's bomb.

 A team that wins 1-2 goes up four levels.

 A player who leads a sequence is taking a considerable risk that the opponents
may beat it with a higher sequences. it is likely that the player has no other
Note that unlike many other promotion (Sheng Ji) games, when the opponents win good lead, or it may be that the sequence is just an efficient way to dispose of
they are immediately promoted by the full amount as well as becoming the declarers. some otherwise useless cards, leaving the player with very good combinations.
For example if the declarers are on level 5 and the opponents are on level 3, and the
opponents score a 1-4 win, the opponents become the declarers and are promoted  A player who bombs any sort of combination definitely dislikes this type of
to level 4. combination. If he plays a very high card or combination on a very low card or
combination, he is unlikely to hold intermediate combinations of this type
In order to win the game, a team has to score a 1-2 or 1-3 win as declarers on the top unless he is playing high to block the next player and thereby help his partner.
level A (ace). Level A is subject to a number of special rules.
From observations like these you can build up a partial picture of what type of
 It is not possible to be promoted past level A. If a team wins and their combinations each player likes and dislikes. Then you can help by leading
promotion is sufficient to take them to level A or higher, they become the combinations that your partner likes and your opponents dislike.
declarers on level A.
Having the right to lead first is a considerable advantage. Some players estimate that
 If the declarers are on level A and score a 1-2 or a 1-3 win they win the game. it is worth slightly more than a red joker. Therefore the tribute rule is not as
This is the only way to win. If the declarers on level A score a 1-4 win, they unbalanced as it may appear to be.
remain on level A and the game continues. There is a practical application of this if you are on level K, your partner has finished
first and one of your opponents has finished second. Now you are certain to be
 If the declarers lose on level A, they become the opponents and the winners
declarers in the next deal at level A, and you may be in a position to choose whether
become declarers and are promoted as usual.
to finish third or last. The choice is quite close. If you finish last you give your highest
 If the opponents win a hand while on level A they do not win the game, even if card to your partner and get the lead. If you finish third, your partner will get a high
it is a 1-2 win. They simply become the declarers on level A, and will have the card from the opponent who is last, but to compensate for that he gets the lead
opportunity to win the game if they win the next hand 1-2 or 1-3. instead of you.
Variants
 If a team have been declarers three times on Level A without winning, after the
third unsuccessful attempt they are demoted back to the lowest level - level 2. Scoring
They may be the declarers or the opponents at level 2 depending whether they
won 1-4 or lost. If they lost the opponents are promoted as usual as well as  Some play that only a 1-2-win wins the game for the declarers at Level A: if they
becoming declarers. only manage a 1-3 or 1-4 win they remain declarers at level A.

 If the declarers lose on level A, and the very last play by the opponent who  Some play that a 1-2 win promotes a team by only three levels, not four.
finishes first consists entirely of aces (a single ace, a pair of aces, a triple of aces Tribute
or a bomb of aces), the declarers are demoted to level 2. The opponents
become the declarers and are promoted as usual .  Some play that the card returned by a player receiving tribute must be ranked
Second and subsequent deals: the tribute and opening lead 10 or lower.

From the second hand on, after drawing and before playing, the player or players  Some play that after a 1-2 win, if the two tribute cards are of the same rank,
who finished last in the previous hand have to pay tribute. A player pays tribute by they are mixed face down, and each winner takes one of the cards at random.
giving his or her highest ranked single card other than a wild card face up to a
member of the winning team.  Some play that after a 1-2 win, if the two tribute cards are of the same rank, it is
chosen at random which of the losers should lead first.
If the previous hand ended with a 1-2-win then each of the losers (now the
opponents) pays tribute. The player who finished first in the previous hand gets the Play and combinations
higher ranked of the two tribute cards, and player who finished second gets the Some require a player to say how many cards he or she holds only if holding 6 cards
other. If the two tribute cards are of the same rank then the winners can decide or fewer.
between them which should take which card - in some cases a player might prefer
one suit to another. Then in return, each of the winners (now the declarers) gives an A few groups play with aces high only. These players do not recognise the low
unwanted card face up to the opponent from whom they received tribute. straight A-2-3-4-5 or the low tube A-A-2-2-3-3 or the low plate A-A-A-2-2-2 as valid
However, if each of the opponents holds one red joker or one of the opponents combinations.
holds two red jokers, the tributes are cancelled. Some do not recognise nonuple or decuple bombs as valid. Some do not allow
If the previous hand ended with a 1-3-win or a 1-4-win, then the player who finished septuple or octuple bombs either. This makes little substantial difference since these
last (who will be an opponent in the case of a 1-3 win but a declarer in the case of a combinations are very rare.
1-4 win) pays tribute to the player who finished first. Then the player who finished In some variants, if set of cards including a wild card is a valid combination with the
gives an unwanted card to the last player face up in exchange. If the last player holds wild card standing for itself, then the wild card must stand for itself. For example at
two red jokers, then the tribute is cancelled.
level 4 the combination 4- 4- 5- 5- 6- 6 can be played only as 4-
In all cases the card given in exchange for tribute must be different from the tribute 4-5-5-6-6, not as 5-5-6-6-7-7 counting the wild cards as 7's and not as a plate 5-5-5-6-
card. 6-6 counting the wild cards as a 5 and a 6.

Tiến Lên 2, 3, 4

32
Introduction 1. A four of a kind can beat any single two (but not any other single card, such as
Tien Len can be considered the national card game of Vietnam; the name of the an ace or king). A four of a kind can be beaten by a higher four of a kind.
game, which should properly be spelled Tiến Lên, means Go Forward. The main 2. A sequence of three pairs (such as 7-7-8-8-9-9) can beat any single two (but not
description on this page is based on information from Jona Baily; Kenneth Lu and any other single card). A sequence of three pairs can be beaten by a higher
Justus Pang have contributed slightly different versions. Probably as a result of the sequence of three pairs.
Vietnam war, Tien Len has spread to some parts of the USA, where it is sometimes 3. A sequence of four pairs (such as 5-5-6-6-7-7-8-8) can beat a pair of twos (but
called Viet Cong or just VC; Kelly Aman has contributed one version of this. Chris not any other pair). A sequence of four pairs can be beaten by a higher
Hovanic learned another version from Chris Molinaro (also in the USA) and they call sequence of four pairs.
it Thirteen.
4. A sequence of five pairs (such as 8-8-9-9-10-10-J-J-Q-Q) can beat a set of three
Tien Len is a climbing game (a bit like Zheng Shangyou or President), in which the aim twos (but not any other three of a kind). A sequence of five pairs can be beaten
is to get rid of your cards as soon as possible by beating combinations of cards played by a higher sequence of five pairs.
by the other players.
These combinations that can beat single twos or sets of twos are sometimes known
Players and Cards as bombs or two-bombs, and can be played even by a player who has previously
The game is for four players. A standard 52 card deck is used; there are no Jokers and passed.
no wild cards. It is possible for two or three to play. It can also be played by more Note that these exceptions only apply to beating twos, not other cards. For example,
than four players, using two 52 card packs shuffled together. if someone plays an ace you cannot beat it with your four of a kind, but if the ace has
The game is normally dealt and played clockwise, but can be played anticlockwise been beaten by a two, then your four of a kind can be used to beat the two.
instead if the players agree in advance to do so. End of the Play and Payments
The ranking of the cards is: Two (highest), Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine, Eight, As players run out of cards they drop out of the play. If the player whose turn it is to
Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three (lowest). play has no cards left, the turn passes to the next player in rotation. The play ends
Within each rank there is also an order of suits: Hearts (highest), Diamonds, Clubs, when only one player has cards left. That player is the loser, and must pay a fixed
Spades (lowest). stake to each of the other players.
So the 3 of Spades is the lowest card in the pack, and the 2 of Hearts is the highest. This game is often played for money, and sometimes for high stakes. Among serious
Rank is more important than suit, so for example the 8 beats the 7. players, typically the loser of a game would have to pay $2000 to each of the others.
In a session of play, a person might easily lose (or win) a total of $50000 or more.
The Deal
Customs and Ethics
For the first game, the dealer is chosen at random; subsequently the loser of each
game has to deal the next. When there are four players, 13 cards are dealt to each Some types of behaviour which in many other card games would be regarded as
player. cheating are generally considered acceptable in Tien Len. For example among some
players it OK to peek at other players' cards, or to play out of turn if you can get away
If there are fewer than four players, 13 cards are still dealt to each player, and there with it.
will be some cards left undealt - these are not used in the game. An alternative with
three players is, by prior agreement, to deal 17 cards each. When there are only two Variations
players, only 13 cards each should be dealt - if all the cards were dealt the players In the version contributed by Justus Pang:
would be able to work out each other's hands, which would spoil the game. When
there are more than four players, you can agree in advance either to deal 13 cards  In the first deal, the holder of the 3 may pass rather than playing that card.
each from the double deck, or deal as many cards as possible equally to the players. This could be advantageous if the 3 is part of a bomb.
The Play  Twos cannot be used in sequences - they may run only from 3 up to ace.
In the first game only, the player with the 3 of Spades begins play. If no one has  When all but one players have passed, the person who played the last unbeaten
the 3 (in the three or two player game) whoever holds the lowest card begins. combination can continue to play successively higher combinations of the same
The player must begin by playing this lowest card, either on its own or as part of a type. This is known as "stacking". Since the other players have passed, they are
combination. not allowed to beat the stacked combinations unless able to play a bomb.
In subsequent games, the winner of the previous game plays first, and can start with  Variant. In San Jose the game is sometimes played with "trading". In this
any combination. variant, as in many versions of President and some other climbing games, the
Each player in turn must now either beat the previously played card or combination, loser of the previous deal must give his or her two highest cards to the winner,
by playing a card or combination that beats it, or pass and not play any cards. The and the player who came second to last must give his or her highest card to the
played card(s) are placed in a heap face up in the centre of the table. The play goes second placed player. Simultaneously, the first and second placed players from
around the table as many times as necessary until someone plays a card or the previous deal pass two unwanted cards and one unwanted card respectively
combination that no one else beats. When this happens, all the played cards are set to the last and second last players.
aside, and the person whose play was unbeaten starts again by playing any legal card The version of Tien Len contributed by Kenneth Lu has the following differences:
or combination face up to the centre of the table.
1. If there are only three players, 17 cards are dealt to each; the person who starts
If you pass you are locked out of the play until someone makes a play that no one
beats. Only when the cards are set aside and a new card or combination is led are the play takes the final card. For the first deal this is the person who has the
you entitled to play again. 3 (or the 3 if the 3 was the undealt card). If there are only two players
Example (with three players): the player to your right plays a single three, you hold they are just dealt 17 cards each.
an ace but decide to pass, the player to your left plays a nine and the player to right
plays a king. You cannot now beat the king with your ace, because you have already 2. Although in the first game the holder of the 3 leads, the lead does not have
passed. If the third player passes too, and your right hand opponent now leads a to include the 3. The first player may lead anything.
queen, you can now play your ace if you want to.
3. The exceptional cases of combinations beating other types of combination are
The legal plays in the game are as follows: somewhat different:
Single card
o A four of a kind can beat any single card or pair.
The lowest single card is the 3 and the highest is the 2.
o A sequence of three pairs can beat a single two (but not any other single
Pair card).
Two cards of the same rank - such as 7- 7 or Q- Q. o A sequence of four (or more) pairs has no special power.
Triple 4. As soon as someone runs out of cards the play ends and the other players pay
Three cards of the same rank - such as 5- 5- 5 the winner one stake for each card they have left in their hands at this time.
Four of a kind The rules of Viet Cong (VC) as reported by Kelly Aman have the following features:
1. If anyone has four twos, they automatically win.
Four cards of the same rank - such as 9- 9- 9- 9.
2. The person with the 3 must begin with a combination that includes that
Sequence
card.
Three or more cards of consecutive rank (the suits can be mixed) - such
3. Twos cannot be included in single sequences (straights). Straights run from
as 4- 5- 6 or J- Q- K- A- 2. Sequences cannot three up to ace only.
"turn the corner" between two and three - A-2-3 is not a valid sequence
4. The special combinations that beat twos are called slams. The rules for these
because 2 is high and 3 is low.
are:
Double Sequence
Three or more pairs of consecutive rank - such as 3-3-4-4-5-5 or 6-6-7-7-
o A sequence of three consecutive pairs or a four of a kind can beat
a single two (but not any other single card).
8-8-9-9.
In general, a combination can only be beaten by a higher combination of the same o A sequence of five consecutive pairs or two consecutive fours of a kind can
type and same number of cards. So if a single card is led, only single cards can be beat a pair of twos (but not any other pair).
played; if a pair is led only pairs can be played; a three card sequence can only be o A sequence of seven consecutive pairs or three consecutive fours of a kind
beaten by a higher three card sequence; and so on. You cannot for example beat a
can beat three twos (but not any other triple).
pair with a triple, or a four card sequence with a five card sequence.
As in other versions, a slam can be beaten by a higher slam of the same type.
To decide which of two combinations of the same type is higher you just look at the
5. Some people play the game with trading. After the cards are dealt, but before
highest card in the combination. For example 7- 7 beats 7- 7 because the first lead, any player can trade one or more cards with another player for an
the heart beats the diamond. In the same way 8- 9- 10 beats 8- 9- equal number of cards. Trading only takes place by mutual agreement; if the
two players cannot agree on the cards to trade, the trade does not take place. If
10 because it is the highest cards (the tens) that are compared. you play with trading, four twos do not automatically win the game.
There are just four exceptions to the rule that a combination can only be beaten by a
combination of the same type:

33
 has reached or gone above the target figure the game ends and the player with the
Zhēng Fēn 3-6 highest score wins.

Introduction Differences in the Second and Subsequent Deals

The name of the game means "competing for points". It is an interesting hybrid
The player who came last in the previous hand shuffles. The player who came first
between a climbing game and a point-trick game of the king-ten-five group. The
takes the first card in the deal, and it continues anticlockwise. The player who came
mechanics are like those of Zheng Shangyou or Big Two but the primary aim is to win
first in the previous hand also leads to the first trick (rather than the holder of
points rather than necessarily to get rid of cards as quickly as possible. The point
values of cards are the same as in the popular Chinese point-trick game Da Bai the 3).
Fen (Hundred).
Playable Card Combinations
Players, Cards and Object The possible card combinations are given below. Note that a combination can only be
From three to six people can play. A 54 card pack is used, consisting of the standard beaten by a higher combination of the same category, or by a combination from the
52 cards plus two distinguishable jokers, big and small. Generally the red or colourful special category J.
joker is agreed to be the big one.
The general ranking of the cards, from low to high, is:
The object is to win valuable cards in tricks. The fives are worth 5 points each, and 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - J - Q - K - A - 2 - small joker - big joker
the tens and kings are worth 10 points each. All the other cards are worthless. There This ranking is used both to determine which cards beat which others, and which
are therefore 100 points in total to be won on each hand. A target score for the game cards are in sequence.
is agreed - generally 500 or (for a longer game) 1000. The winner is the first player
whose score reaches or exceeds the target. A: Single Card: Any single card. The ranking is as given above.

The Deal B: Pair: A pair of cards of equal rank - such as two sixes or two queens. The ranking is
The deal and play are anticlockwise. For the first deal a randomly chosen player the same as for single cards.
shuffles, that player's right-hand neighbour cuts. The Chinese method of dealing is
that the players take their own cards. The pack is placed face-down and starting with C: Triple: Three cards of equal rank. The ranking is the same as for single cards.
the player who cut and proceeding anticlockwise, each player takes the top card
D: Quartet: Four cards of equal rank. The ranking is the same as for single cards.
without showing it. This continues until all the cards are distributed to the players.
Some players may have one more card than others - this does not matter. Players can E: Sequence of pairs: Three or more pairs in unbroken sequence - such as 8-8-9-9-10-
look at and sort their own cards as they pick them up. 10-J-J. Note that 2-2-3-3-4-4 would not be a legal play, as 2's and 3's are not adjacent
(2's high and 3's low). On the other hand, K-K-A-A-2-2 is legal. The rank of the highest
The Play pair determines the rank of the sequence. If the highest pairs are equal, a longer
In the first deal, the player who holds the three of hearts leads to the first trick. The sequence beats a shorter one. So 5-5-6-6-7-7 beats 4-4-5-5-6-6, but 4-4-5-5-6-6-7-
tricks in this game are not like those in most western trick-taking games, where the 7 beats 5-5-6-6-7-7.
players contribute one card each and then the trick is over. Instead:
F: Sequence of triples: Three or more triples in unbroken sequence, such as 7-7-7-8-
1. The player who leads to the trick may lead several cards at once; when 8-8-9-9-9. The rank is determined by the rank of the highest triple.
more than one card is played together the cards must form a legal
combination in one of the 10 categories described below. G: Sequence of quartets: Three or more quartets in unbroken sequence. The rank is
determined by the rank of the highest quartet.
2. Subsequent players (in anticlockwise rotation) may either play to the
trick or pass. If they play, they must play a higher ranking combination of H: Full House: This is not quite like a full house in poker. It consists of three cards of
cards of the same category that was led, or one of the special the same rank plus two other cards, but the two cards do not necessarily have to be a
combinations from category J. If they pass, they do not play any cards pair. There are four legal types:
and the turn passes to the next player.
 triple + pair (e.g. 5-5-5-Q-Q)
3. The trick does not end when everyone has had a turn to play - it
continues round the table for as many rounds as necessary until all
 triple + two adjacent cards of the same suit (e.g. 7-7-7- A- 2)

players but one pass in succession.  triple + any three + any other single card (e.g. 5-5-5-3-10)
 triple + any two counting cards (i.e. fives, tens or kings) (e.g. J-J-J-5-K)
4. If you pass at your turn to play to a trick, this does not prevent you
playing to that same trick if the turn comes round to you again. The rank of a full house is determined by the rank of the triple. If the triples of two
full houses are of equal rank (which is possible using jokers as substitutes - see
The trick ends when all the players but one pass in succession. At this point the trick below), neither beats the other. The type of full house and the rank of the other two
is won by the player who played the final and therefore highest combination. This cards have no effect.
player gathers in all the cards played to the trick and keeps them in a face-down pile.
The winner of the trick leads to the next trick, and may lead a combination from any I: Suit Sequence: Five or more cards of the same suit in unbroken sequence (e.g.
category.
J- Q- K- A- 2). The rank is determined by the highest card in the
End of the Play, and Scoring sequence. If these are equal, the longer sequence beats the shorter. So 7- 8-
Eventually the players will run out of cards in their hands. A player who has no cards
takes no further part in the play, but play continues between the remaining players, 9- 10- J can be beaten by 8- 9- 10- J- Q, which in turn can
until only one player has cards left. The players with no cards simply miss their turns. be beaten by 7- 8- 9- 10- J- Q.
If a player with no cards is due to lead, having just won a trick by playing their last
card(s), the lead passes to the next player to the right who has cards. When only one J: Special: There are three special combinations. In ascending order they are:
player has cards left, the trick in progress is completed - i.e. that last player is allowed  five, ten and king of mixed suits
to beat the combination played by the second last player left in if able to - and is
gathered by the winner of the trick as normal.
 five, ten and king, all in the same suit
 four twos
The player who runs out of cards first has an advantage in the scoring, and
the last player who has cards left is at a disadvantage. Before the scoring, all the These beat any combination in categories A to I.
cards in the tricks taken by the last player, and all cards remaining in the last player's
hand at the end, must be given to the first player and added to that player's tricks. In categories B to I, jokers are wild - that is a joker can be used as a substitute to
represent any card needed to make the combination (or two jokers can be used to
Each player then counts the total value of card in their tricks (10 for each king or ten, represent two such cards). In category A (single cards) jokers are themselves - the
and 5 for each five) and adds it to their score. The player who came last will of course highest two cards in the ranking. In category J (special) jokers cannot be used as
score nothing. There is a total of 100 points to be scored on each hand. If someone substitutes - the cards must be real.

34
Note that there is no suit ranking, and that certain cards and combinations are joker. Neither can be played to beat the other. The same is true of full houses: for
therefore equal in rank. To play to a trick, it is necessary to play higher than the example 9-joker-joker-3-6 is equal in rank to 9-9-9-A-A.
previous combination. Therefore between two equal combinations, whichever is
played first to a trick prevents the other one from being played to the same trick. Note that jokers have zero scoring value, even if they were used to substitute for a
king, ten or five in the play.
When a joker is used as a substitute it has exactly the same rank as the card it
represents. So for example the triple 8-8-8 has exactly the same rank as 8-joker-
Tichu 3, 4, 6, 5-12

Tichu is a multi-genre card game; primarily a Teams gain or deduct points for Grand Tichu (±200 points) and/or Tichu (±100 points)
shedding game that includes elements of Bridge, calls. As an example: player A declared Grand Tichu and lost to D's Tichu. A&C lose
Daihinmin, and Poker played between two teams 200 points and B&D gain 100 points.
of two players each. Teams work to accumulate If both players on a team get rid of all their cards before either player on the
points; the first team to reach a predetermined opposing team is out of cards, the winning team scores 200 points and there is no
score (usually 1,000 points) is the winner. Tichu is card scoring this round.
the trade name for what appears to be a variant of
Dou di zhu, Choi Dai Di (Cantonese) or Da Lao Er The last player out gives their remaining cards to the opposing team, and gives all the
(Mandarin), meaning "big two", combined with tricks they have won this round to the first player who went out.
Zheng Fen ("Competing for Points"). It is also Points are scored based on the cards in the tricks won by each team. Kings and tens
marketed as Tai-Pan in Dutch. Tichu was invented are worth ten points each, fives are worth five points, the Dragon is worth 25 points,
by Urs Hostettler and originally released in 1991. and the Phoenix is worth negative 25. All other cards score zero.
Gameplay In 2015 Great Grand was introduced to the game. The Great Grand has its origins in
The following covers the basic rules of gameplay. Western-Norway, and it is widely spread in this area. The Great Grand is very similar
However, for more comprehensive rulesets, to Grand Tichu, but instead of gaining or deducting 200 points, the team will gain or
consult the links below. deduct 400 points. However, the Great Grand must be called before any of the cards
are dealt. Variations on the Great Grand Tichu include the Blind Grand Tichu, which
Each player sits across from their teammate so that play alternates between the two was developed independently by players in Minnesota and Iowa (USA) in 2013. A
teams. The game is traditionally run counter-clockwise, but is frequently played Blind Grand Tichu must be declared before an individual player looks at any of his/her
clockwise. cards. Other players may look at their cards prior to a player declaring a Blind Grand
The game is played with a deck of 56 cards, consisting of a 52-card deck of four suits Tichu. The Blind Grand Tichu awards 400 points for success and deducts 400 points
(Jade, Sword, Pagoda, Star) plus four special cards (Mah Jong, Dog, Phoenix, Dragon). for failure. However, the players who developed the Blind Grand Tichu determined
A standard 52-card deck with 4 jokers (marked to indicate the special cards) can also that the large number of points associated with it (400 of the 1000 required to win
be used. the game) too heavily encouraged declaring Blind Grand Tichu, skewing the game
Each player is dealt (or alternately draws, in Chinese play) eight cards, and may call away from the traditional declarations of Tichu or Grand Tichu, and have therefore
"Grand Tichu," a 200-point bet that he (not his partner) will be the first to get rid of abandoned its use.
his cards. Once players have decided whether to make this call, six more cards are Rounds continue until a team scores 1,000 points or more.
dealt (the remaining cards in the deck) and players may no longer declare "Grand Three player game (or Threechu)
Tichu." Now, and at any time prior to playing his/her first card, a player may call
"Tichu," a 100-point bet that he (not his partner) will be the first to get rid of his The cards are dealt the same way as normal. The dealer forms a team with a dummy
cards. The differences between Grand Tichu and Tichu are when they may be called, and the other two players are a "normal" team and do nothing different. The dealer
the number of cards you've seen, and the number of points involved. controls his own cards and of the dummy. He may not declare a Grand Tichu, only a
small one. The exchange in cards is normal, only the dealer and dummy do not give
All players prepare three cards for simultaneous exchange, with each player passing each other a card. After this, the cards of the dummy must lay face-up on the table.
one card (face down) to each of the other players—one to each opponent and one to After the round, another player plays with dummy, because playing with dummy has
the partner. Should a player declare "Tichu" before the simultaneous exchange, a slight advantage. Scoring is done individually. Usually, a number of rounds is played
players are allowed to change their out-going exchange cards. that is a multiple of three, so each player plays with the dummy an equal number of
After the card exchange, the player with the Mah Jong leads the first trick. In Tichu, times. The dummy can declare tichu as well and also isn't obliged to fulfil the wish of
playable card combinations are generally based on Poker hands, with some Mah Jong.
exceptions. A player may pass on a trick with the option to play in later
(essentially checking in Poker), and a trick is completed if it is passed three times in a Tienstin (6 players)
row.
Playable card combinations include: a single card; any pair; two or more "stairs" In Tientsin (Tianjin) tichu is played six-handed, two teams of three seated alternating
(consecutive pairs; for example, 55667788. Non-consecutive pairs may not be round the table. The rules of the game are the same as for the four-handed version,
played); three of a kind; straights of at least five cards in length, regardless of except that:
suit/color (so 56789TJQ is playable); and full houses (three of a kind & a pair). Four of  grand tichu must be announced before the seventh card is taken
a kind or a straight flush of at least five cards is a bomb which beats any card  each player pushes only two cards, to his own partners and gets one card back
combination with the exception of a bigger bomb. Bombs may be played at any time from each of them.
(even out of turn) to end a trick, with every player given a chance to play bigger  the hound transfers the right to lead to its holder’s choice of partner.
bombs before the trick is taken.
 in the scoring, the last loses not only his remaining cards but also all his tricks
An example of "bombing": 10< K< D< 8888< AAAA< ♦9♦10♦J♦Q♦K< to the opposition; the fifth (the last but one to go out) gives his tricks up to the
♠2♠3♠4♠5♠6♠7. winner of the round.
The special cards affect gameplay accordingly: There is no special reward for a double victory, but a triple victory (one team gets rid
of all its cards while all three opponents still hold cards) scores 300 points.
Mah Jong, Dog, Phoenix, Dragon
 The Mah Jong The player with the Mah Jong leads the opening trick, but is not Grand Seigneur (5-12 players)
required to play Mah Jong in the trick. The Mah Jong may be played as a 1,
either by itself or in a MJ2345+ straight. When the Mah Jong is played, you may The seating order is the Alpha and Omega of Grand Seigneur, which is very similar
make a Wish (request a card number 2-A). The wish remains active until it is to President or Daifugō. At the head of the table, in the most comfortable armchair in
fulfilled. Each player who can fulfill the Wished card must play it, if possible, the house, sits the Great Lord himself. On his left is the number two in the hierarchy,
until it is played once—if the wished card requires you playing four of them as the Lord. Further to the left, in third place, sits the Squire. In fourth place the
a Bomb (i.e. to beat the straight, above), you must. If the Mah Jong opens a Burgher. Number five is the Pauper. In last place - so at the right of the Great Lord -
trick as a straight, the next player must play a straight containing the wished sits the Wretch on a simple kitchen stool.
value, if possible. If a straight can only be constructed with the Phoenix (as wild
card, not the wished value), you must play it. Remember: if you can, you must. The number of places corresponds to the number taking part. If need be, obscure
The Mah Jong is sometimes also referred to as the Sparrow. forms such as Grand Burgher or Petty Pauper can be added in. Obviously women use
the corresponding forms, such as Wretch (f).
 The Dog has no numeric value, and cannot be played in a trick. The Dog must
be played as the lead card, and passes the lead to your partner. If your partner The first round is a simple round of Tichu, without any pushing of cards or any point
is out, play passes to the active player after your partner's position. It is not values, in which everyone tries to get rid of his cards as quickly as possible - to be
possible to steal the lead in any way, as such, bombing the dog is not allowed. elected as the first Great Lord of the day. Whoever gets rid of his cards second
 The Phoenix may be played alone as .5 higher than the previous card played becomes the first Lord and so on. The players then move into the seats to which they
(i.e. after A, Phoenix is played as A.5), or as a wild card in a combination (with a are entitled.
value from 2-A). The declared value of a Phoenix in a straight doesn't satisfy
the Mah Jong's wish, above. The Phoenix cannot be included as a wild card in a The social injustice of the game of Grand Seigneur appears in the pushing in the
bomb, is not a wild card as a single play, has only a value of 1.5 when played as second round.
lead, and it doesn't count as .5 higher when used in a straight. The Phoenix is  the Wretch pushes his best three cards to the Great Lord (including
sometimes also referred to as the Nexus. special cards, which rank Dragon, Phoenix, Mah Jong.)
 The Dragon is the strongest card and may only be played in a single card trick.  the Pauper gives the Lord his two best
The player wins the trick, unless the Dragon is bombed. If the trick is won with  the Burgher gives the Squire his best.
the Dragon, the trick is given to your opponent (you choose which one).
Furthermore, if the dragon is bombed, the player who played the largest bomb If five play one card less is handed over at each level. The recipients simultaneously
on the trick takes the entire trick for themselves (which includes the dragon). push the corresponding number of cards back - but useless cards of their choice.
Furthermore, it is impossible to use the dragon in order to win the dog.
The Mah Jong begins, the uneven contest takes it course and the winner becomes
Scoring
Great Lord, the tailender becomes the Wretch. The players take their new-won

35
places - provided that any positions have changed. Great Lords are hard to overthrow There is no defined end to the game, only the glory of being Grand Lord. It is all for
due to the uneven card exchange. fun. The use of two packs is recommended when 7 or more play Grand Seigneur. The
Hound and Mah Jong must be removed from the second pack. Extra rules:
 the second Dragon played beats the first
 only four cards of equal rank in different suits count as a 4-bomb.

Haggis 2

Object Wild Cards

The object of the game is to be the first player to empty your hand of cards while also The J, Q, or K may be used as a wild cards to stand for any lower ranked card(s) in a
trying to capture certain scoring cards during play. Additional points may be earned set or sequence. When played as part of a sequence, they may have whichever suit is
by betting that you will be first to shed all of your cards. required. Wild cards can be played alone, as singles, and rank as shown previously.
When played as part of a larger combination (set or sequence), the combination must
Components contain at least one non-wild card (otherwise the combination would be a bomb).
From a standard pack of 52 playing cards, collect ranks 2 through 10 in four suits,
then add any two Jacks, any two Queens, and any two Kings to form a deck of 42 BOMBS
cards. The cards rank, from low to high: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K A bomb is a special combination of point cards (see, Scoring) that will be further
explained in the Trick Play section (below). There are 6 types. Ranked from lowest to
Preparation highest they are:
Select one of the two players to be dealer. Put one Jack, one Queen, and one King
face-up in front of each player: these are wild cards and their suits are irrelevant. • 3-5-7-9 (these 4 ranks in 4 different suits, no wild cards)
Shuffle the remaining 36 cards and deal 14 face-down to each player. A player's hand • J-Q
consists of the 14 dealt cards, plus the 3 wild cards which remain face-up on the table • J-K
until played. • Q-K
• J-Q-K
The leftover cards, or the Haggis, are put out of play without looking at them. • 3-5-7-9 (these 4 ranks in one suit, no wild cards).

Betting Trick Play

At any time, before you have played any cards, you may place one bet that you will After a combination of cards is led, the other player has the option of playing a higher
be first to shed all of your cards. You may bet 0 points (No Bet), 15 points (Little Bet), ranking combination or passing. To be higher ranking, the new combination must be
or 30 points (Big Bet). Either or both players may place bets. The bets do not have to of the exact same type, have the exact same number of cards, and have higher
be equal. To place, for example, a little bet, say “Little Bet”. If your bet is successful, ranking cards. So if a single card is led, only a higher single card can be played; if a
the amount bet will be added to your score at the end of the hand. Otherwise, the pair is led only higher pairs can be played; a three card sequence can only be beaten
amount bet will be added to your opponent's score. by a higher three card sequence; and so on. Bombs are the only exception to this
rule. A bomb can be played, in turn order, to beat any combination except a higher
Advanced players may consider increasing the Little Bet and Big Bet from 15/30 bomb. After a bomb has been played only a higher ranked bomb may beat it.
points to, say, 20/40 or 25/50 points, if they want more of a challenge.
layers continue to play alternately, playing successively higher combinations of the
Play same size and type (or bombs) until one of the players ends the trick by passing. A
Each hand is played over of a number of tricks. The non-dealing player leads to the player with a higher combination can choose to pass instead of playing it. A player
first trick by playing an opening card combination. A card combination may be a set, a without a higher combination must pass.
sequence, or a bomb.
Once a player passes, the other player, who played the highest combination, is the
SETS winner of the trick. If the highest combination played was a not a bomb, the cards
A set is a group of cards of the same rank. Sets may consist of one to seven cards played to the trick are captured by the winner. If the trick was won by a bomb, the
(singles, pairs, triples, etc.). For examples of sets, see the Player Aid. cards are captured by the opponent. At the end of the hand, each player will score
any point cards that they have captured during trick play. The winner of the trick then
SEQUENCES
leads to start the next trick.
A sequence (or run) is a group of three or more singles, or two or more larger sets
(pairs, triples, etc.), of consecutive rank sharing the same suit(s) between sets. For Ending the hand
examples of sequences, see the Player Aid. When a player sheds the last card from her hand, the hand is over. This player wins
the hand. The winner captures all cards played to the
final trick (unless the last combination played was a
bomb - see Trick Play, above). The other player does
not get to play any more cards.

Scoring
The winner of the hand scores 5 points for each card
in her opponent's hand. Remember, the wild cards
count as part of the hand.

All point cards (i.e., any 3, 5, 7, 9, J, Q, or K), captured

during trick play, are scored by the capturing player.
See SCORING in the Player Aid for details. Point cards
left in the opponent's hand and any point cards found
in the Haggis are scored by the player who won the
hand.

Additional points for any successful or unsuccessful

bets are scored as well.

Continuing Play
After scoring, another hand is dealt. The dealer is the
leader in points; the trailing player gets the first lead.
If both players have the same number of points, the
winner of the last hand deals.

Winning
Continue playing hands until an agreed upon score is
reached (or passed) by at least one player. The player

36
with the most points wins. If the scores are tied, continue playing hands until there is Alternatively, you could play a Best of Three match while scoring each game up to
a winner.
121 points using a Cribbage board. Count all of a players points, not just up to 121.
For a shorter game, 250 points is suggested. For a longer game, 350 points is Start both players at zero points for subsequent games in the match.
suggested.

37
 empty, the next player's card cannot capture anything and remains face up on the
Scopa 2, 3, 4, 6 table to begin a new layout.
After everyone has played all three of their cards, if there are any cards remaining to
Introduction be dealt, the dealer deals three new cards to each player, leaving any face up cards
on the table in place, and play continues with the player to dealer's right.
Along with Briscola and Tressette, Scopa is one of the best known and most widely
played traditional Italian card games. Players take turns to play a card from their When all the cards have been played and there are no more cards to deal, any card
hand to capture cards of equal value from the table. Points are scored for taking the remaining in the face up layout are collected by the player or team that last made a
most cards in total, for taking the most cards in the suit of coins (or diamonds), for capture. Then the hand is scored.
collecting the best primiera (consisting of one card from each suit, Sevens being the Capturing the last card(s) from the table at the very end of the last deal of a
most valuable), for taking the settebello (the Seven of coins or diamonds), and for hand never counts as a scopa. Even if the dealer's final card does actually match the
capturing all the cards on the table leaving it empty, which is known as total value of the last card(s) remaining on the table, thus capturing them in the
a scopa (sweep). normal way, this is not a scopa.
Scopa is played in all parts of Italy, using a 40-card pack of the local pattern. There are Notes
numerous variants, some of which are described on this page after the explanation of  If a played card captures anything, the player must make the capture. They
the basic game. My thanks to Salvatore Rossi and others who have sent information cannot simply leave the played card in the layout without capturing (even
about these. Closely related games are also played in nearby countries, such though they might wish to do this to avoid the danger of a scopa by the
as Escoba in Spain, Chkouba in Algeria and Tunisia, and Scopa in Corsica. following player).
Players who prefer a more intellectually demanding game of the same type may
prefer Scopone (big Scopa), a game for four players using the same rules of play and  Each player has a free choice of which of their cards to play. They are allowed to
scoring, but with all the cards dealt at the start of the game so that players begin with play a card that does not capture anything, even if they could have captured by
9 or 10 cards in their hands. Scopone is described on a separate page. playing a different card.
Players and Cards  If the played card matches both a single card and the sum of a set of cards, the
The basic game of Scopa described on this page is most often played by two people. single card must be captured, not the set.
It is possible, though less satisfactory, for three to play, using the same rules and each Example. The face up cards on the table are A, 3, 4, 5, 7.
playing for themselves. The game can also be played by 4 or 6 people divided into  If the next player plays a 3, it captures the 3 from the table.
two equal teams with each player sitting between two opponents, but with four
players it is more interesting to play Scopone. If there are more than two player's the  If the next player plays a Horse (9), it captures the 4 and the 5 from the table.
deal and play are counter-clockwise.  If the next player plays a 6 it captures the Ace and the 5 from the table.
A 40-card pack is used. In parts of Italy where Latin-suited cards are used, the suits
are coins (denari), cups (coppe), swords (spade) and batons or clubs (bastoni) and the
 If the next player plays a 5 it just captures the 5 from the table - the player is not
allowed to take the Ace and the 4.
cards in each suit are King (Re), Horse (Cavallo), Jack (Fante), 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace
(Asso). In some north-eastern regions of Italy Scopa is played with a French-suited  If the next player plays a Jack (8) they have a choice of sets to take: they can
pack with suits of diamonds (quadri), hearts (cuori), clubs (fiore) and spades (picche) capture either 5+3 or 4+3+A or 7+A.
and the cards in each suit are King (Re), Queen (Regina or Donna), Jack (Fante), 7, 6, Scoring
5, 4, 3, 2, Ace (Asso).
At the end of the play, the players or teams score for the cards they have in their
For the purposes of capturing, the cards have values as follows: capture piles and for sweeps as follows.
King 10 Scopa
Horse or Queen 9 For each scopa (sweep), indicated by a card stored face up in the capture
pile: 1 point.
Jack 8
Cards
7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 face value
The player or team with the most cards in their capture pile scores 1
Ace 1 point for cards. In case of a tie for most cards no one scores this point.
Players in North America can obtain Italian cards of various regional patterns Coins / Diamonds
from TaroBear's Lair. If no Italian cards are available, it is also possible to play with a The player or team with the most cards of the coins (or diamonds) suit
standard international 52 card pack from which all the 10s, 9s and 8s have been scores 1 point. If there is a tie for most coins / diamonds no one scores
removed. this point.
Deal Settebello
The first dealer can be chosen by any convenient method - for example some players The player or team with the 7 of coins / diamonds in their pile scores 1
deal the cards around the table one at a time face up until the King of coins point.
(diamonds) appears and the player who receives this card deals first.
Primiera
The dealer shuffles and the dealer's opponent (the player to dealer's left if there are
more than two players) cuts the cards. The dealer then deals the cards one at a time The player or team with the best prime (primiera) scores 1 point. A
until each player has three cards. The next four cards are placed separately face up prime consists of four cards, one of each suit - a player or team that does
on the table - some players like to arrange them in a square or in a row, but the exact not have at least one card in each suit cannot score for prime. The best
layout does not matter. The remaining cards are stacked face down. prime is found by adding the values of the four cards using the following
scale of values:
If the four face up cards include three or four Kings, all the cards are gathered up, and
are shuffled, cut and dealt again by the same dealer. This is because with more than Seven 21
two face up Kings in the layout, sweeps (scope) are not possible.
After all players have played their first three cards, the dealer deals another three Six 18
cards to each player, but no further face up cards are dealt to the table. This is
repeated until all the cards have been dealt and played, after which the hand is Ace 16
scored and the turn to deal passes to the other player (or to the next player to the
right).
Five 15
Play
The non-dealer (the player to dealer's right if there are more than two players) plays Four 14
first and the turn to play alternated (or passes to the right). A turn consists of playing
exactly one card from hand face up to the table. The played card may or may not
capture one or more cards from the table. Three 13

 If the played card is equal in value to one of the face up cards on the table, it
Two 12
captures that card. If there are several matching cards the player must choose
just one of those cards to capture.
King, Horse/Queen, 10
 If the played card does not match the value of any single face up card, but is Jack
equal to the sum of the values of a set of two or more cards, the player captures
that set of cards. If there is more than one such set, the player chooses which
set to capture. In case of a tie for best prime - for example two opponents have 7-7-6-6,
or one has 7-7-6-4 while the the other has A-A-7-7 - no one scores the
 If there is no single card and no set of cards whose value matches the played
point.
card, then the played card remains face up on the table alongside any cards that
are already there, and is available for capture in subsequent turns. Note. The ranking and values of the cards in a prime are derived from the old
gambling game Primiera in which one of the objects is to make a hand of this type.
When a card or cards are captured, the player takes the captured card(s) along with
the card that they played and stores them in a face down stack of cards that they The first player or team to achieve a cumulative score of 11 or more points over as
have taken. In a partnership game each team stores its captured cards in a single many deals as it takes wins the game. If more than one player or team achieves this
stack. in the same hand, the highest score wins. In case of a tie for most points another
hand is played to break the tie.
If the played card captures all the face up cards from the layout, leaving it empty, this
is a scopa (sweep). To record this, the played card is placed face up and sideways in Variations
the player's capture pile, with the cards it captured face down on top of it. This
makes it easy to remember and count the scope when scoring. Since the table is now
End of the game  If both players have a bazzicotto the one with the lower cards is better (A+A+A is
Players may agree in advance a different target score, for example 16 or 21 points to best, K+K+K is worst).
win the game. When playing some of the variants below where extra points are A game is 21 or 31 points.
available the target may be increased to 31 or 41.
The page web.tiscali.it/male24/scopa.html describes a variant Sbarazzina, which is
Some allow a player or team to end the play in the middle of a hand by claiming to popular in Emilia.
have enough points to reach the game target of 11 or whatever was agreed. This is
known as 'chiamarsi fuori'. In a two player game a player needs 21 cards to claim the  As in Scopa d'Assi an Ace takes all the cards on the table but this does not count
point for cards and 6 coins/diamonds to claim the point for that suit. The prime can as a sweep.
be claimed if the claimer can demonstrate that they will win the prime even if the  The player or team that takes the Re Bello (King of coins/diamonds) scores an
opponent takes all the cards that are not yet captured. If the claimer turns out not to extra point.
have enough points to win, they automatically lose the game.
 A bazzica scores 2 points if the three cards are all of different ranks, or 3 points
Deciding the Primiera if they include a pair. Three of a kind of any rank scores 7 points.
In some regions different scales of values are used. For example some count 2-7 as
face value, Aces as 5½ and picture cards as ½. In most cases this produces the same  The game is played to 41 points.
result as the normal values. Scopa Corse
Asso Pigliatutto (Ace takes all) In Corsica, Scopa is often played with 36 cards, each suit consisting of Ace, 3, 4, 5, 6,
In this popular children's game, in addition to the normal rules of capture, playing an 7, Jack, Queen, King. The removal of the Twos is said to add spice to the game, since
Ace takes all the table cards and scores a point for a sweep, provided that there is no without them it is less easy to form sets of cards that add up to 7. A set of rules is
Ace on the table. published with EREDI brand cards.
If there is an Ace in the table layout, then playing an Ace takes only the Ace and There can be two players or four players in fixed partnerships. The initial deal is 3
leaves the other cards in place. If there is an Ace alone on the table, a played Ace cards to each player and 4 cards to the table. With two players the second, third and
takes it and scores a sweep. fourth deals of the hand are 3 cards each, and the last two deals 4 cards each. With
four players the second deal is 3 cards each and the third deal just 2 cards each.
If the table is empty (or "clean"), an Ace played remains on the table (it can’t take
itself). The play and scoring are the same as in basic Scopa except that capturing is not
compulsory. It is legal to play a card and leave it on the table without capturing even
'Asso pigliatutto' has also come to be used as a colloquial expression for a person if its value matches a card or set of cards already on the table.
who is particularly skilled, perhaps the best, in their field.
Games are usually played to 21 points, but the target may be set at 16 or 11 instead if
Scopa d'Assi all agree.
This game is similar to Asso Pigliatutto, except that taking all the cards with an Ace
Chkobba
does not count as a sweep.
Chkobba is the Tunisian version of Scopa, brought there by migrants from Italy. This
Some play that if an Ace is played to the empty table it 'takes itself'. The played Ace is variant has also become popular in France, which has strong connections with
captured by the player and the table remains empty.
Tunisia.
Some play that if one or more Aces appear in the face-up cards in the original deal,
A French suited pack of 40 cards is used, with no 10s, 9s or 8s. The roles of the Jack
the cards are thrown in and redealt.
and Queen are reversed, so that the capture value of the cards are King=10, Jack=9,
Often Scopa d'Assi is played with additional points for a Napola - see above. Queen=8, 7 to 2 face value, Ace=1. (This reversal of the Queen and Jack is found in
Scopa d'Assi is often played by four players in partnerships who are dealt 9 or 10 several Mediterranean games that were adapted from games played with Latin
cards each rather than just three, as in Scopone. suited cards, in which the second highest picture card is always a man riding a horse,
Scopa di Quindici and the lowest picture is in some cases a female servant.)
This is a version of Scopa with a different rule of capture. The played card no longer There are two players, or four players in two teams of two, partners sitting opposite
captures a card or cards of equal value; instead it captures any one set of cards each other. The direction of play is anticlockwise. The dealer shuffles, and the
which, together with the played card, add up to 15. For example if the table cards are dealer's (right-hand) opponent cuts, draws one card form the pack, looks at it and
A, 3, 4, 7 and you play a 4, it captures either the 4 and the 7 or the A, 3 and 7 at your may either keep it as the first card of their hand or place it face up on the table as the
choice. The deal and scoring are the same as in basic Scopa. This game is very similar first card of the layout. The dealer then completes the initial deal so that each player
to the Spanish game Escoba. has three cards and there are four face up on the table. So if the first player took the
drawn card as a hand card, the dealer will give two more cards to the first player,
Re Bello
three to each other player and deal four face up to the table. If the drawn card was
Some award an extra point to the player or team that wins the King of placed in the table layout, the dealer will give three cards to each player and three
coins/diamonds. more to the table. If there are three or four equal valued cards in the initial table
Napola layout the cards are gathered up, shuffled and dealt again.
Some award additional points for a sequence of at least three consecutive A turn consists of playing one card from hand to the table. If the played card matches
coins/diamonds beginning with the Ace. One point is scored for each card in the a single card on the table or the total of a set of table cards, the played card and one
sequence, so the smallest Napola A-2-3 scores 3 points. Some play that the matching card or set of cards is captured and stored face down by the capturing
maximum Napola is A-2-3-4-5-6 for 6 points. Others allow longer sequences, up to 9 player or team. Capturing is compulsory. If a card is played that matches both a single
points for a sequence of 9 up to the Queen/Horse, and in this case a sequence of 10 card and the sum of a set of cards, a single card must be captured, not a set. If the
(the whole suit) is a Napoleone (or Napolone) which wins the game outright. When played card does not match any card or set it remains face up on the table where it
playing with these extra points the target to win the game is usually set at 21, 31 or can be captured by a later player. When all players have played their cards, three
41 rather than 11. more cards are dealt to each player but no more to the table.
Scopa con le Scalette Capturing all the cards from the layout leaving it empty is called a chkobba. The
This game (Scopa with sequences) is played as normal Scopa or as Scopa d'Assi but played card is turned face up in the player or team's capture pile as a reminder to
with extra points for sequences in coins/diamonds. A Scaletta bassa (low sequence) is score a point for this.
equivalent to a Napola (A-2-3 of coins/diamonds) and it scores 3 points. A Scaletta After six deals (two players) or three deals (four players), when all the cards have
bassa can be extended upwards, scoring an extra point for each additional card, as been played, any face up cards remaining on the table are collected by the last player
far as the Horse/Queen (for 9 points). Players can also score for a Scaletta alta (high or team that made a capture. This does not count as a chkobba, and as in Italian
sequence) of King-Horse/Queen-Jack of coins/diamonds, which is worth 5 points. It Scopa the dealer can never score a chkobba with the very last card played, even if it
can be extended downwards scoring an extra point for each additional card as far as matches the total of the cards on the table.
the 2 (for 11 points). A player who takes all the coins/diamonds has a Scala (somplete Each player or team then counts their captured cards and scores as follows:
sequence) and wins the whole game.
Scopa Bazzica
 Kārṭa - one point for the majority of the cards. If the players or teams have 20
cards each the point is not awarded.
This is Scopa for two players in which extra points can be scored by declaring certain
three-card combinations. The possible declarations are:  Dīnārī - one point for the majority of the diamonds. If the players or teams have
5 diamonds each the point is not awarded.
 Bazzica: any three cards which add up to 9 or less, counting 2 to 7 as face value,
Ace as 1 and pictures as 10. Scores 3 points.  Barmīla - in this simplified form of the Italian primiera the player or team with
the majority of Sevens scores a point. If they have two Sevens each, the player
 Bazzicotto: three cards of the same rank. Scores 10 points. or team with the majority of Sixes scores a point. If they also have two Sixes
In order to score, a bazzica or a bazzicotto must be declared immediately after a each the point is not awarded.
three-card deal, before the next card is played, and the cards must be shown. If both
players declare a bazzica or bazzicotto only the better one scores. For this purpose:
 Sabʿa l-ḥayya - the player or team with the Seven of diamonds scores a point.

 Any bazzicotto beats any bazzica

 One point is scored for each chkobba.
The turn to deal passes to the right and further deals are played until a player or
 If both players have a bazzica, the one with the lower total card value is better. team has 21 points or more. The player or team with more points then wins. In the
The best is 2+A+A (value 4). If they are equal in value (for example A+2+6
against 2+3+4) then neither player scores.
case of a tie another deal is played. Players may agree a different target score, such known as a Hurrikan and scores a point as usual. The most significant differences
as 11 or 31, for a shorter or longer game. from Italian Scopa are:
The French Wikipedia page on Chkobba gives the Arabic terms for the cards and 1. In each sub-deal, six cards rather than three are dealt to each player, so that
scores. there are three sub-deals rather than six before the play ends and the hand is
Hurrikan scored. The initial sub-deal is a packet of three cards to each player, then four to
the table, then another packet of three each. In subsequent sub-deals six cards
Hurrikan is a German variant of two-player Scopa which appeared in the 1930's and
each are dealt in packets of three.
has since been included in numerous German card game books. Clearing the table is

39
2. The bonus suit is hearts rather than diamonds. There is a point for the seven of 5. There is no mention of throwing in the cards when there are three or more
hearts, and a point for taking the majority of hearts (6 or more). Kings in the initial layout, which makes a Hurrikan (Scopa) impossible in that
3. When deciding who has won the primiera (known in German as die Premiere), if hand.
points have to be counted the Queen and Jack are worth 9 and 8 respectively 6. Although most mention that the last player who makes a capture collects all
rather than 10 each. remaining cards from the layout and this does not count as a Hurrikan, none of
4. The target score for the game is 16 points. If the loser has fewer than 8 points them explicitly deals with the case where the dealer's final card captures
the winner wins a double game. If both reach 16 on the same deal the player everything from the table. Possibly this was scored as a Hurrikan in Germany,
with the higher score wins and in the event of a tie another deal is played. unlike Italian Scopa where dealer's last card can never score for a Scopa.
The books also mention a four-player partnership version which is played like German descriptions vary in their explanation of the Premiere. Presumably the point
Scopone (with either 9-card or 10-card hands) with the same changes in scoring values 9 and 8 for the Queen and Jack were originally introduced in Germany to make
(hearts is the bonus suit and the target is 16). them correspond to the capture values of these cards. Some descriptions give
simplified and in some cases garbled versions of the scoring. For example later
There are a couple of other rules of the Italian game that the German books don't
editions of the Altenburg Spielregelbüchlein say that the point goes to the player with
mention - it's not clear whether this is an oversight by the authors or whether these
more Sevens, or to the player with more Sixes (without regard to suits) if Sevens are
rules were never used in the German game.
tied, or to no one if Sevens and Sixes are both tied.

if the card played matches more than one table card, then just one of the matching
Scopone 4 table cards is captured - the player of the capturing card chooses which;

Scopone is an Italian game - the principles are fairly simple but to play it well requires if the card played does not match any table card, but its capture value is equal to the
skill and a good memory. Scopone is closely related to the popular game Scopa, of sum of the capture values of two or more table cards, then that set of table cards is
which there are several varieties. The related game Cicera (played in Brescia) is captured - if there are several possible sets which add up to the value of the played
described on its own page. card, the player of the capturing card chooses which to take;

Players and Cards If the capture value of the card played does not match any table card or sum of table
Scopone is played by four players, two against two in fixed partnerships; you sit cards, then there is no capture and the played card remains face up on the table.
opposite your partner. As in most Italian games, play is anticlockwise.
Important points to note:
An Italian 40 card pack is used, often the Neapolitan pattern with the Latin suits: There is no obligation to play a card which makes a capture - it is legal (and
swords (spade), clubs (bastoni), cups (coppe) and coins (denari). The cards in each sometimes better play) simply to add a card to the table;
suit are Re, Cavallo, Fante, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A.
however if the played card does make a capture, the captured cards must be taken,
In North America, Italian cards in various regional patterns can be obtained from even if the player would prefer to leave them on the table;
TaroBear's Lair. It is also possible to play with a standard international 52 card pack
if a card matches both a single card and a sum of cards on the table, the single card
from which you need to remove the 10s 9s and 8s.
must be captured, not the group.
The cards have point values for capturing, and a separate set of point values that are
Example. The table contains 3, 5, 5, Fante. Playing a 5 captures one of the 5s from the
only used in scoring the Prime (primiera)
table at the player's choice. Playing a Re (king) captures both 5s. Playing a Fante (jack)
Card Capture value Value in Prime captures the one on the table - the player is not allowed to take the 5 and the 3
Re (King) 10 10 instead.
Cavallo (Horse) or Donna (Queen) 9 10
After all the cards from the players hands have been played, the last player who
Fante (Jack) 8 10
made a capture also takes any face up cards remaining on the table.
Seven 7 21
Six 6 18
Five 5 15
Four 4 14 The Scoring
Three 3 13 There are four points available to be won on each deal:
Two 2 12
Ace 1 16 1. The Cards. The point is won by whichever team takes the majority of the cards. If
they split 20-20 the point is not awarded.

The Deal 2. The Coins. The point is won by whichever team takes more cards of the coins suit
Choose the first dealer at random. Turn to deal passes to the right after each hand. (or diamonds if you are using international cards). If they split 5-5 the point is not
The dealer shuffles and the dealer's left hand opponent cuts. awarded.

Deal a packet of three cards face down to each player (anticlockwise, beginning with 3. The Seven of Coins. The point is won by whichever team takes the 7 of coins
the player to dealer's right), then two face down to the centre of the table, then (diamonds), known as the 'sette bello' (beautiful seven).
three more to each player, two more to the centre, and finally three more to each
player. When the deal has been correctly completed the four table cards are turned 4. The Prime (in Italian: 'la primiera'). The point is won by the team with the best
face up and the players look at their hands. prime. In practice this is usually the team with more sevens, but the actual rule is as
follows. A prime consists of one card of each suit, and the cards have special point
If three or all four of the table cards are kings, the cards are thrown in and there is a values for this purpose, as shown in the table. The value of the prime is got by adding
new deal by the same dealer. up the values of its cards and whichever team can construct the more valuable prime
wins the point. If both teams' primes are worth the same, the prime point is not
The Play awarded. A prime of four suits always beats a prime of three suits, irrespective of the
The player to dealer's right plays first, and the turn to play passes anticlockwise, until point values, so a team that has no cards at all in one suit will always lose to a team
all the cards have been played. with all four suits: even three jacks and a seven (51 points) will win against three
sevens with no card in the fourth suit, although the sevens appear to be worth more
A turn consists of playing one card face up to the table, which may capture one or
(63). In the rare case where both teams are missing an entire suit, no one scores the
more table cards. In the event of a capture, both the played card and the captured
prime point.
card(s) are taken and stored face down in front of one of the members of the team
that made the capture, like a trick. If there is no capture the played card remains face It is worth knowing that the ranking of the cards for the prime is 7 (highest), 6, ace, 5,
up on the table. In either case the turn then passes to the next player. 4, 3, 2, pictures (lowest) - so if you are tied on sevens, try to capture sixes, then aces,
and so on.
The capturing rules are as follows:
If the rank (capture value) of the card played matches that of a table card, the table
card is captured;

The Sweep

40
In addition to the points mentioned above, you also win a point for each sweep next player has to put down a card. If your partner can match the card played by the
(Italian scopa). You score a sweep when you play a card which captures the all table opponent you then get another sweep. This can go on for several plays. It is the
cards, leaving the table empty. Traditionally, the capturing card is placed face up in simplest form of what is called a whirlwind.
the trick-pile of the capturing side, so that the number of sweeps made by each side
can easily be seen when the scoring is done at the end of the play. One obvious way to avoid giving away a sweep is to leave a total of at least 11 on the
table. For this reason you may want to avoid capturing cards which would leave a
Taking the last cards from the table at the end of a hand never counts as a sweep, total of 10 or less. If you leave exactly 11, your right-hand opponent (RHO) may wish
even if the last card played by the dealer does actually capture all the remaining table not to capture for fear of giving your partner a sweep. So RHO plays a card to the
cards. table. If your partner can capture it this leaves 11 again, and your LHO may play a
card that you can capture. This is another kind of whirlwind, though a rather weak
Winning the Game one.
The first team to have 11 or more points at the end of a hand wins. If both sides
reach 11 in the same hand the side with more points wins. If both are equal, play Better than leaving 11 is to leave a smaller number which you know your RHO cannot
further hands until one side has more points at the end of a hand. match. Suppose that two 3's have gone, you hold the third 3 and the fourth is on the
table. It will then be good for you to capture all the other cards on the table and
Variations leave this 3 as an anchor for your team. Your RHO must now play a card. Your partner
10-card Scopone (Scopone Scientifico) should trust you to have the last 3 and capture the RHO's card, leaving 3 again. Then
you may be able to capture LHO's card, and so on. This is a rather more effective
In 10-card Scopone, sometimes known as "Scientific" Scopone, ten cards are dealt to whirlwind, and the opponents also have the problem that if they play too small a card
each player at the start of each hand, and none to the table. In this version, at least (7 or less) there is a possibility that you or your partner may make a sweep.
according to some players, the dealer's team does score one point for a sweep if the
dealer's last card captures all the remaining table cards (either it matches the only Clearly it is good to establish an anchor, and to have cards on the table of ranks which
remaining card or is equal to the sum of all the cards on the table). your side controls. For this reason you should lead, or leave on the table, cards which
you hold two or more of in your hand. Also if your partner plays (say) a 5 and your
Re bello LHO takes it, you should also play a 5 if you have one, because it is likely that partner
The re bello (beautiful king) is the king of coins. Some players award a point to the holds the fourth 5.
team that wins this card (just as the winners of the sette bello get a point). In this
version of the game there are 5 points to be scored in each deal (apart from sweeps)
rather than four.
Apart from the 7 of coins and sweeps, the next priority is to capture other sevens (for
Napola the prime), and also sixes, which come in useful if sevens are split. Coins are good to
Some play that a team that captures the ace, two and three of coins scores a number collect as well, and finally it does no harm to have the greater bulk of cards.
of points equal to the highest coin card they capture in unbroken sequence with
these - for example if they took the A-2-3-4-5-6 of coins they would score 6 points (in It is important to keep track of paired and unpaired cards. If all the captures were of
addition to the point for coins). This bonus is called Napola or Napoli. A team that single cards of equal rank, so that all the tricks consisted of pairs, then at the end the
captures all ten cards of the coin suit wins the game outright. This is called dealer's last card would match the last card on the table. If for example the dealer
Napoleone or Napolone or Cappotto. has a 7, it could be saved by keeping it until last and catching a 7 with it.

Target score As soon as someone captures more than one card at a time, this pattern is disrupted.
Some players fix a higher target score, for example 21 points, for winning the game. If someone plays a king to capture a 7 and a 3, 3s, 7s and kings are now unpaired. If
This is particularly appropriate when playing variations that allow extra points to be the rest of the game consists of single captures only, dealer will end up playing the
scored. final 7 to a table containing the unpaired 3 and king, and the three cards go to the
last player who made a capture. Remembering which cards are unpaired is especially
Values of picture cards for the Primiera important for the dealer, who may then be able to arrange to make a capture with
Gianni Millone reports that in southern Italy it is common to use the values king = 10, the last card.
horse (queen) = 9, jack = 8 when comparing primes, rather than valuing all pictures at
10. It rarely makes a real difference, because normally the Primiera is decided on 7's, There is a certain amount of strategy around pairing and unpairing sevens. For
6's and Aces, but nonetheless it can be a source of endless debate between Scopone example if the players have one seven each, then the dealer's side wants to keep
fans of different areas. them paired, so that by waiting until the end they can win all four in the last round.
The non-dealer's side will want to unpair the sevens by using one of their sevens to
Advice on playing Scopone capture a combination of cards, such as 5 + 2. Obviously in these circumstances the
The most important card is the 7 of coins - it is worth a point by itself and contributes dealer's side will try to avoid leaving such combinations.
to all the other three points. You should aim to win the 7 of coins if at all possible.
There is much more that could be said about the strategy of Scopone. Perhaps some
You should avoid giving away sweeps, and put your side in a position to win sweeps. readers may like to comment on or add to the above notes.
Winning a sweep is just one point initially, but because it leaves the table empty, the

41
Escoba 2-4

Introduction Escobas (sweeps)

Escoba is popular in Spain, and also in Argentina and Chile. The name of the game An escoba occurs when you play a card which captures all the table cards, leaving the
means "broom", and no doubt refers to the bonus point scored for sweeping the table empty. This is worth an extra point to the team that makes the capture.
table clean by capturing all the face up cards. Escoba is very similar to the Italian Traditionally, the capturing card is placed face up in the trick-pile of the capturing
game Scopa - specifically to the variation Scopa da Quindici and indeed Escoba is side, so that the number of escobas made by each side can easily be seen when the
sometimes known as Escoba de Quince. scoring is done at the end of the play.
Players and Cards If the values of the four cards that were dealt face-up on the table in the opening
Escoba is a game for two, three or four players - four can play individually or in deal add up to exactly 15, the dealer inmmediately captures these four cards before
partnerships, partners sitting opposite each other. any cards are played. This counts as an escoba, and the player to dealer's right then
plays the first card to an empty table. If the cards in the initial four card layout add up
Traditionally, a 40 card Spanish deck is used. This has suits of Coins, Cups, Batons and
to 30, the lucky dealer takes them and scores two escobas.
Swords, the cards of each suit being 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Sota (Jack), Caballo (Horse) and
Rey (King). For the purpose of capturing: Scoring
There are four fixed points available to be won on each deal:
 the numbers 1 to 7 have their face values
 the Sota (jack) counts as 8  Cartas (the Cards). The point is won by whichever player or team takes the
majority of the cards. If the cards split 20-20 the point is not awarded.
 the Caballo (horse) counts as 9
 the Rey (king) counts as 10
 Oros (the Coins). The point is won by whichever player or team takes more
cards of the coins suit. If they split 5-5 the point is not awarded.
In North America, Spanish cards can be obtained from TaroBear's Lair.
 Siete de Velo or Guindis (the Seven of Coins). The point is won by whichever
This can be extremely confusing for new players, because the picture cards of a player or team takes the 7 of coins.
Spanish deck normally have numbers printed on them that are different from their
values in this game.
 La Setenta (the Prime). The point is won by the player or team with the best
prime. In practice this is usually the player or team with more sevens, but the
 The Sota is labelled 10, though it is worth only 8. actual rule is as follows. A prime consists of one card of each suit, ranking as
 The Caballo is labelled 11, though it is worth only 9. follows:
 The Rey is labelled 12, though it is worth only 10. Sevens (highest), 6s, As, 5s, 4s, 3s, 2s, pictures (lowest).
The Deal Whichever team can construct the better prime wins the point. If each team has
two sevens, the highest cards held by each team in the other suits are
The first dealer is chosen by some random method, such as cutting the cards. The
player designated as the dealer continues to deal until all the cards of the pack have compared. For example a teams' prime of 7,7,6,5 beats the opponents' 7,7,A,A
been dealt and played; then the turn to deal passes to the right. prime, because 6 is better than ace. 7,7,6,A beats 7,7,6,5 because the best three
cards are equal and the ace beats the five. If both teams' primes are equal - for
The dealer shuffles and the dealer's left hand opponent cuts. example each team has 7,7,6,6 - then the prime point is not awarded.
Three cards are dealt face down to each player (counterclockwise, beginning with the In addition to the points mentioned above, you or your team also wins a point for
player to dealer's right), and after everyone has their three cards, four additional each escoba, as indicated by the cards stored face up in the piles of captured cards.
cards are dealt face-up on the table. For the sake of clarity we will call this procedure
the opening deal. The remaining cards are placed in a face down stack by the dealer Winning the game
ready to be dealt later. The first team to have 21 or more points at the end of a hand wins. If both sides
reach 21 in the same hand the side with more points wins. If both are equal, further
The Play
hands are played until one side has more points at the end of a hand.
The player to dealer's right plays first, and the turn to play passes anticlockwise, until
all the cards have been played. Variations
A turn consists of playing one card face up to the table, which may capture one or Some play that
more table cards. In the event of a capture, both the played card and the captured  a player or team that captures more than 30 cards, the opponent(s) having
card(s) are taken and stored face down in front of one of the members of the team fewer than 10, scores 2 points for cards instead of 1
that made the capture, like a trick. If there is no capture the played card remains face  a player or team that captures all 10 cards of the coin suit scores 2 points for
up on the table. In either case the turn then passes to the next player. coins instead of 1
Once all the players have played all three of their cards, the dealer deals three new  a player or team that captures all four sevens scores 3 points instead of just 2
cards to each player (but none to the table) and the play continues. This procedure is for setanta and 7 of coins
repeated until the pack is exhausted. When everyone has played their last three
Strategy
cards (after 6 deals if there are two players, or after three deals if there are four), any
cards remaining face up on the table are taken by the last player or team that made a When making a capture you should consider the following:
capture. This does not count as an escoba - see below. The points scored by both  You should avoid playing a card of value five or higher when the table is empty,
sides are then totalled and the pack is reshuffled and passed to the next dealer for a as this risks giving away an escoba to the opponent. An exception be when you
new round of play, beginning as before with the opening deal. know that your opponent cannot hold the complementary card - for example if
The capture three sixes have already been played and you hold the fourth, it is safe to play a
The capturing rules are as follows: caballo to the empty table.
 The card played captures any one set of cards which, together with the played
 You should aim to win the 7 of coins if at all possible since it is worth a point by
itself and contributes to all the other three points.
card, add up to 15. For example if the table cards are A, 3, 4, 7 and you play a 4,
it captures either the 4 and the 7 or the Ace, 3 and 7 at your choice.  The next priority is to capture other sevens (for the prime), and also sixes, which
come in useful if sevens are split.
 There is no obligation to play a card which makes a capture - it is legal (and
sometimes better play) simply to add a card to the table; however if the played  Coins are good to collect as well.
card does make a capture, the captured cards must be taken even if the player  Finally it does no harm to have the greater bulk of cards.
would prefer to leave them on the table. The values of all the cards in the pack add up to 220, 10 more than a multiple of 15
(210), so at the end of the play there will be 10, 25, 40 or 55 points left on the table.
Knowing this can be very helpful in working out what cards the other players have
left in the last deal.

42
 
Casino 2–4
cards which are part of a build (see below) can only be captured by
a card of the rank announced for that build;
Introduction  when sets are captured, each captured card can only be counted as
Casino is the only fishing game to have become popular in English speaking countries. belonging to one such set.
Although it is traditionally supposed to have originated in Italy, there is no direct Example If an eight is played it could capture one, two or three eights
evidence of it having been played there, at least under that name, though many from the table. It could also capture a five and a three, or a four and two
other Italian fishing games are known. Casino first appears in the card game literature twos. If the following cards are on the table: A 2 3 5 6 8, then an eight
at the end of the eighteenth century in London, and shortly afterwards in Germany. could capture 8 6 2 5 3 or 8 5 2 A, but not all six cards.
In the late nineteenth century it became fashionable in America and a number of new
variations were developed. There is a dispute about the correct spelling of the name - 3. Building
the earliest sources use the spelling Casino, but a tradition has grown up among later A numeral card may be played and combined with other cards on the
writers to spell it with a double 's': Cassino. table, placing them together to form a build. A build can be made out of
The aim in Casino is to capture cards from a layout of face up cards on the table. A any collection of numeral cards which can be captured by a single
card is captured by playing a matching card from hand. It is also possible to capture numeral card according to rule 2 above. The player making the build
several cards at once if their values add up to the value of the card played. Captured must announce the capturing number (saying, for example, "building 5"),
cards are stored face down in front of the player who captured them and scored at and must hold a numeral card which can later make the capture. There
the end of the play. Cards from hand can also be combined with table cards are two types of build: single builds and multiple builds.
into builds, which can only be captured as a unit.
 A single build consists of two or more cards whose capture values
This page describes the most usual Anglo-American version of Casino in which picture add up to the capture value of the build - for example a 5-build
cards, not having a numerical value, can only capture an equal picture. There are made of a 2 and a 3, or a 10-build made of A-4-5.
many variants in which picture cards also have numerical values. In English-speaking
countries this type of game is known as Royal Casino, and interesting versions of it  A multiple build consists of two or more cards or sets of cards,
are popular in various parts of the world. On other pages of this site there are each of which equates to the capture value of the build - for
descriptions of: example a 5-build made of a 2 and a 3 plus a 4 and an ace, or a 5-
build made of A-4 and 5, or a 9-build made of two nines, or a 9-
 Royal Casino and the version played in the Dominican Republic, which features build made of 6-3 plus 5-4 plus 9.
different scoring in the endgame;
When you make a build, it must include the card you just played - you
 Casino in Southern Africa (Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa), where cards cannot create a build consisting entirely of cards that were already on
can be from opponents' capture piles can be reused in builds; the table. Cards which have been made into a build can subsequently
 Casino (Kasino) in Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway and Finland) which is only be captured as a unit, never separately.
usually played without building;
Examples
 Krypkasino, a reverse variant from Sweden in which the aim is to avoid
capturing cards.  If there is a 5 on the table, a player holding a 3 and an 8 may put
Players and Cards the 3 on the 5 and announce "building 8"; this single build can now
only be captured by an 8.
The game works best with from 2 to 4 players, though in theory more could take part.
It has the distinction of being one of the few games which will deal out evenly to two,  If there is an ace and a two on the table, a player holding two
three, or four players. Four players can play in partnerships, two against two, with threes and a six could play one of the threes and either:
partners sitting opposite each other.
1. capture the two and the ace;
A regular 52 card deck is used. Each numeral card (ace-ten) is counted as its
2. combine the played three with the ace and the two and make
numerical value (ace = 1, two = 2, etc). Picked up cards are accumulated in a pile to
a single build, announcing "building 6";
be counted at the end of the round.
3. combine the played three with the ace and the two and make
The Deal
a multiple build, announcing "building 3";
The dealer deals four cards to each player and four cards face up in the centre (these
It would not be legal to play the three on the ace, building four, or
centre cards are laid out separately so that all are visible). Traditionally, the deal is in
on the two, building five, as the player does not hold a four or a
twos: two cards to each other player, two to the table, then two to the dealer, then
five.
repeat. However, some players prefer to deal the cards singly. The remainder of the
deck is temporarily put aside. After everyone has played their four cards, another 4. Capturing a build
hand of four cards is dealt to each player from the remaining cards, but no more
A build can be captured by playing a numeral card of the rank which was
cards are dealt to the table after the first deal. After these cards have been played
announced when the build was made. It is thus possible to "steal" a build
there is another deal, and this continues until all 52 cards have been dealt (this takes
created by another player, if you have the right numeral card.
6 deals for 2 players, 4 deals for three players, 3 deals for 4 players). The dealer must
announce "last" when dealing the last cards. After the last cards have been played If on your turn, the table contains a build which you created or added to
and the hand scored, the deal passes to the left for the next round. yourself, and no other player has added to it since your last turn, you are
not allowed simply to trail a card (as in rule 6) on your next turn.
The Play
You must either make a capture of some kind, create another build, or
Starting with the player to the left of the dealer and continuing clockwise, each player add to a build (i.e. follow rule 3, 4 or 5). It is always possible to capture in
in turn must play one card out from hand face up on the table. This card may or may this situation - if nothing else, you must hold the capturing card for the
not capture one or more cards from the table. build you just made, otherwise your build was illegal.

 In case of a capture, when the other players have had an opportunity to see the If there is a build on the table, and you were the last player to add a card
capturing card, the player picks up this card and the captured cards and stores to this build, you are not allowed to play so as to leave yourself with no
them all face down in a pile. card equal to the value of this build.
While capturing a build, you can also capture any loose cards on the
 If there is no capture the played card remains face up on the table.
table that add up to the same number. For example you have made a
Irrespective of whether a capture was made or not, the turn passes to the next build of 9 and there is a 5 on the table. If the player before you plays a 4,
player. you can capture the 4 and the 5 at the same time that you take in your
build.
In detail, the possible types of play are as follows:
It is not possible to capture a build with a card of any other rank than
1. Capturing with a face card that announced for the build. For example the table contains a 4 and a 3
If the card played is a face card (king, queen or jack) which matches the combined into a build of 7, plus a separate 2. You cannot play a 9 to take
rank of a face card on the table, the face card on the table may be the build of 7 plus the 2 - the build can only be captured with a 7.
captured. This is the only possible capture with a face card. If the table Another example. If the table contains a 5 and a player plays another 5
contains more than one matching card only one may be captured. on it, they must either announcing "building 10" to create a single build
or "building 5" to create a multiple build. If "building 10" was announced
Example:The Q and Q are on the table, and the Q is played.
the build can only be captured by a 10, not by a 5. If "building 5" was
The player may capture one of the queens from the table but not both.
announced, the build can only be captured by a 5, not by a 10.
2. Capturing with a numeral card
5. Adding to a build
A numeral card (Ace, 2, ..., 10) can capture any numeral cards on the
There are two ways of adding to a build:
table which are of the same rank as the card played, and any sets of
numeral cards which add up to the rank of the card played, with the 1. You may add a card from your hand to a single build, increasing the
following restrictions: capturing number, provided that you also hold a card which will
capture the new build. At the same time you may incorporate

43
 additional cards from the table into the build, if they are equal to  each Ace is worth one point (capturing an ace with another ace is called "cash"
the new capturing number. In this case the build will become by some players)
multiple. You can never use a card from the table to change the
value of a single build.  the ten of diamonds, called Big Casino or the Good Ten, is worth two points;
Example A The table contains a build consisting of two threes,  the two of spades, called Little Casino or the Good Two, is worth one point.
announced as a build of six. If you hold a two and an eight, you can
add the two to the build announcing "building 8". The next player, If there is a tie for most cards or most spades, no one gets those points.
holding an ace and a nine, could then add the ace and say "building Whoever first reaches a total of 21 or more points, over however many rounds it
9". takes, wins the game. If two people reach the target on the same round, whoever has
The capturing number of a multiple build can never be changed. If the higher score wins. If there is a tie, another round is played.
the original build of two threes in the above example had been Variations
announced as building three (rather than building six), it
would not be possible for a player holding a two and a five to add Building Rules
the two to the build, making five, not for a player holding a two and
Building is the most intricate part of the game, and there are several variations in
an eight to add the two making eight.
exactly what is allowed when creating or capturing builds, and many of the card
Example B The table contains an ace, a two and a four; the ace and game books are ambiguous on this point. Some people play by more permissive
the four have been combined by a previous player into a build rules, for example:
of five. You hold a three, an eight and a ten. You can play your
three onto the single five-build and announce "building eight", but  Some players allow a player to trail a card and simultaneously make a build by
you are not allowed to incorporate the two from the table into this combining other cards on the table, not including the card played.
build to make it a build of ten.
 Some players allow a player who has a build on the table simply to trail a card
Example C The table contains a three and a four, built into a seven, on subsequent turns, leaving the build in place.
and a separate nine. You hold a two and a nine. You can play your
two, combining it with the seven-build to make nine, and at the  Some players allow cards from the table to be used to help increase the value of
same time incorporate the nine on the table into the build, a single build, provided that a card from your hand is also used to increase the
converting it to a multiple build and saying "building nine". value. In this variation, in Example B under rule 5 above, it would be legal when
playing your 3 on the 5-build to incorporate the 2 from the table as well, making
2. You may add to any build, single or multiple, by playing a card from a single build of 10. On the other hand, if there was a 6-build and a 3 on the
your hand which, either alone or combined with other cards on the table and you had two nines in your hand, it would not be legal to combine one
table which are not yet in builds, matches the existing capture of your nines with the six-build and the three to make a multiple build of nines,
number of the build, provided that you hold a card which can because when changing the value of a build, the card you play from your hand
capture the combined build. has to contribute to the change of value.
Example The table contains a 9-build consisting of a 5 and a 4, and
there is also a 3 on the table. You hold a six and two nines. You can
 Some players treat a single build exactly like a single card of the same value, for
the purpose of capturing it or extending the build. For example, if there is a
play your 6, combining it with the 3 and the existing build to make a
build of 6 (5+A) on the table and a loose 4, a player who holds a 10 can capture
new multiple build of 9. Then on your next turn (provided that no
the 6-build and the 4, and a player who holds two 10's can combine one 10 from
one else captured) you could add one of the nines from your hand
hand with the 6-build and the 4 to make a multiple 10-build.
to the build. Finally, on the following turn, you could capture the
whole build with your second nine. Sweeps
Note that when making or adding to a build, you must contribute a card Many people play that a Sweep is worth one point. A sweep occurs when a player
to it from your hand. You cannot just combine various cards which are takes all the cards from the table, leaving it empty and forcing the next player to trail.
already on the table to form a build. Note also that once a build contains Some players call this a clear. When making a sweep, the capturing card is stored
more than one card or sets of cards which add to the capturing number, face-up in the pile of won cards, so that the number of sweeps can be checked when
it is a multiple build and the capturing number can no longer be scoring. It is possible to make a sweep with the last card of the final deal if it captures
changed. all the cards on the table, but if it does not, taking the remaining cards from the table
because you made the last capture does not count as a sweep.
Example. There is a multiple 8-build of 3-5-8 on the table, and there is
also a loose 6 on the table. In your hand you have 2, 8, 8, 10. You may Scoring
add one of your 8s to the build, making 3-5-8-8, or to add your 2
together with the 6 on the table, making 3-5-8-2-6, still with capture Other targets for winning the game are possible:
value 8. You cannot use your 2 to change the capture value to 10.  Some play to 11 points. In a two player game (or a 4-player game with partners),
6. Trailing in each round the player with more points scores the difference between the
points made by the two players or sides.
If you simply play a card without building or capturing, the card is placed
face up on the table alongside any other layout cards and remains there  Some play to 50 points.
to be captured or built on in future. It is then the next player's turn.
Playing a card without building or capturing is sometimes called trailing. Some people, instead of scoring three points for cards, award two points to the
You are allowed to trail a card even if that card could have made a player with most cards and one point to the player who made the last capture during
capture. the game.

Example Suppose that in a four player partnership game your partner Some play that when deciding the overall winner, if more than one player or team
has two tens and you have one. Your partner plays a 10 and the next reaches the target score in the same round, the points are counted in order: cards,
player does not take it. On your turn, if you suspect that your partner spades, big casino, little casino, aces (in the order spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds),
has a second 10, you can play your 10 and not capture, leaving both tens sweeps. If the aces are not sufficient to reach the target score then the player or
on the table for your partner. team with more sweeps wins; if they have the same number of sweeps another hand
is played to decide the winner.
The only case in which trailing is not allowed is when there is a build on
the table which you were the last player to add to. Some players, when approaching the target score, count the points as they are
earned - each sweep as it happens, aces, big and little casino as they are captured,
When all the cards have been played in the final deal, the last player who made a and spades or cards as soon as one player has captured 7 or 27 of them respectively.
capture also wins any cards which are left on the table (these cards are sometimes In this case the play ends soon as a player correctly claims to have won by reaching
known as the residue). That is why it is important that the dealer should announce the target score (even if the opponent has in fact scored more but failed to claim it).
"last" when dealing the last cards. Some score sweeps as they happen, but the remaining points in a specific order, with
an agreed order of suits for the aces.
Hint on tactics: it is often good for the dealer to hold back a face card to play last if
possible; this will capture a matching face card on the table and thereby also win any Some books describe Spade Casino, a variant in which instead of counting a point for
other table cards that remain. most spades, each spade counts 1 point and the jack of spades counts an extra point.
The ace and two of spades still count an extra point as well, so that the total points
Scoring
available (excluding sweeps) are 24: cards (3) + ten of diamonds (2) + the four aces
Each player (or team) counts their score based on the pile of cards they have won. and the two and jack of spades (6) + the spades (13).
There are eleven possible points in each hand:

 whoever has the Most Cards gets three points;

 whoever has Most Spades is one point;

 When declaring 20 or 40, the player must lead the King, not the Queen (Ober).

44
 The Jack (Unter) of trumps cannot be exchanged by a player who has not yet  66 is played with 24 cards, including the nines. 6 cards are dealt to each player.
won a trick, not can it be exchanged when only two cards remain in the talon. The 9 can be exchanged for the face up trump card. (Schnapsen is played with
With this strict rule, the trump can only be exchanged just before leading to the only 20 cards and the Jack/Unter can be exchanged for the face up trump.)
second, third or fourth trick.  In 66, from the moment that the talon is exhausted or the trump is turned
 A marriage or pair cannnot be declared until the player has won a trick. down, no further 20's or 40's can be declared. (In Schnapsen 20's and 40's can
Therefore the non-dealer cannot declare one when leading to the first trick. be declared in any trick.)
In some tournaments, when a player closes the talon and wins, the score is based on  In 66, if the talon is not closed and no one goes out, the last trick is worth 10
the opponent's total card points and tricks, including tricks taken after the talon was card points if the talon is exhausted, and the player with the higher card point
closed. It is only when the player who closes the talon loses that the score is based on total scores 1, 2 or 3 game points. It is possible for a deal to be drawn. (In
the state of the game at the moment when the talon was closed. Schnapsen the winner of the last trick always wins just 1 game point in this
situation.)
Many sources state that if a player makes a false claim to have reached 66, the  In 66, when the talon is closed, all the opponent's tricks, including those taken
opponent scores as many game points as the player who went out would have after the talon is closed, are counted when determining the score. (In Schnapsen
scored, had the claim been correct: 3 if the opponent of the player who claimed had the score is normally determined by the tricks the opponent had at the moment
no tricks, 2 points if the opponent had at least one trick but less than 33 card points, of closing.)
or just 1 if the opponent had more than 33 card points. This rule has the defect that a
player can avoid Schneider by deliberately making a false claim. Suppose your
 In 66 the talon can be closed either before or after drawing from the talon. (In
opponent has about 50-60 card points when you win your first trick, and you do not Schnapsen it can only be closed after drawing.)
expect to reach 33 before your opponent wins, you can limit your opponent's score  In 66, the opponent of a player who closes may at the moment of closing
to 1 point by claiming to have won yourself: since your claim if correct would score exchange the 9 for the face up trump, even having won no tricks. (In Schnapsen
you only 1 point. the incorrect claim gives only 1 point to your opponent. This tactic is this is not allowed.)
not in the spirit of the game, and to avoid it it is better to give at least 2 points for any  In 66 the winner of each hand deals the next. (In Schnapsen the players deal
incorrect claim as in the main account. alternately.)
Bauernschnapsen (Farmer's Schnapsen) - an elaborated four-handed partnership  The game of 66 is scored from zero upwards. The first player to 7 wins.
version of Schnapsen - and Talon-Schnapsen - a version of Schnapsen for three (Schnapsen is scored downwards from 7 to zero.)
players - are described on a separate page. A comparative analysis of the 66 variants described in various sources can be found
Sechsundsechzig on Martin Tompa's page Schnapsen and Sixty-Six Rules Variants.

The German progenitor of Schnapsen, Sechsundsechzig ("Sixty-Six"), is similar, but Gaigel

differs in several important details, and is described on a separate page. Here is a Gaigel is a four handed partnership version of Sechsundsechzig, played with a double
summary of the differences. 24-card pack. It's a fun game but lacks the strategic element of closing.

Zwicker 2, 3, 4

Introduction * Aces, kings, queens and jacks have two alternative matching values. The matching
value of each of these cards is chosen by the player who captures it,
Zwicker (also known as Zwickern or Zwickeln) is a fishing game, played in Schleswig- or captures other cards with it, or incorporates it into a build.
Holstein in North Germany. The "Zwick" (equivalent to the English "tweak") is a play
by which you capture all the cards from the table, scoring a bonus. There are several Scoring values
variants of Zwicker. The main description on this page is of the version taught to John
McLeod and Günther Senst by Dietrich Jensen, who now lives in Hamburg but comes At the end of the play, the cards won by each team are counted. There are 3 points
originally from the Dithmarschen region of Schleswig-Holstein. After this two for the team that took the majority of the cards, but more important are the scores
variations are described - one using 6 Jokers played in Großenwiehe and Sillerup in for certain valuable cards. The scoring values of the cards are different from their
Schleswig, as taught to Paul Eaton by Irmgard Ewald, and one that was explained to matching values:
me by Reinhardt Christiansen, a Canadian whose parents came from Schleswig- Item Scoring value
Holstein. Finally there are notes on other variations described in German card-game
books. Large (25) joker 7 points
Note: Zwicker(n) is not to be confused with the similarly named Dutch Middle (20) 6 points
game Zwikken nor with the Austrian game Zwicken - both of those are gambling joker
trick-taking games played with a three card hand.
Small (15) joker 5 points
The Players and Cards
Originally, Zwicker was played with a normal 52 card deck but today jokers are Ten of diamonds 3 points
usually added. Dietrich Jensen's version uses three distinct jokers, so that there are
55 cards in all. Before beginning the players must agree which is the large (25) joker, Ten of spades 1 point
which is the middle (20) joker and which is the small (15) joker. If necessary the Two of spades 1 point
numbers 25, 20, 15 can be written on the face of the jokers to distinguish them.
Each ace 1 point
This game is best played by four players in two fixed partnerships, partners sitting
opposite. It can be adapted for two or three, playing as individuals, but the tactical Majority of cards 3 points
possibilities of the game are then much reduced. The four-player partnership game is
described here. Each Zwick 1 point
Matching Values So there are 30 points in all to be scored for the cards, plus one extra point for each
As in other fishing games (such as Casino and Scopa) there is a layout of cards on the Zwick.
table, and the objective is to capture cards from the table by playing a card of The Deal and Play
matching value from your hand, and when possible to clear all the cards from the
table, thus scoring a bonus for a Zwick. Deal and play are clockwise. The first dealer is chosen at random. The dealer shuffles
and the player to dealer's right cuts the cards.
Each card has a matching value, used to determine which cards capture which. The
matching values of the cards from two to ten are simply their face values. The Each hand is played in three stages. For the first stage four cards are dealt to each
remaining cards have matching values as follows: player, one at a time, and three cards face up on the table. The cards on the table are
sometimes called the the Picture (das Bild). The player to dealer's left plays the first
Card Matching value card and play continues clockwise. Each turn consists of playing one card from your
hand face up to the table, which can be simply played and left there, or can be used
Ace 1 or 11 * to capture cards or to make a build. When everyone has had four turns, using up
their first four cards, the dealer deals another four cards to each player. The game
Jack 2 or 12 *
continues as before until the players run out of cards again, at which point there is a
Queen 3 or 13 * final deal of five cards each, which exhausts the pack. When everyone has played
their last five cards the play ends and the hand is scored.
King 4 or 14 *
There are three possible things that you can do on your turn: to play a card which
Small joker 15 captures one or more cards; to play a card to form or add to a build; or simply to play
a card without building or capturing.
Middle 20
joker Playing a card
The simplest thing you can do in your turn is just to play one of the cards from your
Large joker 25 hand face up on the table. It remains there and can be captured by another player
later.

45
Capturing Notes on tactics
If you play a card that matches a card on the table (according to the matching values The jokers account for more than half of the points, so much of the game centres
given above), you may (but are not forced to) capture the table card. If you decide to around capturing or saving the jokers, and to a lesser extent the ten of diamonds.
capture, you remove the captured card from the centre of the table and put it face This is difficult because of their high matching values; they do not match any other
down, along with the card you played, in the pile of cards won by your team. single card.
If there are cards on the table whose matching values add up to the matching value You should avoid leaving cards totals of 10, 15, 20 or 25 on the table if the
of the card that you played, you can capture this group of cards - for example a 10 corresponding high value card might be held by an opponent. You do not want to let
can capture a 7 and a 3, or the 25-joker can capture a king and an ace (11+14). them save it easily by capturing a group of cards. If you hold a joker yourself, you will
Moreover if there are several separate single cards or groups which match the card generally try to make a build to the value of your joker. The opponents will probably
you played you can capture any or all of these cards and groups. For example if the try to destroy this build, either by subtraction or by increasing it to match a larger
cards on the table are 3, 4, 7, 8, J you could play a 15-joker and capture either 8+7 joker that they hold, but your partner, knowing the joker you hold, may be able to
and J+3 or 8+4+3. restore it or make other builds to the same value on your behalf.
You are never obliged to make a capture, nor to make all possible captures with the If there is a joker on the table - either because it appeared in the initial deal or
card you play. because it has been played there - it can only be captured by building it down. If this
does not happen it will eventually be collected by the team that makes the last
Note that in serious play your partner is not allowed to point out capture possibilities capture at the end of the game. Even if you cannot build down yourself you may be
which you may have overlooked - if you don't take all the cards you are entitled to able to do so by cooperating with your partner.
capture, the remainder stay on the table. Example: If the 25-joker is on the table along with a 5 and you hold a queen and an 8,
Zwick you can play your 8 on the 5 building 13. Now your partner knows that you have a
queen, and may be able to play a jack on the joker, building 13 for you.
If you capture everything on the table, leaving it empty, you score one point for
a Zwick. You place one of the captured cards face up in the pile of cards you have You should generally avoid leaving a combination of cards on the table that will allow
won, so that the number of Zwicks scored by each side can easily be counted at the your left hand opponent to score a Zwick. Not only does a Zwick score a point, but it
end. It makes the counting easier at the end if the face up card is not a scoring card. puts your partner under pressure. It may be the start of a series of enemy Zwicks,
Example: if the cards on the table are 2, 4, 6, 10, J and you play a jack from your hand your partner's card being matched by the right-hand opponent, and so on.
you can count the jack you play as 12 and the one on the table as 2 and thereby You should generally try to avoid playing aces, kings, queens and jacks except when
capture all the cards on the table as two groups adding up to 12 (2+4+6 and 10+jack), capturing or building with them. If left free on the table they give the next player
making a Zwick. more options, because of their alternative matching values. In general it is bad to play
After a Zwick, the next player of course has nothing to capture or build onto, so must low matching value cards to the table, as they are too easy to capture. Cards 5 to 9
simply play a card to the table. The following player can either capture that card, give the next player fewer chances, especially if you have more cards of the same
scoring another Zwick, or play another card to the table, and so on. rank.

Building Zwicker with 6 Jokers

The third possible type of play is to make a build, which is a card or a pile of cards The version of Zwickern played in Großenwiehe and Sillerup, as taught to Paul Eaton
with an announced value and an owner. The owner must have a card that matches by Irmgard Ewald, uses a 52-card pack plus 6 Jokers. 58-card packs of this form were
the value of the build, and must eventually capture the build unless it is first captured sold as Zwicker cards from the 1950's onwards by the card-maker ASS from and were
or modified by some other player. Normally you build for yourself, but if your partner more recently available from Nürnberger Spielkarten.
has previously built a particular value and has not yet played the matching card, you The rules are similar to those of the Dithmarschen game described above with the
can make another build of this value "for partner". Note that if you own a build, you following differences.
do not have to capture it at your next opportunity - you can modify the build or make
a new build, or make a different capture or even just play a card to the table. Your The Jokers have matching values 15, 17, 20, 22, 25 and 30. Since the Jokers as printed
only obligation if you do not capture a build that you own is to keep in your hand a are not all distinguishable from their designs, the values need to be written at the
card which matches its value so that you can capture it later if it is left for you. tops of the cards before they are used.
To make a single card build you simply announce the value as you play the card - if it The game can be played by 2, 3, 4 or 6 players. 4 or 6 players play as two teams, each
is an ace, jack, queen or king you must fix its value at this point. For example if you player sitting between two opponents. The initial deal is two cards to each player,
have two queens in your hand you can play one of them announcing either "13" or then five face up to the table, then two more to each player and five more to the
"3". You are then obliged to keep the other queen to capture it, unless someone else table. So the initial table layout has 10 face-up cards and each player has 4.
modifies or captures it first. If you had just one queen and a three you could play the Subsequent deals are 4 cards to each player, two at a time, but no more to the table.
queen announcing "3", but not "13".
In the team game a player may ask a partner (Magger) whether they have a card of a
If you play a card onto an existing card or build you take over ownership and modify particular value, and if they do, the player can then make a build of that value for
the old value by adding or subtracting the value of the card you play. To do this you partner.
must hold another card in your hand that matches the new value of the build you are
modifying. All four Tens are scoring cards, and the larger Jokers are worth a lot more than in the
Example: if there is a 9 on the table and you hold 2, 7, A, you may play your 2 on the Dithmarschen game: each scores just 10 points less than its matching value. The
9 and announce either "11" (by addition) or "7" (by subtraction). Alternatively, you Joker scores are sometimes written at the bottom of each card. The scores are:
could play your 7 on the 9 and announce "2". You cannot build your ace on the 9 - the Item Scoring value
result would have to be 8 (subtraction) or 10 or 20 (addition) and you do not have
cards matching any of these values. 30-joker 20 points
Another example: suppose that the 25-joker is on the table, and your partner has
just played a queen, announcing 13. If you have a jack, when your turn comes you 25-joker 15 points
can build the jack on the joker, subtracting 12 and announcing "13 for partner", so
that your partner's other queen can take your build as well, thus winning the joker. 22-Joker 12 points

Note that when building you can start a new pile or add to a single existing pile, but 20-Joker 10 points
you can never combine separate table cards or piles into a single build.
17-Joker 7 points
If you build with a card which is equal to the previous value of the card or pile on
which you play it, you have the extra option of leaving the value of the build the 15-Joker 5 points
same. For example if you play a 10 on a 10 you can make a build of 10 (if you have yet
another 10 in your hand) or you can make it 20 (if you have the 20-joker). Playing a Ten of diamonds 3 points
matching card on a build and leaving the value unchanged does not prevent further
modifications. (Note that this is different from the corresponding rule in Casino.) In All other Tens 1 point each
fact any built pile continues to behave just like a single card build with the same Two of spades (Pingel) 1 point
value.
A built card or pile can be modified by any player, or can be captured alone or with Aces 1 point each
other cards or builds. Majority of cards 3 points
Note that separate cards or builds on the table can only be captured by matching or
addition, never by subtraction. Suppose for example that the table contains a build Each Zwick 1 point
of 9, a build of 13 and a separate 4. If you play a queen, you can make a Zwick (13 and So normally the total of the points scored by the players or teams is 83 plus the
9+4), but if you play a 9, you can only take the 9 build. There is no way that the 9 can number of Zwicks. If there is a tie for most cards the 'cards' points are not awarded
take the 13 and the 4. and the total is 80 points plus Zwicks.
End of the game; scoring Christiansen Version of "Zwickern"
Any uncaptured cards remaining on the table at the end of the first or second stage This section was contributed by Reinhardt Christiansen, a lifelong Canadian, who
of the game remain there and are available for capture in the following stage. learnt the game from his late father, formerly of Schleswig-Holstein. His mother's
If there are cards remaining on the table at the end of the third and last stage, they family also played a very similar version of Zwickern. Reinhardt played the game as a
are all won by the last team that made a capture. This does not normally count as a child in the late 1960s, and is no longer absolutely certain of all of the details of the
Zwick. However, if the dealer's last card validly captures all the cards from the table game, especially the exact scoring, but has re-created the rules to the best of his
leaving nothing, the dealer's team does score a Zwick for this. ability below.

At the end of the play each side then counts the value of cards they have won and The Christiansen version of the game uses many of the same principles as the game
their Zwicks; the two teams' scores should total 30 plus the number of Zwicks made. described above, but introduces some important variations. The differences are as
The scores are recorded and the turn to deal passes to the left. Zwickern is generally follows:
not played for money. If you play a series of hands, the overall winners are the team
with the higher total score at the end.

46
1. It is played by two, three or four players as individuals. could build the 10 or 20 up or down to something that she doesn't have and
can't build up or down herself.)
2. Four jokers are used, with matching values of 15, 20, 25 and 30. This results in a
deck of 56 cards, the normal 52 card pack and 4 jokers. The 30 joker presents a  Albert is the next to play. He sees that he has no two cards that add up to 20 so
special challenge: since no two non-jokers can add up to 30, it is clear that any he can do nothing but discard something from his hand. He discards the
building involving the 30 joker must involve another joker. For example, if the 3 into the picture.
30 joker is lying on the table, a player having a 5 and the 25 joker could use the  Beatrice also has no pair of cards that add up to 20 so she can do nothing about
5 to build the 30 joker down to 25. Of course, another player could then build
the 25 down to another value that could be taken by a non-joker, e.g. reduce the Joker 30 - 10 build. She uses her 3 to take the 3 discarded by
the 25 to a 14 (King) by building it down with an ace (11). Albert.
 Charlie also has no pair of cards that add to 20 so he can only discard something
3. The number of cards dealt is different:
from his hand. He discards the 3.
Two handed version  Dianne plays her Joker 20 on the Joker 30 - 10 build to take it. Charlie's
During the initial deal, each player gets 8 cards and 8 cards are dealt face 3 is still on the table so she does not get a Zwick.
up to the center of the table. In the second and third rounds, each player  Albert plays his J on the 3, declaring that the build has the value 15.
is again dealt 8 cards but no new cards are dealt to the Picture.  Since Albert obviously has a Joker 15, which would be worth 4 points in final
Three handed version scoring, Beatrice decides to reduce the chance that he can use it. She plays
During the initial deal, each player gets 8 cards and 8 cards are dealt face her 8 on the 3- J build, declaring that its value has now been reduced
up to the center of the table. In the second round, each player is again to 7.
dealt 8 cards but no new cards are dealt to the Picture.  Charlie plays his 7 to take the new build off the table. This clears the table
and makes a Zwick. He chooses one of the cards that he has taken, a card which
Four handed version is worth no points, and leaves it face up in front of him to indicate his Zwick.
During the initial deal, each player gets 6 cards and 8 cards are dealt face  There are no cards in the center of the table so Dianne must discard something
up to the center of the table. During the second round, each player is from her hand. She chooses to discard the 4.
again dealt 6 cards but no new cards are dealt to the Picture.
 Albert knows that his K is worth 4 or 14. He uses it to take the 4 on the
4. The values of the cards are the same as in Dietrich Jensen's version above, with table. He also marks a Zwick.
the exception of the jokers. The scoring values are:  Beatrice has no choice but to discard something from her hand. She discards
Item Scoring value the 7.
30 joker 7 points
 Charlie has no seven and he has no pair of cards that add up to seven so he
knows he must discard something. He knows that if he discards his 8 and
25 joker 6 points that if Dianne cannot remove either the 7 or the 8 from the table in her
turn, Albert will be able to take them with his Joker 15. He wants to avoid that
20 joker 5 points
so he discards his 6.
15 joker 4 points  Dianne has no Queen, which has a value of 13, so she can't take both the
10 of Diamonds (cardinal) 3 points 7 and the 6. She takes the 6 on the table with her 6, leaving the
7 alone on the table.
10 of Spades (honour) 1 point  Albert can do nothing so he discards his A. (He chooses the A because it
2 of Spades (honour) 1 point is worth fewer points than either the Joker 15 or the 10. The other players
still have two cards each and he doesn't want anyone to be able to snap up
Each ace 1 point these two valuable cards if he can prevent it. He prefers to play these cards as
late as possible in the belief that they will then be left on the table until the next
Winning most cards 3 points hand when he has more cards and has a better chance to take them himself.)
(not awarded if there is a tie)  Beatrice can't take either of the cards on the table so she discards her 5.
Each Zwick 1 point  Charlie has two possible moves: he could take the 5 with his 5 or he
could take the 7 and the A with his 8. Since going after the
A Sample Game of Zwickern (Christiansen variation)
A and 7 will result in him taking three cards rather than two, thus increasing
The following is an example of a game of Zwickern, played according to the rules of his chances of having the most cards at the end of the game, and since the ace
the Christiansen variation. It is annotated to highlight the reasoning behind each
player's actions during the game. will be worth a point at the end of the game, he chooses to take the
A and 7 build with his 8.
Four imaginary players, Albert, Beatrice, Charlie, and Dianne are having a game of
Zwicker. None of these players is especially gifted so each is capable of making poor  Dianne can do nothing so she chooses to discard her J.
plays when better plays are possible. Albert won the right to deal. After the deal for  Albert plays his 10 on the 5, declaring that the build is now worth 15.
the first hand, the cards are distributed as follows:
 Beatrice can do nothing so she discards her last remaining card, the 9.
Albert: A, K, J, 3; 10 ; Joker 15  Charlie can do nothing so he discards his 5.
Beatrice: K; 8, 7, 3; 9, 5  Dianne takes the 9 with her 9.
Charlie: 8, 7, 3; J, 5; 6  Albert takes the 5- 10 build with his Joker 15, leaving the J and
Dianne: 9, 6; J, 10 ; 4 ; Joker 20 the 5 on the table for the next hand.
Picture: Q; A, 8, 4, 2; 2; 10 ; Joker 30 All of the players have exhausted their cards so Albert deals out the remaining cards
The first hand is played out as follows: in the deck to the players so that each of the four players has 6 cards. At the
conclusion of this deal, the cards are as follows:
 Beatrice is to the left of Albert and plays first. She sees that the Q and
Albert: A, 10 ; 9, 6; 7, 3
the A add to 14, assuming that they are valued respectively as 13 and 1 or 3
Beatrice: J, 9; 5, 2; 8, 2
and 11, and that the 8, 4, and 2 also add to 14, so she takes both
Charlie: A, 4; 6, 5; Q; Q
builds with her K. (She could have taken the 10 and 4 instead of
Dianne: K, 7; K, Q, 4 ; Joker 25
the 8, 4, and 2, but she feels that the one extra card will help her
chances of getting the bonus for having the most cards at the end of the hand.) Picture: J; 5 (left over from previous round)
 Charlie is to the left of Beatrice and plays next. He sees that the 10 and  Once again, Beatrice plays first. She takes the J with her J.
the 2 add to 12, the value of a jack, so he takes these cards with his J.  Charlie takes the 5 with his 5 and marks a Zwick.
 Dianne is to the left of Charlie and plays next. Dianne sees that the only card left  Dianne discards her 4.
on the table is the Joker 30. Fortunately, she has a Joker 20 and a 10. She plays
the 10 on the Joker 30 and announces that it is now worth 20. She can only
 Albert places his 7 on the 4 and declares the build to be worth 11.
do this because she has a Joker 20. If she was missing either the Joker 20 or  Beatrice has no single card worth 11 (i.e. she has no ace) but she sees that she
a 10, she could not build the Joker 30 down. In other words, a player can only has a 9 and a 2 which add up to 11. She plays her 2 on the 4-
build a card up or down to a value that he has in his own hand. (Dianne could 7 build, declaring that it is now worth 9. (She could have played the 9 on
have played her Joker 20 on the Joker 30 and made the result a 10 but she the 4- 7 build and declared that the build now had a value of 2 but that
reasoned that it was safer to make the build a 20 than a 10: she knows that she would have been riskier because there are four 2's, each of which is worth 2,
has the only card worth 20 whereas there are four 10s (one of which she has and four jacks, each of which can be worth 2, so she felt it less likely that
and one of which has previously been taken) in the deck, so she opts to make someone else would have a card worth 9 than a card worth 2. She could have
the build a 20 rather than a 10. In either case, there is a risk that another player
 used either her 2 or her 2 but she knows that the 2 is worth a point  Dianne uses her Q to take the build and marks a Zwick.
during scoring while the 2 is worthless so she chooses the 2.)  Albert discards his 3.
 Charlie plays his 4 on the build, declaring that the build now has a value of  Beatrice plays her 5 on the 3, declaring the build now worth 8.
13 (i.e. a Queen).

47
 Charlie decides to use one of his Queens as a three and places Q it on top of  Albert: He took only 5 cards. The cards which had value were the Joker 15,
the 3- 5 build, declaring it now worth 11. worth 4 points, and the 10, worth 3 points. He also had one Zwick, worth 1
point. His total score for this hand was 8 points.
 Dianne sees her opportunity and plays her K on the 3- 5- Q build,
declaring the build now worth 25, the value of her Joker. Other Variations
 Albert can do nothing and discards his 6. Dietrich Jensen told us that at one time Zwicker was played without jokers, and such
 Beatrice can do nothing about the 3- 5- Q- K build so she plays a game is indeed described in Das Buch der Spiele by Robert Hülsemann (Hesse &
Becker, Leipzig, 1930). The same version reappears in two later books: "Einmaleins
her 2 on the 6, declaring that the build is worth 8.
der Kartenspiele" by Rita Danyliuk (München, 1972) and "Das neue Spielbuch" by
 Charlie can do nothing about the 3- 5- Q- K build so he plays Rudolf Dietze (Berlin, 1984).
his Q on the 6- 2 build and declares it now worth 11. This is a much simpler game played by two or more people as individuals. The Aces
 Dianne stuns everyone by playing her K on the 6- 2- Q build and and picture cards always have their higher matching values Ace=11, Jack=12,
declaring it also worth 25. Queen=13, King=14 and building is by addition only. Players do not need to have a
card matching the value of their build, but builds of more than 14 are not allowed
 Albert can do nothing about either build and discards his 9.
since they could never be captured. The most valuable card is the Ten of diamonds or
 Beatrice can do nothing about either build so she takes the 9 with her 9. Cardinal which is worth 10 points. The Aces score 2 points each, the diamond-7 and
 Charlie can do nothing about either build so he discards his 6. spade-7 score one point each, and there is one point for the majority of cards (not
awarded in case of a tie). This makes a total of 21 points for cards, in addition to
 Dianne takes both of the builds that add to 25 with her Joker 25, leaving only which each Zwick scores 3 points. The initial deal is four cards to each player and four
the 6. face up to the table to form the "picture". When the players have played their cards,
 Albert can do nothing about the 6, so he discards his 10. another four each are dealt but no more to the picture. If there are more than 4
players a double pack can be used, for a total of 41 points plus Zwicks.
 Beatrice can do nothing about either of the cards on the table so she discards
her 8. It is doubtful whether this old-fashioned version of Zwicker is still played, except
perhaps by people who have learned it from a book. All the players from Schleswig-
 Charlie can do nothing about any of the cards on the table so he discards Holstein that we have encountered play the modern version with dual values for the
his A. Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks, building by subtraction as well as addition, and Jokers
 Dianne uses her 7 to take the 6 and the A. with high matching and scoring values.
 Albert can do nothing so he discards his A. The game ends with the Claus Grupp's book "Schafkopf Doppelkopf" (Falken/ASS, 1976) describes a form of
Zwicker that is similar to Hülsemann's. However, Grupp acknowledges that Zwicker is
A, 10, and 8 on the table. Since Diane took the last trick, she is awarded now usually played with Jokers added to the 52-card pack, and says that the Jokers
these cards but is not awarded a Zwick because she did not take them with a are wild cards which can take on any value from 2 to 14 at the choice of the player.
card from her hand. He retains Hülsemann's deal of four cards each to the players and four face up
The players begin to score their hands, beginning with Beatrice: initially, and subsequently four to each player, but because of the larger pack this
does not use all the cards exactly. Grupp deals with this problem by saying that in the
 Beatrice: She took 12 cards altogether but the only one that was worth anything last deal the cards care dealt one at a time as far as they will go, and that some
players may receive one fewer card than others, so that the dealer will not
was the A, which is worth one point. She had no Zwicks. Her total score for
necessarily be the last player. We have never found any players in Schleswig-Holstein
this hand is 1 point.
who use the Jokers as wild cards or who deal unequal hands in the last round in the
 Charlie: He also took 12 cards. The only card he took that has a score value is way that Grupp suggests. It seems likely that Grupp, not knowing how the Jokers
the A, which has a value of one point. He also had two Zwicks which are were really used, invented the wild Jokers rule and grafted it on to Hülsemann's rules
worth one point each. His total score is 3 points. to explain the existence of the 58-card pack. In the resulting game the Jokers are too
 Dianne: She took 27 cards, which is the most that anyone took, so she gets powerful, and Grupp evidently realised that this was a problem as he suggests several
optional variants in which the power of the Jokers is restricted. Players may agree
three points for that. The cards which had value were: the 10, worth one that a Joker on the table can only be matched by another Joker, or that a Joker can
point; the 2, worth one point; the A, worth one point; the A, worth never be captured from the table. Also that clearing the table by playing a Joker does
one point; the Joker 20, worth 5 points; the Joker 25, worth 6 points, and not count as a Zwick. Grupp's version of Zwicker was used as the basis of the English
the Joker 30, worth 7 points. She also had one Zwick, worth 1 point. The total description of Zwicker in David Parlett's Penguin Book of Card Games (2000 edition
for her hand is 26 points.
).

48
 Canasta 2, 3, 4

Introduction along with cards from your hand to satisfy the minimum count, before picking up the
The game of Canasta is said to have originated in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1939 (see remainder of the pile.
for example this archive copy of Philip E Orbanes' article The Canasta Story). From The initial meld requirement applies to a partnership, not to an individual player.
there it spread to Argentina, the USA and throughout the world. It was extremely Therefore, after either you or your partner have made a meld that meets the
fashionable in the 1950's, threatening for a while to displace Contract Bridge as the requirement, both of you can meld freely for the rest of that hand. However, if the
premier card game. opponents have not yet melded, they must still meet the requirement in order to
The rules were standardised in North America around 1950, and it was this version of begin melding.
the game, which will be called Classic Canasta on this page, that gained worldwide
popularity. In many countries, Classic Canasta is still played in more or less its original
form, sometimes alongside a number of variations. In North America, however, some Classic Canasta
players have continued to develop the game, and these groups now favour a Canasta was standardised in the late 1940's and is still played in more or less this
different version, called Modern American Canasta on this page. classic form in many parts of the world, including some parts of America. However,
Canasta is generally agreed to be best for four players, playing in partnerships. those who prefer the "Modern American" game may prefer to skip this section, since
However, there are playable versions for two and three players, which are given later many of the Classic rules are not relevant in that game.
on this page. As usual, there are four players in fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite each
General Rules and Terminology other. Two 52 card standard packs plus 4 jokers are shuffled together to make a 108
card pack.
To avoid repetition, this section describes the terms and processes that are common
to most or all versions of Canasta. The Deal
The Cards The first dealer is chosen at random, and thereafter the turn to deal rotates clockwise
after each hand. The dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's right cuts. Each player
Canasta is normally played with two standard 52 card packs plus four jokers (two is dealt 11 cards, and the rest of the cards are placed in a face-down stock pile in the
from each pack), making 108 cards in all. They have standard point values as follows: centre of the table. The top card of the stock is taken off and placed face up next to
Jokers ... 50 points each the stock pile, to start the discard pile. If this first face-up card is wild or a red three,
another card is turned and places on top of it, continuing until a card which is not a
A, 2 ... 20 points each wild card or red three is turned up; the wild card or red three should be stacked at
K, Q, J, 10, 9, ... 10 points each right angles to the rest of the pile, to indicate that it is frozen (see below).
8 Each player must immediately place face-up in front of them any red threes they
7, 6, 5, 4 ... 5 points each were dealt, and draw an equal number of cards from the top of the face-down pile to
replace them.
The cards A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 are called natural cards. All of the deuces
(twos) and jokers are wild cards. With some restrictions, wild cards can be used Melds in Classic Canasta
during the game as substitutes for a natural card of any rank. Every meld must contain at least two natural cards. The smallest meld, as usual,
consists of three cards, which could be three natural cards (such as 8-8-8) or two
The threes have special functions and values, depending on which variation of
Canasta is being played. natural cards and a wild card (such as Q-Q-2).
The Deal and Play Melds can grow as large as you wish. A meld of seven or more cards counts as
a canasta. No meld can contain more than three wild cards - so a six card meld must
Each player is dealt a hand of cards, and in the centre of the table is a face-down pile include at least three natural cards, and a canasta must contain at least four natural
of cards called the stock and a face-up pile of cards called the discard pile. The player cards. There is no limit on the number of natural cards that can be added to a
to the left of the dealer plays first, and then the turn to play passes clockwise. A basic complete canasta. A wild card added to a pure canasta of course makes it mixed.
turn consists of drawing the top card of the stock, adding it to your hand without Once a canasta contains three wild cards, no further wild cards can be added.
showing it to the other players, and discarding one card from your hand face up on
top of the discard pile. Note that in this version of Canasta, melds consisting entirely of wild cards are not
allowed.
After drawing, but before discarding, you may sometimes be able to play some cards
from your hand face up on the table. To play cards to the table in this way is known It is not allowed for one partnership to have two separate melds of the same rank.
as melding, and the sets of cards so played are melds. These melded cards remain Any cards melded by a partnership which are the same rank as one of their existing
face up on the table until the end of the play. melds are automatically merged into that meld, provided that the limit of three wild
cards is not exceeded. It is however quite possible and not unusual have a meld of
The play ends when a player goes out, i.e. disposes of all the cards in his or her hand. the same rank as one of your opponents' melds.
You are only allowed to go out after your team has fulfilled certain conditions, which
vary according to the type of canasta played but always include completing at least The Play in Classic Canasta
one seven-card meld or 'canasta' (see below). Having achieved this, you can go out by As usual, each turn is begun by either drawing the top card from the face-down
melding all but one of the cards in your hand and discarding this last card. In many stock or taking the whole of the discard pile. The player may meld some cards (and
versions of Canasta you can also go out by melding your whole hand, leaving no must do so if taking the discard pile). Each turn must be ended by discarding one card
discard. The game can also end if the stock pile runs out of cards: if a player who face-up on top of the discard pile.
wishes to draw from the stock is unable to do so, because there are no cards left A player may always opt to draw the top card of the face down pile. You can only
there, the play ends immediately and the hand is scored. take the discard pile if you can meld its top card, combined with cards from your
Under certain conditions, instead of drawing from the stock, you are permitted to hand if necessary. There are additional restrictions on taking the discard pile if it
take the whole of the discard pile. In order to do this, you must be able to meld the is frozen against your partnership (see below).
top discard, without needing any of the other cards in the discard pile to make your But first let us consider the case where the discard pile is not frozen against you. In
meld valid. The procedure in this case is: that case, if the top card of the pile is a natural card (from four up to ace), you can
1. Place the necessary cards from your hand face up on the table, and add the top take the pile if either:
card of the discard pile to them to form a valid meld or melds. 1. you play two cards from your hand that make a valid meld with the top discard:
2. Take all the remaining cards of the discard pile and add them to your hand. these could be either two natural cards of the same rank as the top discard, or
one such natural card and one wild card, or
3. If you wish, make further melds from the cards you now have in your hand.
4. Discard one card face up on the discard pile to end your turn. 2. the top discard matches the rank of one of your partnerships existing melds,
and you add it to that meld.
Melds and Canastas
The procedure for taking the pile was described in the general rules. You must show
The object of the game is to score points by melding cards. A valid meld consists of that you can use the top card in a valid meld before you are allowed to pick up the
three or more cards of the same natural rank (any rank from four up to ace), such as rest of the pile. After picking up the pile, you can then make further melds. For
three kings, six fives, etc. When playing with partners, melds belong to a partnership, example, if there is a five on top of the pile and another five buried, you cannot use a
not to an individual player. They are kept face up in front of one of the partners. single five in your hand to take the pile and meld the three fives. But if you have two
Typically, a partnership will have several melds, each of a different rank. You can add fives in your hand you can meld these with the five on top of the pile, take the pile,
further cards of the appropriate rank to any of your side's melds, whether begun by and then add the other five to this meld.
yourself or by your partner, but you can never add cards to an opponent's meld.
Note that you can never take the discard pile if its top card is a wild card or a black
Wild cards (jokers and twos) can normally be used in melds as substitutes for cards of three.
the appropriate rank. For example Q-Q-Q-2 or 8-8-8-8-8-2-joker would be valid
melds. There are, however, restrictions on using wild cards, which vary according to Note also that it is not necessary to take the discard pile in order to meld. If you wish,
the type of Canasta being played. you can meld after drawing from the stock.
Threes cannot be melded in the normal way. They have special functions, which are Frozen Discard Pile
different depending on whether you play classic or modern American canasta. There are three ways that the discard pile can be frozen against your partnership.
A meld of seven cards is called a canasta. If all of the cards in it are natural, it is called 1. The discard pile is frozen against all players if it contains a wild card. To show
a natural or pure or clean or red canasta; the cards are squared up and a red card is that it is frozen, the wild card is placed at right angles in the pile, so that it is still
placed on top. If it includes one or more wild cards it is called visible after other cards are discarded on top of it.
a mixed or dirty or black canasta; it is squared up with a natural black card on top, or 2. In the unusual case where a red three is turned up to start the discard pile after
one of the wild cards in it is placed at right-angles, to show that it is mixed. the deal, the discard pile is frozen against all players, and the red three is placed
In some versions of Canasta you may create a meld of more than seven cards, simply at a right angle to show this.
by continuing to add more cards of the same rank to an already complete canasta. If 3. If your partnership has not yet melded, the discard pile is frozen against you.
it is allowed, a meld of eight or more cards is still regarded as a canasta. If any wild
cards are added to a previously pure (red) canasta, it thereby becomes mixed (black). When the discard pile is frozen against you, you can only take it if you hold in your
hand two natural cards of the same rank as the top card of the discard pile, and you
For each partnership, the first turn during a hand when they put down one or more use these with the top discard to make a meld. This meld can either be a new one, or
melds is called their initial meld. When making the initial meld for your partnership, could be the same rank as an existing meld belonging to your partnership, in which
you must meet a certain minimum count requirement, in terms of the total value of case the melds are then merged.
cards that you put down. You are allowed to count several separate melds laid down
at the same time in order to meet this requirement. In some versions For example, suppose the pile is frozen against us and our team already has a meld of
4 sevens on the table. If the player before me discards a seven, I cannot pick up the
(including Modern American), the initial meld must be made entirely from your hand;
discard pile unless I have two further sevens concealed in my hand. If I do have 2
in others (including Classic) you are allowed to use the top card of the discard pile
sevens in my hand, I can add them and the discarded seven to our meld (making a Classic Canasta Scoring
canasta), and take the pile. When the play has ended the hand is scored. Each partnership's score for the hand
Initial Meld Requirement in Classic Canasta consists of:
If your partnership has not yet melded, then in order to meld, the total value of the  the total value of any bonuses they are entitled to - see the table below,
cards you lay down must meet a minimum count requirement. This requirement
depends on your partnership's cumulative score from previous hands as follows:  plus the total value of all the cards they have melded,
Cumulative Minimum count of initial meld  minus the total value of any cards remaining in their hands,
score The bonus scores are as follows:
negative ..... 15 points (i.e. no minimum)
For going out 100 points
0 - 1495 ..... 50 points
1500 - 2995 ..... 90 points *For going out concealed - that is, the player's whole an extra 100 points,
hand is melded in one turn, and includes at least one making 200 for going
3000 or more . . . . . 120 points canasta. out.
To achieve this count, you can of course put several melds at once, and the melds can
be of more than the minimum size of three cards. The standard values of the cards For each natural (red) canasta 500 points
you play are added to check whether the requirement has been met.
For each mixed (black) canasta 300 points
We have seen that if you have not yet melded, the discard pile is frozen against you.
Therefore, in order to achieve the minimum count, you must either meld entirely **For each red three laid out, if the team has at least 100 points
from your hand after drawing from the stock, or you must use two natural cards from one meld
your hand which match the top card of the discard pile. In this second case, you can
count the value of the top discard, along with the cards you play from your hand in
**For all four red threes an extra 400 points,
this and any other melds, towards the minimum count. You cannot count any other making 800 for red
cards in the pile which you may intend to add in the same turn. threes
Example: there is a king on top of the discard pile and a king and a queen buried in
the pile. You have two kings, two queens and a two in your hand. If your initial meld *Note. To score the bonus for going out concealed, the player must not have
requirement is 50, you can meld K-K-K, Q-Q-2 using the king from the top of the pile, previously melded, must not add any cards to partner's melds, and must put
for 70 points. You can then add the king and queen from the pile to these melds in down a complete canasta. The player going out concealed may take the discard
the same turn if you wish. But you could not make this play if you needed a minimum pile in their final turn and still score the concealed bonus; if they take the discard
count of 90: even though the king and queen from the pile are ultimately worth a pile and partner has not yet melded, they must satisfy the relevant initial meld
further 20, you cannot include these towards your initial requirement. requirement.
Bonuses for red threes, canastas and so on cannot be counted towards meeting the
minimum. Even if you have a complete canasta in your hand, you are not allowed to **Note. If a partnership did not manage to meld at all, then each of their red
put it down as your initial meld if the total value of its individual cards does not meet threes counts minus 100 points instead of plus 100. If they are unlucky enough
your minimum count requirement. to have all four red threes and have not melded, they score minus 800 points for
There is just one exception to the minimum count requirement. Suppose that your these threes.
team has not yet melded, and that having drawn from the stock you are able to meld After the bonuses have been calculated, the cards melded by each team are counted
your entire hand including a canasta. In this case you may meld you whole hand (with using the standard values - see general rules. Black threes are worth 5 points
or without a final discard) and go out without having to meet any minimum count each. For ease of counting and checking, the usual method is to group the cards into
requirement. In doing this you will score the extra bonus for going out concealed. piles worth 100 points each. (Note that in a canasta, the values of the cards
This option remains available to a player who has exposed red threes, provided that themselves are counted in addition to the bonus for the canasta, so for example a
they have not melded anything else. natural canasta of seven kings is really worth 570 points altogether - 500 for the
Threes in Classic Canasta canasta and 70 for the kings.)
Red threes are bonus cards. The cards remaining in the hands of the players are also counted using the same
If you draw a red three, you must immediately be place it face-up on the standard values, but these points count against the team and are subtracted from
table with your partnership's melds (or where your melds will be, if you their score.
have not melded yet). You then draw a replacement card from the face- A cumulative total score is kept for each partnership. It is possible to have a negative
down stock. Although red threes score bonus points they do not count score. When one or both partnerships have a total of 5,000 or more points at the end
as meld, and do not help you to satisfy the minimum count requirement of a hand, the game ends and the side with the higher total score wins. The margin of
for your initial meld. Also they do not prevent you from subsequently victory is the difference between the scores of the two sides.
scoring the bonus for going out with a concealed hand. Classic Canasta Strategy
Occasionally it happens that a red three is turned up at the end of the Here is an archive copy of Tuomas Korppi's Canasta Strategy Guide for the classic
deal as a start card for the discard pile. This freezes the discard pile (see game.
below). When the discard pile is eventually taken, the player puts the
red three face-up with the partnership's melds, but does not draw a Classic Canasta Variations
replacement card. Restrictions on taking the discard pile
Black threes are stop cards. Two variations are commonly played:
By discarding a black three you prevent the next player from taking the 1. A player is not allowed to take the (unfrozen) discard pile in order
discard pile. However, black threes do not freeze the pile. After the black to add its top card to a completed canasta.
three is covered by another card, it has no further effect, and the pile 2. A player is not allowed to take the (unfrozen) discard pile with one
can be taken in the usual way. matching natural card and one wild card. Two natural cards are
Black threes cannot be melded, except in one exceptional case. A player needed.
who is going out may meld a group of three or four black threes as part When these variations are played together, the only difference between
of that last turn. Such a meld of black threes cannot contain wild cards. a frozen and an unfrozen pile is that a player can take the unfrozen pile if
End of the hand: Going Out its top card matches an existing meld of less than seven cards belonging
The play ends as soon as a player goes out. You can only go out if your partnership to that player's team.
has melded at least one canasta. Once your side has a canasta, you may go out if you Note that when playing these variations it is normally still possible to
can and wish to, by melding all of your cards, or by melding all but one and discarding take a pile whose top card matches the rank of one of your team's
your last card. It is legal to complete the required canasta and go out on the same completed canastas provided that you have two matching natural cards;
turn. the three additional cards are then added to that canasta.
If your side does not yet have a canasta, you are not allowed to leave yourself A problem arises if you try to play variation 1 above but not variation 2.
without any cards at the end of your turn: you must play in such a way as to keep at What happens if a player takes an unfrozen discard pile using one
least one card after discarding. It is against the rules in this case to meld all your cards natural card and one wild card when the rank of the new meld matches
except one. You would then be forced to discard this last card, which would that of an existing canasta that already contains three wild cards? There
constitute going out illegally. are at least four possible solutions:
Note that it is not always an advantage to go out as soon as you are able to; the cards 1. Modify the rule against having two melds of the same rank. A meld
left in your partner's hand will count against your side, and you may in any case be of less than seven cards is called an open meld, and you cannot
able to score more points by continuing. If you are able to go out but unsure whether have two open melds of the same rank, but once you have
to do so, you may if you wish ask your partner "may I go out?". This question can only completed a canasta you can start a new meld of that same rank.
be asked immediately after drawing from the stock or taking the discard pile, before 2. Remove the limit on wild cards for melds of more than seven cards.
making any further melds other than the one involving the top card of the pile if it You still need at least four natural cards in a canasta, but you can
was taken. Your partner must answer "yes" or "no" and the answer is binding. If the then add wild cards to it without limit.
answer is "yes", you must go out; if the answer is "no" you are not allowed to go out.
You are under no obligation to ask your partner's permission before going out; if you 3. Keep both the rule against two melds of the same rank and the wild
wish, you can simply go out without consulting your partner. card limit, but do not allow a player to take the pile using one
natural and one wild card to add to a canasta that already contains
Another way that play can end is when there are no more cards left in the face-down three wild cards.
stock. Play can continue with no stock as long as each player takes the previous
player's discard and melds it. In this situation a player must take the discard if the pile 4. Introduce a rule that you can never take the pile when its top card
is not frozen and if the discard matches any previous meld of that player's side. As matches one of your team's canastas, even if you have two natural
soon as a player is entitled to draw from the stock and chooses to do so, but there is cards of the same rank in your hand.
no card in the stock, the play ends. Players should agree in advance which of these solutions they wish to
If a player draws a red three as the last card of the stock, the red three is placed face adopt.
up as usual and then, since there is no replacement card that can be drawn from the Discard pile always frozen
stock, the play immediately ends. The player who drew the red three is not allowed Some play that the discard pile can only ever be taken by a player who
to meld nor discard. can meld its top card with a pair of matching natural cards from hand. In
classic canasta terminology, this is equivalent to saying that the discard
pile is always frozen.

50
 Wild Card Melds consequence is that if a team's initial meld includes for example a dirty meld of sixes
Some play that it is possible to put down a meld consisting entirely of 6-6-joker, cards added to this meld in future turns must be real sixes until there are
wild cards. This can consist of twos and jokers in any combination. A five of them: 6-6-6-6-6-joker. At that point either a six or a wild card could be used to
meld of seven wild cards is a wild canasta, and a typical bonus for it is complete (close) the canasta.
2000. Some increase this bonus if the canasta consists entirely of twos or A meld of sevens consists of from three to seven sevens: wild cards cannot be used
contains all four jokers. at all in a meld of sevens. Note that although there is a large bonus for completing a
When playing with wild card melds it is usually illegal for a team that has canasta of sevens, if you start a meld of sevens but fail to complete your sevens
begun a wild card meld to use wild cards in any other meld until a wild canasta you incur a penalty at the end of the play.
card canasta is completed. In some circles there is a penalty - typically A meld of aces must be pure unless it is part of the team's initial meld and includes at
1000 points - for a team that starts a wild card meld but does not least one wild card from the outset. A dirty (mixed) meld of aces can initially contain
complete a wild card canasta. from three to seven cards, including at least two natural aces and not more than two
Viennese Canasta wild cards. As with other natural melds, a dirty ace meld begun with one wild card
cannot have a second wild card added until it contains five real aces. A meld of aces
In Austria classic canasta is played with the following modifications begun after your team has put down its initial meld cannot include any wild cards. If
 Red threes count positive if and only if the team has melded at an ace meld is begun pure (whether as part of the team's initial meld or later), no
least one canasta. A mere initial meld does not suffice. wild cards can be added to it. A pure meld of fewer than seven aces incurs a penalty
at the end of the play.
 A meld must not contain more wild cards than natural cards, thus a
A meld of wild cards consists of from three to seven twos and jokers in any
meld like Q-Q-2-2-2 is not allowed.
combination. If your team starts a meld of wild cards, you cannot add any wild cards
 If a player discards a card that could be added to an to any of your other melds until your wild card canasta is complete. If you have a wild
opponents' completed canasta the left hand opponent must not card meld of fewer than seven cards when the play ends, your team incurs a penalty.
take the discard pile. (The discard of such a card is equivalent to the One team is not allowed to have more than one meld of the same rank. However, it
discard of a black three.) is possible for both teams to meld the same rank. For example after one team has put
 A player may not claim the bonus for going out concealed if he down an initial meld of aces with wild cards, the other team may also use aces with
takes the discard pile. Going out concealed with a complete wild cards for their initial meld.
Canasta included in the hand that goes out is called "Hand- When a natural canasta is completed (closed), neither team is allowed to begin or
Canasta", and is rewarded by a 1,000 point bonus. If a player melds add to a meld of that rank. Natural cards that match the rank of a closed canasta are
out and meets all the previous requirements except that he does known as dead cards. However if the opponents have not melded, a closed canasta
not meld a complete canasta of his own, then this is does not prevent them from including cards of that rank in a special hand.
called "Verdeckt Ausmachen", for which his side is awarded a 200 The Play in American Canasta
point bonus (instead of only 100 points).
The player to dealer's left begins and the turn to play passes clockwise.
 A player with only one card in his hand may take a one card discard
A normal turn is begun by either drawing the top card from the face-down
pile under the same conditions which would entitle him to take a stock or taking the whole of the discard pile. The player may meld some cards (and
discard pile of two or more cards. (Since the player will necessarily must do so if taking the discard pile). Each turn must be ended by discarding one card
have no cards in hand at the end of the turn, this can only be done face-up on top of the discard pile.
if the team has a canasta and is therefore entitled to go out.)
A player may always opt to draw the top card of the face down stock.
You can only take the discard pile if you have a pair of natural cards in your hand
A comprehensive description in German of Viennese Canasta including which are of the same rank as the top card of the discard pile. You must show your
penalties, rules for 2, 3, 5, or 6 players, progressions, and tournament pair and meld these cards with the top discard before taking the rest of the pile into
procedures may be found on Roland Scheicher's Wiener Canasta page. your hand. After picking up the pile, you can then make further melds. If your team
has not yet melded, you cannot take the discard pile until you have met the initial
meld requirement.
Modern American Canasta
It is not necessary to take the discard pile in order to meld. If you wish, you can meld
This newer version of Canasta incorporates some features from the variants Pennies after drawing from the stock.
from Heaven and Hand and Foot. Those who have adopted it enjoy its stricter rules
and find the classic version too easy in comparison. I am not sure how widespread If the top discard matches the rank of one of your partnership's existing melds, you
this version of Canasta is, but there are significant and growing numbers of players in can take the pile if you have a pair of cards of the same rank in your hand and your
New York, New Jersey and Florida. It would be interesting to know whether it has existing meld has three or four cards. The new meld of three cards is immediately
taken root in other regions as well. combined with your existing meld of that rank.
I am grateful to Shirley Schwartz, M Glatt and Lorraine Seman for describing this If a team has a meld of five or more cards matching the rank of the top discard, they
game to me, to Helaine Neiman, who teaches canasta in Northern New Jersey for her cannot take the pile since this would create a meld of more than seven cards, which
help and advice, and to the former American Canasta Association who briefly is not allowed. Therefore cards that match the opponents' 5-card or 6-card meld are
published a partial description of the rules on their website in 1999. The rules have safe discards: they can be thrown without any risk that the opponents will take the
continued to evolve and the description below reflects my understanding of how the pile. 'Dead' cards, which match a closed canasta, are also safe to discard.
game is commonly played at the time of writing (2017). No doubt many players also It is illegal to meld in such a way as to leave yourself with only one card, unless either
continue to play according to earlier versions of the rules and some of these options
a. you have satisfied the conditions for going out, or
are listed in the variations / table rules section.
b. you are putting down the initial meld for your team and the 'turn card' has not
As usual, there are four players in fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite each yet been drawn.
other. The winners will be the first team to achieve a cumulative score of 8500 or
more points, or the team that has more points if both teams achieve this on the same If you are not going out, you must have at least two cards in your hand after melding:
deal. Two 52 card standard packs plus 4 jokers are shuffled together to make a 108 one to discard and one to continue play. In case (b) although you discard the last card
card pack. Sometimes a special tray is used to hold the draw and discard piles but this of your original hand, making the initial meld entitles you to draw three or four bonus
is not essential. cards from the deck and use those to continue play.
The Deal There are certain restrictions on discards:
The dealer shuffles, the player to dealer's right cuts. 13 cards are then dealt to each  Threes can never be discarded.
player. The undealt cards are placed face down in the centre to form a draw pile. No
card is turned face up to start a discard pile - the play begins with the discard pile  It is illegal to discard a wild card, except in the following cases:
empty. The ninth card from the bottom of the draw pile is turned at right angles to 1. You may discard a wild card as your final discard, when going out.
the pile. This is known as the turn card. During the game, a player who draws the 2. In rare cases, you may reach a situation where your hand consists entirely
turn card must announce it so that all players know that there are just 8 cards of wild cards. If on your turn you then draw yet another wild card, you may
remaining in the draw pile - the "bottom 8". discard a wild card of your choice. The next player is not allowed to take
One procedure for dealing is as follows: when performing the cut, the player to the the pile (since there are no natural cards that can match your discard). If
dealer's right lifts the top part of the deck, deals 8 cards from the bottom of this requested by an opponent, you must show your hand to prove that you
section into the draw tray, places the ninth card sideways in the draw tray as the turn had only wild cards.
card, and finally places the rest of the section on the draw pile. Meanwhile the dealer  When the discard pile is empty (on the first turn of the game, or when you have
takes the cards that were left by the cutter and deals 13 cards to each player, one at a taken the pile at the start of your turn), it is illegal to discard an ace or a seven,
time, placing any remaining cards on top of the draw pile, or taking cards from the unless these are the only natural cards you have in your hand at the time you
top of the draw pile to complete the deal if needed. discard. If you discard an ace or seven in this situation, you must show your
The turn to deal passes to the left after each hand. Normally the player to dealer's hand if requested by an opponent, to prove that you had only aces, sevens and
right also acts as scorekeeper for the hand. wild cards.
Melds  When the discard pile is empty it is illegal to discard a 'dead' card - a card of the
In this game, twos and jokers are wild, and threes are special. The remaining cards, same rank as a completed canasta belonging to either team - unless you have
from 4 up to ace, are called natural cards. Melds consisting entirely of natural cards no legal alternative. If requested by an opponent you must show your hand to
are called pure: melds of natural cards that include at least one wild card are prove that the only cards you had other than dead cards were sevens, aces and
called mixed or dirty. Melds of sevens and aces are subject to some special rules and wild cards.
restrictions. Melds consisting entirely of wild cards are also allowed. Many players Threes in American Canasta
refer to all the melds as 'canastas'. In that case a meld of fewer than seven cards is
called an 'incomplete canasta' and a meld of seven cards is If you are dealt any threes, red or black, in your initial hand, you should normally
a 'complete' or 'closed' canasta. A meld can never contain more than seven cards. begin your first turn by placing all your threes face up in the space that will be used
for your team's melds. You immediately draw an equal number of replacement cards
A meld of 4s, 5s, 6s, 8s, 9s, 10s, jacks, queens or kings consists of at least three and from the top of the stock, and if any of these are threes you lay them out and replace
not more than of seven cards of the appropriate rank. Wild cards can be used as them in the same way, until you have no threes among your 13 cards. You then begin
substitutes for one or two of the cards, but these wild cards can only be used your normal turn by drawing from the stock (or possibly taking the discard pile).
a. when the meld is put down as part of the team's initial meld, provided the meld If you draw a three from the stock during the game you should normally place it face
contains at least two natural cards, or up among your team's melds and immediately draw a replacement card from the
b. subsequently, provided that the meld already contains at least five natural stock. You then continue your turn by melding (if you can and wish to) and
cards. discarding.
So after a team's initial meld, any new melds begun by either member of that team in If your team has not yet put down its initial meld, it is permissible to retain
future turns must be clean until they contain at least five cards. Another just one three in your hand, either from the initial deal or one drawn later, for the

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 purpose of collecting a straight - see special hands. If you choose to keep a three the that only 8 or fewer cards remain in the draw pile, no bonus cards are
following rules apply: taken.
1. You may only keep a three in your hand if your team has not yet melded. As American Canasta: End of the Play
soon as your team puts down its initial meld (so that a straight is no longer The play ends if a player goes out or if the stock becomes depleted so that a player
possible) you must lay down any three you are holding at your next opportunity. who needs to draw a card cannot do so.
If it is your partner who lays down the initial meld this will be at the start of your
next turn: you lay down your three before drawing from the stock, and as usual You can go out if you can satisfy both of the following conditions:
you must draw a replacement card for the three. You then draw another card 1. your team has completed two canastas, and
from the stock or take the pile according to the normal rules to begin your 2. you are able to meld all but one of your cards and discard your last card.
regular turn.
Unless you have completed a special hand, it is not legal in this version of Canasta to
2. You may never keep more than one three in your hand. If you draw a second go out by melding all your cards - you must have a card to discard at the end of your
three you must lay down one of them and draw a replacement card. turn. This final discard is made face-down, and this is the only case in which a wild
If you have been holding a three in your hand and decide you no longer wish to keep card can be discarded.
it, then during your turn you may lay the three face up in your team's meld area and When you are in a position to go out you may, if you wish, first ask your partner's
draw a replacement card from the stock. permission. If you ask, and partner says yes, you must go out; if partner says no, you
The Initial Meld in American Canasta cannot go out on that turn, and therefore you must keep at least one card in your
The first meld made by each team during a hand is subject to some conditions. There hand after discarding. You may ask permission to go out only once in each hand.
are three possible ways to make a valid initial meld. If you satisfy the conditions for going out, you are free to go out on any turn without
1. Minimum count and three card meld from hand consulting your partner.
You can make the initial meld for your team by melding cards from your If you do not satisfy the conditions for going out, you are not allowed to leave
hand whose total value is at least the minimum count. The minimum yourself without any cards at the end of your turn: you must play in such a way as to
count depends on your team's cumulative score at the start of that keep at least one card after discarding.
hand: It often happens that the end of the stock is reached before anyone has gone out.
The player who draws the turn card must announce it, saying "turn card" or "turn",
Cumulative Minimum count of initial meld so that everyone knows there are only 8 cards left to draw and no bonus cards are
score available. When there are no cards left in the stock, play can continue as long as each
player is able and willing to take the previous player's discard. As soon as someone
less than 3000 125 points needs or wishes to draw from the stock, the play immediately ends and the hand is
scored. If the last card drawn from the stock is a three the game ends immediately.
The player who drew the three cannot meld or discard and the three will count 5
3000 to 4995 155 points points against that player's team.
American Canasta: Special Hands
5000 or more 180 points A special hand is a combination of 14 cards which entitles you to go out by exposing
your entire hand after drawing from the deck, without discarding. You are only
Note that a team that has a negative score is still subject to the 125 allowed to put down a special hand if your team has not yet melded any cards. Note
point minimum count. that a special hand may include cards matching a closed (complete) canasta melded
This initial meld from your hand must include either by the opposing team - i.e. cards that would otherwise be considered 'dead'. Since a
special hand cannot use cards taken from the discard pile this does not prevent dead
 a pure meld of at least three matching natural cards (with no wild
cards from being safe to discard.
cards), or
Three types of special hand are widely recognised: straight, pairs and garbage.
 a wild card meld (at least three wild cards).
Straight
When making the initial meld you may take the discard pile in the same
turn (instead of drawing from the stock), if you hold a pair of natural This consists of one card of every rank: A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-joker.
cards which you can meld with the top card of the discard pile. The Exceptionally, for the purpose of making this combination, you are
minimum count and the required three card natural or wild meld must allowed to keep a three in your hand.
already be present and complete in your hand and must be laid down Pairs
before you are allowed to take any card from the pile. The pair that you This is a hand of seven pairs. It must not contain any jokers or threes.
use to take the pile could be within one of the melds you are using to There are two types:
meet the initial meld requirement, or it could be a separate pair of
another rank - but in this last case, the point value of the cards in this 1. Without wild cards. Example: 4-4-5-5-7-7-8-8-9-9-10-10-Q-Q.
pair do not count towards meeting your minimum count, since they are 2. With twos, sevens and aces. Example: 2-2-6-6-7-7-9-9-J-J-K-K-A-A.
not a complete meld from your hand. The following hand: 2-2-4-4-5-5-6-6-8-8-9-9-A-A is not valid, because a
hand with a pair of twos must contain both sevens and aces as well.
2. The Splash Garbage
If you have a natural canasta (seven natural cards of the same rank) or a This consists of two sets of four of a kind and two sets of three of a kind,
wild card canasta (seven cards that are twos or jokers) in your hand, you without any wild cards or threes. Example: 4-4-4-6-6-6-6-J-J-J-J-A-A-A.
may meld them as the initial meld for your team. In this case you do not American Canasta: Scoring
have to meet any minimum count requirement.
At the end of the play, each team reckons its score for the hand. There are six
If this canasta was already complete in your hand before your turn, and possible elements to this score, and the way they are combined depends on how
you also have a natural pair of a different rank that matches the top card many canastas the team has completed.
of the discard pile, you can use the pair to take the discard pile in the
same turn. However, you cannot claim a splash using six cards from your Team has Team has two
Team has no one or more Team goes
hand and the seventh card of the canasta from the discard pile.
Scoring item complete out with a
3. Special Hand complete complete
canastas special hand
canasta canastas
If after drawing from the deck you have the cards required for any of
the special hands that your table rules allow and your team has not yet 1. Bonus scores does not bonus added bonus added not counted
put down its initial meld you may make the first and only meld for your for canastas and apply to score to score
team by laying down your entire hand without a discard and thereby end for going out
the play.
Notes on taking the discard pile when making the initial meld. 2. Penalties for penalty penalty penalty not counted
1. If you take the discard pile you cannot have drawn in that turn. Therefore, in incomplete deducted deducted deducted from
order to take the pile, you must have the initial meld complete in your hand canastas from score from score score
before the start of your turn. Unless you were dealt this meld in your original
hand, this means that you could in fact have melded on your previous turn. 3. Bonuses or penalty not counted bonus added not counted
However, good players often prefer to hold back from melding as soon as they penalties for deducted to score
can waiting for a better set of cards or a better opportunity. threes from score
2. You can take the pile if you have a natural pair matching the natural card on top
of the pile. Natural means any card from 4 to Ace inclusive. For example if you 4. Scores for deducted added to added to score not counted
put down from your hand A-A-joker, Q-Q-Q, 9-9-2 and you have a pair of 10's in melded cards from score score
your hand, you can take the discard pile if the top card is a 9, a 10, a Queen or
an Ace. Aces are natural cards, even when used in a meld of mixed Aces (but 5. Penalties for deducted deducted deducted from not counted
see variations). cards remaining in from score from score score
players' hands
Bonus cards
If you make the initial meld for your team, but do not go out on that 6. Scores for not counted not counted not counted added to
turn, then after discarding at the end of your turn, if the turn card is still special hands score
in the draw pile (so that there are at least 9 cards in the draw pile), you
draw some bonus cards from the top of the draw pile and place them Note that if a team has at least one completed canasta, the values of their melded
face down in front of you. If your team is the first to meld you cards (item 4) are always added to their score, even if these cards form part of an
draw four bonus cards; if the other team has already melded you draw incomplete canasta of aces, sevens or wild cards (item 2) for which the team is to be
only three bonus cards. You are not allowed to use these bonus cards in penalised.
the turn in which you make the initial meld. At the start of your next turn Note that if one team goes out with a special hand, the other team scores in the
to play you add the bonus cards of your talon to your hand, place any normal way, depending on how many canastas they managed to complete.
threes that you find in among them face up with your team's melds and
replace them by drawing an equal number of cards from the stock. Then 1. Canasta and going out bonuses
you begin your normal turn by drawing a card from the stock (or possibly Both teams score for any canastas they have managed to complete as
taking the discard pile). follows:
If a team makes its initial meld after the turn card has been drawn, so  each complete mixed canasta, using any natural rank except
sevens: 300 points

52
  each complete pure canasta, using any natural rank except sevens American Canasta: Table Rules / Variations
or aces: 500 points As the game evolves, inevitably many playing groups develop their own table rules,
 each complete pure canasta of aces or sevens: 2500 points and some groups continue to play by older rules that have been superseded in other
places. So far as I know there is no single set of rules that is generally accepted as
 a complete twos canasta scores 3000 points (this is a wild canasta 'correct'. When joining an unknown group of players it is therefore advisable to find
made entirely of twos) out what set of table rules are in force. Below I list some of the alternative rules that
may be encountered: there are probably many others.
 a complete joker canasta scores 2500 points (this must contain all
four jokers, together with three twos) Initial meld
 any other complete wild canasta (containing one, two or three Some players have more strict conditions for an initial meld, requiring it always to
include a pure meld of three or more cards, even if it also includes a wild card meld.
jokers) scores 2000 points
On the other hand some have more lenient conditions, in which a pure meld is not
If any player succeeded in going out, their team scores an extra bonus of required so long as there is a meld that contains at least three natural cards.
100 points.
Formerly, some groups did not impose the requirement for a meld of three natural
2. Penalties for incomplete canastas, and for unmelded aces and sevens cards at all: any collection of melds that was worth enough points was sufficient.
If a team has melded pure aces, sevens or wild cards but not completed Some players do not allow the player making the initial meld for their team to take
a canasta of that type, they are penalised as follows: the discard pile, even if they have an additional pair with which to take it. The pile
 for a pure ace meld of less than seven cards: minus 2500 points can only be taken if your side has already made its initial meld before your turn.
 for a sevens meld of less than seven cards: minus 2500 points I have been told that some players allow the discard pile to be taken when making
the initial meld for your team, except that if your initial meld includes mixed aces,
 for a wild card meld of less than seven cards: normally minus 2000 you cannot use those aces to take a discard pile topped by an ace.
points, but 2500 points if it contains all four jokers Melding during the game
If a player's hand contains three or more aces or three or more sevens at The 'rule of five' is a fairly recent development. This is the rule that a team that has
the end of the play, that player's team is penalised as follows: put down its initial meld cannot use any more wild cards except in a meld that has at
 for three or more sevens remaining in a player's hand: minus 1500 least five natural cards or in a meld consisting entirely of wild cards.
points Probably many players still play by the older rule that after the initial meld wild cards
 for three or more aces remaining in a player's hand: minus 1500 can be used freely, the only restrictions being that
points  no meld (other than a wild card meld) can contain more than two wild cards;
Because of this, near the end of the play it is not safe to retain three aces  ace melds can only contain wild cards if they were begun as dirty (mixed) ace
or three sevens in your hand. If you are confident that your team can melds in the initial meld;
complete an aces or sevens canasta you should meld them; otherwise
you should normally discard so as to keep not more than two aces and  wild cards can never be used in melds of sevens.
two sevens. Even with this older rule, it is still the case that the pile can only be taken if the player
If a team has a sevens meld of less than seven cards and one of the has in hand two natural cards matching its top card.
players of the team has more than two sevens in their hand at the end of Special hands
the play, they will score both penalties - the penalty will be 4000 points
in all. The same applies if a team has a meld of less than seven pure aces There is considerable variation in the special hands that are allowed and how they
and three or more aces in a player's hand. If both players of a team have are scored:
the same type of incomplete meld, for example three aces each, then  Some players allow the pairs hand with wilds, sevens and aces to use a pair of
there is a penalty for each player, total 3000. jokers or a pair of twos as the wilds.
3. Bonuses or penalties for threes  Some players allow the pairs hand to include sevens or aces but never threes or
All threes melded by a team are counted as follows: wild cards.
one red three . . . 100 one black three . . . 100  Some players require for the garbage hand four natural sets of three equal cards
points points plus two matching wild cards (two twos or two jokers).

two red threes . . . 300 two black threes . . . 300

 Some players award a higher score of 3500 points for pairs and garbage hands.
points points  Some play that a special hand can be completed by taking its 14th card from the
discard pile, but only if the discard pile has just one card in it - in other words
three red threes . . . 500 three black threes . . . 500 the previous player took the pile and discarded a card to the empty pile, and
points points this discard was exactly the card that the following player needed to complete
their special hand.
four red threes . . . 1000 four black threes . . . 1000 Threes
points points
Some groups allow players to keep as many threes in their hand as they wish rather
than putting them face up on the table and drawing replacements. Threes in hand
 If a team has no canastas, the total score for their melded red and count 5 points each against the team when scoring. In this variant players might
black threes (calculated from the above table) is a penalty, to be choose to keep threes to avoid the larger negative score for threes on the table if
subtracted from their score. their team has not melded, or in certain circumstances use them to delay the end of
 If a team has one canasta there is no score for melded threes. the play by one or more turns by avoiding the need to draw replacement cards.
 If a team has two or more canastas, the total score for their Some groups score threes remaining in the hand of a player at the end of the game as
though they had been placed on the table, so for a team that has not melded they
melded red and black threes (calculated from the above table) is
a bonus, to be added to their score. bring a penalty of 100 points or more, rather than just 5.
4. Score for melded cards There are various possible table rules dealing with the case when the last card of the
deck is a three.
If a team has completed at least one canasta, the total value of all the
cards (other than threes) melded by the team, whether forming part of a  Some play that if a three is drawn as the last card of the deck, the play ends
canastas or smaller combinations, is added to the team's score. immediately and the three counts 5 points against the team that drew it (this is
The standard values of the cards are used. the rule given above).
If a team has not completed any canastas, then the value of all their  Some play that if a three is drawn as the last card of the deck the player has the
melded cards is subtracted from their score, along with the value of the option to meld the three. Since no replacement card can be drawn the play ends
cards remaining in their hands. at that point.
5. Penalty for cards remaining in hand  Some play that if a three is drawn as the last card of the deck the
The total value of all the cards remaining in the hands of the players is player must meld it (even if the team has completed no canastas and therefore
subtracted from the team's score. The standard values of the cards are incurs a penalty of 100 or more points for the three). The play then ends as
used. In the unusual case where a player has one a three in hand at the there is no replacement card available.
end of the play, this counts 5 points against the team.
 Some play that a three drawn as the last card of the deck can be discarded if the
6. Special hand scores player is thereby able to go out. (Of course if there were any cards left in the
If the play ends by a player going out with a special hand, the team that deck the player would instead meld the three for an extra bonus and discard the
went out scores only the amount shown below for the special hand. The replacement card instead.)
scores described under items 1-5 above do not apply to that team. Safe and dead cards
However, the opposing team calculates their score in the normal way.
The special hand scores are: Some players do allow a team to start a meld of the same rank as a canasta
completed by the opponents. In that case cards matching your own closed canasta
 straight: 3000 points are not dead and may not be safe to discard. Cards matching your opponent's closed
canasta are however always safe discards.
 pairs without wild cards: 2500 points
Some play that when the discard pile is empty (because you have just taken the pile),
 pairs with twos, sevens and aces: 2000 points it is illegal to discard any 'safe' card - a card of the same rank as a completed canasta
 garbage: 2000 points or of a rank where the opponents already have a 5- or 6-card meld - unless you have
no legal alternative.
Each team reckons its total score for the hand, as detailed in 1 to 6 above. This
amount is added to its cumulative total. It is possible for a team to have a negative Going out
score for a hand - this will be the case, for example, if they fail to complete a canasta, Some play that a team cannot go out if they have an incomplete canasta of sevens or
and in that case their cumulative score will be reduced. It is possible for a team to pure aces. If your team starts a sevens meld or a pure ace meld you must complete
have a negative cumulative score. the canasta before you can go out.
The overall object of the game is to have a cumulative score of 8500 or more points. Bonus cards, wings and talons
When one or both teams achieve this, the game is over and the team with the higher Formerly, the "bonus cards" for the players making the initial meld for each team
score has won. The difference between the teams' scores is the margin of victory. were set aside during the deal. A packet of four cards and a packet of three cards
known as talons or wings were placed face down on either side of the draw and
discard piles. The first player who made an initial meld took the four-card talon and

53
when the opposing team made their initial meld the player took the three-card talon. There are numerous variations of Canasta, many of which are intermediate between
Probably some groups still play by this older rule. the versions described above. Other rules sometimes encountered are:
 The possibility of melding a sequence of 3 or more cards in suit (as in Samba).
Canasta for two players  A limit on the number of cards taken from the discard pile, such as only taking
It is possible to for two players to play a version of Classic Canasta. The modifications the top five cards, or only taking cards as far as the next wild card.
to the rules are as follows.  The non-dealing team gets a bonus if the player who cuts the cards takes exactly
 15 cards are dealt to each player (rather than 11 each). the right number of cards from the top of the pack to perform the deal.
 When drawing from the stock you draw the top two cards. At the end of a  An extra hand is dealt to each player (or to each team). This extra hand is
player's turn only one card is discarded as usual. sometimes called the 'foot' (as in Hand and Foot). These cards are picked up and
played when you have used all the cards in your original hand, or satisfied some
 A player needs two canastas to go out. other condition.
All other rules are the same as in four-player Classic Canasta. The target score is 5000 Randy Rasa's Rummy-Games.com describes Canasta with several variations
points; when one or both players reach or exceed this, the player with the higher including , Bolivia, Cuban Canasta, The Sevens, Mexicana, Uruguay Canasta and
score wins. versions for two, three, five and six players.
One-card Draw Here is an archive copy of the former Card Games Galore site describes several
In two-player canasta, a situation can be reached where there is only one card canasta variations: Canasta, Bolivian Canasta, Cuban Canasta, Joker Canasta, Mexican
remaining in the stock. In this case, the player who draws it is considered to have Canasta, Two-Player Canasta and Uruguay Canasta.
made a complete draw and must complete that turn as though two cards had been The following Canadian four-player variation was described to me by Barb Dejesus.
drawn.
If a player draws a red three as one of the last two cards of the stock, no replacement
 Three decks of 52 cards plus six jokers are used.
card can be drawn, and it is treated as a one-card draw (as above).  15 cards are dealt to each player
A player who draws a red three alone as the last card of the stock may neither meld  After the deal, the top five cards of the stock are placed alongside it to start the
nor discard, and the hand ends immediately. The same happens in the unusual case discard pile, known as the 'prize pile' - four cards face down and one face up on
where a player draws two red threes as the last two cards of the stock. top of it.
Variation
 The non-dealing team gets a bonus of 100 points if the player who cuts takes
Paul Edwards has invented Manzana Canasta, a version of Canasta for two players exactly the 60 cards required for the deal from the top of the pack.
using a single deck (54 cards).
 A player drawing from the stock takes the top two cards.

Canasta for three players

 You always end your turn by discarding one card; wild cards cannot be
discarded.
It is possible to for three players to play a version of Classic Canasta.
 The initial meld requirements are:
13 cards are dealt to each player (but some play with 11 cards each as in the four-
handed game). When drawing from the stock you take the top two cards, but in all 0 - 1495 ........ 50 points
cases you discard only one card at the end of your turn. 1500 - 2995 ........ 90 points
In each hand, the first player who takes the discard pile plays alone, and the other 3000 - 6995 ........ 120 points
two players form a temporary partnership against that player. If a player goes out
before anyone has taken the discard pile, the player who goes out is the lone player. 7000 or ........ 150 points
If the play ends because the stock runs out, and no one has taken the discard pile by more
then, each player scores separately for that hand.
 This requirement must be met from hand.
Each player keeps a separate cumulative score. The partners combine their melds,
but not their red threes, and at the end of the hand the amount scored by the  After your team has put down its initial meld, you can take the prize pile
partnership for cards and canastas is added to both partners' cumulative scores, but (discard pile) as an alternative to drawing two cards from the stock if you have
each partner scores their own red threes. The lone player's score for the hand is in your hand two natural cards matching the top card of the pile and you
added to that player's cumulative score. immediately meld these three cards.
Since each player has a different cumulative score, it sometimes happens that the  Wild card melds, consisting of any mixture of twos and jokers, are allowed.
two members of the partnership have different opening meld requirements. In this
case the partner who melds first must satisfy the initial meld requirement  Apart from wild card melds, every meld must contain at least as many natural
corresponding to their own personal score, and the other partner is then free to add cards as wild cards. Melds can grow to any size, and the same wild card limit
to these melds and start new ones as usual. applies to melds of more than seven cards.
Other rules are the same as in Classic Canasta. When one or more players reach 7500  You cannot go out until your team has completed two red (pure) canastas and
or more points, the player with the highest score wins. one canasta of wild cards.
 The target score for winning the game is 10,000 points.
Canasta for Six Players  Red threes are placed with your team's melds as soon as you acquire them, and
There are several ways for six people to play canasta. The versions given in most of replaced by drawing from the stock. They are worth 200 points each.
the books follows the rules of Classic Canasta with the following modifications:  Black threes can be discarded, and block the next player from taking the pile.
 Three 52-card packs with six jokers are used. They can only be melded by a player who has all six of them, and only on the
turn in which that player goes out. When melded like this they score +5 points
 There can be three teams of two players, partners sitting opposite, or two each. Any black threes in a player's hand at when play ends count minus 100
teams of three players, each player sitting between two opponents. points.
 13 cards are dealt to each player.  Canasta bonuses are lower than in other versions: 300 for a wild card canasta or
 Four red threes count 400 points only, five count 1,000, six count 1,200. a natural canasta; 200 for a mixed canasta.
Hand and Foot is a variation in which each player is dealt two sets of cards: a "hand"
 A team must complete two canastas before they are allowed to go out. and a "foot".
 When three teams of two play, the game ends when one or more teams achieve Pennies from Heaven is a variation related to Hand and Foot, in which to go out you
a score of 7,500 or more. need a natural canasta, a mixed canasta, a wild card canasta and a canasta of sevens.
 When two teams of three play, the game ends when one or both teams reach or Railroad Canasta is a similar variation.
exceed 10,000 points; a team that has 7,000 or more points requires at least Albany Canasta, as described by Duane Bristow (archive copy), is an unusual
150 points for their initial meld. variation in which it is possible to take a part of the discard pile if you can meld the
Shirley Miller reports the following variation of the 6-player game between two bottom card of those you take (as in 500 Rum).
teams of three: Jonola, formerly known as Canasta Five, is a three pack canasta variation originating
in New Zealand. Two cards are drawn from the stock, and the advantage of taking the
 Melds of three or more wild cards (any mixture of twos and jokers) are allowed; discard pile is lessened by only allowing the top five cards to be taken.
a wild card canasta gives a 2,000 point bonus, but a team that starts a wild card
meld but fails to complete the canasta before the game ends incurs a 2000 Samba is a variation in which it is possible to meld cards in sequence in a suit as well
point penalty. as sets of equal cards.
Ronald Magazzu's book Royal Canasta describes a three-pack variation of classic
 To go out, a team must have at least three canastas, at least two of which must Canasta incorporating wild card melds ("Bolivias"), sequence melds ("Sambas") and
be 'clean' (containing no wild cards). melds of seven threes ("Royal Canastas").
Jim Westergren has published a description of his own version of Classic Canasta for
Other Canasta Variations Two or Three Players, in which black Threes, which can as usual be melded when
going out, have a value of 50 rather than 5.

54
 
Rummy 2-6 
Face cards (K,Q,J) are worth 10 points each
Aces are worth 1 point each
Types of Rummy  Number Cards are worth their face value - for example a six is worth 6 points, a
Rummy games first appeared in the early twentieth century, and are probably four is 4 points, and so on.
derived from the Mexican game Conquian. This page describes basic rummy, also The total value of all the cards in the hands of the other players is added to the
known in the card game literature as Straight Rummy. Note that many people use winner's cumulative score.
the name Rummy to refer to the game called 500 Rummy o, in which more than one
The game continues with further deals until a player reaches the points target that
card can be taken from the discard pile, and points are scored for cards melded.
was decided before the game began, or until the agreed number of deals has been
Basic Rummy played.
The game is best played with two to four players, but up to six can take part. Either a Optional House Rules.
fixed number of deals are played, or the game is played to a target score. The number
These optional rules should be discussed and decided by the players before the
of deals or the target score needs to be agreed before beginning to play.
beginning of the first deal.
The Deck
Multiple Melds
One standard deck of 52 cards is used. Cards in each suit rank, from low to high:
1. Some people play that you can lay down as many melds as you desire in each
Ace 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jack Queen King turn.
The Deal 2. Most people allow a player who has not previously melded or laid off any cards
The first dealer is chosen randomly, and the turn to deal alternates if there are two to earn a special bonus if they can go out in a single turn by melding or laying off
players, and rotates clockwise if there are more than two. In a two player game, each their entire hand. This is called going rummy, and the score for the hand is
player is dealt a hand of ten cards. Seven cards each are dealt if there are three or doubled, or in some versions the winner gets a bonus of 10 points.
four players, and when five or six play each player gets six cards. The cards are dealt Laying off
one at a time, and after the deal, the next card is placed face up on the table to start
Some play that you may not lay off any cards on other players' melds until you have
the discard pile, and the remainder of the deck is placed face down beside it to form
laid down at least one meld of your own.
the stock. The players look at and sort their cards.
Ace High or Low
Object of the Game
In the standard game, aces are low. A-2-3 is a valid run but Q-K-A is not. However,
The object of the game is to dispose of all the cards in your hand. There are three
some play that aces can be counted as high or low, so that Q-K-A is also a valid run.
ways to get rid of cards: melding, laying off, and discarding.
When playing with this rule, aces are given the higher value of 15 points instead of 1
 Melding is taking a combination of cards from your hand, and placing it face up point, reflecting their greater usefulness.
in front of you on the table, where it stays. There are two kinds of combination A few players go further and allow "round the corner" runs with an ace in the middle
which can be melded: sequences (also known as runs) and groups (also known (K-A-2), but this is unusual.
as sets or books).
Last discard
o a sequence or run consists of three or more cards of the same suit in Some people play that in order to go out, you must end your turn by discarding your
consecutive order, such as 4, 5, 6 or 8, 9, 10, J. last card. You are not allowed to meld all your cards, leaving nothing to discard.
End of the Stock
o a group, set or book is three or four cards of the same rank, such as
Some play that when the stock has run out and the next player does not want the
7, 7, 7. discard, the discard pile is shuffled before reusing it as a stock. This is the version now
 Laying off is adding a card or cards from your hand to a meld already on the given in most books. If there is no shuffle, players who can memorise the order of
table. The cards added to a meld must make another valid meld. For example to cards in the discard pile will clearly have an advantage.
It is just about possible, though very unlikely, that a repetitive situation could occur
the 4, 5, 6 you could add the 3 or the 7. You are not
where each player is holding on to cards wanted by the others. Each player draws
permitted to rearrange the melds in the process. For example, 2, 2, from the stock and discards the card they just drew. In this case, recycling the discard
2, 2 and 3, 4, 5 have been melded, you are not permitted to pile as a new stock, whether shuffled or not, will not help. If the players are stubborn,
the game could be endless. To avoid this, it may be a good idea to limit the number
move the 2 from the group to the sequence, so as to lay off the A.
of times that the discard pile can be reused as a new stock. I suggest that after the
 Discarding is playing a card from your hand on top of the discard pile. You get stock becomes exhausted for the third time, the play should end if the next player
rid of one card this way at the end of each turn. does not want to take the discard. Alternatively, you could agree that the discard pile
Play gets reused only once and the play ends when the stock is used up for
the second time.
If there are two players, they take alternate turns starting with the non dealer. If
there are more than two players, they take turns in clockwise rotation, beginning In the version known as Block Rummy, the discard pile is not reused at all. If the
with the player to dealer's left. stock has run out and the next player does not want to take the discard, the game
ends at that point. Everyone scores the value of the cards remaining in their hands.
Each turn consists of the following parts:
If the game ends without anyone going out, all players count the value of the cards
1. The Draw. You must begin by taking one card from either the top of the Stock
remaining in their hands. The winner is the player with least points, and scores the
pile or the top card on the discard pile, and adding it to your hand. The discard
sum of the differences between this and the points in each other player's hand.
pile is face up, so you can see in advance what you are getting. The stock is face
Example: A has 6; B has 15; C has 7; D has 21. A is the winner and scores 25 = (9 + 1 +
down, so if you choose to draw from the stock you do not see the card until
15). If two or more players tie for lowest, they share the winnings equally.
after you have committed yourself to take it. If you draw from the stock, you
add the card to your hand without showing it to the other players. Players are allowed, at their turn, to count the number of cards remaining in the face
down stock if they wish. As a courtesy (to save others having to count as well), a
2. Melding. If you have a valid group or sequence in your hand, you may lay one
player who counts the stock should correctly announce to the other players how
such combination face up on the table in front of you. You cannot meld more
many stock cards remain.
than one combination in a turn (but see House Rules). Melding is optional; you
are not obliged to meld just because you can. Scoring Variation - Some play that instead of the winner scoring points, each of the
losers score penalty points according to the cards left in their hand. If the game ends
3. Laying off. This is also optional. If you wish, you may add cards to groups or
without a winner then everyone scores their cards as penalty points. When someone
sequences previously melded by yourself or others. There is no limit to the
reaches 100 or more, the player with the lowest score wins.
number of cards a player may lay off in one turn.
Some play that each loser pays the winner according to the number of points in their
4. The Discard At the end of your turn, one card must be discarded from your
hand (or the difference between their score and the winner's score if no one went
hand and placed on top of the discard pile face up. If you began your turn by
out). This method is appropriate when playing for money. The session would last for
picking up the top card of the discard pile you are not allowed to end that turn
a set number of hands rather than be played to a target score.
by discarding the same card, leaving the pile unchanged - you must discard a
different card. You may however pick up the discard on one turn and discard Wrotham Rummy
that same card at a later turn. If you draw a card from the stock, it can be Daryl Brown describes the following variant payed in Wrotham, Kent, UK. A 55-card
discarded on the same turn if you wish. pack is used, including three jokers which are used as wild cards. A joker can be used
If the stock pile has run out and the next player does not want to take the discard, as a substitute for any card needed to melded a set or run. A player who holds the
the discard pile is turned over, without shuffling, to form a new stock, and play card that a melded joker represents can, during her turn, exchange the real card for
continues - but see the variations section for a discussion of alternatives and the joker.
problems that can arise. Six deals are played. Eight cards are dealt to the starting player and seven to each
A player wins an individual hand by either melding, laying off, or discarding all of his other player. On the first turn the starting player does not draw, but just discards a
or her cards. Getting rid of your last card in one of these ways is called going out. As card (or melds and discards). In the first three rounds players meld and lay off as
soon as someone goes out, play ceases. There can be no further melding or laying off, usual, but in the last three rounds, players may not meld any cards until they are able
even if the other players have valid combinations in their hands. to lay down all seven at once.
Scoring
When a player goes out, the other players add up the value of all the cards still
Gin Rummy 2, 3, 4
remaining in their hands, as follows:

55
 Introduction has a pair of twos as deadwood and the opponent has a third two, this cannot be
Gin Rummy is one of the most popular forms of rummy. The game is generally played laid off on the twos to make a set.)
by two players, each receiving ten cards. If a player goes gin, the opponent is not allowed to lay off any cards.
The Deck Note that the knocker is never allowed to lay off cards on the opponent's sets or
One standard deck of 52 cards is used. Cards in each suit rank, from low to high: runs.
Ace 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jack Queen King. The play also ends if the stock pile is reduced to two cards, and the player who took
the third last card discards without knocking. In this case the hand is cancelled, there
The cards have values as follows:
is no score, and the same dealer deals again. Some play that after the player who
Face cards (K,Q,J) 10 points took the third last stock card discards, the other player can take this discard for the
purpose of going gin or knocking after discarding a different card, but if the other
Ace 1 point player does neither of these the hand is cancelled.
Number cards are worth their spot (index) value. Scoring
Each player counts the total value of their unmatched cards. If the knocker's count is
The Deal
lower, the knocker scores the difference between the two counts.
The first dealer is chosen randomly by drawing cards from the shuffled pack - the
If the knocker did not go gin, and the counts are equal, or the knocker's count is
player who draws the lower card deals. Subsequently, the dealer is the loser of the
greater than that of the opponent, the knocker has been undercut. In this case the
previous hand (but see variations). In a serious game, both players should shuffle, the
knocker's opponent scores the difference between the counts plus a 10 point bonus.
non-dealer shuffling last, and the non-dealer must then cut.
A player who goes gin scores a bonus 20 points, plus the opponent's count in
Each player is dealt ten cards, one at a time. The twenty-first card is turned face up to
unmatched cards, if any. A player who goes gin can never be undercut. Even if the
start the discard pile and the remainder of the deck is placed face down beside it to
other player has no unmatched cards at all, the person going gin gets the 20 point
form the stock. The players look at and sort their cards.
bonus the other player scores nothing.
Object of the Game
The game continues with further deals until one player's cumulative score reaches
The object of the game is to collect a hand where most or all of the cards can be 100 points or more. This player then receives an additional bonus of 100 points. If the
combined into sets and runs and the point value of the remaining unmatched cards is loser failed to score anything at all during the game, then the winner's bonus is 200
low. points rather than 100.
 A run or sequence consists of three or more cards of the same suit in In addition, each player adds a further 20 points for each hand they won. This is
consecutive order, such as 4, 5, 6 or 7, 8, 9, 10, J. called the line bonus or box bonus. These additional points cannot be counted as part
of the 100 needed to win the game.
 A set or group is three or four cards of the same rank, such as 7, 7, After the bonuses have been added, the player with the lower score pays the player
7. with the higher score an amount proportional to the difference between their scores.
A card can belong to only one combination at a time - you cannot use the same card Variations
as part of both a set of equal cards and a sequence of consecutive cards at the same
Many books give the rule that the winner of each hand deals the next. Some play
time. For example if you have 7, 7, 7, 8, 9 you can use the that the turn to deal alternates.
7 either to make a set of three sevens or a heart sequence, but not both at once. To
Some players begin the game differently: the non-dealer receives 11 cards and the
form a set and a sequence you would need a sixth card - either a 7 or a 10. dealer 10, and no card is turned up. The non-dealer's first turn is simply to discard a
Note that in Gin Rummy the Ace is always low. A-2-3 is a valid sequence but A-K-Q is card, after which the dealer takes a normal turn, drawing the discard or from the
not. stock, and play alternates as usual.
Play Although the traditional rules prohibit a player from taking the previous player's
A normal turn consists of two parts: discard and discarding the same card, it is hard to think of a situation where it would
be advantageous to do this if it were allowed. The Gin Rummy Association Rules do
1. The Draw. You must begin by taking one card from either the top of the stock explicitly allow this play, but the player who originally discarded the card is then not
pile or the top card on the discard pile, and adding it to your hand. The discard allowed to retake it unless knocking on that turn. The Game Colony Rules allow it in
pile is face up, so you can see in advance what you are getting. The stock is face one specific situation - "action on the 50th card". When a player takes the third last
down, so if you choose to draw from the stock you do not see the card until card of the stock and discards without knocking, leaving two cards in the stock, the
after you have committed yourself to take it. If you draw from the stock, you other player has one final chance to take the discard and knock. In this position, this
add the card to your hand without showing it to the other players. same card can be discarded - if it does not improve his hand, the player simply turns
2. The Discard To complete your turn, one card must be discarded from your hand it over on the pile to knock.
and placed on top of the discard pile face up. If you took the top card from the Some people play that the bonus for going gin is 25 (rather than 20) and the bonus
discard pile, you must discard a different card - taking the top discard and for an undercut is 20 (rather than 10). Some play that the bonus for an undercut, the
putting the same card back in the same turn is not permitted. It is however legal bonus for going gin, and the box bonus for each game won are all 25 points.
to discard a card that you took from the discard pile in an earlier turn.
Some play that if the loser failed to score during the whole game, the winner's entire
For the first turn of the hand, the draw is done in a special way. First, the person who score is doubled (rather than just doubling the 100 game bonus to 200).
did not deal chooses whether to take the turned up-card. If the non-dealer declines
it, the dealer may take the card. If both players refuse the turned-up card, the non- Oklahoma Gin
dealer draws the top card from the stock pile. Whichever player took a card In this popular variation the value of the original face up card determines the
completes their turn by discarding and then it is the other player's turn to play. maximum count of unmatched cards with which it is possible to knock. Pictures
Knocking denote 10 as usual. So if a seven is turned up, in order to knock you must reduce your
count to 7 or fewer.
You can end the play at your turn if, after drawing a card, you can form sufficient of
your cards into valid combinations: sets and runs. This is done by discarding one If the original face up card is a spade, the final score for that deal (including any
card face down on the discard pile and exposing your whole hand, arranging it as far undercut or gin bonus) is doubled.
as possible into sets (groups of equal cards) and runs (sequences). Any remaining The target score for winning Oklahoma Gin is generally set at 150 rather than 100.
cards from your hand which are not part of a valid combination are called unmatched Some play that if an ace is turned up you may only knock if you can go gin.
cards or deadwood. and the total value of your deadwood must be 10 points or less.
Some play that a player who undercuts the knocker scores an extra box in addition to
Ending the play in this way is known as knocking, presumably because it used to be
the undercut bonus. Also a player who goes gin scores two extra boxes. These extra
signalled by the player knocking on the table, though nowadays it is usual just to
boxes are recorded on the scorepad; they do not count towards winning the game,
discard face down. Knocking with no unmatched cards at all is called going gin, and
but at the end of the game they translate into 20 or 25 points each, along with the
earns a special bonus. (Note. Although most hands that go gin have three
normal boxes for hands won. If the up-card was a spade, you get two extra boxes for
combinations of 4, 3 and 3 cards, it is possible and perfectly legal to go gin with two
an undercut and four extra boxes for going gin.
5-card sequences.)
Playing with 3 or 4 Players.
A player who can meet the requirement of not more than 10 deadwood can knock on
any turn, including the first. A player is never forced to knock if able to, but may When three people play gin rummy, the dealer deals to the other two players but
choose instead to carry on playing, to try to get a better score. does not take part in the play. The loser of each hand deals the next, which is
therefore played between the winner and the dealer of the previous hand.
The opponent of the player who knocked must spread their cards face-up, arranging
them into sets and runs where possible. Provided that the knocker did not go gin, the Four people can play as two partnerships. In this case, each player in a team plays a
opponent is also allowed to lay off any unmatched cards by using them to extend the separate game with one of the opposing pair. Players alternate opponents, but stay
sets and runs laid down by the knocker - by adding a fourth card of the same rank to in the same teams. At the end of each hand, if both players on a team won, the team
a group of three, or further consecutive cards of the same suit to either end of a scores the total of their points. If one player from each team won, the team with the
sequence. (Note. Cards cannot be laid off on deadwood. For example if the knocker higher score scores the difference. The first team whose cumulative score reaches
125 points or more wins.

56
 500 Rummy 2-8

Introduction rule that the cards of a group must all be of different suits, so there is no fifth king
This is a version of rummy in which points are scored for cards melded and lost for that can legally be included in the meld.
unmelded cards remaining in a player's hand when someone goes out. The game is The Deal
won by the first player to reach a cumulative score of 500 or more over a series of When there are more than two players dealer deals the cards one at a time,
hands. In this game you are not restricted to taking only the top card of the discard clockwise, starting with the person to dealer's left, until everyone has seven cards. In
pile - more than one card can be taken in order to reach a card lower down which a two-player game the dealer deals thirteen cards to each player. The remaining
you can use in a meld. cards form the stock pile; they are placed face down in a position accessible to every
In books this game is normally called 500 Rum or sometimes Pinochle player. The top card of the stock is flipped over and placed face up alongside it. This is
Rummy (presumably because it shares its target score of 500 with some versions of the first card of the discard pile. The players look at their cards, and may organize the
Pinochle), but in real life it is more often known as 500 Rummy or Rummy 500. The cards in their hand according to suit or number.
version with jokers described on this page is also known as Joker Rummy. Some The Play
players call it Gin Rummy, which is confusing as this is also the name of a different
The person on the dealer's left begins. The turn to play passes clockwise. A turn
game, and many people just call it Rummy.
consists of three parts:
It has variants known as 1500 Rummy, 2500 Rummy, 5000 Rummy and various other
1. The Draw
names, in which the target score is higher, a variable number of cards is dealt, and
aces and wild cards have a high value. These are described separately on the 5000 You must either draw the top card from the stock, and put it in your
Rummy page. hand without showing it to the other players, or draw one or more cards
from the discard pile. It is always legal to draw the top card from the
Players and Cards
stock or the top card from the discard pile (but see the variations below).
500 Rummy is played with a standard 52 card deck plus two jokers, 54 cards in all. You may take a card from lower down in the discard pile only provided
The game is possible for any number of players from 2 to about 8. When 5 or more that:
people play, two decks shuffled together (108 cards) should be used.
1. you immediately meld the card - either in a new combination or by
The cards have point values as follows: laying it off on an existing meld, and
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, --- face value (2 for a two, 3 for a three, etc.) 2. you also take all the cards above (i.e. discarded since) the card you
10 meld.
Jack, Queen, King --- 10 points each 2. Melding
Ace, Joker --- 15 points each If you wish, you may meld any valid combinations in your hand by
placing them face up in front of you. You may also lay off cards on your
Exception: An ace melded with the 2 and 3 of the same suit as part of a sequence
own or other players' existing melds. As all melded cards score for the
meld (see below) scores 1 point instead of 15.
player who melded them, when laying off a card on another player's
The Melds meld, you place the card in front of yourself, rather than alongside the
As in basic rummy, a meld is a combination of cards from your hand which you place existing meld.
face up on the table, where it stays until the end of a hand. There are two types of 3. The Discard
combination which can be melded:
Unless you managed to meld all the cards in your hand (in which case
1. A group consists of three or four cards of the same rank, such as J J the play has ended - see below), you must discard one card from your
J. When more than one deck is used, the cards of a group must all be of hand face up on top of the discard pile. If you drew just the top card of
the discard pile you must discard a different card. However, if you drew
different suits. 6 6 6 is not a valid group.
more than one card from the discard pile, then after melding, you may
2. A sequence consists of three or more consecutive cards of the same suit, such discard again the card that was previously on top of the pile. The cards
as 5 6 7. An ace can count as low or high but not both at the same on the discard pile are overlapped, so that previous discards can be
identified.
time. So A 2 3 4 and Q K A are both valid sequences,
The play continues until one of the following things happens:
but K A 2 is not valid.
1. A player has no cards left in hand. This can happen either when a player melds
As well as melding complete combinations, players are allowed to meld cards which
all their cards or when they meld all but one and then discard their last card.
extend combinations which are already on the table. This is called laying off. The
fourth card of the same rank can be added to a group of three, or extra consecutive 2. There are no cards left in the stock, and the person whose turn it is does not
wish to draw from the discard pile.
cards of the same suit can be added to a sequence at either end. For example, if
As soon as either of these conditions is reached, the play ends and the hand is scored.
5 6 7 is already on the board, any player on their turn can add the
Drawing from the Discard Pile
4 or 8 or both. It is very important to understand how to use the discard pile for your advantage.
Sometimes, when laying off a card, there is more than one meld it could be attached Suppose that the discard pile is as follows:
to. In this case the player laying off must choose which meld to extend. For example,
if there is a sequence 7 8 9 and a group 10 10 10 on the
board, and you have a 10 in your hand, you can choose whether to add your
10 to the sequence or the group, but once it is played, it cannot be moved.
Example: A has put down 5- 6- 7, B has put down 9- 9- 9. B can
lay off the 8 on A's sequence. C can now put down the 9 and must announce You have these cards in your hand: 2 4 5 8 J K K
whether it is being added to the hearts run or to C's set of nines. If C added the You want to take the 4 and 4 from the discard pile to go with your 4 to
9 to the heart run, D can now extend the run further by laying down the 10. make a group. To get these cards, you must take all the cards from the
If C had announced the 9 as belonging to the set of nines then of course it would 4 onwards, leaving only the 6 in the discard pile. You can then meld the 4
not be legal to lay down the 10 as an extension of the run, which is still only 5-6- 4 4, and you have the following cards left in your hand: 2 5 7
7-8. 8 J Q K K A. You discard something you don't need such as
Jokers are wild, and can stand for any card in a meld, even a duplicate of a card that
the 2 and the discard pile is then:
has already been melded by the same or another player. A player melding a joker
must make it clear which rank it represents, and this cannot subsequently be
changed. For example, you might meld 6 7 joker as a sequence, and by
putting the cards down in this arrangement you are specifying that the joker
represents the 8. Later someone may lay off the 5 or 9 on this sequence,
but they are not allowed to change the joker to a 5 so as to lay off a 4.
If you had taken the 7 only, you would have been allowed to keep it in your hand
If you were to meld 9 and two jokers you would have to state whether it was
and not meld it. Since you took the cards from 4 onward, you must meld the
meant to be a group of nines or a sequence. If it was a sequence, you would have to
4.
choose whether the sequence was 7-8-9, 8-9-10 or 9-10-J. On the other hand, if it
was a group, you would not need to specify the suits represented by the jokers. Any Calling "Rummy!"
player could subsequently lay off a different nine, completing a group of four nines. If a player discards a card which could have been melded, or leaves the discard pile in
Note that a joker does have to represent some specific card. It is therefore not a state where it contains cards which can be melded without requiring any further
possible to meld a group of (for example) four kings and a joker, because there is no cards from any player's hand, then before the next player draws, any player other
fifth king that the joker could represent. Even if you are playing with two packs, it is a than the one who just discarded may call "Rummy!" and take the discard pile, as far
as the relevant card. This player then completes their turn by melding this card and player to the left of the one who called "Rummy!" and continues clockwise from
any others they wish to, and discarding one card. The turn to play then passes to the there.

57
For example, if there is a 7 8 9 on the board and someone discards a Card taken from discard pile must always be melded
Most card game books give the rule that in order to draw from the discard pile
6 or 10, any player other than the discarder can call "Rummy!", take the card and
you must meld. You can take a card you need for your meld plus all the cards on top
meld it.
of it. This rule applies even in the case where you only take the top card from the
Here is another example. Suppose the discard pile is: discard pile - in that case you must meld this top card. If you are not going to meld,
you must draw from the stock.
Some play that whenever you take cards from the discard pile, the deepest card you
take must be used in a new meld of three or more cards - it is not sufficient to be
able to lay this card off on an existing meld.
Calling Rummy
Some only allow "Rummy" to be called if the most recent discard can be laid off on a
and a player discards a J, not noticing the K and Q in the discard pile. Any
meld on the table. In this case the caller takes the card and lays it off, scoring for it,
player in the game other than the discarder who notices this mistake can yell
and then the game continues with the person whose turn it was to play. In this
"Rummy!" and take all the discards from K onward. version there is no calling of Rummy "in the pile", when a buried card can be laid off.
A third example: suppose the discard pile is the same as above, and you have Some do not allow the calling of Rummy at all. Most card game books do not mention
the possibility of calling Rummy.
5 and 6 in your hand, among other cards. It is your turn and you draw 4 from
Discard required when going out
the stock. If you meld your 4- 5- 6 now, any other player can call
Many players require a player who goes out to keep one card so that they can discard
"Rummy!" and take the top four cards of the discard pile to add the 3 to your at the end of their turn. In this version of the game you are not allowed to meld all
meld. Note that you cannot call "Rummy!" yourself in this case (immediately after your cards, leaving yourself nothing to discard.
your own turn) - you would have to wait until the next player had had their turn, and
Floating
you could then call "Rummy!" in the unlikely event that no one else had meanwhile
There is a further variation of this called floating. In this version you are allowed to
taken the 3 from the pile. For this reason you would generally choose not to meld meld all your cards, but as you have no discard the play does not end, but continues
your 4- 5- 6 yet, but wait until your next turn, when you could use them to around the table while you "float". When the turn comes back to you (if no one else
take the 3 if it is still there. has gone out meanwhile), you can:
Note that it is not possible to call "Rummy!" after the game has ended. If someone 1. draw a card from the stock and discard it, which ends the game, or
melds all their cards or discards their last card, the game ends immediately and is 2. take several cards from the discard pile and meld all but one of them, which you
scored. When ending the game, the player is allowed leave the discard pile in a state discard, ending the game, or
where some of the cards in it could be melded, and the other players can no longer 3. meld the card you draw from the stock or all the cards you draw from the
claim these cards, because play stops as soon as a player has got rid of all the cards in discard pile, and float again for another round, or
their hand. 4. draw cards from the discard pile, meld some, discard one, and still have at least
The Scoring one card in your hand, in which case the game is back to normal.
When someone has no more cards left in their hand, or there are no cards in the Unplayable discard required when going out
stock when someone wants to draw from it, the game is over. All the players count As a further development of the above ideas, some players do not allow a player to
the total value of the cards they have melded, and subtract the value of the cards go out by discarding a card that could have been melded. In this version, if your final
they have left in their hands. Each player's result is added to their cumulative score. card is playable, then instead of discarding it and going out you have to meld it and
Note that as soon as the play ends, no further cards can be melded. Any cards that become a floater. In this case, if you draw a card from the stock on your next turn
players still have in their hands count against them, even if these cards could have and it is playable, you have to meld it and remain a floater for another round. In
been melded. order to go out you have to have one unplayable card to discard. Note that since it is
If the cards left in your hand total more than the cards you have melded, your score illegal to pick up just the top discard and immediately discard it again, it is not
for that hand is negative. It is also possible for your cumulative score to be negative - possible for a floater to go out using the previous player's discard, even if you play
for example if you make a negative score on the first hand. the rule that it is normally legal to take the top discard without melding it.
Further hands are played until one or more players' scores exceed 500. At this point If you try to go out by discarding a playable card, a player who notices this can make
the session ends and the player with the highest score wins. In the event of a tie, you take your discard back and meld it. Alternatively, some play that any other player
further hands are played until there is a single winner. can call 'Rummy!' and meld your discard. You then become a floater, so you would
Variations have done better to meld this card yourself.
Playing without jokers Must go out to win
500 Rum can be played (and originally was played) without jokers. Some play that in order to win the game you must go out (be the person who ends
the play by getting rid of all your cards) and you must have a cumulative score of 500
Card values 5/10/15
or more. You cannot win if another player goes out, even if your score is 500 or more.
Some players count the pip cards 2 to 9 as all worth 5 points. The tens and face cards If the player who went out has reached 500 or more they win; if not the next player
J, Q, K still count 10 and jokers are 15. The ace counts as 5 points instead of 15 if it is deals and another hand is played. In this version of the game it is possible to win
used as a low card in a sequence such as A-2-3. without having the highest score - for example if player A goes out and has a score of
505 while player B has a score of 520, player A has won

58
 Red threes do not count towards this minimum; nor does the bonus for a seven card
Hand and Foot 2, 3, 4-6 pile, so for example seven sixes count only 35 points and are not sufficient for an
initial meld.
Introduction The Play
Hand and Foot is a North American game related to Canasta, in which each player is The player to the left of the person who dealt the "hands" then starts the play, and
dealt two sets of cards - the hand, which is played first, and the foot, which is played the turn to play passes clockwise around the table until someone goes out. Each
when the hand has been used up. There are numerous variations of this game and no player, immediately before taking their first turn, must place any red threes they hold
standard rules. The most usual version is for four players in partnership, and this will face up on the table and draw an equal number of cards from the stock pile to
be described first; these rules were contributed by Bill Whitnack. A number of replace them. They then proceed to draw cards for their first turn. A turn normally
variations are then given - I would like to thank Barbara Bain, Dave Petrie, Brian consists of:
Brouillette and Steve Simpson for providing information about these. 1. taking the top two cards from the stock;
Although most people say that Hand and Foot is best played by four people in 2. optionally melding some cards or adding to your partnership's melds;
partnerships, it can also be played by six in two teams of three, or by any number of 3. discarding one card on top of the discard pile.
people playing as individuals. If you draw a red three from the stock you should immediately place it face up on the
table with your melds and draw a new card from the stock to replace it.
Partnership Hand and Foot for Four Players As an alternative to drawing two cards from the stock, you may take the
top seven cards from the discard pile. If the pile contains fewer than seven cards, you
(based on a contribution from Bill Whitnack) may take the whole pile, but you may never take more than seven cards from the pile
Players, Cards, Deal at one time. In order to pick up from the discard pile you must fulfill all of the
following conditions:
Partners sit opposite each other. Five decks of cards are used, including two jokers
per deck (270 cards in all). 1. the top card of the discard pile must not be a three;
2. you must hold two cards which are the same rank as this top card;
Choose which partnership will deal first. After the cards have been thoroughly mixed, 3. you must immediately meld these three cards (the two you are holding and the
one partner takes part of the deck, deals four face-down stacks of 13 cards and top discard), possibly along with other cards that you are holding.
passes them around the table in a clockwise direction until each player has a stack -
the hand. Meanwhile the partner of the hand dealer takes another part of the deck After picking up from the discard pile and melding, you complete your turn by
and deals another four stacks of 13 cards each and passes them also in a clockwise discarding one card as usual.
direction until each player has a second stack - the foot. If your side has not yet melded (putting down red threes does not count as melding),
The remainder of the undealt cards are put in a face-down pile in the middle of the then the first time that you meld you must put down cards whose individual values
table to form a stock. The top card of the stock is turned face-up and placed next to it add up to at least the minimum meld requirement. You can put down several melds
to start a discard pile. If this is a red three or wild card (two or joker) it is buried in the at once to achieve this if you wish. If you are picking up the pile, you can meld
stock and a new card turned up. additional cards from your hand along with the the top discard and the two that
match it to help make up your minimum count, and some of these additional cards
The players' "foot" stacks are placed face down around the stock and discard piles - could be wild. However, you cannot count any of the other 6 cards you are about to
the players are not allowed to look at them until they have played all the cards in pick up from the discard pile towards this minimum.
their hands. Each player picks up their "hand" stack, and play begins with the player
to the left of the one who dealt the hands. Example: It is the first round (minimum 50 points). A nine is discarded by the player
to your right and in your hand you hold two nines and a two. You can use your two
After the end of the play, the turn to deal passes to the left. A complete game nines to take the top 7 cards of the discard pile and make a dirty meld of three nines
consists of four deals. and a two for 50 points. You would not be allowed to do this if the two was buried in
The Object of the Game: Melds the discard pile rather than held in your hand.
The aim is to get rid of cards from your hand, and then from your foot, A meld cannot contain more than seven cards, and a partnership is not allowed to
by melding them. A meld is a set of from three to seven cards of equal rank placed have two incomplete melds of the same rank, but if you complete a pile, you can
face up on the table. A meld cannot have fewer than three cards or more than seven. then start another meld of the same rank. Therefore if you have an incomplete meld
Melds belong to a partnership, not to an individual player. After a meld of three or of five or six cards on the table, you will not be able to pick up a card of that rank
more cards has been started, either player of the partnership can add further cards from the discard pile unless you have enough cards of that rank to finish the first
to it until there are seven. You can make a meld of cards of any rank from A, K, Q, ... seven card pile and make a new three card meld of the same rank. These cards must
down to 4. Threes have special uses and cannot be melded in the normal way. Twos all come from your holding and the top card of the pile - again you are not allowed to
and jokers are "wild cards" and can be used as substitutes in melds, as long as there make use of other cards you are about to pick up from the discard pile to satisfy the
at least twice as many real cards of the rank of the meld as wild cards. Thus a meld of requirement.
3, 4 or 5 cards can contain at most one wild card and a meld of 6 or 7 can contain at
most two. You can also make a meld consisting entirely of wild cards - twos and Example: The top card of the discard pile is an eight, and there is another eight
buried three cards deep. You have two eights and a two in your hand and a meld of
jokers. In fact you must make such a meld to be allowed to go out and win the deal. five eights on the table. You are not allowed to pick up from the discard pile, because
There are three types of meld: having completed your pile of eights, you will only have two cards with which to start
 a clean meld has no wild cards your new meld of eights (the buried eight cannot be included until you have made a
 a dirty meld has one or two wild cards (but not more than one unless there are legal meld). If you had three eights and a two in your hand, you could use the top
eight from the discard pile and one of your eights to complete your eight pile, and
at least 6 cards in the meld)
start a new meld with two eights and a two. You could then pick up the next 6 cards
 a wild meld consists entirely of wild cards. of the discard pile and add the buried eight to your new meld as well.
A meld of seven cards is complete and is called a pile. While melds are fanned out If you discard a black three, this blocks the next player from picking up from the
face up, complete piles are squared up and the cards placed on top shows the type - discard pile.
a red card for a clean pile, a black card for a dirty pile, and a joker for a wild pile (or a
two if it contains no joker). Usually the complete piles of seven cards are kept in front You may discard a wild card (though in practice it is unusual to do so). In this case the
of one member of a partnership (along with red threes), while the other partner next player could only pick up the pile with two matching wild cards (two twos to pick
keeps the incomplete melds of three to six cards. up a two, or two jokers to pick up a joker).
You score points for cards you have melded, and lose points for any cards left in your Picking up the Foot
hand at the end of the play. The play ends when someone gets rid of all the cards in When you get rid of all the cards in your "hand", you then pick up your "foot" and
their "hand" and "foot", by melding or discarding them; this is known as "going out". continue to play from that. There are two slightly different ways this can happen. If
In order to be allowed to go out, you must satisfy all of the following conditions: you manage to meld all the cards from your "hand", you can immediately pick up
1. your partnership must have completed at least two dirty piles, two clean piles your "foot" and continue your turn, discarding one card from it at the end.
and one wild pile (exactly seven cards in each); Alternatively, if you meld all the cards from your "hand" but one, and then discard
this last card, you can pick up your "foot" and begin playing with it at the start of your
2. your partner must have picked up their "foot" and played at least part of one next turn.
turn from it;
The red and black threes
3. you must ask partner's permission to go out. If partner agrees you must meld all
of your remaining cards, or meld all but one of your remaining cards and discard Red and black threes cannot be used in melds.
your last card. If partner says no, you are not allowed to go out on that turn. Red threes count for the players if they are laid down on the table with their melds
Card Values and against if not. Whenever you find that you are holding a red three you should
immediately place it face up on the table with your melds and draw a replacement
Individual cards have values as follows. They count for you if you have melded them, card from the stock. This can happen because you find it in your hand, or pick it up in
but against you if they are left in your hand or foot at the end of the play: your foot, or draw it from the stock. If your opponents "go out" before you have
Jokers .......... 50 points each picked up your "foot" cards, any red threes in your "foot" will count against you,
Twos & Aces .......... 20 points each along with all the other cards it contains.
Eight through King .......... 10 points each Black threes have no use except to block the next player from picking up from the
Four through Seven .......... 5 points each discard pile when you discard them. Any black threes that you are left with at the end
count 5 points against you. There is no way to get rid of them other than by
Black Threes .......... 5 points each discarding them one at a time onto the discard pile.
Bonus Points
End of the play
There are also the following Bonus Points. Both teams score points for any complete
piles they have made, in addition to the scores for the cards within the pile. Only the The play ends when either
team that goes out scores the bonus for going out, obviously. The red threes count  a player goes out, having asked and received permission, by melding all of his or
plus 100 points if they have been placed face up on the table with your melds, but her remaining foot cards, or by melding all but one card and discarding the last
minus 100 points if not (for example if you do not manage to pick up your foot before card, or
an opponent goes out, any red threes in it will score minus 100 points).  when the stockpile is depleted and a player wishes to draw from it.
Each complete "Clean" Pile of 7 cards .......... 500 points As already explained, you cannot go out until your team has completed the required
Each complete "Dirty" Pile of 7 cards .......... 300 points piles (two dirty, two clean and one wild), and your partner has picked up their foot
Each complete "Wild" Pile of 7 cards .......... 1500 points and played at least part of one turn from it. If you have not satisfied these conditions,
or if you have satisfied them but your partner refuses permission for you to go out,
For "Going Out" .......... 100 Points then you are not allowed to leave yourself without any cards. That means that if you
Each Red Three .......... 100 points are playing from your foot, you must keep at least two cards in your hand after
Minimum Initial Meld Requirements melding - one to discard and at least one to hold in your hand so that the game can
In each deal, there is a minimum requirement for the total value of the cards making continue.
up the first meld put down by each partnership. If the stock is depleted, the play will end as soon as someone wishes to draw from
Round 1 .......... 50 points the stock and there are insufficient cards there. Both sides score for the melds they
have put down, less the points for the cards remaining in their hands and feet, and no
Round 2 .......... 90 points one gets the bonus for going out. It may be possible to continue playing for a few
Round 3 .......... 120 points turns without a stock, as long as each player is able and willing to take and meld the
Round 4 .......... 150 points previous player's discard, but as soon as someone wants to draw and is unable to, the
hand is over.

59
 Advice on Tactics Each "Dirty" pile 100 points
As with most card games, one learns from experience what works best; different The Cards
players adopt different kinds of strategies. It is important to observe your partner's
discards and melds and co-operate with what your partner is trying to do. If you get Jokers and Twos are wild cards. In the game you make "sets" of cards which are three
into your foot before your partner, you should avoid completing melds as this may or more of the same card - three kings, five eights, etc. The suit of cards makes no
make it difficult for your partner to get into his / her foot. There are two exceptions difference. You cannot make a set of Jokers or Twos - these can only be used as wild
to this: cards. You cannot make a set of threes, regardless of the colour. Cards "down" on
the table count for you and are added to your score. Cards left in your hand or in your
1. when the opposition are down to very few cards, it may be wise to complete as Foot count against you and are subtracted from your score.
many melds as possible, so as to collect the bonuses for them if the opposition
"goes out"; Since you cannot make sets of Threes, a Three can only count against you. Discard
2. it is generally worth completing your "wild card" pile as soon as possible red threes immediately.
because of its Minimum Points to "Put Down" for Each Round
3. high point value. On each round you have to have a number of points the first time you "put down"
Try for higher "card count" melds (such as aces) if possible and if the cards are points onto the table. Once a player has the minimum points down, the player has no
running for you. minimum for the rest of the round.
Try to keep a few pairs in hand of the ranks that you think the opposition may Round 1 50 points
discard, so that you can perhaps pick up from the discard pile. This is especially useful Round 2 90 points
while you are waiting for your partner to get into his / her foot. Often, however, you Round 3 120 points
cannot take the discard pile because you are blocked by a black three discarded by
your right hand opponent. Round 4 150 points
Try not "burn" any more wild cards than you must (by making dirty melds), unless Picking Up and Discarding
you have the wild meld well in hand, or unless you need to dirty a meld to get into On each player's turn he picks up cards, optionally puts cards down on the table for
your foot. It's a good idea always to save one wild card for just that purpose, and points, and then discards. On each turn a player picks up TWO cards from the main
hope to pick up a few more wild cards in your foot. Wild cards are often the key to piles. He can pick up both cards from the same pile or one card from each pile. He
completing melds and "going out", although there are times when you may find you plays his turn and then discards one card. Instead of picking up two cards a player
have too many of them. may pick up the top card on the discard pile but he must pick up the TOP SEVEN cards
Variations in the discard pile. The player can only pick up from the discard pile if
Wild card or red three turned up 1. there are at least seven cards in the discard pile,
By agreement, if the card turned up to start the discard pile happens to be a wild card 2. the player has at least two other cards of the same type IN HIS HAND, and
or a red three, it may be left in place where it can be drawn along with the cards 3. the player must put the top card and the other two cards from his hand down as
discarded on top of it by the first player who takes the discard pile. points on the table.
Other numbers of players Wild cards cannot count for the two cards in his hand. You cannot pick up a top
Any number of people from two to six can play, using one more deck of cards than discard of twos, threes or jokers because you cannot make a "set" from those cards.
the number of players. Four or six can play as partners; with two three or five, Remember that if this is the first time the player is "putting down" cards for that
everyone must play for themselves. The game for four players in partnerships is said round he has to have a minimum to put down the first time.
to be best. Picking up the Foot
Saskatchewan Hand and Foot When a player gets rid of all his cards from his hand, he picks up his Foot and
The main differences from the version described above are as follows: continues to play from there. If someone "goes out" before a player gets into his
Foot, all the points in his Foot count against him (including any dreaded red threes).
 Each player is dealt 11 cards as a hand and 13 as a foot. There are two ways to "get into your foot". One is to put down all your cards except
 Completed melds of seven cards are called canastas. one discard card (which you discard). Your turn ends, you have no cards, you pick up
 In melds (other than wild melds) you must have more normal cards than wild your Foot. You can begin using your Foot on your next turn. The other way to get into
your Foot is to completely use up all the cards in your Hand (by putting them down as
cards - so there can be up to 3 wild cards in a dirty canasta, and up to two wild
cards in a dirty meld of five or six cards. points on the table). If you can put down all your cards without discarding then you
can immediately pick up your Foot and begin using the cards during the same turn.
 Melds are not limited to seven cards; you can add further cards of the same
rank to a canasta. Clean and Dirty Piles
 Initial meld requirements are as described above, except that in the fourth During the game you attempt to get piles of seven or more of the same card. If a pile
round you need a hidden canasta (i.e. a complete meld of seven cards collected has seven or more cards and there are no wild cards in the pile then the pile is called
in your hand without using the discard pile). a Clean Pile. If there are seven or more cards in the pile and there are wild cards in
 When picking up the discard pile, you take the whole thing, not just the top the pile, then the pile is called a Dirty Pile. By convention, once a pile reaches seven
cards they are pulled together into a neat stack and either a red or black card from
seven cards.
the pile is moved to the top of the pile. A red card on top signifies that the pile is a
 To "go out" you need at least one clean canasta, one dirty canasta and one wild Clean Pile. A black card on top signifies a Dirty Pile. A Clean Pile is worth 300 points
card canasta. and a Dirty Pile is worth 100 points. These points are in addition to the points from
Bain Hand and Foot the cards themselves (each King is worth 10 points for example).
This version has much in common with Pennies from Heaven and has therefore been Limits on Wild Cards
moved to that page.
In any set of cards you must have at least one more normal card than wild cards. For
Steve Simpson's Hand and Foot Rules example, if you have three fives you can add up to two wild cards to the set. You
This is a version of Hand and Foot without partners, and was the first form of the can't add a third wild card until there are four fives down. Note that any wild card in a
game to be included on this page. The rules given below are more or less a copy of set makes the entire set dirty. You cannot have more than one set of the same card.
Steve Simpson's Hand and Foot page, which was last seen at For example, you cant have a pile of two fives and a wild card and then start a new
http://people.ne.mediaone.net/ssimpson/handfoot.html - here is an archive copy. pile of fives.
Steve Simpson reports that he learned this version from Rob Groz. Going Out
Players In order to "go out" you must get rid of all the cards in your Hand and your Foot and
Two or more players, playing as individuals. have at least one Clean and one Dirty pile. You must also have a discard card. You can
have as many clean and dirty piles as you want but you must have at least one of
Cards each in order to "go out". Players get points for clean and dirty piles even if they are
Normal playing cards including the jokers. One more deck than the number of people not the player that goes out. Once a player "goes out", play ends for that round. The
playing - i.e. three decks of cards for two people, five decks for four people, etc. points on the table are added to your score. Points in your hand or your Foot are
The Shuffle counted against you and are subtracted from your score.
All the cards are shuffled together and placed in the middle of the table in TWO piles. Brian Brouillette's Hand and Foot Rules
A gap is placed between the two piles for the discard pile. In this game there are two versions of the bonus scores. In the lower scoring version,
The Deal the bonus scores are as in Steve Simpson's rules above. In the higher scoring
version of the game, a clean (also called "natural") meld scores 500 points while a
Each player deals his own cards to himself. Each player picks up a small pile of dirty (also called "unnatural") meld scores 300 points. This allows a player caught
roughly 22 cards from either of the two piles. Each player then deals his cards in front with one or more red threes during a round a chance to recover (since the red threes
of him into two piles of eleven cards each. If the player picked up exactly 22 cards on always count as minus 500 points each).
the first try then he gets 100 bonus points added to his score. If he has less than 22
cards he picks up more, as needed, from either of the two main decks. If he has more In round four, a player must possess two clean and two dirty melds in order to be
than 22 cards then the extra cards are returned to the main piles. eligible to go out.When going out, you may if you wish meld all your cards; you are
not obliged to end by discarding a card.
Each player now has two piles of cards in front of himself. The left hand pile is the
player's hand and the player picks up this pile. The right hand pile of cards is passed If a wild card is discarded, the discard pile is "frozen" and removed from the playing
to the player on his right. This pile becomes the other player's foot. The foot piles surface of the table. These cards may be thoroughly shuffled and placed under the
stay face down until later in the game. draw piles if more cards are needed to complete a round.
Game Object Black threes can be used to create a clean meld that only scores 300 points in the
higher scoring version of the game or 100 points in the lower scoring version of the
The object of the game is to get the most points. There are four rounds to the game game (minus five points for each card in the meld since black threes always count
and on each round each player tries to get rid of all his cards while putting the most as minus five points each, even if melded). Wild cards may not be used in creating a
points he can on the table. meld of threes! The discard pile may not be picked up with a pair of black threes!
Points for cards Partner version
Red Threes 500 (these always count against you - read on.)
points This form of Hand and Foot can also be played as a partnership game. The rules are
exactly the same as the basic version, except that players work in pairs, facing across
Joker 50 points the table from one another. One partner is chosen to keep all of the partial melds
Twos and Aces 20 points under construction that are put down on the table, while the other partner looks
Eight through King 10 points after the completed melds. Once one partner has put down, the other partner's
Four through Seven 5 points minimum is immediately satisfied, since there is only one set of melds under
Black Threes 5 points construction per partnership. As with most partnership games, there can be no
"talking across the table" to discuss the cards in play or strategies. The only game
Other Points related discussion allowed is that when one person wishes to go out, that person
Picking up 22 100 points must ask the partner, "May I go out?" If the partner says, "No," the play continues. To
For "Going out" 100 points go out on rounds one through three, the requirement is to possess two clean melds
Each "Clean" pile 300 points and two dirty melds. To go out on round four, the requirement is for a partnership to
possess four clean and four dirty melds

60
Marriage (2-5)

Introduction Each other player who later lays down three combinations that are tunnelas or pure
sequences is then allowed to look at the tiplu on the bottom of the stack, thereby
Marriage is a three-pack Rummy game that is popular in Nepal, especially in the finding out which cards are jokers.
Kathmandu valley. It is also played in Bhutan. It is widely played during the two main
Hindu festivals Dashain (Dushera) and Tihar (Deewali) and by enthusiasts throughout Jokers are sometimes discarded, for example by players who have not yet seen the
the year. tiplu. When a joker is discarded and the next player has already laid down three
combinations and seen the tiplu, this player is not allowed to pick up the joker from
Players and Cards the discard pile, but must take a card from the face down stack.
From two to five people can play. Three standard 52-card packs are used: 156 cards Dublees
in all. There are no printed jokers, but in each deal a number of wild cards are created
and these are sometimes collectively known as "jokers". Instead of collecting three-card combinations, it is possible collect dublees - pairs of
identical cards. Eight dublees are needed to win the game, and a player who has
Deal and play are clockwise. seven dublees can lay them down and look at the tiplu. Nevertheless, jokers cannot
Combinations and Terminology be used as wild cards when collecting dublees: all the pairs must consist of two
genuinely identical cards.
As in any Rummy game, the object is to collect sets of equal cards and runs of
consecutive cards in suit. In Marriage, all these combinations consist of three cards After looking at the tiplu, a dublee player is not allowed to take a card from the
only. discard pile unless it completes the player's eighth dublee and ends the game.

The tiplu is a card chosen at random during each game - see below. All cards of the Ending the Play
same rank as the tiplu, and those that are immediately above or below it in the same There are two ways in which the play can end.
suit, are wild. The card immediately above the tiplu is known as the poplu and that
immediately below the tiplu is the jhiplu. For this purpose the ace is considered to be 1. A player who has laid down three combinations that are tunnelas or pure
next above the king, and the two above the ace. The tiplu, poplu and jhiplu are also sequences is able after drawing a card to form four more valid three-card
known as mal, and cards of the same rank as the tiplu in the other suits are known combinations. The player lays down these combinations, discards the remaining
as ordinary jokers. card, and the play ends.

For example if the tiplu is the J then: 2. After drawing, a player has eight dublees (pairs of identical cards). The player
lays them down and the play ends. Eight dublees use 16 cards, so the player will
 the other two J are tiplu; have five unusued cards plus a discard - these can be any cards.
 the three Q are poplu; Note that apart from tunnelas at the start of the game and combinations needed to
 the three 10 are jhiplu; look at the tiplu, completed combinations are not laid down during the play but kept
in hand until the play ends.
 there are 12 ordinary jokers: all the J, J and J.
It is possible for a player, within a single turn, to draw a card, lay down the necessary
The different types of three-card combination that can be collected are as follows (in tunnelas or pure sequences to choose or see the tiplu, discover that this enables four
the examples we continue to assume that the J is the tiplu): more combinations can be made (using jokers as necessary), lay down these four
additional combinations, discard and end the play.
 A tunnela (or tanella) consists of three identical cards - for example 6- 6- If at the end of a player's turn there are no cards left in the face-down stack, except
6. for the tiplu that was placed at the bottom, all the cards in the discard pile except for
 A pure sequence consists of three consecutive cards of the same suit - for the most recent discard are shuffled and placed face-down on top of the tiplu to form
a new stack for drawing, and the game continues as before.
example 3- 4- 5.
 A dirty sequence consists of two cards of the same suit and a joker representing Scoring
a third card of that suit to form a consecutive sequence - for example 6- When the play ends, players count their points. Points are scored for 'maal' (any
tiplu, poplu or jhiplu in the player's final hand) and for any tunnelas laid down
Q- 8, or any three cards two of which are jokers. immediately after the deal. Note that there are extra points for a marriage, which
 A triplet consists of three cards of the same rank, but all of different suits - for consists of one jhiplu, one tiplu and one poplu, and that two or three identical maal
example K- K- K is a triplet. 9- 9- 9 is not a valid cards or marriages score extra points.
combination - the suits must all be different.
 A dirty triplet consists of two cards of the same rank and different suits plus a single doubl triple tunnela
e
joker - for example J- 2- 2 - or or any three cards two of which are
jokers. ordinary card - - - 5
Please note:
ordinary joker - - - 10
 In a sequence an ace can be at either end (Q-K-A or A-2-3) but not in the middle
(K-A-2 is not a sequence). toplu or 2 5 10 20
 Two identical cards plus a joker, such as 5- 5- J, is not a valid jhiplu
combination: a joker cannot be used to make a tunnela, and it's not a triplet
because it has two cards in the same suit. tiplu 3 7 - -
 A pure sequence of three jokers (jhiplu-tiplu-poplu: 10- J- Q) is called marriage 10 30 - -
a marriage, and is one the most valuable combinations in the game.
Each card can only be counted towards one item in this table - for example a
The Deal marriage is worth 10 points instead of the 2+2+3 points for the individual cards in it.
Any player may deal first. After the play is finished and the hand scored, the turn to Points for tunnelas are only counted if the player exposed the tunnela at the start of
deal passes to the left. the game and the player has laid down three combinations to chose or see the tiplu.
The dealer deals 21 cards to each player, [one at a time?], and turns the next card For convenience we call the player who ended the game the winner, though fact this
face up to begin the discard pile, and places the remaining cards face down in a stack. player may make a net loss if the other players have many valuable cards. The
Any player who is dealt a tunnela (three identical cards) can expose these cards payments are as follows:
immediately, and they may then be worth points at the end of the game. A tunnela 1. The winner is paid 3 points by each opponent who looked at the joker, and 10
that is not exposed at the start, because the owner either acquired it later or chose points by each opponent who did not look at the joker.
not to expose it, has no point value. 2. If the winner ended the game with 8 dublees, the winner is paid an extra 5
The Play points by each opponent.
3. Each player pays each other player the difference between the number of
The play begins with the person sitting to the left of the dealer, and players take turns points they scored for cards.
clockwise around the table.
To streamline this process, it is customary that all payments should be made to and
Each player in turn may take either the (unknown) top card of the face down stack or from the winner. The following method of calculation gives the same net result as the
the face up card discarded by the previous player (on the very first turn, the first individual payments described above.
player may take the card turned up by the dealer). The player must then discard one
card face up on the discard pile. Although the discard pile is spread so that players Suppose that the number of players is n. Add the scores of all the players together,
can still see all the cards that have been discarded previously, players are only and let T be the total. Let S be the score of an individual player, and let w be 3 or 10
allowed to pick up the latest discard. A player who takes the face up card from the depending whether this player has seen the joker, plus 5 more if the winner ended
discard pile is not allowed to discard the same card. with 8 dublees. Then the net amount that the player must pay to the winner is T + w
- (n × S). If this amount is negative, then the winner pays the player.
The Joker
(Example: the points scored by the four players are A, B, C and D. The third player
The first objective is to collect three tunnelas or pure sequences. Any combination of wins. The first player has seen the joker. The amount that the first player must pay
these is acceptable - for example one tunnela plus two pure sequences. The first under the basic method is (B-A) to the second player, (C-A+3) to the third player and
person who achieves this lays these three combinations face up on the table and (D-A) to the fourth player. Under the streamlined method the first player pays
then selects a card unseen from the middle of the face down stack, looks at it without (A+B+C+D)+3-(4×A), which is the same net total amount.)
showing it to the other players, and replaces it face down under the face-down stack.
This card is the tiplu and it determines all the jokers for the current hand, as Variations and uncertainties
described above.

61
It seems that there are some local variations in scoring. I will add the details here if Some sources imply that the game is played anticlockwise, in which case the player to
they are explained to me. dealer's right (not left) begins, and the turn to deal also passes to the right. However,
the software and online games that I have seen play clockwise. Maybe the direction
of play varies from region to region?

Machiavelli 2-5
This page is about a group of rummy variations in which the melds on the table can A sequence of three or more cards adjacent cards of the same suit. Aces can be high
be rearranged. At your turn, in order to meld extra cards, you can reorganise the or low but not both (2-A-K is not valid).
existing melds, breaking them up and regrouping them into new melds in any way Each card can only belong to one combination at a time.
you wish provided that you add at least one new card, and you end with all the table At your turn you may either:
cards forming valid melds. In these games there is no discard pile - players can only Play one or more cards from your hand to the table, provided that you can then
draw and meld. Cards not melded are retained in the player's hand. arrange all the cards on the table into valid combinations, or
Take the top card from the drawing stock and add it to your hand.
A number of different versions are described on this page: You can only do one or the other of these - either play cards ot take one card - then it
is the next player's turn.
 Carousel - in which from one to three cards are drawn per turn If you start making a move of type 1, either by playing cards from your hand or by
 Machiavelli , Tahiti and Vatikan - in which zero or one cards are drawn rearranging cards on the table, but find you are unable to complete your move (you
per turn cannot arrange the table cards into separate complete combinations) you must take
 Guadalupe, in which one or two cards are drawn per turn back any card(s) you played and instead draw three cards from the stock as a penalty.
 Shanghai (contributed by Doug Stein) - in which unlimited cards can be The play ends when a player manages to get rid of all his or her cards onto the table.
drawn in a turn The other players then get 1 penalty point for each card remaining in their hands at
 Manipulation (contributed by Paul Welty), also known as Finagle - that moment (they have no further opportunity to get rid of cards).
another version with unlimited drawing
Variants
The best known version of the tile game Rummikub®, formerly known as Sabra style In their book I Giochi di Carte, E. Fantini and C.E. Santelia describe some further
Rummikub®, is a game similar to Vatikan but played with tiles. variations of Machiavelli:

A general problem with manipulation rummy games is that laying down sets and runs Tahiti
helps the other players by giving them extra manipulation possibilities. The result is In this game 4 jokers are added to the deck (108 cards). Only 5 cards are dealt to each
that players tend to hoard cards, waiting for others to meld, and hoping to go out by player, and four are dealt face up to the table. These four table cards can be used to
playing their whole hand at once. One solution to this problem is to limit the number help form melds, but do not have to be used - until used they remain as separate
of cards that can be played on one turn, as in the proprietary game TZAP Rummy, single cards in the layout. A joker can be used as as substitute for any card needed in
which also features TZAP cards that can be used as wild cards or to zap other players, a meld, but a meld cannot contain more than one joker. A player who has in hand the
forcing them to miss a turn and draw a card from your hand. card represented by a joker on table can replace the joker by the real card and then
use the joker in another combination on the table. A meld that contains a joker
If you are not familiar with Rummy games, please refer to the Basic Rummy page for
cannot be rearranged (unless the player first replaces the joker by the real card that it
definitions of meld, group, sequence, stock, draw etc.
represents). A joker cannot be replaced by a card that is already on the table - the
card must come from the player's hand. When a player goes out the other players get
Machiavelli
penalty points based on the cards in their hands: 2-10 face value, pictures 10, aces
This Italian game for 2 to 5 players is played with two 52 card packs without jokers 11, jokers 30 points.
(104 cards). Deal and play are clockwise.
Guadalupe
The dealer deals 13 cards each one at a time; the remaining cards are placed face
This variant of Machiavelli is played without jokers. The players are dealt 5 cards each
down to form a drawing stock.
initially. On your turn you draw two cards from the deck if you have not put down
The aim is to get rid of all your cards, which you do by laying them on the table in
any cards; if you put down cards from your hand without going out you draw one
valid combinations. The possible combinations are:
card from the deck at the end of your turn. When a player goes out the others score
A set of three or four cards of the same rank and different suits.
1 penalty point for each card remaining in their hands.

Kalooki 3-6, 7+

Introduction Jokers can be used wild cards to substitute for any card in a three or four, with the
Kalooki is very popular in Jamaica, and is also played to some extent in Trinidad and following restrictions:
Tobago. But apart from the fact that they are both types of rummy, Caribbean
 In a "four", jokers cannot be used for consecutive cards - so 5-Joker-
Kalooki has nothing in common with the European and North American games of the
same name - it is in fact a form of Contract Rummy. A version called "Super Kalooki" 7-Joker is OK but 5-Joker-Joker- 8 is not allowed.
is often played in Jamaican tournaments.  In a "three" there must be at least two genuine (non-joker) cards, so in a
This page begins with a description of Jamaican Kalooki, based on information minimum "three" of three cards you can only include one joker. K-K-
received from Robert Ebanks, Jason Chang and Mary Sorum. This is followed by Joker and Q-Q-Joker-Joker are OK, but 9-Joker-Joker is not allowed.
details of the somewhat different version played in Trinidad and Tobago. Jokers that have been used in a three or four can never been removed from that
Players and Cards combination. A joker used in a three cannot be moved at all. When a joker used in a
There are usually from three to six players; tournaments are played with four players four, it can in certain circumstances be moved to the end of the sequence by the
at each table. A pack of 108 cards is used, consisting of two standard 52 card packs holder of the real card that it represents (see tacking on below), but never moved to
plus four jokers. a different three or four - there is no possibility for the holder of the real card that
As in most rummy games, the object is to go out by laying down all of your cards. The the joker represents to play it and take the joker in exchange, as in some other
penalty values of the cards, if left in a player's hand when someone goes out, are: rummy games.
Joker . . . 50 points Deal and contracts
Black Ace ... 15 points Players take turns to deal (or "share") the cards, the first dealer being chosen at
King, Queen, Jack, Ten ... 10 points random. Nine deals (or "games") make up a "set", and the winner is the player who
has the lowest cumulative score at the end of the set. The cards are dealt out one at
2 to 9 ... face value
a time, the number of cards dealt to each player depends on the game being played
Red Ace . . . 1 point as shown in the table below. The next card is turned face up to start the discards pile,
Threes and fours and the remaining undealt cards are stacked face down beside it, to form the stock.
A "three" is a set of three or more cards of the same rank, such as 5-5-5 or K-K-K-K-K. In each game, there is a minimum contract or quota of threes and fours that a player
The suits of the cards do not matter and duplicates can be included. can lay down; this is also shown in the table.
A "four" is a run of four or more consecutive cards in the same suit, such as 8- Game Cards
Contract
No. dealt
9- 10- J- Q. Aces can be high or low but can only be used at the end of a
run, not in the interior, so A-2-3-4 and J-Q-K-A are valid, but K-A-2-3 is not. 1 9 three threes
2 10 two threes, one four

62
 3 11 two fours, one three No player may tack cards onto a three or four until they have laid their contract.
Jokers cannot be discarded, but apart from that there is no restriction on what card
4 12 three fours you may discard from your hand at the end of your turn. It is legal to discard a card
5 12 four threes that could be tacked onto a three or four on the table, and it is legal to discard the
6 13 three threes, one four same card that you just picked up, if you find it is in your interest to do so.
Running out of stock cards. It sometimes happens that the entire stock is used up
7 14 two threes, two fours before any player has gone out. If this happens, the discard pile, except for its top
8 15 one three, three fours card, is reshuffled and placed face down to form a new stock. Play continues as
before. If the stock runs out a second time, which may happen if players are holding
9 16 four fours
back the key cards needed by others to lay down their contracts, the play ends with
When more than one four is put down by one player, they must be of different suits, no score. All the cards are thrown in, shuffled and dealt again by the same dealer and
and when more than one three is put down by one player, they must be of different the play is restarted (playing for the same contract).
ranks. End of the play and scoring
The play As soon as a player goes out by getting rid of all their cards, the play ends. The other
The player to the dealer's left begins and the turn to play passes clockwise. A player's players count the total value of the cards they have in their hands (see above) and
turn consists of: add the result to their cumulative total of penalty points.
1. drawing one card from the top card of the face-down stock or the top of If a player manages to go out on the same turn that they first lay down cards, this is
the discard pile; known as bending the table or down and out, and the other players score double
2. optionally laying down some cards; penalty points for that game. When bending the table you can tack cards onto other
3. discarding any one card (other than a joker) face up on the discard pile. players' threes and fours and discard a card at the end of your turn as usual, but you
Calling must of course begin by putting down from your hand the appropriate threes and
If you have not yet laid down any cards, and you want to take a card discarded by fours for the game being played.
another player when it is not your turn to play next, you can call the card. The player At the end of the set of nine games, the player who has the lowest cumulative score
whose turn it is to play has two options: is the winner.
1. Allow the call. The player whose turn it is gives the top discard to the Variations
player who called it. The calling player takes the discard and must also Some players deal 12 cards cards each in the first three games, rather than 9, 10 and
draw one extra card from the stock, but cannot lay down any cards or 11.
discard at this time. The caller will from now on have two extra cards in Some players only allow one joker in a minimum four - so three genuine cards are
their hand. The play then reverts to the player whose turn was required, but further jokers can be tacked on later.
interrupted by the call, who must draw from the stock, and continue the It sometimes happens that a player will carelessly call more than three times in one
turn in the usual way. game. This can be verified by counting that the player is holding too many cards - for
2. Refuse the call. If the player whose turn it is has not yet laid down, they example in game 4 or 5 no one should ever have more than 18 cards. If this happens,
have the right to take the discard for themselves, rather than giving it to the player in question is penalised (the penalty ranges from 50 to 500 points
the caller and drawing from the stock; the call then has no effect. according to prior agreement) and is not allowed to bend the table in that game. A
Calling is subject to the following rules. similar penalty can be applied to a player who lays down cards but is found not to
 If several people try to call the same card, the person who calls first gets have the required threes and fours for the current game.
the card, assuming that the person whose turn it is allows the call. No It is possible to vary the number of jokers used - for example some groups use two
one can call a card before it reaches the table. packs with 6 jokers - 110 cards in all. It is also possible to play with more than six
 There can only be one call per turn: the card underneath the called card people by adding more packs.
cannot be called - anyone who wanted it should have called it when it Kalooki in Trinidad and Tobago
was first discarded. The following version of Kalooki played in Trinidad and Tobago was described to me
by Samuel Alexander. At least two packs with four jokers (108 cards) are used, but
 Each player is allowed a maximum of three calls per game (deal). Since
with a larger group more packs and extra jokers can be added as desired. For
each call adds two cards to a player's hand, you can check how many
example Samuel Alexander refers to a recent eleven-player game with five packs and
calls you have made by counting the cards in your hand. Calls that were
15 jokers (275 cards).
not allowed by the player whose turn it was or which were unsuccessful
The deal is always 12 cards to each player. As in Jamaica, sets consist of at least three
because another player called first do not count towards the three.
equal cards and runs of at least four consecutive cards of a suit. In Trinidad there are
 A player who has laid down cards can no longer call. seven rounds and the contracts are as follows:
Laying down 1. 2 sets
The first cards you lay down must satisfy the contract for the game being played. You 2. 1 set and 1 run
place these cards face up in front of you, where they stay for the rest of the game, 3. 2 runs
and then discard as usual. For example, in game 3, you must lay down a group of 4. 3 sets
three or more equal ranked cards, plus sequences of four or more cards in two 5. 1 run and 2 sets
different suits. If you are not able to do this, you cannot lay any down any cards yet. 6. 2 runs and 1 set
A player who has laid down is no longer allowed to take cards from the discard pile. 7. 3 runs
When you have laid down you can no longer call for a discard, and in your turn you Players who have put down their contract can tack onto a set or onto either end of a
must draw from the stock. If another player calls in your turn, you must allow the call. run.
After laying down the required threes and/or fours, you are allowed to lay down Jokers can be substituted for any cards needed to make up a set or run. There is no
additional threes or fours in the same or a later turn if you have collected the restriction, except that each set or run must contain at least one genuine card. A
appropriate cards, provided that you respect the rule that you cannot put down two player who holds a real card that is represented by a joker in a run can (at his turn)
fours in the same suit. place the real card in the run and take the joker in exchange. If you replace a joker by
Tacking on a real card in your own run, you may may reuse the joker immediately in the same or
After you have laid down cards you can in the same turn, or in later turns of the same another run or set that you own or store it in your hand for later use. If you replace a
game, add cards to your own or other players' threes and fours. This is called tacking joker with a real card in another player's run, you must move the joker to one or the
on or laying off. Further cards of the same rank can be tacked onto a three. A four other end of the same run - you cannot move it to a different run or set or take it into
can be extended by tacking on the next higher card in sequence only. When the your hand.
sequence reaches the ace, so that no further tacking onto the high end is possible, Each person has 3 'calls' per round, to take the top discard out of turn, but players
then and only then is it permissible for cards be tacked on to the low end of the can call on any turn, even after they have laid down their contract. As usual, if a call is
sequence. Example: if the sequence 9- 10- J- Q has been laid down, it is allowed, the player receives an extra card from the face-down deck along with the
possible to tack on the K but not the 8. After the K and A have both face-up card. You can 'challenge' a player if you think he/she has made more than 3
successful calls thus having more than 18 cards in his/her hand. If the challenge is
been tacked on, it is then possible to tack on the 8, followed by the 7 and so
wrong (player does not have more than 18 cards), the challenger counts the value all
on.
his cards and adds an extra 50 points: this is his score for the round. His cards are
Jokers can always be tacked onto a three. They can be tacked onto a four provided
stacked on the bottom of the discard pile and he drops out of the play until the next
that the rule prohibiting two adjacent jokers in a four is respected. Also, if a joker has
round is dealt. If the challenger is right, the player with more than 18 cards is
been used in a four, the holder of the real card that the joker represents can tack on
punished in the same way.
by placing the real card in the four in place of the joker, and moving the joker to the
When when the first player shouts "kalooki" indicate that he has played his last card,
high end, provided that this has not already reached ace, in which case it is moved to
the others add up the point value of the cards in their hands, and add these to their
the low end. However, this cannot be done if there is already a joker at the end
scores. The values are: Jokers 50 each, King, Queen and Jack 10 each, Black Ace 15,
where the displaced joker would have to be put, since it is not permissible to have
Red Ace 1, 2-10 face value.
two jokers next to each other in a four.
The player with the fewest points after the seven rounds wins the game.
.

63
Trick Taking Explained
History i.e., play a card of a different suit. A trick is won by the player who has played the
highest-ranked card of the suit led, i.e., of the suit of the first card in the trick (unless
The earliest card games were trick-taking games (as evidenced by the rank-and- the game uses a trump suit).
suit structure) originating from China and spreading westwards during the early part
of the second millennium. Michael Dummett noted that these games share various It can be an advantage to lead to a trick, because the player who leads controls the
features. They were played without trumps, following suit was not required but only suit that is led and which others must follow; the leading player playing a suit of
the highest card of the suit led wins, rotation was counter-clockwise, they were plain- which he has many, decreases the chance that anyone else would be able to follow
trick games, and that the pip cards of one or more suit are in reverse order so that suit; while conversely playing a suit of which he has few, allows him to rid his hand of
the lower cards beat the higher ones.[2] Two revolutions occurred in European trick- that suit (known as voiding the suit), freeing him from the restriction to follow suit
taking games that would lead to the development of ever more sophisticated card when that suit is led by another player. On the other hand, it can also be
games. The first is the invention of trumps (and following suit to contain their power) advantageous to be the final player who plays to the trick, because at that point one
in the 15th century. The second was bidding in the 17th century. has full information about the other cards played to the trick; the last player to a trick
can play a card just slightly higher or lower than the current winning card,
According to card game researcher David Parlett, the oldest known European trick- guaranteeing they will win or lose it by the minimum amount necessary, saving more
taking game, Karnöffel, was mentioned in 1426 in the Bavarian town Nördlingen – valuable high or low value cards for situations where they must guarantee that a card
roughly half a century after the introduction of playing cards to Europe, which were played early to a trick will win or lose.
first mentioned in Spain in 1371.[3] The oldest known "trumps" appear in Karnöffel,
where specific ranks of one suit were named Karnöffel, Devil, Pope etc. and subject to When all cards have been played, the number or contents of the tricks won by each
an elaborate system of trumping powers. Around 1440 in Italy, special cards player is tallied and used to update the score. Scoring based on the play of tricks
called trionfi were introduced with a similar function. These special cards are now varies widely between games, but in most games either the number of tricks a player
known as tarots, and a deck augmented by tarots as a tarot deck. The trionfi/tarots or partnership has won (plain-trick games), or the value of certain cards that the
formed essentially a fifth suit without the ordinary ranks but consisting of trumps in a player has won by taking tricks (point-trick games) is important.
fixed hierarchy. But one can get a similar effect by declaring all cards of a fixed or
randomly determined suit to be trumps. This method, originating with Triomphe, is
still followed by a number of modern trick-taking games that do not involve an Partnerships
auction, Trumps were retroactively added to some games, such as Trappola. It is
much rarer for trumps to be removed. The invention of trumps became so popular
that very few European trick-taking games exist without them. This did not stop the  In many games such as Hearts and Oh Hell, all players play individually against
two-handed Piquet from becoming the most popular card game in Europe during the each other.
16th century. Parlett suggests the invention of trumps let players in games involving
more than two a greater chance of heading a trick.  In many four-player games such as Bridge, Euchre and Spades, the players
sitting opposite to each other form a fixed partnership.
The invention of bidding for a trump suit is credited to Ombre, the most popular card
game of the 17th century. Rather than having a randomly selected trump suit, players
 Some games such as Pinochle are commonly played with or without
partnerships, depending on the number of players.
can now hold an auction for it. The most popular games of the 18th-century was
tarot which experienced a great revival.[8] During this time, many tarot games  In some contract/auction games for three or more players, e.g. most Tarot
borrowed bidding over the stock (Taroc l'Hombre). In the 20th century, Whist (now variants, the contractor (declarer or taker) plays alone against all opponents,
with bidding and the dummy hand) developed into Contract bridge, the last global who form an ad hoc partnership (the defenders).
trick-taking game.  In some games the partnerships are decided by chance – the contractor forms
It is possible that the origin of the practice of counting tricks (in plain-trick games) a partnership with the winner of the first trick, or with the player who holds a
was the counting of cards won in tricks. It was therefore a logical development to certain card. This practice originated from Cinquillo and Quadrille.
accord some cards a higher counting-value, and some cards no value at all, leading to o In Königrufen and five-player French tarot the taker can call out a suit of
point-trick games. Point-trick games are at least as old as tarot decks and may even which he does not possess the King, and is partnered with whomever
predate the invention of trumps. Elfern and Fünfzehnern are possible candidates does have it against the other three.
although the earliest references date to the 19th century. Nearly all point-trick games
are played with tarot decks or stripped decks, which in many countries became o Standard Schafkopf is similar: A "player" can "call" a suit, and the
standard before 1600, and neither point-trick games nor stripped decks have a person holding the ace of that suit becomes his partner for the hand. As
tradition in England. this is not openly declared, it can be a challenge for the remaining
players, to find out who is partnered with whom through cunning
While there are a number of games with unusual card-point values, such playing for several tricks. Aside from that, standard Schafkopf also has
as Trappola and All Fours, most point-trick games are in the huge family of Ace–Ten several solo options, where the "player" plays alone against the rest.
card games beginning with Brusquembille. Pinochle is a representative of this family
that is popular in the United States. Other examples include Belote and Skat. o In Doppelkopf the two players holding the black Queens are partners
for that hand. Special rules are provided for the case where a single
In contrast to Europe, Chinese trick-taking games did not develop trumps or bidding. player holds both black Queens.
They diverged into multi-trick games where melds can only be beaten by other melds
provided they have the same number of cards. During the Qing dynasty, these multi-
trick games evolved into the earliest draw-and-discard games where the players' Stock
objective is to form melds and "go out" rather than capturing the opponents'
cards. Khanhoo is an example of a multi-trick game that became a draw-and-discard In some games not all cards are distributed to the players, and a stock remains. This
game.[9] Multi-trick games are also probably the source for climbing games stock can be referred to by different names, depending on the
like Winner and dou dizhu which first appeared during the Cultural Revolution. game; supply, talon, nest, skat, kitty, and dog are common game-specific and/or
regional names.

Basic structure In some games the stock remains untouched throughout play of the hand; it is simply
a pile of "extra" cards that will never be played and whose values are unknown,
Certain actions in trick-taking games with three or more players always proceed in which will reduce the effectiveness of "counting cards" (a common strategy of
the same direction. In games originating in North and West Europe, including keeping track of the cards that have been played or are yet to be played). In games
England, Russia, and the United States and Canada, the rotation is typically clockwise without bidding, trumps may be decided by exposing a card in the stock as
(i.e., play proceeds to the left); in South and East Europe, Latin America, and Asia it is in Triomphe. In other games, the winner of an auction-bidding process (the taker or
typically counterclockwise, so that play proceeds to the right. When games move declarer) may get to exchange cards from his hand with the stock, either by
from one region to another, they tend to initially preserve their original sense of integrating the stock into his hand and then discarding equal cards as
rotation, but a region with a dominant sense of rotation may adapt a migrated game in Skat, Rook and French tarot, or in a "blind" fashion by discarding and drawing as
to its own sensibilities. For two-player games the order of play is moot as either in Ombre. The stock, either in its original or discarded form, may additionally form
direction would result in exactly the same turn order. part of one or more players' "scoring piles" of tricks taken; it may be kept by the
declarer, may be won by the player of the first trick, or may go to an opposing player
In each hand or deal, one player is the dealer. This function moves from deal to deal or partnership.
in the normal direction of play. The dealer usually shuffles the deck (some games use
"soft shuffling," where the dealer does not explicitly shuffle the deck), and after giving In some games, especially two-player games, after each trick every player draws a
the player one seat from the dealer opposite the normal direction of play an new card. This continues while the stock lasts. Since this drawing mechanism would
opportunity to cut, hands out the same (prescribed) number of cards to each player, normally make it difficult or impossible to detect a revoke (for instance, the player
usually in an order following the normal direction of play. Most games deal cards one may not be able to follow suit, so they play off-suit and then immediately draw a card
at a time in rotation; a few games require dealing multiple cards at one time in of the suit led), in the first phase of trick-play (before the stock is empty) players
a packet. The cards apportioned to each player are collectively known as that generally need not follow suit. A widespread game of this type is the Marriage group.
player's hand and are only known to the player. Some games involve a set of cards
that are not dealt to a player's hand; these cards form the stock. (see below) It is
generally good manners to leave one's cards on the table until the deal is complete. Bidding

The player sitting one seat after the declarer (one with the highest bid and not the In a contract game the winning and scoring conditions are not fixed but are chosen by
dealer) in normal rotation is known as the eldest hand, also called one of the players after seeing their hand. In such games, players
the forehand in Skat and other games of German origin. The eldest hand leads to the make bids depending on the number of tricks or card points they believe they can
first trick, i.e. places the first card of the trick face up in the middle of all players. The win during play of the hand. One or more of these bids stands as the contract, and
other players each follow with a single card, in the direction of play. When every the player who made that bid is rewarded for meeting it or penalized for not meeting
player has played a card to the trick, the trick is evaluated to determine the winner, it.
who takes the cards, places them face down on a pile, and leads to the next trick. The
winner or taker of a trick is usually the player who played the highest-value card of In auction games, bidding players are competing against each other for the right to
attempt to make the contract. In a few games, the contract is fixed (normally a simple
the suit that was led, unless the game uses one or more trump cards (see below). majority, less often based on certain cards captured during play) and players' bids are
The player who leads to a trick is usually allowed to play an arbitrary card from their a wager of game points to be won or lost. In others, the bid is a number of tricks or
hand. Some games have restrictions on the first card played in the hand, or may card points the bidder is confident that they or their partnership will take. Either of
disallow leading a card of a particular suit until that suit has been played "off-suit" in these can also include the suit to be used as trumps during the hand. Common bids
a prior trick (called "breaking" the suit, usually seen in cases of a trump or penalty include slam (winning all the tricks), misère (losing all the tricks), ouvert (the
suit). Other games have special restrictions on the card that must be led to the first contractor's hand is exposed), playing without using the stock or only part of it, and
trick; usually this is a specific card (e.g., 2♣) and the holder of that card is the eldest winning the last trick or other specific tricks. The highest bid becomes the contract
hand instead of the person one seat after the dealer. and the highest bidder is the contractor, known in some games as
the declarer or taker, who then plays either with or without a partner. The other
In many games, the following players must follow suit if they can, i.e., they must play players become opponents or defenders, whose main goal is to prevent the contract
a card of the same suit if possible. A player who cannot follow suit may sluff a card, being met. They may announce a contra against the contractor which doubles the
points for the hand. The contractor can declare a recontra which will double the allowed to play any card he wants. If he desires to win the trick, he can
points again. override North's K♠ by playing a diamond card (diamond being the trump), for
example J♦. If he does not want to win the trick, he can slough any other suit,
Popular examples of games with auctions include Contract bridge, Pinochle, tarot such as 3♥. Let us assume that he plays J♦, overriding North's card. Now,
games, Skat, Belote and Twenty-Eight. In many auction games the eldest hand leads West still has to follow suit, since he has a spade card, and plays 2♠. South's
to the first trick, regardless of who won the auction, but in some, such as Contract trump card, gives him an opportunity to escape following suit, and he wins the
Bridge, the first lead is made by the player next in rotation after the contractor, so trick.
that the contractor plays last to that trick.
If a player who can follow suit does not do so, or in games with additional
In precision or exact-prediction games, all players choose their winning condition restrictions on card play, not following these restrictions is known as a revoke,
independently: to win precisely a predicted number of tricks (Oh Hell) or card points or 'renege'. A revoke typically cannot be discovered at the time when it is
(Differenzler). Each player's bid stands (in partnership games the partners' bids are committed, but when a player plays off-suit to a trick, competent opponents
often combined), and each player or partnership then tries to take exactly the will make a mental note that the player does not hold the suit led, and will
number of tricks or points they bid, and are rewarded or penalized for doing so notice later if the player later plays a card of the suit they were thought to be
independently of anyone else's success or failure in meeting their bid. This type of void in. The situation is similar for other types of revoke. Most game rules
game began to mature in the 20th century. Other games generally falling into the prescribe a severe penalty for a revoke and may also result in the hand being
exact-prediction category are Spades and Ninety-Nine. voided (a "misdeal"). Decks of cards have been marketed for trick-taking
games with the traditional French suit symbols, but in four colors; these are
often called "no-revoke" decks, as the color contrast between each suit makes
Trumps a potential revoking play easier to spot and harder to do accidentally.
Trump cards are a set of one or more cards in the deck that, when played, are of In some trick games—typically ones in which players are not penalized for
higher value than the suit led. If a trick contains any trump cards, it is won by the winning tricks, and there is no requirement for trumping or following suit
highest-value trump card played, not the highest-value card of the suit led. when possible—players may slough, or play a card face down. A card so played
is incapable of winning the trick; but sloughing has the advantage that the
In most games with trumps, one of the four suits is identified as the trump suit. In the other players cannot see what card is played. As this form of sloughing has the
simplest case, there is a static trump suit such as the Spade suit in the game Spades, potential to be used to cheat in most games (i.e. playing a winning card face-
or a dedicated trump suit in the Tarot family (in addition to the other four) is down to avoid taking an "overtrick" or a trick containing penalty points) and is
featured. More often, a dynamic trump suit is determined by some means, either thus not allowed, sloughing in the vernacular more often refers to simply
randomly by selection of a card as in Oh Hell and the original form of Whist, or discarding an off-suit card on a trick, particularly one that could be dangerous
decided by the winner or winning bid of an auction as in contract bridge and some to that player if kept. This form of sloughing is important in evasion games and
forms of Pinochle. In certain games, such as Rowboat and Rage, the trump suit may in some contract games where "overtricks" are penalized; in Oh Hell, for
change during the course of the hand, even from trick to trick. Some psychological instance, a player who cannot follow suit may elect to discard a card that
variety is added to the game and makes it more difficult to cheat if the trump suit is would win if played to follow suit later, thus reducing the chance that the
only chosen after dealing. player will "bag", or take more tricks than needed. This is common in Hearts,
where high-value cards (especially Spades and Hearts) are dangerous as they
In some games, in addition to or separately from a trump suit, certain fixed cards are increase the chance of winning a trick with penalty points.
always the highest trumps, e.g. the Jacks in Skat, the Jacks or Jokers in Euchre, and
the Rook Bird card in Rook. They are called matadors after the high trumps Some games such as Pinochle use several decks shuffled together. In these
in Ombre. Matadors either have high point values or special abilities as in Spoil games, there may be several equal winning cards in a trick; such games then
Five where they can revoke legally. use other rules to break ties. Common rules include:
Some games have more than one trump suit, such as the quasi-trick game Stortok, in
which there are two trumps, with one superseding the other. Other games have no
trumps; Hearts for instance has no provision for a trump suit of any kind (the Hearts  the first-played of the tying cards wins
suit for which the game is named has a different significance). Though trump is part  the last-played of the tying cards wins
of contract bridge, teams can make bids that do not specify a trump suit, and if that is
the winning bid then there is no trump suit for that hand (making such a contract is  The tying cards cancel each other out, and the trick is taken by the next-
regarded as harder to accomplish). highest card that was played.
 The tying cards cancel each other out, but the trick is spoiled (ignored).
Declarations
A common additional rule to reduce these occurrences is that a player cannot
In some games such as Piquet, Tarocchini, and Belote, before the taking of tricks play a card tying the current high card unless they would renege or fail to
commences, players can expose certain cards or melds (combinations) that they overtrump by making any other play.
possess for bonus points. While this phase may seem to award players for pure
chance, those who do declare risk letting their opponents develop strategies to
counter the cards that they have revealed. Scoring
When all tricks have been played, the winner of the hand and the players'
Follow suit scores can be determined. The determining factor in plain-trick games (the
most popular form of trick-taking games in English-speaking countries) is
In many games, following suit is the obligatory action of playing a card of the same simply how many tricks each player or partnership has taken. In point-trick
suit as that of the leading suit. A player must follow suit if that player has cards of the games, certain card values are worth varying points, and the players sum the
leading suit in his hands. There is a large variation of strictness in following suit points from cards in their "scoring piles" that were accumulated by taking
among games.[11] tricks. Points for cards, and the method of counting points, vary by game; in
Rook, for example, the 5-card of each color is worth 5 points, the 10 and 14 (or
In most modern games with trump suits, the rules for following suit do not Ace) is worth 10, and the Rook Bird (or Joker) is worth 20, while all other cards
distinguish between the trump suit and the plain suits. If a trick begins with a plain are worth nothing. Many Chinese card games like Finding Friends use a very
suit card and a later player cannot follow suit, the player may choose freely to similar system, in which each 5-card is worth 5 points, and the 10 and King are
either slough (discard a card of another plain suit), or ruff (trump the trick by playing each worth 10 points. Pinochle has many popular scoring variants usually
a trump card). Subsequent players to the trick must still follow the original suit, and based on point values for face cards and Aces, while pip cards score no points.
may only discard or trump if they do not hold a card of the suit led. Certain games are In French tarot, all cards have a value including a half-point, and are
"play to beat" or "must-trump"; if a player cannot follow suit but can play trump, traditionally scored in pairs of a high-value and a low-value card which results
they must play trump, and additionally if they are able they must beat any trump in a whole-point value for the pair.
card already played to the trick. Pinochle and several of the Tarot card games have
this rule. In the most common positive or race games, players seek to win as many tricks
or card points as possible. To win a hand, a player typically needs to win a
Some games, notably French tarot and a variation of Rook, use a special card (in minimal number of tricks or card points; this minimal threshold is usually
French Tarot's case, the Excuse) that can be played at any time. If not, he has the called the "contract", and may be defined by the game's rules (a simple
choice of playing a trump to possibly win the trick, or rough (waste) a different suit. majority of total available points or tricks, or tiered thresholds depending on
which player or side has captured certain cards), or the result of an "auction"
If unable to follow suit or trump, any card can be played. Each trick must contain one or "bidding" process. A player who wins more than the number of tricks or
card per player, and hence a player unable to satisfy any other instruction is at liberty card points necessary for winning the hand may be rewarded with a higher
to play any card. Usually a low-ranking card or one from a short suit is sacrificed. The score, or conversely (in exact-prediction games) they may be penalized.
former is used to protect a higher ranking card while the latter is to help void a suit so
as to allow trumping a future trick. There are also negative or evasion games, in which the object is to avoid tricks
or card points. E.g. in Hearts each card point won in a trick contributes
It is also possible that the specific deal has "no trump". In that case, any card other negatively to the score. A special type is misère games, which are usually
than the leading suit played has no value, in most trick-taking games. In some games variants of positive games which can only be won by not winning a single trick.
such as Oh, hell, where the player may need to not get more tricks to win, playing
cards other than the leading suit can be useful. Other criteria also occur. Sometimes the last trick has special significance.
In marriage games such as Pinochle the winner of the last trick receives 10
For example, consider the following Whist hand: points in addition to the card points, while in final-trick games such as cắt tê
Trump diamonds ♦ only the winner of the last trick can win a hand. There are also blends between
positive and negative games, e.g. the aim may be to win a certain prescribed
number of tricks. Many card games, regardless of their normal scoring
mechanism, give bonuses to players or partnerships who win all tricks or
 North: A♠ K♠ 4♥ 9♦ possible points in a hand, or conversely lose all tricks or points.
 East: 7♠ 5♦ Q♣ 10♣
Games usually end after every player has had an equal chance to be the
 South: 3♥ 2♦ J♦ A♣ dealer. The number of rotations varies widely among games. Some games
have a cumulative score where all points from each hand add up. Others
 West: 5♠ 2♠ 6♥ 5♣ assign only a set number of game points for winning a hand. For example, a
North leads the deal with K♠. Now, all the other players must follow suit, i.e. player or side that wins one hand may be awarded one game point, two if they
play a spade card. East has a spade card, and thus must follow suit by achieve a slam. The player or side with the most game points or the first to
playing 7♠. South, however, does not have any spade card, and thus is reach a certain number of card or game points, is considered the winner.

65
Whist 4

Types of Whist simply needs to pick up the cards from the left and pass them across to the right to
This page describes the classic game of Whist which was played widely in the 18th be cut. Provided all the players understand and operate it, this procedure saves time
and 19th centuries. Whist was derived from the older game Ruff and Honours, and in and helps to remember whose turn it is to deal, as the spare pack of cards is always
the twentieth century, bridge has displaced whist as the most popular card game to the left of the next dealer.
internationally among serious card players. Nevertheless, whist continues to be Play
played in Britain, often in local tournaments called "whist drives". The player to the dealer's left leads to the first trick. Any card may be led. The other
Nowadays there are many other games called whist - the name has become attached players, in clockwise order, each play a card to the trick. Players must follow suit by
to a wide variety of games based on classic whist, but often with some kind of bidding playing a card of the same suit as the card led if they can; a player with no card of the
added, for example: suit led may play any card. The trick is won by the highest trump in it - or if it contains
no trump, by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next.
 Knockout whist (a children's game in which a player who wins no trick is
eliminated) Scoring
 Solo whist (played in Britain; a game where individuals can bid to win 5, 9 or 13 When all 13 tricks have been played, the side which won more tricks scores 1 point
tricks or to lose every trick) for each trick they won in excess of 6.
 Whist (Wiezen) and Suit Whist (Kleurenwiezen) (Belgian games similar to Solo The partnership which first reaches 5 points wins the game. This will normally take
Whist, but more elaborate) several deals.
 Bid whist (a partnership game with bidding, played in the USA) Variations
 Minnesota whist (in which there are no trumps, and hands can be played to win Honours
tricks or to lose tricks - also the very similar game of Norwegian Whist) Honours are the top four trumps - A K Q J. A partnership which between them held all
 Romanian whist (a game in which players try to predict the exact number of four honours in their hands score an extra 4 points, which they claim at the end of
tricks they will take - similar to Oh Hell) the play. A side which held three of the four honours can claim 2 points for them. A
team which at the start of the already has 4 points towards the 5 required for game
 Israeli whist (another game somewhat related to Oh Hell, in which one tries to
cannot score honours on that deal.
bid the exact number of tricks one will take)
If on the same deal one side scores for tricks and the other side scores honours, the
 German Whist (a British two-player adaptation of Whist without bidding)
tricks are scored first. That means that if both sides would have reached 5 or more
 Danish Whist, which exists in two forms: one with fixed partnerships, and one in points, it is the side scoring for tricks that wins the game.
which partners are chosen by calling an ace.
Although scoring honours was part of the traditional game, nowadays many players
Whist Rules do not count them. Scoring for honours introduces a larger luck element into the
The classic game of whist is a plain-trick game without bidding for 4 players in fixed game.
partnerships. Although the rules are extremely simple there is enormous scope for Determination of Trumps
scientific play, and in its heyday a large amount of literature about how to play whist
Instead of determining trumps by facing the last card in the deal, an alternative is to
was written.
fix the trump suit in advance. In this case it is normal to go through the trump suits in
Players a fixed sequence - for the first deal hearts are trumps, for the second deal diamonds,
There are four players in two fixed partnerships. Partners sit facing each other. The then spades, then clubs, then hearts again, and so on. This method is commonly used
game is played clockwise. in tournaments, such as whist drives.
Cards It is also possible to introduce no trumps into the sequence - so that every fifth hand
A standard 52 card pack is used. The cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest: A is played without trumps.
K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Scoring
Deal The number of points required for game varies. In America a target of 7 was
The cards are shuffled by the player to dealer's left and cut by the player to dealer's customary. In Britain the game was 5 points up, but it was usual to play a rubber
right. The dealer deals out all the cards one at a time so that each player has 13. The which was the best of three games - that is, the winners were the first side to win
final card, which will belong to the dealer, is turned face up to indicate which suit is two games. There was also "Long Whist" in which game was 10 points.
trumps. The turned trump remains face up on the table until it is dealer's turn to play When playing a tournament, it is inconvenient to have people at different tables play
to the first trick. varying numbers of deals before moving. Therefore it is usual to play a fixed number
It is traditional to use two packs of cards. During each deal, the dealer's partner of deals, rather than a game. Each player's score is the total number of odd tricks
shuffles the other pack and places it to the right. The dealer for the next hand then (tricks above six) that their side has taken over the deals played.

German Whist 2

Introduction suit - the suit of the card turned up at the start of the play remains trump until all the
German Whist is an adaptation of classic Whist for two players. There is nothing cards have been played. The winner of the trick just played leads a card to the next
German about it - as far as I know it is of British origin. one.
Players and Cards Play continues in this way until, after 13 tricks have been played, there are no cards
left in the stock. The winner of the 13th trick leads, and the play continues without
This is a game for two players only, using a standard pack of 52 cards
replenishment until after 13 more tricks both players run out of cards. In this second
ranked A(high) K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 (low) in each suit.
stage each player keeps the tricks they won in front of them, and whoever wins the
Deal majority of the 13 tricks of this second stage wins the hand.
The players agree who should deal first, and the turn to deal alternates after each Tactics
hand. The deal is 13 cards each, dealt one at a time. The stock of undealt cards is
Notice that tricks won in the first stage do not count towards winning the game; the
placed on the table, face-down except for the top card which is turned face-up and
sole aim in the first stage is to collect cards that will enable you to win the majority of
placed on top of the stock. The suit of this face-up card determines the trump suit for
tricks in the second stage. Therefore you only try to win a trick if you judge that the
the hand.
exposed card on top of the stock is likely to be better than the card underneath it. For
Play
example if hearts are trumps and the exposed card is the 5 you would definitely
The play is in tricks and consists of two stages: in the first stage the players compete
try to lose the trick, as the next card is likely to be better. Even if the exposed card is
to win good cards from the stock to add to their hand; in the second stage, when the
stock is empty, the object is to win the majority of the tricks. The non-dealer leads average (say the J) you would not use a high card to win it, as all this would
(plays the first card) to the first trick. achieve would be to replace a high card in your hand by an average one.
A trick consists of one card played by each player. The person who plays first to a Variations
trick may play any card, and the other player must play a card of the same suit if In the game described above, the requirement to follow suit in the first stage of the
possible. Having no cards of the suit led, the second player may play any card. If both game cannot be enforced in practice. In many cases, a player who later produces a
cards are of the same suit, the higher card wins the trick. If they are of different suits card of the suit he previously claimed not to have could have drawn that card from
the first player wins unless the second player played a trump, in which case the the stock. Therefore the game is often played without the requirement to follow suit
trump wins. in stage 1 - in this stage the second player may play any card, though only a higher
When you win a trick you must take the face-up card from the top of the stock and card of the same suit or a trump wins the trick.
add it to your hand. The loser then takes the next card of the stock, which is face- Some count all the tricks towards winning, rather than just the tricks in stage 2. The
down, without showing it to the winner, so that both players again have 13 cards in player who wins the majority of the 26 tricks wins, and if each player takes 13 the
their hands. The two cards played to the trick are turned face down and set aside, the game is drawn.
top card of the remaining stock is turned face-up. This does not change the trump

66
Knock Out Whist 2-7

Introduction Clubs 6
This is a simple plain-trick game. It is often played as a children's game but it has Spades K Q
enough interesting tactics that it is also played by adults, sometimes for small stakes. Hearts 6 5 4
In Britain it is called Knockout Whist, or sometimes just Trumps. In North America it make hearts trumps.
is known by other names including Scrounge or Rat or Rat **** where the **** In choosing between suits of the same length, do not choose a suit with very high
stands for various vulgar words, according to the taste of the players. cards in it, as these may well win tricks even if they are not trumps. From
A session consists of seven hands of diminishing size. Clubs A Q
Players and Cards Spades 8 6
Hearts 4
Any number from two to seven may play. A standard 52-card pack is used, with four
suits ranking from high to low A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. make spades trumps.
Play
A player is selected to deal, and deals seven cards each, clockwise. The uppermost of Variations
the undealt cards is turned face upwards to indicate the trump suit. Deal and opening lead
The player on dealer's left leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit if they can, Many people play that from the second deal onwards, the winner not
otherwise they may play any card. Each trick is won by the highest trump in it; only chooses trumps but also deals and leads to the first trick. Some play
otherwise by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next that the dealer also leads to the first trick in the first deal. Some begin
trick. with a different number of cards dealt, for example 9 to each player.
After the first hand, a second hand is dealt by the next player in order around the Card exchange
table, with only six cards each. The game continues like this, with one fewer card per Some play that after trumps are chosen, each player may discard 1, 2 or
player on each hand, until the final hand consists of one card each. 3 cards and be dealt an equal number of replacement cards before play
The winner of most tricks on a hand chooses the trump suit on the next hand after begins. These cards must all be discarded at once: a player can't discard
looking at their cards. If there is a tie for who took most tricks, the players involved in a card, get the replacement, and then discard another. Obviously when
the tie cut cards for the right to choose trumps. only 2 cards each are dealt, only 1 or 2 can be discarded, and when only
The Knockout 1 is dealt, only 1 can be discarded. A player is always allowed to discard
nothing and play with the cards he or she was dealt.
A player who takes no tricks at all in a hand is knocked out, is dealt no more cards,
and takes no further part in the game. Elimination and Dog's Life
There is one exception to the rule about being knocked out: the first player during  Many play without the dog's life. Anyone who takes no trick is
the game who takes no tricks on a hand is not knocked out immediately but is immediately out of the game.
awarded the "dog's life". On the following hand, she is dealt just one card, and may
decide on which trick to play it. In the course of the play, a player "on a dog's life"
 As an alternative, some play that no one can be eliminated in the
first deal: a player who takes no trick on the first deal is dealt a full
may, when it is her turn to play, either play her card or knock on the table to indicate
hand of 6 cards in the second deal. From the second deal onwards,
that she wishes to keep it for a later trick. If she is the player on the dealer's left, she
anyone who takes no trick is eliminated.
is not compelled to lead her card to the first trick; she may either do so, or knock,
allowing the next player to lead.  Some play that anyone who is eliminated should stand up and
If two or more players take no tricks on the same deal, no one having previously used shout "Rat ****".
the dog's life, these players get one dog's life each. Apart from this case, there is only Options when choosing trumps
one dog's life available during the game. Players who take no tricks in later deals are Some allow extra options for the winner of the previous deal. The
eliminated immediately. winner may choose 'no trump' rather than trump suit, may designate
If a player on a dog's life manages to take a trick with her card, the player on her left aces as either high or low, and may specify whether cards rank in normal
leads to the next trick, and the dog's life player is dealt a normal hand on the next order (high card takes) or reverse order (low card takes). So the ranking
deal, and treated like the other surviving players. If the dog's life player doesn't from best to worst card can be chosen as AKQJT98765432,
manage to win a trick, she is knocked out of the game, like anyone else who takes no KQJT98765432A, A23456789TJQK or 23456789TJQKA.
trick. Tie for Winner
Since the right to lead to the first trick is an advantage, it is fair for everyone in turn Some play that in case of a tie for winner, trumps are determined in the
to have this opportunity. Therefore, if the player to dealer's left is knocked out, this next deal by turning a card from the deck (as in the initial 7-card deal).
player should deal the next hand before leaving the game. This way the player to the
2 of diamonds
left of the one who was knocked out is not deprived of the chance to play the first
card of the next hand. Some play that the 2 of diamonds counts as the permanent highest
trump, ranking above the ace of trumps, whatever suit is trumps.
Winning the Game
Rainbow
The game is won by the winner of the one trick on the final hand. Or if all but one of
the players are knocked out before this, the surviving player is the winner. Some play that in the four-card deal, if a player is dealt a 'rainbow' - four
cards of different suits - that player wins the game immediately. If two or
Advice on Play
more players are dealt rainbows, cards are cut to decide which of them
In choosing trumps, always choose the longest suit. From wins. I suggest that this should not be combined with the card exchange
variant, or at least it should not be possible to win with a rainbow
obtained by exchanging cards.

67
Solo Whist 4

Introduction chosen as trumps, including the suit of the exposed card. The bid of abundance in
Solo Whist is a plain-trick game with trumps and bidding, closely related to the more trumps is only used to overcall another player's bid of abundance.
elaborate and now obsolete game of Boston. Solo Whist is mainly played in Britain, The play
having been introduced from the low countries in the late nineteenth century; it is The player to the dealer's left leads to the first trick (unless the bid is abundance
also played to some extent in Australia and New Zealand. declared, in which case the bidder leads).
Players and cards Any card may be led to a trick. The other three players must play a card of the same
There are four players, each ultimately playing for themselves, though they form suit if they can. A player with no card of the led suit may play any card.
temporary alliances - one against three or two against two - for each hand. If any trumps are played to a trick, it is won by the highest trump played. If there are
A standard 52 card pack is used, the cards in each suit ranking from high to low: A K no trumps in a trick, it is won by the highest card played in the suit that was led. The
Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. winner of a trick leads to the next.
The deal The scoring
The deal, bidding and play are clockwise. The cards are shuffled by the dealer and cut Players generally settle up in money after each deal. The score for each bid is given in
by the player to dealer's right. The dealer then deals out all the cards so that the table of bids above. In a prop and cop, the play is two against two; if the bidders
everyone has 13. The cards are dealt in packets of three until only four cards remain. make their 8 tricks or more, each receives 1 unit and each of their opponents pays 1
These last four cards are dealt singly, turning the last card face up to indicate the unit; if they fail the bidders each pay 1 and each opponent receives 1. In all the other
prospective trump suit. This exposed card is part of the dealer's hand and can be bids, the bidder is paid by all three opponents if successful and pays all three if the
picked up by the dealer at the end of the first trick if it was not played to that trick. bid fails. So for example, you win 3 units in total (1 from each opponent) if you make
The turn to deal passes to the left after each hand. a Solo, and 9 in total if you make an abundance.
The bidding Variations
Beginning with the player to dealer's left, each player may pass or bid a contract. The Some play with just a single round of bidding. Each player has only one opportunity
possible bids in ascending order are as follows: to speak except in the following two cases:
Contract Score Description 1. the player to dealer's left, having originally passed, can still accept a proposal;
2. a player whose proposal is not accepted can raise the bid to solo.
1 (Proposal) The bidder undertakes to win at least 8 tricks,
"Prop and cop" is considered by some to be uninteresting to play, so some players do
Prop unit playing in partnership with another player yet to be
not allow these bids; the lowest bid allowed is Solo.
determined, using the suit of the turned up card as trump.
To increase the proportion of hands with uneven distributions with which higher bids
(Acceptance) The bidder accepts a proposal (prop) bid are possible, some play that the cards are shuffled only at the start of a session and
made by another player - if it is not overcalled by a higher after a bid of abundance or higher. Otherwise, the cards are simply gathered together
Cop
bid, these two will play together with the turned suit as by the new dealer and the player to the dealer's right cuts. In this version the cards
trump and try to win at least 8 tricks. are often dealt in packets of 3 and 4 - for example 4-3-3-3, 3-4-3-3, 3-3-4-3, 3-3-3-4.
Instead of turning the dealer's last card for trump, some cut a card from a second
1 The bidder undertakes to win at least 5 tricks, playing
Solo pack. Others go through the trump suits in cyclic order: hearts, clubs, diamonds,
unit alone, using the suit of the turned up card as trump.
spades, hearts, etc.
2 The bidder undertakes to lose every trick, playing alone Some play that if a hand is passed out, the cards are gathered together without
Misère
units with no trumps. shuffling and the next hand is dealt as a "goulash" (packets of 5 + 3 + 5 instead of 3 +
3 + 3 + 3 + 1).
3 The bidder undertakes to win at least 9 tricks playing
Abundance Some play that if everyone passes a special game is played with no trumps. This game
units alone. The trump suit is chosen by the bidder.
is sometimes called "misery" and there are various forms of it, such as:
Abundance in 3 The bidder undertakes to win at least 9 tricks playing  the object is to lose the last trick: the winner of the last trick pays the other
Trumps units alone, using the suit of the turned up card as trump. three players as for a lost solo;

Misère
4 The bidder undertakes to lose every trick, playing alone  the object is to avoid tricks: the player who wins fewest tricks wins as for a solo;
units with no trumps. The bidder's hand is placed face up on the
Ouverte
table after the first trick is complete.  the first player who takes five tricks pays as for a lost solo; if no one takes five,
the loser is the first player who takes four tricks.
Abundance 6 The bidder undertakes to win all 13 tricks, playing alone. Some play abundance declared with a trump suit chosen by the bidder. Since the
Declared units There are no trumps, and the bidder leads to the first trick. bidder has the first lead and can start by drawing trumps, the only effect of this is to
make the bid somewhat risky in cases where the bidder has no long suit.
If all four players pass, then the cards are thrown in and next dealer deals. If someone
bids, then subsequent players can either pass or bid higher. The bidding continues There are other scoring schedules. A common one is: prop & cop 2; solo; 2 misère 3;
around the table as many times as necessary until the contract is settled - i.e. either abundance 4; misère ouverte 6; abundance declared 8.
there has been a prop and cop and no one has bid higher, or someone has bid one of Many people play with a payment for overtricks in prop and cop, solo and
the higher contracts and the other three players have passed. abundance. In that case it is usual to set the basic score for a solo as 4, 5 or 6 units,
A player who has passed cannot bid later in the auction, except in one case: if the increasing the other scores in proportion. Each overtrick or undertrick in a prop and
player to dealer's left passes initially and the only other bid on the first round is a cop or solo is worth an extra unit. In abundance, overtricks gain an extra two units
proposal (prop), the player to dealer's left is allowed to accept (cop). No other player each, but undertricks cost only one unit each. There is no score for over- or
has this privilege. undertricks in Misère, Misère Ouverte or Abundance Declared.
Of course it is not allowed for a player to bid cop unless another player has already In old British money, the stake would often have been 6d for a solo plus 1d per
bid prop. If a player bids prop and everyone else passes, the proposing player has the overtrick, or 1s for a solo plus 3d per overtrick (overtricks counting double in
choice of converting the prop to a solo or any higher bid. If the proposer does not abundance). In new money 10p for a solo plus 2p per overtrick or 20p plus 5p would
wish to do this the cards are thrown in and the next player deals. be typical.
When bidding abundance (or abundance declared), you do not announce the trump Misère is very hard to make against good defenders. For that reason, some
suit along with the bid, but wait until the other players have passed and then experienced players rank Misère above Abundance in trumps and Misère Ouverte as
announce trumps immediately before the first lead. Any of the four suits can be the highest bid of all, adjusting the scoring appropriately.

68
 Bridge 4

Types of Bridge  pass, by saying "no bid" or "pass". This indicates that the player does not wish to
Contract Bridge was invented in the 1920's and in the following decades it was bid, double or redouble at that turn, but a player who has passed is still allowed
popularised especially in the USA by Ely Culbertson. Bridge currently occupies a to bid, double or redouble at a later turn. NB. Either "no bid" or "pass" is
position of great prestige, and is more comprehensively organised than any other permissible, but you should stick to one term or the other. "No bid" is usual in
card game. There are clubs, tournaments and championships throughout the world. Britain; "pass" is usual in the USA.

Rubber Bridge is the basic form of Contract Bridge, played by four players. Informal If all four players pass on their first turn to speak the hand is said to be passed out.
social Bridge games are often played this way, and Rubber Bridge is also played in The cards are thrown in and the next dealer deals.
clubs for money. If anyone bids, then the auction continues until there are three passes in succession,
Duplicate Bridge is the game normally played in clubs, tournaments and matches. and then stops. After three consecutive passes, the last bid becomes the contract.
The game is basically the same but the luck element is reduced by having the same The team who made the final bid will now try to make the contract. The first player of
deals replayed by different sets of players. At least eight players are required for this. this team who mentioned the denomination (suit or no trumps) of the contract
There are some significant differences in the scoring. Two types of Duplicate Bridge becomes the declarer. The declarer's partner is known as the dummy.
will be covered: Example of an auction (North dealt):
 teams of four
North East South West
 pairs
Chicago is a version of Bridge played by four people over four deals. pass 1 heart double 3 hearts

Contract Bridge developed in the 1920's from Auction Bridge, which is different 3 spades pass 4 spades pass
mainly in the scoring. In Auction Bridge, overtricks count towards making game, so it pass pass
is only necessary to bid high enough to win the contract - there is no incentive to bid
all the tricks you can make. North-South will try to win at least 10 tricks with spades as trumps; North, who
mentioned spades first, is the declarer. South's double of one heart was cancelled by
Before Auction Bridge there was Bridge-Whist or Straight Bridge (at the time this West's bid of 3 hearts.
game was just called Bridge). Here is a link to the earliest published rules of Bridge,
which appeared in 1886 under the name Biritch or Russian Whist. In Bridge-Whist The Play
there is no bidding at all - the dealer either names a trump suit or passes, in which
The player to the left of the declarer
case the dealer's partner must choose trumps. In either case the dealer's partner is
leads to the first trick and may play
dummy. Either opponent may double before the lead to the first trick, and if doubled,
any card. Immediately after this
the dealer's side may redouble. In the earliest form of the game, after any redouble,
opening lead, the dummy's cards are
the other side can redouble again, and this can continue indefinitely.
exposed. The dummy should arrange
The duplicate format, in which the same cards are played at more than one table, has them neatly in suits, the cards of each
been in use since the 19th century for competitions in Auction Bridge, Straight suit arranged in rank order in an
Bridge, their ancestor Whist, and several other four-player card games, as well as for overlapping column, pointing towards
Contract Bridge from its invention to the present day. the declarer, so that all the cards are
clearly visible. The trump suit if any
Rubber Bridge should be to dummy's right (declarer's
left); in the diagram, spades are
Players and Cards trump.
There are four players in two fixed partnerships. Partners sit facing each other. It is Play proceeds clockwise. Each of the other three players in turn must if possible play
traditional to refer to the players according to their position at the table as North, a card of the same suit that the leader played. A player with no card of the suit led
East, South and West, so North and South are partners playing against East and West. may play any card. A trick consists of four cards, one from each player, and is won by
The game is played clockwise. the highest trump in it, or if no trumps were played by the highest card of the suit
A standard 52 card pack is used. The cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest: A led. The winner of a trick leads to the next, and may lead any card.
K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Each trick is gathered together and turned face down when complete, but you may
Deal ask to see the cards and ask who played which card until you or your partner has
played to the next trick. The tricks won are to be arranged neatly in front of one
The cards are shuffled by the player to dealer's left and cut by the player to dealer's member of the winning side, so that they can easily be counted.
right. The dealer deals out all the cards one at a time so that each player has 13. Turn
to deal rotates clockwise. Dummy takes no active part in the play of the hand. Whenever it is dummy's turn to
play, the declarer must say which of dummy's cards is to be played, and dummy plays
It is traditional to use two packs of cards. During each deal, the dealer's partner the card as instructed (provided that it is legal). Dummy is not permitted to offer any
shuffles the other pack and places it to the right. The dealer for the next hand then advice or comment on the play. When dummy wins a trick, the declarer specifies
simply needs to pick up the cards from the left and pass them across to the right to which card dummy should lead to the next trick. If when calling for a card the
be cut. Provided all the players understand and operate it, this procedure saves time declarer specifies the suit only, dummy is to play the lowest card of that suit.
and helps to remember whose turn it is to deal, as the spare pack of cards is always
to the left of the next dealer. It is also legal, and not unusual, for the declarer to play dummy's cards by physically
taking them from dummy's hand rather than just calling for them. This allows the
Bidding dummy player to leave the table during the play of the hand.
There is next an auction to decide who will be the declarer. A bid specifies a number Scoring
of tricks and a trump suit (or that there will be no trumps). The side which bids
highest will try to win at least that number of tricks bid, with the specified suit as As its name suggests, Rubber Bridge is played in rubbers. A rubber is the best of
trumps. three games. A game is won by the first team to score 100 or more points for
successful contracts, over several deals if necessary.
When bidding, the number which is said actually represents the number of tricks in
excess of six which the partnership undertakes to win. For example a bid of "two A side which has already won one game towards the current rubber is said to
hearts" represents a contract to win at least 8 tricks (8 = 6 + 2) with hearts as trumps. be vulnerable. A side which has not yet won a game is not vulnerable. A side which is
vulnerable is subject to higher bonuses and penalties than one that is not.
For the purpose of bidding the possible trump suits rank as follows: no trumps
(highest), spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs (lowest). A bid of a larger number of tricks The score is kept on a piece of paper divided into two columns headed WE and THEY,
always beats a bid of a smaller number, and if the number of tricks bid are equal, the for the two teams, with a horizontal line part-way down (see example). Scores for
higher suit beats the lower. The lowest bid allowed is "one club" (to win at least 7 successful contracts are entered below the line, and count towards winning a game.
tricks with clubs as trumps), and the highest is "seven no trumps" (to win all 13 tricks Other scores, such as bonuses for tricks made in excess of the contract (overtricks), or
without trumps). NB. In North America, the term for contracts played without a penalties for tricks short of the contract (undertricks) are entered above the line, and
trump suit is "notrump" or "no trump" (without an 's'). do not count towards winning the game.

It is also possible, during the auction, to "double" a bid by the other side or to Score for making the contract
"redouble" the opponents' double. Doubling and redoubling essentially increase the For a successful contract, the score below the line for each trick (in excess of 6) bid
score for the bid contract if won and the penalties if lost. If someone then bids and made is as follows:
higher, any previous doubles and redoubles are cancelled.
Note that doubling does not affect the ranking of a bid - for example a bid of two
 If trumps are Clubs or Diamonds, 20 per trick
spades is always higher than two hearts, even if the two hearts bid has been doubled  If trumps are Hearts or Spades, 30 per trick
or redoubled.  If there are No Trumps, 40 for the first trick, and 30 for each subsequent trick.
The dealer begins the auction, and the turn to speak passes clockwise. At each turn a If the contract was doubled the above scores are doubled. If it was doubled and
player may either: redoubled, they are multiplied by 4.

 make a bid, which must be higher than the previous bid if any; In addition, the declarer's side scores an extra 50 points above the line if they
 say "double", if the previous bid was by an opponent, and has not already been succeed in a doubled contract. This is sometimes known as "50 for the insult". For
making a redoubled contract the bonus is 100 above the line.
doubled;
 say "redouble", if the previous bid was by one's own side and has been doubled Because of the difference in score, clubs and diamonds are called the minor suits and
by an opponent, but not yet redoubled; hearts and spades are the major suits.

69
Slam bonus line) plus 30 above the line for their overtrick. A new line is ruled below the scores to
indicate the start of a new game.
A contract to make 12 tricks is known as a small slam. A contract to make all 13 tricks (d) they bid and made 3 spades
is called a grand slam. For bidding and making a slam, declarer's side get an extra (e) they bid two diamonds and made 6 tricks - they are now vulnerable so we score
bonus above the line, depending on their vulnerability, as follows: 100 for each undertrick.
Slam bonus not vulnerable vulnerable (f) we bid 6 hearts; they doubled us, but we won all 13 tricks. We score 360 (180 x 2)
below the line for our doubled contract, giving us a game; 100 above for our doubled
small slam 500 750
non-vulnerable overtrick; 50 above for making a doubled contract; and 500 bonus for
grand slam 1000 1500 a small slam bid and made.
Score for overtricks (g) they bid one no trump and took 8 tricks; note that their 90 on deal (d) was part of
the previous game, so the 40 below does not give them a game.
If the declarer's side wins more tricks than were bid, and were not doubled, then in (h) we bid 3 clubs and made exactly 9 tricks.
addition to the score below the line for the contract, they score for the overtricks (i) they bid 3 hearts and took exactly 9 tricks giving their second game and the
above the line at the same rate as for bid tricks - i.e. 20 per trick if a minor suit was rubber, for a bonus of 500 (two games to one).
trumps; 30 per trick in a major suit or no trumps.
Adding up the scores, we have 1690 and they have 880. Therefore we have won by
If the contract was doubled or redoubled, the bonus for overtricks does not depend 810 points (even though they won the rubber).
on the trump suit, but does depend on whether the declarer's side was vulnerable as
follows: In this example the "above the line" scores were entered starting immediately above
the line and working upwards. This is traditional, at least in Britain, but not necessary
Score per not vulnerable vulnerable - you can start at the top, just below the WE-THEY headings, and work downwards if
overtrick you prefer.
doubled 100 200 * Note on changes in scoring
redoubled 200 400
Some details of Bridge scoring were changed in 1987 for Duplicate Bridge and in 1993
Penalty for undertricks for Rubber Bridge. Before the changes, the penalty for doubled undertricks when not
vulnerable was 100 for the first and 200 each for all others (and twice as much for a
If the declarer's side win fewer tricks than they bid, neither side scores anything
redoubled contract). Also the bonus for making a redoubled contract was 50, not
below the line, but the declarer's opponents score above the line. This score depends
100, and the bonus for a part score in an uncompleted rubber was 50, not 100.
on the declarer's side's vulnerability, and whether the contract was doubled or
redoubled, as follows: Partnership agreement and conventions
Undertrick penalty: not vulnerable vulnerable As in most card games, partners are forbidden to convey information to each other
Not doubled - each undertrick: 50 100 by talking, gestures, facial expression, etc. However there is considerable scope for
Doubled - first undertrick: 100 200 partners to exchange information within the rules of the game by their choice of bids
or cards played.
Doubled - 2nd and 3rd undertrick: 200 each 300 each
Doubled - subsequent 300 each 300 each The bidding mechanism is such that if a player makes a bid (or double or redouble), it
undertricks: is always possible for the player's partner at their next turn to override that bid with a
higher bid. This makes it possible for partners to assign arbitrary meanings to bids.
Redoubled undertricks cost twice as much as doubled undertricks. Bids which can be taken at face value - that is they convey a genuine wish to play a
contract to take the relevant number of tricks or more with the trump suit stated -
Honours
are called natural. Bids which carry an agreed meaning other than this are
The top five trumps (A K Q J 10) are called honours. If one player holds all five of called artificial or conventional.
these cards, that player's side scores a bonus of 150 above the line. Four honours in
one hand score 100. If there are no trumps, and a player holds four aces, that player's For example if we are partners, we might agree that a bid of one club by me shows a
strong hand, but has nothing to do with wanting clubs as trumps. Provided that we
side scores 150 for honours.
both understand this, you will not leave me to play a contract of one club, but will
Scores for honours are to be claimed at the end of the play (it is assumed that the make some other bid, natural or artificial. Another example: since doubling a low-
players will remember what they held). level suit contract in the hope of a penalty is unlikely to be profitable, almost all
players use an agreement that in certain situations a double simply shows a good
As there is no skill in scoring for honours, players often agree to play without the hand (perhaps with additional specifications) and asks partner to bid - this is known
honour bonuses. as a takeout double.
Game and Rubber A bidding system is a comprehensive set of partnership agreements about the
A side that accumulates 100 points or more below the line has won a game. A new meanings of bids. For natural bids, players commonly have agreements on the
line is drawn under the scores. Anything the opponents had below the line does not number of cards held in a bid suit: for example in some natural systems, opening the
count towards the next game - they start from zero again. bidding with one of a major suit implies a holding of at least five cards, while others
require only four or more cards in the suit. Agreements also often relate to high cards
It is important to notice that, starting from zero and in the absence of doubles, to held in the bid suit or in the hand generally. The overall strength of a hand is often
make a game in one hand you need to succeed in a contract of at least three no measured in "high-card points", counting each ace=4, king=3, queen=2, jack=1, and 0
trumps, four spades, four hearts, five clubs or five diamonds. for other cards - an approach originally developed by and named after Milton Work in
the 1920's. Most bidding systems also include some agreements that in certain
The side which first wins two games wins the rubber. For this they get a bonus of 700
circumstances a player will not pass. A bid, natural or artificial, which by agreement
if they won it two games to zero, or 500 if it was two games to one. Both sides' scores
requires the player's partner to respond with a bid, rather than pass and allow the
are then totalled and if the game is being played for money, the side with the higher
contract to be played, is called a forcing bid. Sometimes the agreement is that after a
score wins an amount proportional to the difference in scores from the side with the
certain bid both partners agree to keep the auction going until it reaches a certain
lower score.
level. For example a bid that by agreement requires the partnership to continue
If play ends for any reason with a rubber unfinished, then a side with a game gets a bidding until a game contract is reached is known as a game-forcing bid. Such
bonus of 300 points, and a side with a part score (i.e. a score below the line towards methods help ensure that with suitable cards partners will have more than one
an uncompleted game) gets a bonus of 100. opportunity to bid. These extra bids can be used to exchange further infomation
about their hands and improve their chances of reaching the best contract.
Example of Rubber Bridge scoring
The main restriction on agreements between partners about the meaning of bids is
The scoresheet of a completed rubber might look like the example below. (The letters that all such agreements must be declared to the opponents. Players should declare
in brackets indicate successive deals as described in the corresponding footnotes - their system (if any) at the start of a session. Many clubs and tournaments require
they would not appear on the scoresheet.) that this be done by means of a convention card which sets out the meanings of bids.
In addition, an player may, at their turn to bid or play, ask for and be given an
explanation of the opponents' bidding agreements. The explanation should be given
by the partner of the player who made the bid in question. For example, if I double a
suit contract, either opponent may, at their turn, ask my partner what the double
means, and my partner must answer according to any agreement we may have about
the meaning of the double - for example that it is for takeout or for penalties. If we
have no agreement on this, partner should say so - players are not required or
permitted to speculate or to guess at the meanings of bids in answer to such a
question.
It is sometimes agreed that after the auction, the declarer's left hand opponent,
having asked any necessary questions about the declarer's side's bidding agreements,
leads the first card face down. The other opponent may then ask questions about the
declarer's side's bidding, after which dummy's cards are exposed and play continues
as usual. This procedure minimises the risk that by asking a question you may
give unauthorised information to your partner. Asking at other times during the
bidding or play, though legal and sometimes necessary, might be taken to imply that
your next bid or play will depend on the answer given.
(a) we bid 2 hearts and made 10 tricks - 60 below the line for the contract and 60
above for the overtricks Similar considerations apply to the play. Partners may agree on the meaning of the
(b) they bid 4 spades, we doubled them, and they took only 8 tricks - we score 100 for choice of card played in certain circumstances. For example we may agree that when
their first undertrick and 200 for the second leading from a sequence of adjacent high cards such as K-Q-J we always lead the
(c) they bid 3 no trumps and made 10 tricks. This gives them a game (100 below the highest. Again, the opponents are entitled to know about such agreements. They
should be declared on the convention card, and may be asked about during the play.

70
In Rubber Bridge one does not often come across complicated systems and made to make a game, but on each board, both sides start with zero points towards
partnership agreements. One is often playing with an unfamiliar partner, or in an games - there are no 'part scores' carried forward.
informal setting. Complicated agreements are more often encountered in Duplicate
Bridge, where the players are often long standing partners who have devoted In place of the rubber bonus, there are game and part score bonuses:
considerable effort to agreeing their system. Making a game when vulnerable: 500 points
Making a game when not vulnerable: 300 points
Duplicate Bridge Making a part score any time: 50 points
In Rubber Bridge, although the better players have a noticable edge and will The rest of the scores are the same as in Rubber Bridge, except that there are no
undoubtedly win in the long run, the outcome of a single rubber depends heavily on bonuses for honours in Duplicate Bridge. So for example:
which side is dealt the better cards. The idea of Duplicate Bridge is to eliminate this
element of luck, by having the same hands played more than once, by different sets  if we bid 2 spades and make 4 (10 tricks) we score 170, that is 60 for two spades
of players. bid and made, 60 for two overtricks and 50 for the part score;
Suppose we are partners and play a hand of Duplicate Bridge as North-South. Instead  if we bid 4 spades and make it when we are not vulnerable we score 420 (120
of being rewarded for our absolute score on that hand, our score is compared with for the contract and 300 for the game);
those of other players who played the same deal as North-South against other  if we bid 4 spades and make it when we are vulnerable we score 620 (120 for
opponents. We win if we score better than other players managed with our cards, the contract plus 500 for the game).
and lose if we score worse.
These scores are of course not yet the final scores. They have yet to be compared
For this comparison to be fair, it is necessary that each group of players who play the with the scores achieved by other people who have played the same cards as us on
same deal should start from the same position. Therefore it is not practicable to play this board. The method of doing this comparison varies according to what kind of
rubbers, where the scores carried forward from deal to deal affect the tactical duplicate is being played. Perhaps the commonest types are teams of four with
situation. Instead, each deal is scored in its own right, and does not affect the scores international matchpoint (IMP) scoring, and matchpointed pairs.
for subsequent ones. The concept of vulnerability is retained, but on each deal the
Teams of Four
vulnerability is preassigned.
A match can be played between two teams of four - eight players in all. Each team
Boards
consists of two partnerships, and you need two tables - preferably in separate rooms
An almost essential piece of apparatus for playing Duplicate Bridge is a set so that players cannot overhear events at the other table. Before starting the players
of duplicate boards, and a pack of cards for each board. Each board contains four agree how many boards will be played - this could be 24, 32, 48 or more, depending
pockets marked North, East, South and West in which the cards for the four players on the seriousness of the match and the time available. A 24 board match should
are stored. Each board also carries a number to identify it, and has marks showing easily be completed within three hours. Shorter matches, sometimes of as few as 6
which of the players is dealer and whether each team is vulnerable or not. The boards, are commonly played if the match is part of a larger tournament. Longer
marking of the boards is as follows: matches are normally split into two or more segments (or stanzas) after each of
which there may be a break and an opportunity to change seats.
 Board 1: dealer North; neither side vulnerable
Call the tables 1 and 2 and the teams A and B. Then the pairs of team A sit North-
 Board 2: dealer East; North-South vulnerable South at table 1 and East-West at table 2, and the pairs of team B occupy the other
 Board 3: dealer South; East-West vulnerable seats. Take a convenient number of boards - say boards 1 to 12 - and give the first 6
 Board 4: dealer West; both sides vulnerable to table 1 and the other 6 to table 2. As each table finishes their 6 boards they are
 Board 5: dealer North; North-South vulnerable passed to the other table to be replayed. Since none of the players should go near
the other table before everyone has played all 12 boards, it is best if the boards are
 Board 6: dealer East; East-West vulnerable
transferred from table to table by a neutral referee; if none is available, the boards
 Board 7: dealer South; both sides vulnerable that have been played once can be left in a place away from both tables for collection
 Board 8: dealer West; neither side vulnerable by the players from the other table. When all 12 boards have been played at both
 Board 9: dealer North; East-West vulnerable tables, it is a convenient time to compare scores and maybe enjoy some
refreshments.
 Board 10: dealer East; both sides vulnerable
 Board 11: dealer South; neither side vulnerable It may be agreed that for the next segment, the two pairs of one of the teams should
 Board 12: dealer West; North-South vulnerable swap places. This gives each pair the opportunity to play against both pairs of the
opposing team. The procedure about the number of segments in a match and the
 Board 13: dealer North; both sides vulnerable
choice of seats for each segment may be laid down by the organiser of the event -
 Board 14: dealer East; neither side vulnerable otherwise it needs to be agreed between the team captains.
 Board 15: dealer South; North-South vulnerable
Each player should have a score card to record the score on each board. The card has
 Board 16: dealer West; East-West vulnerable a row for each board. The beginning of North's card from table 1, when completed,
After board 16 the pattern repeats - board 17 is like board 1, board 18 like board 2 might look like this:
and so on.
Board Result Score IMPs
Before the boards are played the cards are shuffled, dealt and placed in the pockets.
Traditionally, this was done by a neutral person or by a player in the presence at least Deale # Vul Contract By Tricks Plus Minus Plus Minus
one opponent. Nowadays the cards are often dealt by computer, with the aim of r
ensuring perfect randomness while enabling a record of each deal to be kept. A
simple method is for the computer to produce a printed hand record or a set N 1 - 4S S 10 420
of curtain cards, specifying which cards should be in each hand on each board; a
neutral person then has to construct the hands and put them in the pockets. Since E 2 NS 5D* W 8 500
the early 21st century, however, computer controlled dealing machines have become
widely available. These machines physically sort the playing cards and place them in
S 3 E 3NT W 12 690
the boards ready to be played. Early models did this with the aid of a bar code W
printed on each card; these are gradually being superseded by machines that use
optical character recognition (OCR) to identify and deal standard playing-cards.
W 4 All 2H N 9 140
When about to play a board, the players take their cards from the appropriate In the contract column 5D* means 5 diamonds doubled. The 'By' column shows who
pockets, check to see that they have 13 each, and then bid as usual. The mark on the was declarer. The score is recorded from the player's point of view (North's in the
board showing the 'dealer' in practice just indicates which player is to begin the example) - so when West goes down in 5 diamonds it is positive. The IMPs can only
bidding. The opening lead is always made face down, as explained above, to give the be filled in when this card is compared with one of the cards from the other room.
leader's partner an opportunity to ask questions about the bidding before the led Some players prefer to enter the number of over- or undertricks in the "Tricks"
card is shown. During the play, the cards are not played in the centre of the table but column rather than the total number of tricks taken. In that case the "Tricks" column
in front of the players. At the end of each trick, all four players turn their played card entries for the four boards in the above example would read "=, -3, +3, +1". Suppose
face down. The cards played by each player are overlapped, with the longer axis of that our team mate East on table 2 has a card like this:
the card pointing to the winners of the trick (i.e. the cards belonging to tricks you
have won are placed upright from your point of view, and the ones belonging to lost
tricks sideways). That way you can easily see how many tricks you have won. Also, if Board Result Score IMPs
the cards are kept in order, any dispute about revokes or tricks won or lost can be
settled by reconstructing the play. At the end of the play, each player's cards are Dealer # Vul Contrac By Trick Plus Minu Plus Minus
gathered up and replaced in the correct pocket, ready for the next time the board is t s s
to be played.
N 1 - 4S S 11 450
When this method of play is used, dummy is expected to remain at the table if at all
possible, and declarer then always calls dummy's cards rather than pulling them from E 2 NS 4H N 10 620
the dummy. You may ask to look at the cards played to a trick by the other players as
long as your own card is face up. Once you have turned your card face down, you no S 3 EW 6NT W 12 1440
longer have the right to see any of the other cards played to that trick. (Unless you
are dummy, you are still allowed to peek at your own played card, without exposing W 4 All 4H N 9 100
it, until the lead is made to the next trick.)
Now the differences can be converted to IMPs for the team. The following standard
Scoring table is used:
Each board is marked to show whether both sides, one side or neither side is Point difference IMPs
vulnerable for that board. You still need to score at least 100 points for tricks bid and
0-10 0

71
 20-40 1 show whose result it is. North is also responsible for the movement of the boards -
50-80 2 checking at the start of the round that the correct boards are being played and
passing them on at the end of the round.
90-120 3
130-160 4 At the end of the whole session, each scoresheet will contain the results of all the
170-210 5 pairs who have played that board. The scoresheets are then collected by the
220-260 6 organisers and the scores compared. The usual method of scoring is in matchpoints.
Each pair is awarded 2 matchpoints for each pair who scored worse than them on
270-310 7 that board, and 1 matchpoint for each pair who scored equally. (In North America it is
320-360 8 customary to count just one matchpoint for each pair scoring worse than you on a
370-420 9 board, and half a matchpoint for those that are equal. This obviously makes no
430-490 10 difference to the final ranking order or percentages scored by the pairs. Half points
500-590 11 are traditionally written as a horizontal or diagonal stroke: — or /. )
600-740 12 A completed score sheet might look like this:
750-890 13
900-1090 14 Board No. 1
1100-1290 15
1300-1490 16 Pair No. Contract By Trick North-South Matchpoints
s
1500-1740 17 N EW Plus Minus NS EW
1750-1990 18 S
2000-2240 19
2250-2490 20 1 8 4S N 10 420 5 7
2500-2990 21
3000-3490 22 2 13 3NT S 10 430 8 4
3500-3990 23 3 11 5C* E 8 500 12 0
4000 or more 24
So in the example, on the first board the difference between the two tables was 30 4 9 4S N 10 420 5 7
against us, and we lose 1 IMP. On the second board we lose 3 IMPs. Although on
table 1 our North-South pair defeated West's 5 diamonds, on table 2 with the same 5 14 4S N 11 450 10 2
cards our East-West pair allowed North to play and make 4 hearts. On board 3, where
we bid the small slam on table 2, while they stopped in game on table 1, we gain 13 6 12 5S N 10 50 0 12
IMPs for a 750 point difference. On board 4 both Norths made 9 tricks in hearts, but
we gain 6 IMPs because our North-South pair just bid 2 hearts rather than 4. Overall 7 10 3S N 10 170 2 10
we are 15 IMPs ahead on those four boards. Then the total matchpoints scored by each pair over all the boards are calculated.
After each scoring interval, the captains of the teams should check that the scores This is generally converted to a percentage for each pair of the points they scored
agree. The purpose of every player keeping score is to make it easier for errors to be compared to the theoretical maximum. This gives a fair comparison between pairs
traced and corrected. who have played different numbers of boards. The winners are the pair with the
highest percentage. There may be prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, etc.
At the end of the match, the result is the difference in IMPs between the teams.
Sometimes there is then a further conversion of this margin into a match result, in Another, less usual way of scoring pairs is with a version of the IMP scoring used for
which some fixed number of victory points is apportioned between the teams. There team matches (see above). There are two kinds of IMP pair games: your score may be
is no single standard conversion table, but here is an example table for a 24 board IMPed against every other pair that played the same hands, or against a form of
match: average of the scores of all the pairs who played the hand.

IMP difference Victory Points Sometimes the movement is such that the North-South pairs stay put and the East-
West pairs remain East-West throughout. In this case the results for the East-West
0-2 10-10 pairs and the North-South pairs are separate, and there are two winning pairs. To
3-6 11- 9 enable all the pairs to be placed in a single ranking order, the last round is sometimes
7-11 12- 8 played with an arrow switch. This means that the players who were previously
12-16 13- 7 North-South play the East-West cards for that round and vice versa.
17-21 14- 6 I am told that in many North American tournaments "pickup slips" were used instead
22-27 15- 5 of travellers - that is, there was an individual score slip for each table in each round.
28-33 16- 4 After North had filled out the details and East or West had checked it, it was left face
34-39 17- 3 down on the table and picked up by the organisers during the next round. This
facilitated the calculation of final scores by computer, as the results of earlier rounds
40-46 18- 2
could be entered while the later rounds are being played. It also prevented players
47-54 19- 1 from seeing the results obtained by other players who previously played the same
55 or more 20- 0 cards, which might be considered an advantage or a disadvantage.
In the example, if we were still 15 IMPs ahead having played 24 boards, using this
table we would win the match 13-7. If the match was part of some larger Nowadays it is increasingly common for scores to be entered directly into a computer
competition, such as a league, then we would score 13 victory points and our terminal at the table. These can be configured to provide or not to provide
opponents would score 7. information about previous results for that board, and can be set to ask the person
entering the details to also record the opening lead.
There are also events in which many teams of four compete. There are various ways
of organising these. At any particular time in such an event you will be playing a part Duplicate Bridge procedure and ethics
of a match against some other team, and at some time your team-mates will play the During a duplicate event, where play will be in progress at several tables at the same
other cards of the same boards against the other half of that same team. The scores time, it is important that players do not see, overhear or otherwise take an interest in
are eventually compared to find how many IMPs you won or lost against that team. the play at the other tables. Any attempt to do so would be cheating, as it might
Another way of scoring teams of four is akin to the matchpoint scoring used in pairs give unauthorised information about the distribution of cards or the result of a board
(see below). On each board you simply win, tie, or lose depending on whether you which the player would later be playing. For similar reasons, partners should not
score better, worse or the same as the other team. This method is known as board-a- discuss the boards they have played in the hearing of other players until the end of
match or BAM in America; in Britain it is usually called point-a-board. the event (or a suitable break at a time when everyone has played the same boards).

Pairs In many places devices are used to enable the bidding to proceed silently, reducing
the chance of hearing bids from another table. The best arrangement is for each
This is the game most usually played in Bridge clubs, and there are also many player to have a bidding box, which is a box containing cards displaying all the
tournaments organised this way. As implied by the name, it is played between a possible bids, pass, double and redouble. At your turn you display the relevant card.
number of fixed partnerships or pairs. For a pairs event you need a minimum of three All the cards used for bids remain on view until the end of the auction, thus also
tables (6 pairs, 12 players), and it works better with more players - say 10 tables (40 avoiding the problem of players forgetting or mishearing part of the bidding. A
players) or more. With a very large number of players (say more than 70) it is usual to cheaper but less satisfactory method is to use a large card with a compartment for
split the tournament into two or more separate sections. each possible bid; at your turn you point to the bid you wish to make. I am told that
in Australia, overhearing of bids is commonly avoided by requiring bids to be written
Generally you play two or three boards at a table - this is called a round - and then down rather than spoken.
one or both pairs move to another table and play other boards against other
opponents. The movement will be organised by the director in such a way that no In an event of any size, there will be a tournament director whose job is to ensure
one ever plays boards they have played before, or against opponents they have that the play flows smoothly. This person will deal with any infringements of the rules
played before. that occur, referring when necessary to the laws. If some irregularity occurs, such as a
bid out or play out of turn, an illegal bid or play, or discovering that the cards have
Traditionally, the score for each hand was recorded to a travelling been wrongly boarded (the hands contain more or fewer than 13 cards), the director
scoresheet or traveller, which was kept in the board, folded so that previous scores
should be called to the table. This should not be construed as an accusation of
could not be read, either in a special pocket provided for this purpose, or in the North
cheating - the purpose of calling the director is simply to ensure that the irregularity
pocket on top of North's cards. None of the players may look at this sheet before the
is sorted out fairly and in accordance with the rules. The instructions and decisions of
board has been played. North is then responsible for entering the result and showing
the director should be followed and respected at all times. In a serious tournament, if
the completed sheet to East-West to check that it has been done correctly. Each pair
you strongly disagree with the director's ruling, it should be possible to appeal
has a number to identify them, and this must also be entered on the scoresheet, to

72
against the director's decision. The procedure for this varies according to the nature  Hand 1: Dealer North; neither side vulnerable
of the event - the director should be able to advise you on the options.
 Hand 2: Dealer East; North-South vulnerable
Stop and alert  Hand 3: Dealer South; East-West vulnerable
In tournament Bridge, if you make a bid at a level higher than necessary in that  Hand 4: Dealer West; both sides vulnerable
denomination (a "jump" bid), you are supposed to precede your bid by saying "stop" If all four players pass, the cards are shuffled again and the hand redealt by the same
(or displaying your "stop" card if you are using bidding boxes). The next dealer. The game bonus is 500 when vulnerable, 300 when not vulnerable. If a team
player must then pause before bidding or passing. The reason behind this is that after makes a part score this is carried forward to subsequent deals until one side makes a
a jump bid the next player may have reason to hesitate, as your unexpectedly high game. If a team makes a part score in hand 4 that is not sufficient to complete a
bid might have disrupted the course of action which that player was planning. The game, they score a bonus of 100, but there is no bonus for any part scores made in
player is forced by the stop rule to hesitate anyway, so avoiding giving unauthorised earlier hands.
information. Example:

 North bids "one spade"

 East bids "stop; three hearts"
 South pauses and then passes
If South had been planning to bid two spades, say, then he might need time after
East's unexpected jump to decide whether a three spade bid would now be
appropriate. As South is forced to pause, North gets no clue as to whether the jump
gave South a problem. Similarly, if South instead bids three spades after the
mandatory pause, he gives North no clue as to whether he was considering a pass
instead.
I am told that in North America the correct use of "stop" cards is poorly understood
by players and that for this reason from the start of 2018 "stop" cards will no longer
be used in tournaments, and will probably also be abandoned by bridge clubs. In
other parts of the world, for example in Britain, "stop" cards continue to be used.
The idea of alerts is to warn the opponents of a bid (or double or pass) which has an
unexpected agreed meaning. It is always the duty of the partner of the bidder to alert
the bid when required. If using bidding boxes, this is done by displaying the "alert"
card. Otherwise the alert is given by saying "alert" or (in Britain but not in North
America) by knocking the table. The definition of what bids require alerts varies from
place to place - it is determined by the Bridge organisation under whose aegis the
tournament is being held. In Britain, most artificial bids must be alerted; in North
America, alerts are required for bids which diverge from a defined standard set of
meanings.
Since the late 1990's, "announcements" have been introduced in some places. When
bids with certain specific meanings are made, the bidder's partner must say a specific
phrase that explains the meaning of the bid. For example the partner of a player who
makes an opening bid of "one no trump" might be required to disclose the
partnership's agreed range of strength for that bid in "high-card points", by saying for
example "12 to 14" or "16 to 18". (a) On hand 1, N-S bid two spades and made 10 tricks, scoring 60 points below the
line plus 60 above for the overtricks. No game here because N-S's score below the
Unauthorised information
line is less than 100.
This is information which you obtain in some other way than as a legitimate (b) On hand 2, E-W bid one no trump and made exactly seven tricks, for 40 points.
deduction from the bidding and play. Unauthorised information might arise from: (c) On hand 3, E-W bid two hearts and won 9 tricks for 60 points below and 30 above.
This brings their score below the line to 100, which counts as a vulnerable game
 hesitation or undue haste in bidding or playing a card because E-W are vulnerable for this hand, even though this is the first game they
 seeing your partner's cards have made.
 extraneous remarks made during the game; also gestures, tone of voice, etc. (d) On hand 4, the final hand, N-S bid one no trump; although they are doubled, they
succeed in making eight tricks. This is worth 80 (2*40) below the line, and above the
 seeing or overhearing events at another table line they score 200 for one vulnerable overtrick plus 50 for making a doubled
 questions your partner asks about the bidding or play contract. However, this is not a game: their 60 below the line from hand 1 no longer
 alerts/announcements made or not made by your partner, or answers to counts towards game because of the game E-W made in hand 3. Therefore N-S score
opponents' questions, if they reveal that you and your partner differ as to the just a further 100 for finishing with a part score.
agreed meaning of your bids or plays
Note: the original version of Chicago had the vulnerability reversed in hands 2 and 3,
The principle is that you are allowed to take advantage of anything done by your so that the dealing side was vulnerable. The more modern scheme, which has the
opponents at your table, but you are obliged to ignore any unauthorised information non-dealing side vulnerable as shown above, tends to lead to more competitive
gained from your partner's actions or from other tables. bidding.
In fact if you do obtain unauthorised information from your partner, you should not Chicago with Duplicate Scoring
only ignore it but be prepared to prove that you have done so. This means that if you
Chicago is sometimes played using duplicate scoring. There is no accumulation of part
are involved in any kind of close decision you ought to take the action opposite to the
scores or games from deal to deal - each deal is scored separately, and a team
one indicated by the information from your partner. For example if during the
making a part score gets an immediate bonus of 50 as in duplicate. The sequence of
bidding your partner passes after a hesitation, you must pass too unless you have a
vulnerability is fixed as in the standard version.
cast iron case for bidding, otherwise you might be accused of making use of the
unauthorised information that your partner had nearly enough strength to bid. A multiple of four hands can be played, repeating the sequence of vulnerabilities as
often as necessary. The result is simply the total score over the deals played.
Deception
Chicago with Russian Scoring
In Bridge it is illegal to behave deliberately in such a way as to try to give spurious
information to the opponents. For example if you have only one card of a suit that is The following method of scoring Chicago originated in Russia. It eliminates some of
led, it is illegal to hesitate before playing it, creating the impression that you had the luck of the deal by introducing an element of IMPs scoring.
more than one card to choose from. (Even an inadvertent hesitation would be an
offence, though a less serious one, if it misled the opponents to your benefit, and the On each deal, there is a target score which depends on the number of high card
director would adjust the score to give a fair result.) On the other hand there is no points held. The cards are played in front of the players, as in duplicate. At the end of
ban on making deceptive bids and plays to confuse the opponents - as long as these the play, the high card points held by each side are counted, according to the
are not part of an undisclosed partnership agreement. You are free for example to following scale:
play a card different from what might be expected from your holding, provided that
you play the card smoothly and without comment. Similarly you are free to make a
 each ace: 4 points
bid which is inconsistent with your system to upset the opposition, provided that this  each king: 3 points
is as much of a surprise to your partner as it is to the opponents. Of course you must  each queen: 2 points
always bid and play legally, in turn and in accordance with the ranking of bids, the  each jack: 1 point
rules of following suit, and so on, even if your choice of bid or play is unorthodox and
unexpected. There are 40 points in all. The team which held more high card points finds its target
score, which depends on whether they were vulnerable or not, from the following
Chicago table:

There are several versions of this game, also known in the official rules as Four-Deal High Card Target
Bridge. As this name suggests it is a game for four players which is complete in four Points Not Vul. Vulnerable
deals, unlike Rubber Bridge, where the length of a rubber is indefinite. This greater 20 0 0
predictability has made it popular in some American clubs where Rubber was 21 50 50
formerly played. 22 70 70
23 110 110
The vulnerability varies from hand to hand in a fixed pattern as follows: 24 200 290
25 300 440

73
 26 350 520 1. the large reward for winning the last trick with a King or the Pagat (lowest
27 400 600 trump) in the game of Danish Tarok, or the bonus for winning the last trick with
28 430 630 the trump 7 (the lowest trump) in the Danish form of Skat;
29 460 660
30 490 690 2. the fact that the diamond seven is a valuable card in the system
31 600 900 of bommelommer points - a way of evaluating a Bridge hand which has little or
32 700 1050 no connection with its usefulness in the game of Bridge, but was used in some
33 900 1350 Danish clubs as the basis of a side-bet between partners. Bommerlommer is a
34 1000 1500 slightly old-fashioned Danish slang word for money.
35 1100 1650 Honeymoon Bridge
36 1200 1800
37 1300 1950 Bridge has become so popular and fashionable that some players can hardly believe
38 1300 1950 that any other card game is worth learning, but Bridge is a four-player game. When
39 1300 1950 two such people want to play cards and no other players are available, instead of
40 1300 1950 playing a card game designed for two players, they sometimes prefer to resort to
two-player adaptations of Bridge, known as Honeymoon Bridge. There are several
High Target different versions, all somewhat unsatisfactory. Rules can be found on
Card the Honeymoon Bridge page of this site.
Not Vul. Vulnerable
Points Minibridge
20 0 0
Minibridge is a simplified version of Bridge that was introduced in Europe in the
21 50 50
1990's as a teaching aid for new players. In its most straightforward form it works as
22 70 70 follows.
23 110 110
24 200 290 After the cards are dealt as usual, the players look at their cards and count the
number of high card points they hold according to the following scale: ace=4, king=3,
25 300 440 queen=2, jack=1, other cards zero. This is the popular Milton Work point count used
26 350 520 by many Bridge players to evaluate the approximate strength of a hand for bidding
27 400 600 purposes. But instead of bidding in the usual way, in Minibridge each player in turn,
28 430 630 beginning with the dealer, simply announces his or her point count. The point counts
29 460 660 of the four players should add up to 40. The partnership with the higher total point
count plays the contract, the declarer being the whichever player of that partnership
30 490 690
holds more points. If each partnership has 20 points there is a redeal by the same
31 600 900 dealer. If both members of the declaring partnership have the same number of points
32 700 1050 (for example 12 each), the declarer is the member of the partnership who spoke first
33 900 1350 - that is the dealer or the player to dealer's left.
34 1000 1500 The declarer's partner puts down the dummy, and the declarer, having seen partner's
35 1100 1650 hand announces whether the contract will be a "game" or a "part score" and also the
36 1200 1800 trump suit or "no trumps". Then the player to declarer's left leads to the first trick
37 1300 1950 and play proceeds as in normal Bridge.
38 1300 1950 The scores for each trick above six are as usual: 20 if trumps were clubs or diamonds,
39 1300 1950 30 if trumps were hearts or spades, and 40 for the first trick and 30 for each
40 1300 1950 subsequent trick if there are no trumps.

The difference between the target score from the above table and the actual score is  If the contract was "part score", it succeeds if the declarer's side wins at least
then converted to IMPs, using the standard IMP table. The total IMP scores over a seven tricks. The winning side scores the trick score plus a bonus of 50 points.
series of hands are totaled to give an overall result.  If the contract was "game", it succeeds if the declarer's side wins enough tricks
For example, suppose we are East-West, and on the second deal of a Chicago we bid to score at least 100 trick points - in other words at least 11 tricks if clubs or
three hearts and make 10 tricks. We then count our high card points and discover diamonds are trumps, at least 10 tricks if hearts or spades are trumps, or at
that between us we had 24. We were vulnerable, so our target score from the table least 9 tricks if there are no trumps. In this case the declarer's side scores the
was 290. We actually scored 170 (90 for the contract plus 30 for the overtrick plus 50 trick score plus a bonus of 300 for the "game".
for the part score). So we are 120 points short of our target. Therefore using the IMP  If the contract fails, the declarer's opponents score 50 points for each trick by
table, our score for this hand is minus 3 IMPs. which the declarer was short of the number needed to make the contract.
Examples:
Second example. In the first deal of a Chicago we bid and make 4 Spades holding only
18 points between us. Our opponents had a target of 70 but instead we made 420.
 Part score in no trumps. For 7 tricks declarer's side would score 90. For 10 tricks
they would score 180. if they took 5 tricks the other side would score 100.
The difference is 490 so we score plus 10 IMPs.
 Game in hearts. For 10 tricks declarer's side would score 420. For 11 tricks they
There are several alternative versions of this scoring table. In Estonia, a would score 450. If they took 7 tricks the other side would score 150.
compensation table is used which also takes into account the fit between the hands
of the partners with the majority of high card points. The details are available on this There is no set overall target score. Players play an agreed number of deals after
archive copy of Tanel Teinemaa's Compensation Table web site. which scores are compared to give the result.
There are several more elaborate versions of Minibridge played in various parts of
Europe. For example instead of players announcing their points, each player writes
The Beer Card on a slip of paper the number of points and the number of cards held in each suit.
Then players speak in turn, starting with the dealer, the options being "pass" or "I
open". If all pass the cards are redealt. If a player opens, the opener's partner's slip is
passed to the opener, and the opener uses this to choose a contract, which is like a
bid in Contract Bridge - a number of tricks above six and a trump suit or no trumps.
After this, the opener's left-hand opponent receives his or her partner's slip and can
The Beer Card is the Seven of Diamonds. It is not part of the official rules of Bridge, either pass or "overcall". If the opponent passes the opener's contract is played. If
but there is a tradition among some players that if the declarer succeeds in making the opponent overcalls, he or she must name a contract higher than the opener's bid:
the contract and wins the last trick with the Seven of Diamonds, dummy must buy either more tricks or the same number of tricks in a higher denomination. The opener
the declarer a beer of the declarer's choice. In the same way, if the opponents defeat can then bid again, and the overcaller and opener continue to bid alternately, each
the contract and one of them wins the last trick with the Seven of Diamonds, the bid being higher than the last, until one of them passes. The final bidder becomes the
opponent who wins the last trick is bought a beer by the other opponent. declarer and plays the final contract.
The Beer Card tradition originated in Copenhagen in the 1950's or 1960's. It was
probably inspired by:

74
Up and Down the River 3, 4-6, 7

Introduction closely for "inadvertent" errors. The designated scorekeeper notes each bid and
resulting scores on a score sheet. There are many different ways to score Oh Hell!
This game, in which players try to predict the exact number of tricks they will win,
first appeared in London and New York in the 1930's and has since become popular in In the simplest version, a player who wins the exact number of tricks bid scores 10
many parts of the world. Its original name Oh Hell! evidently offended some people plus the number of tricks bid (10 points for zero tricks, 11 for 1 trick, 12 for two tricks,
and has been bowdlerised in many books to Oh Pshaw! or Oh Well!! Some call etc.) Players who take more or fewer tricks than they bid score nothing. This method
it Blob or Blackout, perhaps because of the practice of recording a player's bid on the has the advantage that the scorekeeper, having written down the bids at the start of
scoresheet and then obliterating it with a black blob if the player failed to take the the play, can simply write a figure "1" in front of those that were successful and
predicted number of tricks. Traditionally the size of the players' hands increases or delete those that are not. The game with this scoring method is often known
decreases by one in each deal, and this has given rise to the as Blackout or Blob, because the scorer obliterates or blacks out unsuccessful bids, so
names Elevator (l'Ascenseur in France), Up and Down the River (in Australia and that they become black blobs on the score sheet.
New Zealand) and 10 op en neer in the Netherlands. In Britain it is often known
as Contract Whist or as Nomination Whist, a name which also sometimes refers Perhaps the most widespread scoring method is to award 1 point for each trick won
to different games. Other names include Bust (in Australia and New plus a bonus of 10 points for players who win exactly the number of tricks they bid.
Zealand), Boerenbridge (in the Netherlands) and German Bridge (in Hong Kong). In So for example a player who bid 2 would score 12 points for winning exactly 2 tricks,
India the game is called (in Gujurati) Kachuful, which is a mnemonic for the order of but only 1 for 1 trick and 3 for 3 tricks. This gives a player whose bid fails a slight
cycling through the trump suits: Kari (spades), Chukat (diamonds), Falli (clubs), Lal incentive to win as many tricks as possible.
(hearts) and in Pakistan it is 765.
Some other scoring methods are given in the variations section below. Whatever
Players and Cards method is used, the score keeper keeps a cumulative total of each player's score. The
final cumulative scores determine the result. If the game is played for money, players
From 3 to 7 people can play. The game is best when played with 4 to 6. pay or receive amounts corresponding to the difference of their scores from the
average.
A standard 52 card deck is used. The cards in each suit rank (from high to low) A K Q J
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Several people have produced preprinted Oh Hell score sheets and applications,
reflecting various scoring methods.
Sequence of Hands
Variations
The game consists of a series of hands. The first hand is played with 7 to 10 cards
dealt to each player, depending on the number of players: Sequence of Hands

 3 to 5 players, 10 cards each; There are a lot of variations of this. Some people start from 1 card each, go up to the
 6 players, 8 cards each; maximum number of cards and then back down to 1. Some just go from the
 7 players, 7 cards each maximum down to 1 and then stop, or vice versa. Some people go from the
maximum down to 1, then from 1 up to the maximum, so playing two 1-card hands in
(because of the limit of 52 cards available). Each successive hand is played with one the middle, or from 1 to the maximum to 1 with two maximum hands in the middle.
card fewer, down to a hand of just one card each, then one card more per hand back If there are four people the maximum number of cards dealt may be 13 rather than
up to the starting level. 10, with three people you can go up to 17. Some people go up to some other
maximum, such as 7 cards, irrespective of the number of players.
Example: With 7 players, the hands are: 7 cards, then 6,5,4,3,2,1, then 2,3,4,5,6,7, for
a total of 13 hands to the game. A game should take approximately 45 minutes. Dan Strohm describes a version, called Devil's Bridge, in which the hand size
increases and then decreases. On the final 1 card hand, the players must each hold
Object of the Game their card on their forehead, so each player can see all the other player's cards but
not their own.
The object is for each player to bid the number of tricks he thinks he can take from
each hand, then to take exactly that many; no more and no fewer. Points are Bryce Francis reports that in Australia, when playing Bust with 5 players, they add 13
awarded only for making the bid exactly, and are deducted for missing the bid, either low cards from a second pack to make a 65 card pack, so as to deal 13 cards each on
over or under (see scoring below). the first hand as with 4 players. When there are six players they add a further 13 low
cards, so that the bottom half of the pack is duplicated. If duplicate cards are played
The hook is that at least one player will fail on each hand, because the total number to a trick, the second played beats the first. A 3-player game is also possible,
of tricks bid by the players may not equal the number of tricks available on that hand. removing 13 low cards from a single pack.

Deal Determining Trumps

To determine the first dealer, draw cards. The player with the highest card deals first. Some sequences include hands in which all cards are dealt (for example 13 cards each
The turn to deal rotates clockwise with each hand. to 4 players). There is of course then no card left to determine the trump suit. These
hands are played without trumps. Some play the largest deals without trumps even if
The cards are shuffled and cut and the dealer deals the cards singly until everyone not all the cards are used.
has the appropriate number of cards for the hand being played. The next card is
turned face up and the suit of this card is the trump suit for the hand. The trump suit Instead of turning up a card, some people go through the possible trump suits in a
beats any of the other three suits played in that hand. The remaining undealt cards fixed sequence. This sequence may or may not include "no trumps".
are placed in a face down stack with the turned trump on top of it.
In the Indian (Gujurati) game Kachuful, the sequence of trump suits is spades,
Bidding diamonds, clubs, hearts and the name of the game, which literally means 'raw
flower', is also a mnemonic for this sequence: Ka = Kari = Spades, Chu = Chukat =
The bidding in each hand begins with the player to the left of the dealer, then Diamonds, Fu = Falli = Clubs, L = Lal = Hearts
continues clockwise, back around to the dealer, who bids last. Each bid is a number
representing the number of tricks that player will try to take. Everyone must bid - it is Brad Wilson describes a version called "Oh ____!" in which Spades are always
not possible to pass, but you can bid zero, in which case your object is to take no trumps.
tricks at all. A bid may be changed only if the next player to the left has not yet bid.
Remember the hook: the dealer may not bid the number that would cause the total Jean-Pierre Coulon reports a variation in which after the appropriate number of cards
number of tricks bid to equal the number of tricks available; a hand will always be have been dealt to the players, the next card is turned face up. If the rank of the
"over-bid" or "under-bid". Keep in mind when bidding that not all cards in the deck turned up card is from 2 to 6, there are no trumps for the deal; if it is 7 or higher, the
are in play in any hand. suit of the turned up card is trumps.

Play Bidding

The play begins with the player to the dealer's left, who leads the first card. The lead Some people play without the hook rule, so the dealer is allowed to bid in such a way
may be any suit (including trump). Play follows clockwise. Each player must follow the that everyone can win. There was a lively discussion in rec.games.playing-cards as to
suit led, if he can. If not, he may play any other card in his hand, including trump. The which version is more skilful, with strong advocates of each. Some think that hands
player who has played the highest trump card, or if no trump was played, the highest where the bids add up are too easy; but others say that forcing the bids not to add up
card of the suit led, wins the trick. That player then leads to the next trick. Continue removes a tactical option from the dealer.
until all tricks have been played and won.
Some play with simultaneous bidding. When the players are ready to bid, they put a
Scoring fist on the table. When everyone's fist is out, the group says "One, Two, Three" while
bouncing their fists on the table. On Three, everyone must stick out some number of
The scorekeeper is designated prior to each game according to house rules. The fingers (possibly zero) to indicate how many tricks they will try to take. Of course,
scorekeeper, needless to say, has a distinct advantage, and should be monitored with this method, there's no restriction against the total number of bid tricks being
equal to the number of cards dealt. Since players cannot adjust their bids based on

75
the other players' bids, the total tricks bid can be wildly different from the tricks 11 for one, 14 for two, 19 for three, 26 for four, etc.); if you fail
available - for example it is not uncommon for three or four players to bid "one" you lose the square of the difference between the number of tricks you
when only one card was dealt. Several correspondents report that in Australia, most bid and the number of tricks you took.
groups use simultaneous bidding rather than bidding in turn.  Some play for a single winner, who is the player with the highest score
when the whole series of hands has been played. In case of a tie after
Play the last hand, some deal further hand(s) with the maximum number of
cards until a clear winner is determined. The winner may not be any of
Some play that the dealer, rather than the player to dealer's left, leads to the first
those involved in the original tie - any player can win until the end.
trick.
More variations
David Wuori (of Maine, USA) reports a variation in which a player who has no card of
the suit led must trump. Only if you have no cards of the suit led and no trumps can Boerenbridge
you discard from a different non-trump suit. Although this is rule is uncommon in
English speaking countries, it is actually the usual way of playing La Podrida (the A version of Oh Hell! under the Dutch name Boerenbridge was formerly available to
Spanish equivalent to Oh Hell played in Latin America and in Spain) as well as the play against three computer opponents at Kaartspellen online
equivalent Romanian game of Whist. (www.useme.nl/kaartspellen). In the variation offered there:
Mark Brader suggests a variation in which two jokers are included, to make a 54-card
deck. These jokers are a suit of their own containing just two equal cards. If a joker is
 The whole pack is dealt every time - 13 cards each to four players.
led it wins the trick unless trumped. If a joker is turned up the other joker is the only  Bidding is simultaneous.
trump.  Score 1 point for each trick won, plus a bonus of 10 is you make your bid
exactly.
Dick Atkinson reports a version of Blackout for 5 or 6 players, played in Northeast  If you bid and make zero you score 20 points.
England in the 1970s. Two jokers are added to the pack, and if there are 5 players the
four deuces are removed leaving 50 cards. With 5 players the deal is always 10 cards
 If your score is 80 or more you do not take part in the bidding, but just
each and with 6 players 9 cards each. The trump suit rotates from deal to deal in the score 1 for each trick you win.
order hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades. The dealer could not make the bid total equal  The objective is to score exactly 100; if you go over 100 you bounce back
the number of cards dealt. Jokers could not be led (unless the player had no other - your excess over 100 is subtracted from 100.
cards) and could not be played in the first trick. Apart from that, a joker could be
played to any trick (even if the player could have followed suit). The first player of a 7-Truf
joker could nominate it as either "high", automatically winning the trick or "low",
Andi Beben describes the four-player variant 7-truf played in Indonesia with a 32-
automatically losing. The player of the second joker had no choice: it would be low if
card pack ranking from high to low A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7 in each suit. There are 22 deals
the first joker was high and high if the first was low. If a player was forced to lead a
as follows:
joker, the first suited card played determined the suit of the trick.

Scoring  7 deals increasing from 1 card each to 7 cards each. A card is turned from
the undealt part of the pack to determine the trump suit.
There are many alternative systems.  4 deals with all acrds dealt: 8 cards each with no trumps.
 7 deals decreasing from 7 cards each to 1 card each, and one of the
 Some players give the usual 10-point bonus for a successful positive bid remaining cards turned for trumps.
but award only 5 points for a successful bid of zero. Others award 5 plus
the number of cards dealt to each player for a successful zero bid,
 4 more deals with 8 cards each and no trumps.
recognising the fact that zero is more difficult when more cards are Players bid in turn. The dealer's bid cannot make the total bids equal to the total
dealt. number of tricks.
 Some score 10 points for each trick bid and won for a successful bid. A
successful "zero" bid wins 10 points. A player whose bid is unsuccessful For a successful bid, the score is 10 times the bid, or 5 times the total number of
(over or under) loses 10 points times the difference between the number tricks played for a successful zero bid. Unsuccessful players score 1 point per trick
of tricks won and the number of tricks bid. won.
 Another system is that you win 5 points if you are right plus 10 for each
trick taken, and you lose 5 points if you are wrong plus an extra 5 for 10 op en neer page, described by Axel Brink, is a Dutch variant in which the number
each trick difference from your bid. of cards dealt per hand are: 1, 2, ..., 9, 10, 9, ..., 1. There is no hook rule. A bid made
exactly scores 10 points plus the bid: a missed bid (over or under) scores 0.
 Yet another system: if you make your bid exactly you score 10 points
plus the square of the number of tricks you bid (i.e. 10 points for none,

76
Euchre 4, 6

British Euchre Either a member of the makers side or a defender may play alone. It is even possible
that a maker and a defender choose to play alone, in which case there will be only
Players and Object
two active players.
Euchre is a plain-trick game for four players in fixed partnerships, partners sitting
The Play
opposite.
If all four players are in the game, the play begins with the player to the dealer's left
Just 5 cards are dealt to each player and the object is to win at least three of the five
leading to the first trick. If one player is playing alone, the person to that player's left
tricks - with an extra bonus for winning all five.
leads first. If two players are playing alone, the defender leads.
Rank of Cards
Any card may be led, and each player in clockwise order must follow suit by playing a
A pack of 25 cards is used consisting of A K Q J 10 9 in each of the four suits: hearts, card of the same suit as the card led if possible. A player who cannot follow suit may
diamonds, clubs and spades, plus a joker. If your pack of cards has no joker, the two play any card.
of spades can be used as a substitute.
Remember that, for purposes of following suit, Benny and the Left Bower are
The trump suit has 8 cards ranking from highest to lowest as follows: considered to belong to the trump suit and not to any other suit.

Benny, or Best Bower (the joker or two of spades) The trick is won by whoever played the highest card of the suit led, unless a trump
Right Bower (the jack of the trump suit) was played in which case the highest trump wins. The winner of each trick leads to
Left Bower (the other jack of the same colour as the trump suit) the next one.
Ace
Scoring
King
Queen If all four players are playing then the scores are as follows:
Ten
Nine  If the makers win 3 or 4 tricks they score one point.

The other suits have 6 or 5 cards ranking as normal: A K Q (J) 10 9.  If the makers win all 5 tricks they score two points.
Note that Benny and Left count for all purposes as belonging to the trump suit. For  If the makers take fewer than three tricks they are said to be euchred, and the
example if hearts are trumps, the jack of diamonds is a heart not a diamond. It can be defenders score two points.
played to a heart lead and if it is led, hearts must be followed.
If a member of the makers' team is playing alone and wins all 5 tricks, the team
The word Bower comes from the German Bauer, which means farmer or peasant and scores 4 points instead of 2 - otherwise the scores are as above.
is also a word for Jack.
If a member of the defenders' team is playing alone and succeeds in winning at least
The Deal 3 tricks, thereby euchring the makers, the defenders score 4 points instead of 2 -
The first dealer is selected at random. The turn to deal then rotates clockwise otherwise the scores are as above.
throughout the game. The dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's left may either The game is normally played to 11 points - that is, the team who first reach 11 or
cut or "bump" - that is, knock the cards to indicate that they should be dealt as they more points over several deals win the game. It is usual for each team to keep score
are, without cutting. using a spare 5 and 6 from the pack (as these cards are not used in the game). The
Five cards are dealt to each player in two rounds. The dealer deals clockwise, giving cards are arranged on the table so that the number of pips showing shows the team's
each player a packet of two or three cards in any order - any player who was dealt current score. Sometimes people play to 15 points (using a 7 and an 8 to keep score)
two in the first round gets three in the second and vice versa. or to 10 points.

The dealer then turns the next card in the pack face up. This up-card is used as a basis Variant
for selecting the trump suit. The remaining four cards are left face-down and are not Some play that a player who has passed in the round in which trumps were made is
used. not allowed to play alone. This prevents a player from 'trapping' an opponent by
Making trump passing with a good hand and then playing alone against them to score 4 points for a
euchre.
This process determines the trump suit and which team are the makers - that is the
team which undertakes to win three tricks. First each player in turn, beginning with Six Player Euchre
the player to the dealer's left, has the option of accepting up-card's suit as the trump In Cornwall, England, this is played between two teams of three, sitting alternately.
suit or passing. Specifically: Either adds the sevens and eights to the pack, making 33 cards (the 8 and 7 are then
the lowest cards of each suit, below the 9), or play with a double 25 card pack - 50
 The player to dealer's left may either pass or say "I order it up"
cards in all.
 If the first player passes, the dealer's partner may either pass or say "I turn it When playing with a double pack, if two equally high cards are played to a trick, the
down" second to be played beats the first. If the two Bennies are red and black, the one
which is the same colour as the trump suit beats the other one. If they both look the
 If the first two players pass, the player to dealer's right may either pass or say "I
same, then the second one played beats the other, as with other cards.
order it up"
If a player wants to play alone, both of the player's partners discard their hands face
 If all three other players pass, the dealer may either take up the up-card, saying down, but the lone player can ask one of them for a card. The partner asked gives a
"I take it up", or pass by saying "over" and turning the up-card face-down. card of his choice to the lone player, without consultation and without showing it to
If either of the dealer's opponents order it up or if dealer decides to take it up, the the others, and the lone player discards a card face-down in return.
suit of the up-card becomes trump; the dealer adds the up-card to her hand and The score for winning all the tricks or euchring the makers is 3 points instead of 2. If
discards a card face-down. Note that (at least in this version of Euchre), the dealer's the winner is playing alone the score is 6 points instead of 4.
partner cannot make trumps and play with a partner. The dealer's partner can only
make the turned up suit trumps by playing alone. In Britain this is done by saying "I North American Euchre
turn it down", in which case the dealer's cards are placed face-down on the table and In Canada and the USA, Euchre is played without a joker, so that there are just 24
dealer's partner plays alone, with the turned suit as trump. cards in the deck, and the right bower is the highest trump. The target score is 10
If all four players pass, the up-card is turned face-down, and there is a second round points (not 11). The score is indicated by using two low cards overlapped - some use
in which players have the option to make any suit trump, other than the suit of the a six and a four, some use two fives, and some use a two and a three like this:
up-card. Again the player to dealer's left speaks first and may either pass again or
name a suit. If the first player passes the second may name a suit or pass, and so on.
If all four players pass a second time the cards are thrown in and the next player
deals.
Note that the trump making process ends as soon as someone accepts or makes
trump (rather than passing). That player's side are the makers and the other side are In the USA any player, including the dealer's partner, is allowed to order up the up-
the defenders. card and play with a partner. In other places - Australia, England and Canada - if the
dealer's partner orders the card up, he/she must play alone; therefore the dealer's
If the Benny is turned up then the dealer's team are automatically the makers - no
cards are laid face-down and the dealer does not play the hand.
one else gets an opportunity. The dealer must choose a trump suit without looking at
her cards. She then picks up her five cards and the Benny and discards one. Some people do not allow a defender to play alone - only the maker is allowed to
play alone. Some only allow a defender to play alone against a lone maker.
Going Alone
In Canada it is not usual for the cards to be cut before dealing, and in many groups
After trump has been made, but before the first lead, any player may announce that
the cards are dealt one at a time, rather than in twos and threes..
they are playing alone. The partner of a lone player puts her cards face-down and
takes no part in the play.

77
A common method of choosing the first dealer is to deal the cards around until a opponents of dealer who do not order up with good cards, in the hope
black jack appears. of euchring the dealer's team
Stick the Dealer (also known as "Screw the dealer"). In this variation the dealer From North America
cannot pass a second time when naming the trump suit. On the second round, if the
Bill Le May contributed the following sayings:
first three players pass, the dealer must name a suit. This variation is often played
when playing time is constrained. Don't send a boy to the mill
The Super-Euchre A "Super-Euchre" occurs when the making team takes zero tricks. said when you trump a suit trick with something like a 9 or 10 and the
Some play that the defending team then scores 4 points. other opponent takes it with something higher.
Railroading. This is a variation in which, if your partner is going to play alone, you Crossing the creek
may pass your partner a card (your best card) face down. Before looking at this card
partner must choose whether to discard a card from hand and take the card offered when the top card is turned down and someone makes trump of the
in exchange, or to discard the offered card. opposite color.

Some people play that if the first three players pass, the dealer is only allowed to take Dutchman's Point
up the turned trump if already holding at least one trump in hand. For this purpose, is the point you win when you're holding both bowers and the ace of
the left bower is not counted as a trump. trump. (In the USA, where the joker is not used, these are the highest
Variations three trumps).

Buck Euchre (Cut-Throat Euchre) Bushing or Waiting in the bushes

This game for three or four players, playing as individuals, is described on a separate is passing when you hold enough cards to make trump, hoping instead to
page. euchre the opponent who picks up.

32 card Euchre Having a dog from every county

In some places the 8s and 7s are included in the pack as the lowest cards in each suit, means your five cards comprise all four suits, usually low cards.
making a pack of 32 or 33 cards. This makes it more uncertain whether the high cards Some sayings from Indiana, USA, contributed by Chris Carter and Chris Patterson:
are in play. I am told that 32 card Euchre is the usual version in New Zealand. Also
there are a few people in the USA who still play this way. to be set

Six Hand Almonte Euchre to be euchred

Mike Lunney contributed the following variation, which is played in Almonte, in Sweep or March
eastern Ontario, Canada. winning all the tricks
Rules are the same as six player Euchre above, but with the following variations: In the barn
There are 6 players (3 per team) using a 30 card deck consisting of 8-9-10-Q-K-A-J in one point away from victory (usu. 9 points)
each suit, plus three jokers, represented by the 2,3,and 4 of spades ( 4 is the
To get cut
highest trump, followed by 3, 2, right bower, left bower, A, K, Q, 10, 9).
to lead an ace that gets trumped by the first opponent
The dealer distributes 5 cards to each of the 6 players and then turns over the last
one (i.e. no hidden cards). If the card turned up is a joker, then dealer calls the Loner
trump before looking in his or her hand. a hand suitable for playing alone
Scoring is the same as for British six player Euchre described above, but play is up to Lay-down loner
fifteen. Or in euchre leagues, players play twice around the table (i.e. 12 hands)
before moving to another table. a loner consisting of unbeatable cards (for example, if you have the first
lead: right, left, trump ace, another trump, any off ace). [Of course this is
There is a version in which, if a joker is turned up, the dealer cannot turn it over at not laydown if the lone player does not have the first lead. In some
the end of the first round of bidding, but must take it into his or her hand and places, a variation is played in which if you play a loner you never get the
become the maker, assuming the other 5 players have passed on the called trump. lead. If the player to your right leads first you would need five trumps
A four-hand variation is played with 21 cards: the Q-K-A-J of clubs and diamonds, including the top three for a lay-down loner. If the player to the left of
the 10-Q-K-A-J of hearts and spades, plus the 3 jokers; scoring is the same as in six- the loner leads, then five trumps including two bowers is enough.]
hand. Walk
Bid Euchre a low card is led and takes the trick (usually expressed in amazement or
There are many varieties of this. See the Bid Euchre page. disgust: "The ^#$@&^*(@! queen walked!"

Terminology and Sayings Next

From England After the up-card is turned down, the player to the dealer's left may call
"next" to indicate that the same-color suit as the turned-down card is to
have an eye be named the trump suit.
have a score of at least one Historical Note
whitewashed Euchre was probably derived from the game Jucker which was formerly played in
beaten without score (i.e. 11-0) Alsace. Euchre reached the USA in the early nineteenth century and was the original
game for which the Joker was introduced into the playing-card pack in the 1850s (to
serve as the highest trump). It has already been mentioned that Euchre is popular in
the US Navy, and it may be through this maritime connection that it travelled in the
dockyard play or playing policeman
later nineteenth century from America to other English speaking parts of the world.
Certainly in Britain it is mainly found in regions where there has been a strong Naval
influence

78
 Five Hundred 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Introduction Misere is higher than any bid of seven and lower than any bid of eight, but Misere
Although Five Hundred is now the national card game of Australia, it was in fact can only be bid after someone has bid seven - Misere cannot be bid directly over a six
invented in the USA, and promoted by the US Playing Card Company, who bid, or when no one has made a positive bid.
copyrighted the rules in 1904. The game is called 500 because the first team (or Open Misere is higher than Ten Diamonds but lower than Ten Hearts. You do not
player) to reach a total score of at least 500 points wins. It is an extension of Euchre, have to wait for the bidding to reach any particular level - Open Misere can be bid
in which the following elements have been added: over any lower bid, or even as the first bid of the auction.
 each player is dealt 10 cards instead of 5 Note that some players rank Misere and Open Misere differently - see variations.
A player who has once passed cannot bid again in that auction. The bidding continues
 trump is not turned up, but is chosen by whoever is willing to contract for the
clockwise for as many rounds as necessary, until all players except one have passed.
greatest number of tricks;
The highest (and last) bid becomes the contract which the bidder (contractor) has to
 the size of the pack is adjusted, so that all the cards are dealt to the players make, with the named suit (if any) as trumps.
except for a kitty of three cards, which can be used by the highest bidder. Play
From the outset, special expanded decks with extra pip cards were made to allow the The contractor begins by picking up the three cards of the kitty (without showing
game to be played by six people. Arnetta Lee reports that she purchased a 61 card them to the other players), and discarding any 3 cards face down in their place. The
deck of "BIJOU" playing-cards made by the US Playing Card Co. Cincinnati, U.S.A, cards discarded can include cards which were picked up from the kitty.
including a joker and 11-spot and 12-spot cards in all suits, and bearing a patent from
If the contract is Misere or Open Misere, the contractor's partner does not take part
June 30, 1896. She was advised by the US Playing-card Museum that the 61-card deck
in the play, but puts his cards face down on the table.
was first patented in 1881. The rules leaflets in these early packs envisage a version
of 500 played without the joker: two players use 24 cards - 10 each with a two card The contractor leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit if they can. A player
kitty for each player; three use 32 cards with a 2-card kitty; 4 use 44 cards with a 4- with no card of the suit led may play any card. A trick is won by the highest trump in
card kitty; 5 use 52 cards with a 2-card kitty, and 6 use 60 cards and there is no kitty. it, or if no trump is played by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick
Use of the joker as highest trump is given as an option. In 1897 13's were added to leads to the next.
the red suits to make a 63-card pack, and the game was regularised to have a 3-card If the contract is Open Misere, after the first trick has been played, the contractor
kitty in all cases. arranges his cards face up on the table for all to see, and plays the rest of the hand
In Australia, 500 is normally played by four people, two playing against two in fixed with his cards exposed.
partnerships; a similar version of the game is played in New Zealand. The antipodean Play of the joker
four-player versions of 500 will be described first, followed by versions for other If there is a trump suit, the joker counts as the highest trump, as stated above.
numbers of players.
In No Trumps, Misere or Open Misere, the joker may be used in one of two ways:
500 is still played in North America as well, but the standard American rules are
1. A contractor who holds the joker can nominate which suit it belongs to. The
rather different from the Australian game. Also included on this page are two specific
nomination must be made at the start of play, before the lead to the first trick.
American variations from St Paul, Minnesota, contributed by Ben Butzer, and
The joker then counts as the highest card of that suit.
from Youngstown, Ohio, contributed by Carol Bott. Yet another version of 500 is
played in French Canada. 2. If the contractor does not hold the joker, or holds it and does not nominate a
suit, then the joker belongs to no suit. It is the highest card in the pack, and wins
I have been told that 500 is also popular in the Shetland Islands (to the north of
the trick to which it is played, but there are restrictions on when it can be
Scotland). As yet I have no details of the version that is played there.
played:
Australian Four-Handed Five Hundred
o if someone else has led to the trick, you can only play the joker if you have
Players and Cards
no cards of the suit led;
There are four players, with partners sitting opposite. A pack of 43 cards is used,
consisting of o if the contract is a Misere or Open Misere, you must play the joker if you
have no cards of the suit led, but in a No Trump contract you are not
 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 in the red suits;
obliged to play the joker in this situation - you may discard from another
 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 in the black suits; suit instead if you wish, and play the joker on a later lead of this suit or
another suit in which you are void;
 one joker, also called the bird, because in the Australian 500 pack it depicts a
Kookaburra instead of a Jester. o you may lead the joker and nominate a suit which the others must play if
When there is a trump suit, the highest trump is the joker, followed by the jack of the they can, provided that this suit has not previously been led;
trump suit (right bower), the other jack of the same colour (left bower), then Ace, o once all four suits have been led, it is illegal to lead the joker, except to the
King, Queen, 10, 9, etc. down to 5 or 4. For purposes of following suit, etc, the joker last trick.
and left bower behave in all respects as members of the trump suit. The other three
Note that if you are the contractor in a Misere, it is possible to keep the joker in your
suits rank in the usual order from ace (highest) down to 5 or 4, but the suit which is
hand and nominate it as belonging to a suit. You may then be able to dispose of the
the same colour as trumps has no jack.
joker by discarding it on a lead of a suit in which you hold no card at the time. If you
When there are no trumps all the suits rank in the usual order from ace (high) down bid a Misere, keep the joker in your hand and forget to nominate a suit, your Misere
to 5 or 4 (low), and there are special rules governing how the joker is played. automatically fails, since your joker wins the trick to which you play it.
Deal Note that in some games the rules for playing the joker in No Trumps are different
Deal, bidding and play proceed clockwise. The first dealer is chosen at random, and from the above - see the variations section.
the turn to deal rotates clockwise after each hand. The cards are shuffled and cut and Scoring
the dealer deals 10 cards to each player and three face down in the middle of the
A cumulative score is kept for each team, to which the score for each hand is added
table to form the kitty. The cards are usually dealt as follows: a batch of 3 to each
or subtracted. The scores for the various contracts are as follows:
player; one to the kitty; 4 to each player; one to the kitty; 3 to each player; one to the
kitty.
Bidding
The bidding begins with the player to dealer's left and continues clockwise. The
possible bids are:
1. a number of tricks (minimum six) and a trump suit - for example a bid of "eight
diamonds" undertakes that the bidder, with partner's help, will try to win at
least eight tricks with diamonds as trumps;
2. a number (minimum six) of "No Trumps", (also known as "No-ies") offering to In a suit or no trump contract, the contractors win if they take at least as many tricks
win at least that number of tricks without a trump suit; as they bid. The contractors then score the appropriate amount from the above
3. Misere (pronounced "miz-air"), which is a contract to lose all the tricks, playing table, and their opponents score 10 points for each trick they manage to win. There is
alone (partner drops out of the play); no extra score for any additional tricks the contractors may make in excess of their
4. Open Misere, sometimes known as Lay Down Misere, which is like Misere, but bid, except when they win every trick, which is called a slam. If the contractors make
the contractor's hand is laid face-up on the table after the first trick. a slam, and their bid was worth less than 250 points, they score 250 instead of their
A player who does not wish to bid can pass. If all four players pass the cards are bid. If the bid was worth more than 250 (8 clubs or more) there is no special score for
thrown in. a slam - if the contractors win every trick they just win the value of their bid as
normal.
Once someone has bid, each subsequent bid must be higher than the previous one.
Higher means either more tricks, or the same number of tricks in a higher suit. For If the contractors do not take enough tricks for their suit or no trump contract, they
this purpose No trumps are highest, followed by Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, score minus the value of the contract, and their opponents still score 10 points for
and Spades (lowest). Thus the lowest possible bid is Six Spades and the highest is Ten each trick they won.
No Trumps. If the contract was Misere or Open Misere, the contractors score the appropriate
amount (250 or 500) if the contractor succeeds in losing every trick, and minus that
amount if the contractor wins a trick. The opponents score nothing in either case.

79
End of the Game ranks and scores equally to either 10 Hearts or 10 No Trumps in the
The game ends when a team wins by reaching a score of 500 points or more as a bidding - whichever is bid first excludes the other.
result of winning a contract. Paul Pinn reports a variation in which Misere ranks in the bidding above
The game also ends if a team reaches minus 500 points or worse, and thus loses the 8 spades and below 8 clubs - that is in the place you would expect,
game. This is called "going out backwards" or "going out the back door". according to its score.
Reaching 500 points or more as a result of odd tricks won while the other side are Roger Knights recommends a schedule in which
playing a contract is not sufficient to win the game. If this happens, further hands are ordinary misere scores 150 (ranking between 7 spades and 7 clubs)
played until one team wins or loses as described above. and open misere scores 250 (ranking between 8 spades and 8 clubs). In
both these contracts the bidder can pick up the kitty as usual, but there
Variations
is also a higher contract of misere without pickup scoring 350 and
As far as I know, there is no official and universally accepted set of rules for Australian ranking between 9 spades and 9 clubs, in which the bidder has to play
500. There are four major areas of dispute that I know of: the play of the joker, the with the cards as dealt, and the kitty is not used or looked at.
bidding process, Misere and the scoring by contractor's opponents. There are
4. Variations in scoring
several other variations which will occasionally be encountered. If you are starting a
serious game with unfamiliar players, it would be advisable to discuss and agree on Everyone agrees that you cannot win the game as a result of the points
your interpretation these rules in advance, to avoid arguments during the game. scored for winning odd tricks against the contractors - to win you have to
win a bid which makes your total score 500 or more (or you can win if
1. Play of the Joker in No Trumps
the opponents go out the back door). Some play that when your score
Some play that in No Trumps, the joker cannot be nominated in advance reaches 490, you actually score nothing for tricks taken against the
as belonging to a suit. In this case the rules under point 2 of play of the contractors - you just stay at 490 until you bid. Some reduce this
joker apply. A nomination of the suit of the joker is, however, still threshhold to 460 - which makes no difference to the fact that any
possible in Misere. successful bid will win you the game, but does make a difference if
Many people play that in No Trump contracts the Joker cannot be played having hit 460 you then lose some points for an unsuccessful contract.
on a lead of a suit on which you have previously reneged (shown void). One player reported a variation in which the 10 points per trick cannot
For example, if you have previously thrown away a spade on a lead of a be counted by a team whose score is 400 or more.
diamond, you cannot subsequently "trump" a diamond lead with the A few players have dispensed with the score of 10 points per trick for the
joker. If you are left with the joker as your last card, and a suit is led on opponents altogether - only the contractors' team scores. Others allow
which you have previously thrown away, your joker loses its power and the score of 10 per trick only if the contractors lose; if the contractors
the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led. win their contract the opponents score nothing for the tricks they take. I
Some people play that you can lead the Joker to any trick and call for any think these versions are uncommon - most people give 10 points per
suit on which you have not previously reneged. It does not matter trick to the opponents always.
whether this suit has been led before. Robert Reid reports a variation played by the Tasmanian police, in which
Matthew McNabb reports a version where in No Trumps, the joker can the bid value is scored by the contractors if they win and by the
never be led, except to the last trick. It can only be used to "trump" a opponents if the contractors lose. There are no negative scores in this
suit led by another player when you have no cards of the suit. version of the game, and nothing extra is scored for tricks taken by the
Roger Gadd reports a version where in No Trumps and Misere you play contractors' opponents. The first team to reach a score of 1000 or more
the joker (without previous announcement) as either wins the game. In this version Misere can only be bid after someone has
the first or last card you play of any suit. The consequences of this are bid 7 tricks, and Open Misere counts 520 and is equal in rank to 10 No
that: Trumps.
 You can lead the joker and nominate a suit in which no tricks have 5. Other Variations
previously been played, and the other players must then follow in Some players do not award any extra score for winning all 10 tricks when
that suit. fewer than 10 were bid. The bidding team simply score for their
contract, even if it is worth less than 250.
 You can use the joker to follow to a suit led by another player in
New Zealand Five Hundred
which no tricks have previously been played (even if you hold other
cards of that suit). In some previous editions of this page I tried to identify some of the variations above
as specific to New Zealand rather than Australia. From information I have since
 You can play the joker on a lead of a suit of which you have no received, it seems that by and large the same versions of 500 are played in both New
cards provided that you have not previously reneged (shown void) Zealand and Australia.
in that suit.
Variations - other numbers of players
 You can lead the joker and nominate any suit where you hold no The deal is always 10 cards to each player and 3 in the kitty. Therefore the size of
cards provided that you have not previously reneged (shown void) pack varies with the number of players.
in that suit.
Three players
2. The bidding process
A 33 card pack is used, the lowest card in each suit being the seven. The highest
In the rules above I said that a player who has passed cannot bid again. bidder plays alone, with the other two players forming a temporary partnership.
Some play that you are permitted to bid after passing, and that the
Each player's score is kept separately. The game is won by a player whose score
auction continues with all four players speaking in turn until there are
reaches 500 or more as a result of winning a contract, or lost by a player whose score
three passes in succession.
reaches minus 500 or worse.
In the rules above I said that when all players except one have passed,
Five players
that one player is the contractor, playing the contract of the final bid. I
believe that the most widespread rule is that as soon as the other three Use a full standard pack plus a joker - 53 cards in all. If the contract is a suit or no
players have passed, the contract is fixed as your last bid and cannot be trumps, the contractor may choose either to play alone (one against four) or to play
altered. However, some people play that after the other three players with a partner (two against three).
have passed, the contractor can bid again, naming a higher contract When playing with a partner, after discarding the kitty the contractor nominates any
(higher suit or more tricks in any suit). There are some further variations specific card other than the joker or a bower. The player who holds that card is the
around this: contractor's partner but must not say anything to reveal who they are. The identity of
 Most play that if no one else has bid in the auction at all, you the partner becomes clear when the nominated card is played.
cannot increase your bid after everyone has passed. Raising your A contractor who wishes to play alone should say so, instead of nominating a card.
own bid when the others have all passed is only allowed if more If the contractor calls a partner, they each win or lose half the value of the contract. A
than one player took part in the bidding. contractor who chooses to play alone wins or loses the full contract value alone.
 If you raise your final bid after everyone has passed, there is the Misere and Open Misere are always played alone against the other four players.
question of whether the other players should now be allowed The winning and losing conditions are as in the three and four player games. If two
another chance to bid. A common ruling is that if in raising the bid, players simultaneously reach 500 or more by winning a contract they both win.
the contractor changes the suit (or no trump), the other players Similarly, two players could lose at the same time.
have another chance to bid. If the contractor simply raises the bid In the books, I have seen two other variations as to how the partner is chosen - I do
to a greater number of tricks in the same suit (or no trumps) the not know whether either of these methods is commonly used:
other players cannot speak again. 1. The contractor nominates a specific player as a partner.
3. Variations in the ranking and scoring of Misere contracts 2. After discarding the kitty, the contractor nominates a card, and the holder of the
Some players do not allow Misere bids at all. card immediately says who they are.
Some people allow Misere to be bid even though no one has yet bid There are also variations in the restrictions as to which card can be nominated. Some
seven tricks. On the other hand, some play that Open Misere can not be do not allow any trump to be nominated; on the other hand, some allow any card to
bid until someone has bid at least eight tricks. be nominated except the joker.
Some play that Open Misere ranks between 9 No Trumps and 10 Spades In some circles, if you wish to play alone, rather than announcing this you are allowed
in the bidding; others play with Open Misere as the highest bid of all, to do this secretly by nominating a card which you hold yourself or have discarded. In
sometimes giving it a score of 520 rather than 500. Some play that it this case your opponents may not realise that you are playing alone until you play the
nominated card, or until the end of the play if you have discarded it.

80
It is a problem with 500 that Misere is too easy to win, compared to its scoring value. are not allowed to nominate a suit in which you have previously shown void - for
This problem is worse in five-handed 500. Brent Easton recommends the following example if you have previously discarded a diamond on a spade lead by someone
house rules: else, you cannot later lead the joker and call it a spade.
 Misere - Banned Irrespective of whether or not the contractors make their contract, the opponents
score 10 points for each trick taken. In the three- and five-handed games, each
 Open Misere - Worth 230 points. individual opponent scores 10 points for each trick taken. In a Nullo, all the
 Super Open Misere - (If you're really desperate!) - Worth 430 points. The opponents of the contractor score 10 points for each trick taken by the contractor.
opponents not only get to see your cards, but they get to play them for you as The game is won by the first player (or team) to reach 500 points or more. A game
well! can be won by an opponent of the contractor by means of the 10 points scored for
Six players each trick taken. If the contractor and an opponent reach 500 or more in the same
deal the contractor wins. In the three or five player game if two opponents of the
There are two partnerships of three players, with partners sitting alternately. A
contractor reach 500 in the same deal but the contractor does not, the first opponent
special pack of 63 cards is used, having 11's and 12's of all suits and 13's of the red
who reached 500 wins (considering the opponents' tricks to be scored as they are
suits, ranking above the 10 and below the pictures. I have been told that in Australia
taken). A player or team who reaches minus 500 points or worse loses the game.
it is normal to use this pack for 500 (leaving out the extra cards), even when the
game is played by fewer than six people. The rules are as in the four player game. In a When five people play, many people play that the bidder chooses a partner by
Misere or Open Misere, both partners of the contractor put down their cards and naming a specific player, not by calling a card.
take no part in the play. It may be agreed that if everyone passes, the cards are not thrown in, but the hand is
63-card packs are available from several suppliers. For example the Bicycle Six played in no trumps, with each player (or team) scoring 10 tricks for each trick taken.
Handed 500 Card Deck is available from amazon.com, and Piatnik 500 Playing- It is possible to play without the joker, in which case there are only two cards in the
Cards from Mind Games in Australia. Realm 500 Playing Cards, distributed in New widow.
Zealand by Croxley Stationery limited have 11s, 12s and 13s of all four suits: 64 cards Four Handed Five Hundred - West Seventh Street Rules
plus two jokers.
Ben Butzer has contributed the following version of American 500, played in St Paul,
If you want to play six handed but don't have the special pack, you can add the 2's, Minnesota. West Seventh Street in St. Paul contains the old ethnic neighborhoods
3's and red 4's from a second deck. If two of the same card are played on the same where Germans, Austrians, Hungarians, Czechs, Irish, and Italian peoples settled
trick, the first played beats the second. around their respective Catholic Parishes.
Two players The Players and Deck
This version was contributed independently by Megan Corino and Barry Rigal There are 4 players, in partnerships, partners sitting opposite. A 45 card pack is used -
The two player game is played with the standard 43 card deck as used for 4 players. a standard pack without the twos and threes but including a joker.
Each player is dealt a hand of ten cards, plus five separate piles of two cards on the The Deal
table, each pile consisting of a face down card with a face up card on top of it.
Players take turns drawing from the top of the deck until one draws a jack. That
The dealing procedure is as follows. First place 3 cards in front of your opponent to player becomes the dealer.
start 3 piles (each with 1 card face down), then the same for yourself, then a packet
Each player is dealt 10 cards as usual, and the 5 remaining cards are called
of 3 cards to the opponent's hand and 3 to your own hand and 1 in the kitty. Next
the middle (rather than the widow or kitty). Dealing goes 3 each - 3 to the middle - 2
deal 4 cards to your opponent - 2 face down to start two new piles, making a total of
each - 2 to the middle - 3 each - 2 each.
5 piles and the other 2 face up on top of any two of these piles; then repeat this for
yourself; then deal a packet of 4 cards to your opponent's hand, a packet of 4 to your Bidding
own hand and a second card to the kitty. Finally, place 3 face up cards to complete If you have exactly one ace, but no jacks, queens, kings or joker, then at your turn to
your opponent's remaining piles, do the same for yourself, and then deal a packet of bid you may announce "Ace - no face", which is a proposal to abandon the deal.
3 cards to your opponent's hand, 3 to your own hand, and the last card goes in the Partner may agree or disagree. If partner agrees, the cards are thrown in and the
kitty. cards are re-dealt - the bidder's opponents have no say in the matter. If partner
The bidding is as in normal 500, except that Open Misere can not be played. In disagrees, the bidding and play continue, but the team which said "Ace - no face" are
practice, No Trump and Misere contracts are rarely bid. There is no rule that a 7 call not allowed to play Nullo or Grand Nullo.
must be made before you call Misere. (In Barry Rigal's version, Misere calls are not A bid of 6 is called an inkle. For example "inkle diamonds" is a bid of 6 diamonds.
allowed at all). Only the first two bidders are allowed to inkle (i.e. bid 6) to their partners. The
Each trick consists of four cards: one hand card and one face up card from each inkler's partner must either bid higher than 6, or pass. If no one bids, or no one bids
player (this applies also in Misere). As usual a trick is won by the highest trump in it, higher than 6, the cards are thrown in and re-dealt by the same dealer.
or the highest card of the suit led. For the first trick, the contractor always begins by The first two bidders have two alternative ways of bidding no trump, thus conveying
leading a card from hand, the opponent follows from hand, then contractor plays one extra information to their partners. They can either bid a number of "No Trump" or
of their face up cards (following suit if possible) and finally the opponent plays one of just a number of "No" - for example "Seven No Trump" or just "Seven No". Using the
their face up cards (following suit). Where the trick is won determines the lead of the full expression "No Trump" is the standard no trump bid. Bidding a number of "No"
next card: indicates in addition that the bidder has either the joker or split bowers. Having "split
bowers" means that you have two jacks of opposite colours, which guarantees that
 If the trick is won by one of the face up cards, the player who won the trick
you have a high trump, whatever the trump suit may be.
leads a face up card to the next trick and the other player follows with a face up
card, then the leader plays a card from hand and finally the other player plays Combining the above rules, either of the first two bidders could bid "Inkle No", a bid
from hand. of 6 No Trumps including the joker or split bowers.
"Nullo" is only allowed if agreed before the game commences. In the four handed
 If the trick was won by a card from one of the players' hands, the winner of the
game it is played such that the bidder plays alone. The bidder's partner places his
trick leads to the next trick from their hand, then the other player plays from
hand face down upon the table and does not play. The bidders opponents play two
hand, then the player who led plays a face up card from the table, and finally
versus one. The 250 score of the Nullo bidder is still shared by the team.
the other player plays from the table.
"Grand Nullo" (or "Granola") is a team variation of Nullo. For bidding purposes it is
Each time a face up card is played, if there is a face down card under it, it is turned
worth 510 points. So it beats a ten heart bid, but is beaten by a ten no-trump bid.
over at the end of the trick and can be used in a future trick.
Grand Nullo can only be bid if the bidder's partner had opened with Nullo. In Grand
The scoring is as in normal four handed Five Hundred. Nullo, the bid winner picks up the middle, adds it to his hand and discards any five of
American Five Hundred his 15 cards. The bidder's partner (the original Nullo bidder) then picks up the five
The standard version of American 500, as promulgated by the US Playing Card discards, adds them to his hand, and discards any five cards. The Granola bidder leads
Company and described in various books, differs from the Australian game in a to the first trick. The bidders win if neither of them takes a trick. If either of them
number of ways. wins a trick they lose and their opponents score ten points for each trick taken by the
bidders.
The book descriptions always start with the three player version, which might suggest
that in America, 500 is more often played by three players than by four, but this does Game
not seem to be true. The descriptions I have received, from players in Minnesota and The usual American rules apply. A team which loses the game because their point
Ohio, agree that 500 is normally played by four players. total has reached minus 500 or worse is said to have "gone out the back door".
The kitty is called the widow. The deal is 3-widow-4-3. Grand Slam variant
There is only one round of bidding - each player has just one opportunity to bid. Jefferey McQuston describes a variant in which after winning the bidding with any
The Misere contract is called Nullo. Some do not allow it at all. If it is allowed, it ranks suit or no trump bid, after picking up the middle 5 cards the contractor may
in the bidding above 8 spades and below 8 clubs. announce a "Grand Slam", which is an undertaking to win all 10 tricks playing alone
against the two opponents, with the trump suit (or no trump) named in the final bid.
In No Trump and Nullo contracts the joker cannot be announced as belonging to a
It is worth 500 points with any trump suit or 520 points with no trump. The
suit. It is in a suit by itself and always wins the trick to which it is played. The joker
contractor's partner gives one card to the contractor, discards the other 9 face down
can only be played to a trick when the holder is void of the suit led, but it is not
and takes no part in the play. The contractor now has 16 cards and must discard 6 of
compulsory to play it then. In these contracts the joker can be led to any trick, and
them. The contractor leads to the first trick as usual. If the opponents win any tricks,
when leading the joker, you nominate a suit which the other players must follow. You
the contractor's team loses 500 and the opponents score 10 for each trick they win.

81
 Hearts 3, 4, 5

Players and Cards If a player reaches or exceeds 100 points and there is a tie for low score, additional
Hearts is most commonly played by 4 people. There are no formal partnerships, hands may be played until there is a clear winner.
though there are times when players will find it in their interest to help each other. Partnership Hearts
A standard 52 card deck is used, with the cards in each suit ranking as usual from ace There are two ways that four players can play hearts in fixed partnerships, partners
(high) down to two (low). There is no trump suit. sitting opposite each other.
Each heart is worth one penalty point and the queen of spades is worth 13 penalty 1. Partners keep their tricks together. On each hand your team scores the total
points. The other cards have no value. number of penalty points you have taken in your tricks. A slam occurs if one
Object of Game team takes all 14 penalty cards in a hand, they can choose give the opponents
26 penalty points or to subtract 26 penalty points from their own score.
The object is to avoid scoring points. The game is ended by someone reaching or
going over 100 points, and the winner is the player with the lowest score at this 2. Each player keeps an individual score, and in order to "shoot the moon", an
point. individual player has to win all the penalty cards. The game continues until an
individual player's score reaches 100 or more; then the scores of the partners
Deal and Passing are totalled and the partnership with fewer points wins. Thus it is possible for
Deal and play are clockwise. All the cards are dealt out one at a time, so that your team to win even if it is you who go over 100. For example you have 105,
everyone has 13. your partner has 34, and your opponents have 78 and 69, then your team wins
On the first hand, after the deal, each player passes any three cards face-down to the by 139 points to 147.
player to their left. When passing cards, you must first select the cards to be passed Some prefer to play this game passing three cards to partner on every deal. The cards
and place them face-down, ready to be picked up by the receiving player; only then passed can provide useful information, such as signalling whether one intends to
may you pick up the cards passed to you, look at them and add them to your hand. shoot the moon.
On the second hand each player passes three cards to the player to their right, in the Other Numbers of Players
same way. On the third hand each player passes three cards to the player sitting The game may be played with either three or five players. There are various ways of
opposite. On the fourth hand no cards are passed at all. The cycle then repeats until coping with the fact that the cards cannot all be dealt out equally to the players:
the end of the game.
1. Deal 17 cards each to three players or 10 each to five players. The one or two
The Play of the Hand remaining cards are called the kitty; they are placed in the middle of the table
The person who holds the 2 of clubs must lead it to the first trick. The other players, face down. The kitty cards should be dealt in the middle of the deal, not as the
in clockwise order, must play a card of the suit which was led if possible. If they do last card(s) - the last card should belong to the dealer, so that no damage is
not have a card of that suit, they may play any card. The person who played the done if the dealer accidentally sees it while dealing. The player who takes the
highest card of the suit led wins the trick and leads to the next trick. first trick (or alternatively, the first penalty point) takes the kitty and places the
It is illegal to lead a heart until after a heart has been played to a previous trick, card(s) with his or her captured cards (the player may look at them first). If it
unless your hand contains nothing but hearts. Discarding a heart, thus allowing happens that the 2 is in the kitty, the holder of the lowest club not in the
hearts to be led in future, is called breaking hearts. In general, discarding a penalty kitty must lead it (if no one has the 2, ask if anyone has the 3, then the 4, and so
card on a trick is called painting the trick. on).
A player whose hand consists entirely of hearts may lead any heart, thereby breaking 2. As in method 1 above, but the person who takes the first point or trick adds the
hearts, even if hearts have not previously been broken. kitty to their hand and discards an equal number of cards face down into their
Players are permitted to lead spades to any trick after the first. In fact it is a normal tricks.
tactic to lead lower spades to try to drive out the queen. This is sometimes known
as smoking out the queen. 3. With three players, remove the 2 from the deck, leaving 51 cards. With five
Scoring players also remove the 2, and the holder of the 3 leads it to the first
trick.
Normally, each player scores penalty points for cards in the tricks which they won.
Each heart scores one point, and the queen of spades scores 13 points. However, if In the 3 player game, the passing may follow any one of these patterns:
you manage to win all the scoring cards (which is known as a slam or shooting the
moon), your score is reduced by 26 points, or you may choose instead to have all
 Left, right, hold, repeat.
other players' scores increased by 26 points.  Left, right, repeat.
The game continues until one player has reached or exceeded 100 points at the  If you pass 4 cards instead of 3 you can also scatter by passing 2 cards to each
conclusion of a hand. The person with the lowest score is then the winner. other player. You could then include scattering in either of the above rotations.
Variations In the 5 player game, the passing could follow any of these patterns:
Kitty  Left, right, hold, repeat.
Some play that only 12 cards are dealt to each player. During the deal, four cards are  Left, right, repeat.
dealt to a face down kitty, which is added to the tricks of the first player who takes a
penalty card. A kitty can also be used to cope with the fact that the cards cannot be  Left, right, 2nd person to the left, 2nd person to the right, hold, repeat.
dealt evenly when there are more or fewer than four players.
Passing
 Left, right, 2nd to the left, hold, left, right, 2nd to the right, hold, repeat.
Two players can play Huse Hearts for Two, an interesting version involving a dummy
Different passing cycles may be used, for example: hand.
 pass left, pass right, pass across, then repeat (no hold hand); Three players can play George Wang's Dummy Hearts in which players bid for control
 scatter instead of hold (players pass one card to every other player); of the Dummy.
Other Variations
 both scatter and hold hands are played (the cycle is left, right, across, scatter, The Hearts Variations page has a collection of Hearts variants contributed by readers
then hold).
of pagat.com
 Another passing method that can be included in the cycle is "mix": everyone Turbo Hearts
discards three cards to a pile in the centre, which is shuffled and then redealt to
the players. If you play with a kitty, this can be shuffled in too, so that the new Turbo Hearts, introduced at Upenn in the 1980's by Richard Garfield, is an American
kitty can contain some of the discards. version of the Chinese game Gong Zhu (Catch the Pig).
Some play that players are not required to pass any cards if they do not wish to. They  The Jack of Diamonds is used as in the variations above.
simply pass on the cards that were passed to them without looking at them. This  Whoever captures the Ten of Clubs doubles their score for that hand.
could result in a player getting their own cards back.
Play of the Hand  After the pass but before the first lead each player may "turbo-charge" one of
the following cards: Ace of Hearts, Queen of Spades, Jack of Diamonds, or Ten
Some players allow hearts to be led at any time. This was the original rule, but in the of Clubs. They do this by placing the card face up in front of them.
USA nearly everyone now plays that heart leads are forbidden unless hearts have
been broken.  A turbo-charged Queen of Spades or Jack of Diamonds doubles the value of that
The original rule was that player to the left of the dealer always leads to the first trick card for that hand.
(rather than the holder of the 2 of clubs leading it), and may lead any card. Some  A turbo-charged Ace of Hearts doubles the value of all hearts for that hand.
people still play that way. If you play with the now usual restriction on leading hearts
then the opening lead can be anything but a heart.  A turbo-charged Ten of Clubs quadruples the score for that hand of the player
who captures it.
Some play that is illegal to play points on the very first trick, unless of course you
have you have nothing but penalty cards in your hand.  A player may not play a turbo-charged card the first time a card of that suit is
Some play that the Queen of Spades breaks hearts. In other words, hearts may be led led.
anytime after the Queen of Spades or any heart has been played. Booster Nines
If hearts have not been played and a player is on lead holding nothing but hearts and Richard Garfield recommends the following variation, introduced around 1990.
the Queen of Spades, many people allow hearts to be led, instead of forcing the Booster nines work the following way. If a nine is led to a trick or played while
player to lead the Queen of Spades. following suit, then there is a boost: one more round is played in the same suit - i.e. a
Some players insist that you must play the Queen of Spades as soon as it is safe to do further card from each player, in rotation. The suit of the first of the eight cards
so. This could be when you are void in the suit led or to a spade trick when the Ace or played is the led suit, and the highest card of this suit takes the eight card trick. If a
King of Spades has already been played. nine is sloughed (discarded on a lead of a different suit) or played in the last trick,
there is no boost - the trick consists of just four cards as usual.
Scoring
This variation makes shooting the moon somewhat easier, since you can dump a
Many people play that the Jack of Diamonds (or sometimes the Ten of Diamonds) is a loser on your own good nine (or one drawn from an opponent).
bonus card, counting minus 10 points for the person taking it. With this form of
scoring, the game is known as Omnibus Hearts. To shoot the moon, you need all the Cancellation Hearts
hearts and the Q, and as usual you can choose to have 26 points deducted from This is a version of Hearts for 6 to 10 players using two 52 card packs shuffled
your score or added to everyone else's; in addition to this, 10 points are deducted together. The cards are dealt out as far as they will go, any left over cards being
from the score of the player who took the Jack of Diamonds (who may be the same placed in a face-down kitty which is taken by the winner of the first trick. The player
player as the shooter). to the dealer's left leads first and can lead anything.
Shooting the sun is taking all the tricks (as opposed to taking all points). Some score When two identical cards are played to a trick, they cancel each other out in terms of
this as 52 points with the scoring handled in the same as shooting the moon. trick-taking power (but still carry penalty points if they are penalty cards). The trick is
taken by the highest card of the suit led which is not duplicated. If all the cards played
There are variations on the choice of scores for shooting the moon. Possibilities are: of the suit led are in cancelling pairs, the trick remains on the table, the same player
 the shooter always has 26 points deducted; leads again, and the cards go to the winner of the next trick. If the very last trick has
no winner its cards go to the winner of the previous trick.
 all the other players always have 26 points added; Spot Hearts
 all the other players always have 26 points added unless this would cause one of This is a variation in which the penalty value of the hearts is their pip-value. That is,
them to win, in which case the shooter has 26 points deducted. the two the 2 penalty points, the three 3, the four 4, etc. The jack of hearts carries 11
For some people, reaching certain scores has a special effect. For example if your penalty points, queen 12, king 13, ace 14, and the queen of spades 25.
score is exactly 100 points at the end of a hand, it is reduced to 50 (or zero). As an alternative, some play that hearts from 2-10 are face value, all heart pictures
are 10, the heart ace is 15, and the spade queen is 25.

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 Playing spot hearts the scores are higher, so a higher target score is needed - say 500.  If you successfully shoot - that is, take all the counting cards cards in your tricks
Black Maria - you win the game, and the person to your left must vacate their seat for the
This is the British version of Hearts, sometimes also called Dirty Lady, Slippery Bitch. next player, if any, waiting to join the game.
NB. There is also an entirely different Finnish game called Black Maria (Mustamaija in  No points may be thrown on the first trick ("The Calm"). As a variation, some
Finnish; Svarta Maija in Swedish). A description of that game will be found on people play "Wide Open" which, means that anything can be thrown on the first
the Mustamaija page. trick.
In Black Maria there are usually 3 players; the 2 of clubs is removed from the pack  The deuce of clubs starts - the holder leads it to the first trick.
and 17 cards are dealt to each player. Black Maria can also be played by four people,
in which case all the cards are dealt out.  After the cut, but before the start of the deal, the dealer "calls pass", that is,
specifies how cards will be passed for that hand. The dealer may choose any
Cards always passed in same direction - the books say pass three to the right, but variant (for example: two to the left, one to the right), as long as each player
some players pass three to the left. passes and receives three cards and the method is the same for all four players.
The player to dealer's left leads first and may lead anything. There is no restriction on An extra option is a special pass called "******' in the Kitty" - everyone passes
leading hearts. to the middle, and those 12 cards are shuffled and dealt by the dealer.
There are various alternative scoring schemes:  Throwing hearts is called "painting", running the spades suit is "Beating for the
 1 for each heart; 13 for the queen of spades (as in the USA) Bitch" (as in "beating the bush for ..."). The Queens of Clubs and Hearts are
 1 for each heart; 13 for the queen of spades; 10 for the king of spades; 7 for the called "The Weak Bitches" because the Q is in the main throwoff suit, and
ace of spades (total 43 points) the Q is in the paint suit.
 as in Spot Hearts: 2 - 10 of hearts face value; J, Q, K of hearts 10 points; ace of  Low cards are called "duckers" and it is a habit of players to yell "That ain't no
hearts 15 points; queen of spades 25 points. In this case the game is played to duckah!" just before they paint your lead, especially if your lead should have
500 points, not 100. been a ducker, but you messed up in counting.
Dirty Nasty Filthy Hearts (Da Nasty Fix) Various tactical nuances now exist, for example:
Shiva Ctylyctyc describes a Hearts variation from Florida.  You now need the queen of each suit in order to shoot.
 The diamond Jack counts as minus 10 (it is known as "The Lil Man" or "The Cake  Since you can win by shooting, it is still in no-one's interest to help you (unless
Daddy"). Caking is a term used to describe the act of showering someone with they wish to get rid of the person to your left from the game).
money, gifts, etc, for nothing in return.
 The penalty for the Queen of Spades ("The Queen Bitch") is 26 points, and the  How to get the Jack of Diamonds without getting the Queen of Diamonds (which
is called the "Rich Bitch" or "Money Bitch"; some people call it the "Thief Bitch"
other three Queens cost 13 points apiece. because it can steal your minus 10 for the jack and leave you with plus 3
 Because of the larger number of penalty points in play, the game is played to instead.
300 points. When someone reaches or goes over 300, the player with the
lowest score wins.
 A certain amount of diplomacy comes into play, in persuading people not to
help the person to your right to shoot you. They might be tempted to do this to
remove you from the game if you win a lot or get obnoxious.

Gong Zhu 4, 5

Introduction: An approximate English translation of the name of the game is Chase Jack of diamonds exposed: The sheep is worth +200 instead of +100.
the Pig: zhu means pig or boar and gong is to root out, or force out of hiding. In the
game, the queen of spades is a penalty card, known as the pig - players may try to Ten of clubs exposed: The ten of clubs quadruples the value of all scoring cards taken
drive out the pig by leading spades; also the loser of the game is known as the pig, by the same player instead of doubling them. Therefore if the ten of clubs and pig are
and may be required to grovel under the table as a penalty. both exposed and the same player takes both, that player gets -800 (4 x -200). If the
player who takes the exposed ten of clubs gets no other scoring cards it is worth +100
Players, Cards and Deal: The game is for four or five players using a standard 52 card rather then +50.
pack. The cards in each suit rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Four can
play as individuals or as partners - partners sit opposite. When 5 play it is necessary If you expose a card, you are not allowed to play it to the first trick in which that suit
to take out two cards - the twos of clubs and diamonds. At the beginning of the hand is led, unless you have no other cards of that suit. For example, if you expose the
all the cards are dealt out equally to the players. Unlike in Western Hearts, there is no queen of spades, then the first time that someone leads a spade you are not allowed
passing of cards. Everyone plays with the cards they are dealt. to play the queen if you have other spades. The other players can take advantage of
this to get rid of their ace and king of spades safely on the first trick of the suit - safe,
The Play: The play is in tricks. There are no trumps. In the first hand the holder of the that is, unless you have sneakily exposed the queen of spades having no other
two of spades leads to the first trick; in subsequent hands, the player who took the spades.
pig (queen of spades) on the previous hand leads to the first trick.
If you lead the suit of your exposed card yourself, and the suit has not been led
Any card may be led (there is no restriction on leading hearts or spades). Players before, then you must not lead the exposed card itself unless it is the only card you
must follow suit if possible. If you cannot follow suit you may play any card. The trick have in that suit.
is won by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next.
Scoring: Keep a cumulative total of each player's score - positive or negative. When a
Values of cards: The object is to take or avoid taking in tricks particular cards which player reaches minus 1000 they have lost, and a new game is started. The penalty for
carry a penalty or bonus to the person who wins them. The scoring cards are: losing is that you are a pig; you are given a long narrow strip of paper and you must
Card Score put one end in your mouth; the strip of paper hangs there until someone else loses a
Queen of spades (pig) -100 game, at which time you can give it to them. On the other hand, if you lose again, you
get another strip of paper to hang from your mouth.
Ace of hearts -50
King of hearts -40 In addition, as previously mentioned, the loser may also be required to grovel under
Queen of hearts -30 the table.
Jack of hearts -20
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 of hearts -10 each Variations: The following variation was contributed by Theodore Hwa. The game is as
4, 3, 2 of hearts 0 each described above, with the following differences:
Jack of diamonds (sheep) +100 1. Value of hearts: The hearts 10, 9, 8, ..., 2 are scored the negative of their
face value, except for the 4 of hearts which is -10 instead of -4 (this
exception is made so that the total of all the hearts remains -200).
In addition the ten of clubs counts +50 if the player who takes it takes no other 2. When any player takes all the hearts, the values of the pig and sheep are
scoring cards. If the player does take other scoring cards, the ten of clubs counts interchanged for all players for that deal. That is, if one player takes all
nothing in itself, but doubles the value of all other scoring cards taken by that player. the hearts and someone else takes the pig, then the player who took the
Note that the 4, 3 and 2 of hearts are scoring cards, even though they score zero, so pig scores +100 for it, etc. The pig and sheep always cancel each other
the ten of clubs plus the three of hearts score twice zero which is zero. out, even for the player who took all the hearts.
3. A player who takes all the point cards (all hearts, queen of spades, jack
If one player takes all the hearts, they score +200 instead of -200. Note that it is of diamonds, ten of clubs) scores +1000.
necessary to take the 4, 3 and 2 of hearts to get this plus score, but you don't need 4. If any player reaches -1000 exactly at the end of a deal, the game still
the pig (queen of spades). If a player takes all the hearts and the pig as well, then the ends, but that player's score is converted to +1000.
score for the pig becomes +100, making a total of +300. The sheep (jack of diamonds) 5. There is no option to expose cards to double their score.
is still worth a further +100 to a player who takes all the hearts.
In rec.games.playing-cards, jp described a variation played by Chinese students at CU
During the play, the hearts, pig, sheep and ten of clubs are kept face up in front of Boulder. They called it "Catch the Pig". They played as in the main account except
the players who take them in tricks. All the other cards played to tricks are turned that you could double the value of the key cards (pig, sheep, ten of clubs or ace of
face down when the trick is complete, and are kept in a single heap. hearts for hearts) by putting them "up for sale" face down, or quadruple their value
by putting them face up.
Exposing cards: There are four cards which may be exposed by their holders before
the start of play: ace of hearts, queen of spades, jack of diamonds, ten of clubs. Jun Qian has contributed the following variations:

 Some play that if you are dealt an exposable card as the first card of your
hand and you expose it before seeing your other cards, the effect is
doubled. For example a pig exposed as your first card is worth -400, and
a club ten exposed as your first card multiplies the value of all the
The effect of exposing a card is basically to double its value. Specifically: scoring cards taken by the player who wins it by eight.
 Some play that if you expose the sheep it becomes a negative card,
Ace of hearts exposed: All hearts are worth double. If a player takes all the hearts worth -200, or in some circles -400.
this will therefore be worth +400 instead of +200.  Some play that if you take all the hearts, the pig and the sheep, all these
cards become positive. This is called Zhu Yang Man Juan (catch pig and
Queen of spades exposed: The pig is worth -200 instead of -100 (or +200 to a player sheep in hand). If you take all the hearts and the pig, but not the sheep,
who takes all the hearts) the pig remains negative.

83
 The side which reaches 500 points first wins the game. If both sides reach 500 points
Spades 2, 3, 4, 6 in the same deal, the side with the higher score wins.
Variations of Spades for Four Players
Introduction
Dennis J Barmore's rules
Spades was invented in the USA in the 1930's and is played quite widely in that
country. Until recently it has been little known elsewhere, except in a few places Dennis J Barmore, who used to run a mailing list for information about Spades, Bid
where American troops were stationed, for example in parts of Germany. However, Whist and Pinochle clubs and tournaments in the USA, contributed the following
since the mid 1990's Spades has become popular internationally because of its easy description of a variant which is widely played by African Americans. The rules are as
availability in on-line card rooms on the Internet. The introduction of of on-line play in basic spades (above), but with the following differences:
and tournaments has also led to some standardisation of the rules, and this page has
been revised so that the main description conforms to the standard. After the main 1. Cards: The game is played with a standard pack with two distinct jokers; the
description, there is a collection of numerous variations, which are still common in twos of clubs and hearts are removed from the pack leaving 52 cards. The two
face to face social games. jokers are the highest trumps. If one is colourful and the other is plain, the
colourful one is higher. If your pack has identical jokers, write "BIG" on one of
Spades is a plain-trick game in which spades are always trumps. It is most often them, and that one is higher. The third highest trump is the two of spades - so
played as a partnership game by four players, but there are also versions the trump suit ranks:
for three, two or six players. big joker, small joker, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3.
For the purpose of following suit, the jokers count as spades.
I am grateful to Theodore Hwa, Dennis J Barmore, Szu Kay Wong, John Hay, Daniel
Hines, and many others who have contributed information on variations. 2. Partnership Bidding is used - see explanation under bidding variations below.
Spades for Four Players 3. Leading: After the bidding, the dealer leads to the first trick and may lead any
card of any suit. Throughout the game, any card may be led to a trick. You do
Players and Cards not have to wait for spades to be broken before leading them.
The four players are in fixed partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. 4. Bidding blind: There is no nil or blind nil bid, but a partnership may bid blind
Deal and play are clockwise. seven, provided neither of them has yet looked at their cards. This doubles the
A standard pack of 52 cards is used. The cards, in each suit, rank from highest to score to 140 if successful and -140 if not. If they make overtricks, these count
lowest: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. one each as usual.
The Deal 5. In theory it is also possible to bid higher numbers blind for double the
score: blind 8 is worth 160, blind 9 is 180 and so on. However, such bids will not
The first dealer is chosen at random, and the turn to deal rotates clockwise. The cards be worthwhile, except possibly when they give you just enough points to win
are shuffled and then dealt singly, in clockwise order beginning with the player on the game if successful.
dealer's left, until all 52 cards have been dealt and everyone has 13.
New York City rules
The Bidding
Christian A. Baxter contributed the following variation, which is popular in New York
In Spades, all four players bid a number of tricks. Each team adds together the bids of
the two partners, and the total is the number of tricks that team must try to win in City. Two jokers are included and the 2 and 2 are removed from the deck. The
order to get a positive score. The bidding begins with the player to dealer's left and rank of trumps from high to low is:
continues clockwise around the table. Everyone must bid a number, and in theory big (red) joker, small (black) joker, 2, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3.
any number from 0 to 13 is allowed. Unlike other games with bidding, there is no Note that for the purpose of following suit, the jokers and the two of diamonds count
requirement for each bid to be higher than the last one, and players are not allowed as spades.
to pass. There is no second round of bidding - bids once made cannot be
altered. Example: South deals; West bids 3; North bids 1; East bids 4; South bids 4. (B.K. Redd reports that many players keep the 2 as the lowest club and instead
The objective of North and South is to win at least 5 ticks (4+1), East and West try to remove both red twos, and many count the black joker as the highest trump followed
win at least 7 (4+3). by the red Joker, so that the top trumps are big (black) joker, small (red) joker,
A bid of 0 tricks is known as Nil. This is a declaration that that the player who bid Nil 2, 2, A, K, ....)
will not win any tricks during the play. There is an extra bonus for this if it succeeds
and a penalty if it fails. The partnership also has the objective of winning the number The dealer shuffles, the player to dealer's right cuts, and 13 cards each are dealt.
of tricks bid by the Nil's partner. It is not possible to bid no tricks without bidding a Occasionally a "French Cut" is used, which works as follows. After the dealer has
Nil. If you don't want to go for the Nil bonus or penalty you must bid at least 1. shuffled, the player to the right divides it into four face-down stacks and flips over the
top card of each stack. One of these cards is given to each player - the cutter decides
Some players allow a bid of Blind nil. This is a nil bid declared before a player looks at who gets what card. Then the deck is reassembled by stacking the four smaller decks
his cards. After everyone has bid and before the first lead, the bidder may exchange without the four top cards and without shuffling again. These cards are dealt one at a
two cards with partner - the bidder discards two cards face down; partner picks them time in the normal way, beginning to dealer's left and ending with the dealer, so that
up and gives back two cards face-down in return. It is usually agreed that Blind Nil everyone has 13 cards, and each player has one card that is known to everyone.
may only be bid by a player whose side is losing by at least 100 points.
Partnership bidding is used, beginning with the dealer's opponents. Partners may tell
The Play of the Hand each other how many "tricks" or "books" (sure tricks) they think they can make and
how many "possibles" (extra tricks that may or may not be made) they have. Based
The player to dealer's left leads any card except a spade to the first trick. Each player,
on this, they agree on a bid for the partnership. When the non-dealing team has bid,
in turn, clockwise, must follow suit if able; if unable to follow suit, the player may play
the dealer's team agree their bid in a similar way. All conversations are heard by all
any card.
players, so the dealer's team may also be influenced by the nondealers' discussion.
A trick containing a spade is won by the highest spade played; if no spade is played, The minimum bid for each team is 4 and the maximum is 10. There are no Nil bids.
the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of each trick leads to
A partnership which is losing by a margin of at least 100 points may choose not to
the next. Spades may not be led until either
look at their cards, but bid "blind". The minimum blind bid is 6 tricks. A blind bid
 some player has played a spade (on the lead of another suit, of course), or scores double if successful but only singly if lost. After agreeing on a blind bid, the
partners pick up their cards and look at them. If they think they can win at least 10
 the leader has nothing but spades left in hand. tricks, they may "come out" of their blind bid and bid 10, but in this case they only
win singly (200 rather than 400 for a bid of 10).
Playing the first spade is known as "breaking" spades.
The player to dealer's left leads to the first trick. Spades may not be led in the first
Scoring three tricks unless they have been "broken" by a player trumping a lead of another
suit with a spade. From the fourth trick onwards any card can be led.
A side that takes at least as many tricks as its bid calls for receives a score equal to 10
times its bid. Additional tricks (overtricks) are worth an extra one point each. For a normal (non-blind) bid from 4 to 9 to succeed, the team must win the number
of tricks bid, and may win one or two overtricks (sandbags), but not more than that.
Sandbagging rule: Overtricks are colloquially known as bags. A side which (over
For a successful bid they win 10 times the number bid, with nothing extra for
several deals) accumulates ten or more bags has 100 points deducted from its score.
overtricks. If the team wins fewer tricks than they bid, or wins three or more
Any bags beyond ten are carried over to the next cycle of ten overtricks - that is if
sandbags, they are set and in this case they lose 10 points per trick bid.
they reached twenty overtricks they would lose another 100 points and so on. (Note:
it is not necessary to keep track of overtricks separately as the cumulative number of For a non-blind bid of 10, the team scores 200 points if they take 10, 11 or 12 tricks. If
overtricks taken appears as the final digit of the team's score, if positive). they bid 10 and win all 13 tricks they win the whole game. If they take fewer than 10
Example: Suppose a team whose score is 337 bids 5 tricks. If they win 7 tricks they tricks they lose 200. A team that takes all 13 tricks, known as a Boston, also gains
score 52, taking their score to 389. If they win 8 tricks they score 53, but lose 100 "bragging rights". That is the case even if they bid less than 10, in which case they are
because they now have 10 bags, and their score becomes 290 (337 + 53 - 100). If they set and score minus their bid for taking too many overtricks.
win 9 tricks they score 54 and lose 100, bringing their score to 291.
For a blind bid, the team scores double the amount for the corresponding non-blind
If a side does not make its bid, they lose 10 points for each trick they bid. bid if they take at least as many tricks as they bid, and there is no limit on sandbags.
This a successful blind 10 wins 400, though a team that bids blind and then comes out
If a bid of nil is successful, the nil bidder's side receives 100 points. This is in addition
for a non-blind bid of 10 scores only 200. A blind bid fails if the team takes fewer trick
to the score won (or lost) by the partner of the nil bidder for tricks made. If a bid of
than they bid, and in this case there is no double - they lose just 10 points per trick
nil fails - that is, the bidder takes at least one trick - the bidder's side loses 100 points,
bid for a blind bid of 6 to 9, or 200 for a failed blind 10.
but still receives any amount scored for the partner's bid.
The first hand of a new game is normally played without any bidding. The teams just
The usual rule is that when a nil fails, the tricks won by the nil bidder do not
play to win as many tricks as possible and score 10 points per trick.
count towards making the partner's bid, but do count as bags for the team.
If a team is set twice in succession ("shot back to back"), they lose the whole game,
A bid of blind nil scores twice as much as an ordinary nil - it wins 200 points if
irrespective of the scores. If both teams are set on two consecutive deals, the team
successful and loses 200 points if it fails.
with the higher score wins. (B.K. Redd reports that in some groups, a team survives

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two consecutive sets but loses the whole game if they are set three times in called by any player, the cards are thrown in and a new hand is dealt by
succession.) the same dealer.
If the game is not ended by a Boston or a team losing twice in a row, the first team to Generally a misdeal may only be called before partner has disclosed any
score 500 or more points, or the team with the higher score if both achieve this on information about his hand, but some people play that partner may be
the same deal, wins the game. If there is a tie at 500 or more points, further deals consulted in the following limited manner. A player may ask: "Should I
must be played until the tie is broken. call a misdeal?" His partner may reply yes or no but may not disclose any
other information about his hand. The reply is not binding.
Other variations
Nil / Blind Nil.
Here are some further variants, mostly contributed by Theodore Hwa. Ben Miller
provided the information on No Trump and Double Nil and Jeffrey Jacobs reported These have already been described; Nil is sometimes known as Naught.
some further variants.
Nil and Blind Nil are sometimes valued at 50 and 100 points rather than
Variation in the cards and their ranking 100 and 200. Sometimes the penalty for losing Blind Nil is only half the
score for winning it (i.e. +100/-50 or +200/-100). If winning a Blind Nil is
In some versions of Spades, some or all of the four twos are elevated to the top of worth 100 then you are only allowed to bid it when your side is at least
the spade suit, are ranked in some specified order, and are considered to be spades. 100 points behind. Some play that when Nil is played the bidder must
The rest of the cards rank as in normal. exchange one card with partner; others do not allow passing of cards
Spades can also be played with a 54 card pack - the standard pack of 52 plus 2 even in a Blind Nil. Another possible variation is that if you bid Blind Nil
distinguishable jokers. In this case the two jokers are elevated to be the top two you pass one card and to your partner and can specify one suit which
cards of the spade suit, with a particular order of the jokers specified. If jokers are you would like passed back; partner takes this into consideration when
used and no cards are eliminated, then there will be two cards left over at the end of returning a card but is not forced to pass the suit you asked for.
the deal, and these are given to the dealer. Having looked at all 15 cards, the dealer Some play that if a Nil bid fails, the Nil bidder's tricks count towards
discards any two cards face down. Some play that the two extra cards are given to making the partner's contract (or as sandbags). Some play that there is
the holder of the two of clubs, rather than the dealer. Some play that the discard no penalty for sandbags when playing Blind Nil. Some play that if one
takes place after the bidding. member of a team loses a Nil the partner's bid is automatically lost as
Jeffrey Jacobs reports a variant "Widow Spades" which uses a pack with two jokers, well.
but in this case the two cards remaining at the end of the deal are set aside unseen - Blind 6
no one may look at them until after the play. This adds an element of uncertainty,
since sometimes a high trump is unexpectedly out of play. This must be declared by a side before either partner looks at their
cards. It scores 120 points if the side takes exactly 6 tricks. If they take
Michael Mitchell reports a variation with 54 cards in which the two cards remaining some other number of tricks they lose 120. Some people play that to win
after the deal are taken by the team that bids the greater number of tricks. They may blind 6 you just have to win at least 6 tricks. Some play that a lost blind 6
agree to take one card each, or for one player to take both cards. If the teams bid only loses 60, not 120. Higher blind bids may also be allowed - Blind 7 for
equal numbers of tricks - for example six each - then each team gets one of the 140, Blind 8 for 160 and so on. For some people Blind 7 is the minimum
remaining cards - they decide between themselves which member of each blind bid.
partnership should take it. In either card, the player(s) who have taken the extra
cards discard unwanted cards face down to bring their hands back to 13 cards before 10-for-200
the play begins.
This scores 200 points if a side takes exactly 10 tricks, and loses 200 if
Passing cards they take any other number of tricks. Some people play that to win 10-
for-200 you just have to win at least 10 tricks. Some play that any bid of
Some play that before the bidding, each player passes three cards face down to 10 is automatically a 10-for-200 bid. In some places the 10 for 200 bid is
partner. The cards are passed simultaneously - players must decide what to pass called 10 for 2 (which is written on the score sheet as 10-4-2). Another
before knowing what cards they will receive. way of writing the 200 score is with the two zeros linked together at the
Variations in the bidding top; this is called "wheels", as the zeroes are supposed to look like train
wheels.
Partnership Bidding
Moon or Boston
Some play that instead of the players bidding strictly in turn, each partnership agrees
on a bid, through a process of discussion. First the non-dealer's side agrees on a bid. This is a bid to take all 13 tricks and is worth 200 points. The side loses
Each partner on that side communicates the amount of tricks they expect to take, 200 points if they fail to take all the tricks. If playing with 10-for-200 the
based on their cards. A certain amount of unspecified bantering about "halves" and Moon or Boston is worth 500 points. Some people play that a successful
"maybes" is permitted, but not specific information about cards held. For example Moon bid automatically wins the game (which is even better than
you are allowed to say "I know I can take 4 tricks, I might be able to take 6"; you are scoring 500 if you had a negative score).
not allowed to say "I have a couple of high hearts and a singleton in clubs". The Blind moon
agreed upon bid is then written down. The other side then agrees on a bid in the
same manner. This is a bid to take all 13 tricks, made before either partner has looked
at their cards. It is worth 400 points if it succeeds, and the side loses 400
Some play that each team must bid a minimum of 4 tricks. If a player bids Nil, that points if it fails.
player's partner must bid at least 4.
No trump bids
Some play that after each partnership has agreed its initial bid, each side, beginning
with the side that made the first bid, is then given the opportunity to increase its bid. These are not like no trump bids in Bridge, 500, etc. Spades are still
trumps, but a player who bids some number of tricks with "no trump"
Some play that the bids of the two sides must not add up to exactly 13 tricks. This promises not to win any tricks with spades, except when spades are led.
makes it impossible for both teams to win their bid exactly. You are only allowed to bid "No Trump" if you hold at least one spade in
Round-the-table bidding your hand. The value of the bid is double that of a normal bid for that
number of tricks if won; the penalty is if you lose is double the penalty
The type of bidding described in the main account of Spades above is known as for a normal bid (some people play with only a single penalty but this is
"round the table" bidding. In this type of bidding table talk is usually not permitted. A not recommended). A bid of "No Trump" requires agreement from
player may only state a number. Some play that the dealer, rather than the player to partner. The person who wants to bid "No Trump" asks partner: "Can
dealer's left begins. you cover a no trump?", and partner replies "yes" or "no". A "No Trump"
bid can be made blind, increasing its value to triple the basic amount.
In round-the-table bidding, some people play that no one can bid 1 - so for example if
The minimum number of tricks which can be bid in "Blind No Trump" is
the first player of a partnership says x tricks, the final contract must be either x, or
usually set at one less than the required minimum number for a normal
else at least x + 2. There is also variation as to whether a bid of "zero" must
blind bid. A "Blind No Trump" bid is usually a desperation play and
necessarily be construed as bid of nil.
should be only be allowed when the team is a long way behind - for
In round-the-table bidding, some people allow a second round of bidding, in which example more than 400 behind in a 1000 point game. Failing in a Blind
each side may increase its bid. In this second round, the bidding proceeds exactly as No Trump should cost the same as you win if you succeed - i.e. three
in partnership bidding, beginning with the same side as the player who began the times the basic value of the bid. However, some people play with only a
round-the-clock bidding sequence. double or single penalty.
The hand that bids itself Double Nil
Some play that in the first deal of a spades game there is no bidding. The cards are This is a bid in which both partners play Nil at once. One partner may
played in the usual way and each team scores 10 points for each trick taken. This suggest this and if the other agrees it is played. The score if successful is
does not seem to be a very good rule - it reduces the scope for skill without any 500 points (or for some people an automatic win). If either partner wins
compensating advantage - but Jeffrey Jacobs reports that some people like to play a trick the bid fails. The penalty is variously set at 250, 500 or automatic
this way. loss. In addition, if both partners win a trick, their opponents get a bonus
of 100 points. A bid of Double Nil is only allowed for a team who are far
Special actions / bids. behind - for example more than 400 behind in a 1000 point game. In a
There is great variety in the special bids or actions a player may be allowed to make few circles a "Blind Double Nil" bid is allowed. If successful, the bidders
during his turn to bid. Some of the possibilities are listed below. win the whole game; if not their opponents win the game. Some play
that when a team bids Double Nil, each player of the team
Misdeal. simultaneously passes two cards face down to partner before the play
starts.
This may be called by any player whose hand satisfies certain conditions.
The criteria for a misdeal differ. The most common rule is that a misdeal Bemo
may be called by a player with no spades. Some allow a misdeal with one
spade, with a 7-card or longer suit, or with no face cards. If a misdeal is Bidding Little Bemo commits the team to win the first six tricks. It is
additional to the normal bid; the team scores an extra bonus of 60 if
successful and loses 60 if not. Big Bemo similarly commits the team that

85
 bids it to win the first nine tricks; they score a 90 point bonus if of the three bets cannot be 17 tricks - so that not everyone can make their bet
successful and lose 90 if not. exactly.
Variations in the play of the cards The Play
Some play that the dealer leads first, rather than the player to dealer's left, and may The player who has the 2 of clubs must lead it to the first trick. In the rare occasion
lead any card except a spade. that the 2 of clubs is out of play, the player with the 3 of clubs must lead it. The other
two players must play a club (not necessarily their lowest). A player who has no club
On the first trick, some require that everyone must play their lowest club. A player may either:
who has no clubs must discard a diamond or a heart. No spades may be played to the
trick. In this variation, on this first trick it does not matter much in what order the  take it by playing any spade or
four players play their cards - but if you want to be fussy then the holder of the 2 of
clubs should lead, and the others play in clockwise order. The trick is won by the
 refuse it by playing any non-spade of a different suit.
highest club played. The player who wins a trick leads the next. The other two players must play a card of
the suit led, or if either player has none of that suit, take with a spade or refuse with
In the first trick, some allow a player who has no clubs to play a spade on the trick. In a non-spade. If neither of the other players has a card of the suit led and both play a
this case the trick is won by the highest spade if a spade is played. As the order of
spade then the higher spade wins. A player may not lead a spade until a spade has
play to the trick may now be important (if you are going to play a spade you would
been used to take another trick led by a non spade. The exception is when a player
rather wait to see if someone else plays a higher spade first), the holder of the two of
has nothing left in hand but spades.
clubs should lead to the first trick (or the holder of the lowest club in play if you are
playing with jokers and the two of clubs was discarded). Scoring
Some play that spades may be led at any time - it is not necessary that they be Remember each player's bet!
broken first. If you win as many or more tricks than you bet, you gain 10 points for each trick bet.
If you win fewer tricks than you bet, you lose 10 times the amount of tricks you bet
"Rake 'em and Shake 'em" If using a 54 card deck (with two jokers), some play that if (losing like this is usually referred to as a cut).
the big joker is led (played as the first card in a trick), then all the other players must
play their highest spade. Sandbags are overtricks: If you take too many tricks, for every extra trick over what
you bet, the amount you win for the contract is reduced by 10 points. For example, if
Variations in the scoring you bet 4 tricks and take 5, you win only 30 instead of 40; if you take 7 tricks having
Tricks in excess of the contract (overtricks or sandbags) may be worth minus 1 point bet 3 you lose 10 points overall (30 minus 40).
each rather than plus 1. In this case the penalty for accumulating 10 overtricks does
Variation: Some players count sandbags. Instead of losing 10 points from your
not apply.
contract score for each sandbag, when you accumulate 10 sandbags (over several
Some players use the units digit of the score to count sandbags, but do not regard it deals), you drop 100 points. This is why sometimes you will refuse a trick, since taking
as being part of the score - so sandbags are in effect worth nothing until you have 10 it will give you too many tricks, and you lose points.
of them, when they cost you 100. In this variation if your score was 369 and you bid 7
The game is played to a set number, usually 300, 400, 500, or some other round
tricks and took 9 your score would become 331 (not 341).
number. When one (or more) pass that number, the player with the highest score
Some people play that there is a special card which cancels one sandbag on that hand wins.
for the side that takes it in their tricks. If the side which wins the special card makes
Variation - bonus scores
no overtricks, or loses their bid, the special card has no effect. The special card may
be either a fixed card - for example the three of spades - or may be determined Szu Kay Wong recommends playing with the following bonus scores:
afresh by cutting a card before each deal.
If you take the very last trick with a high spade (nine or above), and with that trick
Some play without any penalty for 10 sandbags - overtricks are simply worth an extra you make exactly what you bet, you gain an additional 10 point bonus. If you bag (get
point each. too many tricks), there is no bonus.
Some play that if a team takes at least twice as many tricks as they bid they lose their If you win an unbroken sequence of tricks at the end (2, 3, 4 or more tricks), all with
bid (for example if they bid 4 and win 8 or more tricks they score -40). high spades (9 or above), and get exactly what you bet, there is a similar bonus of 10
points per trick (for example if you took the last 5 tricks with high spades to make
Some play that the penalty for taking fewer tricks than were bid is 10 points for each your bet the bonus would be 50).
trick by which the team falls short of the bid, rather than 10 times the bid.
There is no bonus for winning the last tricks with non-spades or low spades. A bonus
Some play that if a side's cumulative score is minus 500 or worse, that side loses the is not awarded to a player who "gets lucky" at the end by winning the last trick with a
game (and of course the other side wins).
4 of diamonds, for instance. On the other hand, if a player has the Ace of Spades in
Some players set the target for winning the game at 1000 points rather than 500. his hand and waits until the end to play it, that is considered good play, and is
Others play with a target of only 300. rewarded.
Playing with aces: Michael Mitchell reports a variation in which a partnership scores For successful bids of seven or more, you get an extra 10 points for each trick bid
a 100 point bonus for holding all four aces and bringing them all home in tricks, above six. So if you make a seven trick bid exactly, you gain 80 points. Eight tricks
provided that they announce this before the play. A player who holds all four aces exactly gains 100, 9 gains 120, and so on. This rewards those who are more daring.
can simply announce it. A player with three aces can ask partner: "can we go aces?"
Making a bet of exactly 2, 1 or none is also very difficult, and is rewarded as follows:
and if holding the fourth ace the partner can say "yes". Holding only two aces the
player asks instead: "is it possible to go aces?" and partner can reply "yes" if holding  Anyone who bets 2 and gets 2 wins 40 points (instead of 20). If you get 3, you
the other two. These announcements may be made at any time before the start of still get 20 points (one bag). Four tricks is worth nothing, and every additional
play - before, during or after the bidding. There is no penalty for a team that bag is -10 each (per usual).
announces four aces but fails to win them all. This variant is normally played without
nil bids, and with both jokers and the two of spades ranking as highest trumps above  Anyone who bets 1 and gets exactly 1 wins 60 pts. If you get 2, you also get
the ace of spades, so that the spade ace is not a certain trick. nothing, and each additional bag is again -10 each.
 Anyone who bets none and gets it is entitled to 100 pts. Otherwise, subtract 10
Solo Spades for every trick taken (just like regular bags).
In rec.games.playing-cards, Meister ([email protected]) mentioned a variation of Blind: You may decide to not look at your cards and just bet. This will double all
Spades for four players without partners. Bids are for the number of tricks the points. For example, if you bet and win 5 tricks, you gain 100 pts. However, if you
individual player will make, and in the play, it is compulsory to beat the highest card miss, the penalty is also double (in the 5 trick case, 100 points).
so far played to the trick if you can; this includes playing a spade if you have no card
of the suit led. Here is a link to Szu Kay Wong's Advice on playing Spades, mostly for the three player
game.
Spades for Six Players
Three-Player Spades with a Dummy
This is played between three teams of two, partners sitting opposite (so there are
two opponents from different teams separating you from your partner in each Dan Corkill has developed 3-player "Dummy Hand" Spades in which four hands are
direction). dealt, three to the players and one dummy, and the highest bidder plays with the
dummy hand as a partner, the dummy being exposed, bridge-style.
A 102 card deck is used, consisting of two standard 52 card decks mixed together
with two low cards removed. Some groups remove both twos of diamonds, others Spades for Two Players
remove both twos of clubs. There is no deal. Instead, the deck is placed face-down between the two players, and
The bidding and scoring are the same as in the 4 player game, and similar variations they take turns to draw cards.
are possible. In the play, if two identical cards are played to the same trick, the At your turn you draw the top card, look at it (without showing it to your opponent)
second beats the first. and decide whether you want to keep it.
Spades for Three Players
 If you want to keep it you put it in your hand, and draw the next card, which you
There are no partnerships - players play for themselves. look at and must then discard face down;
The Cards  If you decide not to keep the first card you discard it face down and then draw
the next card, which you put in your hand.
One standard 52 card pack is used. Deal 17 cards to each player. The remaining card
is tossed out of play for that particular game. It is then the other player's turn to draw. This continues until the stock is exhausted.
You then each have a hand of 13 cards and have discarded 13 cards.
Variation: play with a 54 card pack including big and little jokers as the top two
trumps. Deal 18 cards to each player. Now each player bids a number of tricks, and you play and score according to the
same rules as for three or four players.
The Betting
Each player, starting with the player to dealer's left, names a number (called a bet).
Each player's object is to win that number of tricks. Some people play that the total

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 Pinochle 2, 3, 4

Overview When only one person has not said "pass" (or "pass with help"), that person has won
the bid and becomes the declarer. The amount bid is recorded on a piece of paper
Pinochle is a trick-taking game, like Euchre, Bridge, Hearts, Spades, and even the which is being used as a score pad.
children's game War. Under Taking Tricks, I'll cover how you decide who leads each
trick, how you decide who wins each trick, and what that all means. But before we In My Family's Pinochle, the dealer is "under": this means that if the other three
get to the trick-taking phase of the game, I'll talk about the deck, how it's dealt, players pass, the dealer has taken the bid at 250 points.
how bidding takes place, and all the other pieces of the game.
The winner of the bidding names the trump suit.
For those familiar with Pinochle terminology, My Family's Pinochle (MFP) is single-
deck, four-handed, partnership, auction, racehorse Pinochle. For those not familiar Passing Cards
with these terms, check out the list below: When the bidder has named trump, the bidder's partner selects four cards to pass
across the table. Exactly four cards must be sent; no more and no fewer. Once you've
 Single-deck means we use only one deck of Pinochle cards. There are variations selected your four cards, place them in one stack face down on the table in front of
on the game that use two or more decks, especially to accommodate more than you, and slide them across to your partner.
four players.
 Four-handed means that four people play at a time. I also play three-handed The bidder picks up these four cards and sorts them into his or her hand and chooses
pinochle, and I've worked on developing a special deck for playing five-handed four cards to send back across the table in the same way. These may include some of
pinochle. Two-handed and six-handed pinochle also exist, and I'm sure there are the cards just received.
others (eight-handed comes to mind). Laying Down Meld
 Partnership means that the four people are grouped in two teams of two. There
are variations (notably in three-handed) where each player plays independently, Now that the cards have been passed back and forth across the table, all four players
and other variations where the player taking the bid has a partner based on lay down their meld. My dictionary calls meld "a combination of cards declared,
which other player is holding a particular card. especially by putting them face up on the table," and that definition is appropriate.
Each combination is called a piece of meld, and each piece is worth a particular
 Auction means that the privilege of naming trump is bid for amongst the number of points.
players. The player winning the bid gets the right to name trump, but also has
the responsibility to make sure the team earns the number of points bid. One There are three types of meld, and an individual card may belong to several different
variation is that trump is determined by the final card dealt from the deck. pieces of meld as long as they are of different types. Each player places face-up on
 Racehorse means that, after the winning bidder has named trump, that player's the table only those cards necessary to show the value of their meld.
partner passes cards across the table. The bidder incorporates those into the
In My Family's Pinochle, the various pieces of meld are worth the following numbers
hand, then passes the same number of cards back. A common variation is to
of points:
play cutthroat, where such passing of cards does not take place.
The Deck TYPE I
Runs (all cards must be in trump-- non-trump runs do not count)
My Family's Pinochle is played with a 48-card deck (there are variations). The deck Bare Run (A, T, K, Q, J) ............................. 150
consists of twelve cards in each of four suits - two in each of the ranks Ace, Ten, King, Run with Extra King (A, T, K, K, Q, J) ............... 190
Queen, Jack, and Nine. Note that the rank of cards differs from standard usage: the Run with Extra Queen (A, T, K, Q, Q, J) .............. 190
Ten outranks everything (within its suit) except the Ace. This is likely to be a Run with Extra Marriage (A, T, K, K, Q, Q, J) ........ 230
stumbling block for many people; however, if you are familiar with the bowers in Double Run (A, A, T, T, K, K, Q, Q, J, J) ............ 1500
Euchre or the strange role played by the Queen of Spades in Hearts, you should have
no trouble with the transition. Nine of Trump (called the deece) ...................... 10
In the trick-taking phase of the game, the Aces, Tens, and Kings are worth points, and
thus are called "counters." Queens, Jacks, and Nines are not worth points (although Marriages (King and Queen of the Same Suit)
they can win tricks [and influence people]), so they are called "non-counters." Royal Marriage (in Trump) ........................... 40
Common Marriage (non-Trump) ......................... 20
The (at first) unusual order of ranks can be remembered by chanting "Ace, Ten, King" TYPE II
over and over, much as a beginning or infrequent dancer (such as myself) chants Pinochle
"one, two, three" while learning to waltz. "Ace, Ten, King" has become something of Single (one Jack of Diamonds and one Queen of Spades) ....... 40
a mantra at our pinochle parties. Double (both Jacks of Diamonds and both Queens of Spades) ... 300
TYPE III
The Deal
Arounds One of Each Suit Both of Each Suit
For the first round of a game, the players select a dealer in whatever manner they Aces ............... 100 ................. 1000
choose. At our house, it's generally whoever happens to pick up the cards first. Kings .............. 80 ................. 800
(Throughout this document, a "round" will refer to the entire sequence from one deal Queens ............. 60 ................. 600
to the next; the set of cards dealt to an individual player will be called a "hand.") Jacks .............. 40 ................. 400
The dealer shuffles the cards in whatever manner is convenient to mix them Although it seems arbitrary, Tens Around is worth nothing. Nines Around, if you really
thoroughly. (It is considered good form to offer to shuffle and/or deal for somebody want to meld it, is (facetiously) worth 10 points, because you automatically have the
whose hands don't work so well.) The shuffled deck is placed on the table to the deece.
dealer's right; the player to that side cuts the deck, preferably toward the dealer.
When all four players have laid down their meld, both teams count their points and
The dealer picks up the deck (cut portion last) and deals the cards evenly to each record them on the score pad. Here's where it starts to get interesting: There are only
players, beginning with dealer's left. Some players insist that the cards be dealt one a total of 250 points available during the trick-taking phase of the game. If the
at a time. I was taught to deal the cards three at a time, and continue to do so. Truth amount that was bid is more than 250 points above the amount melded by the
be told, it doesn't matter as long as each player receives twelve cards, the dealer declarer's team, there is no way that team can make their bid. They are not "on the
receiving the final card(s). All 48 cards will have been dealt. board," and they will "go set" for this hand. (See the Taking Tricks section for what
happens when you've "gone set.")
It is generally courteous to wait until all the cards have been dealt before picking up
your hand. This way, if one player does not have enough cards, they can be re- If the difference between the amount bid and the amount the declarer's team has
distributed without having to re-shuffle and re-deal the whole deck. melded is 250 points or less, the hand can be played out. However, if the declarer
feels there is absolutely no chance of making the required points, he or she can
Once the cards have been dealt, the players pick up, sort, and examine their hands. "throw in the hand" and the consequences are the same as if that team had not been
The next phase is bidding. "on the board". General courtesy calls for all players to wait until the declarer picks
The Bid up his or her own meld; then they may pick up theirs. This gives the declarer a fair
chance to see what he or she is up against.
The winner of the bid (hereafter called the "declarer") acquires three rights:
Taking Tricks
 the right to name trump,
Once all players have picked up their melded cards, the declarer leads to the first
 the right to receive cards from his/her partner, and trick. Proceeding to the left, each player plays a card on the trick (following the rules
 the right to lead the first trick. outlined below). When four cards have been played to the trick, the highest-ranking
card of trump - or, if there is no trump in the trick, the highest-ranking card of the
The minimum opening bid is 250 points, and the player to the dealer's left has the suit led - wins the trick. If there is a tie for highest-ranking card, the trick is won by
first opportunity to bid. Bids are made in increments of 10 (or multiples of 10) points. whichever of the equal cards was played first. The player who played the winning
Unlike Bridge, no suit is named along with the point value - the bid consists of a card leads to the next trick, and so on until twelve tricks have been played.
number only.
There are some rules about what must be played on the trick. The first, or lead, card,
Bid passes to the left, and when the bid reaches you, you have four options: may be anything in the leader's hand (although some plays are smarter than others).
1. Give a normal bid by announcing a number 10 points higher than the last bid. The basic rules of engagement are as follows:
2. Give a "jump" bid by saying a number at least 20 points higher than the last bid. 1. If you have a card of the same suit as the lead card, you must play it. If possible,
3. Say "Pass," thereby removing yourself from the bidding for this round. (If it you must play a card that beats the card that currently controls the trick.
looks as though the other players will be bidding for a while, go get a cup of 2. If you do not have any cards in the suit led, but you have a card in trump, you
tea.) must play it, thereby "trumping the trick". If you have no card of the suit led and
4. Say "Pass with help." This phrase removes you from the bidding for the round, the trick already contains trump, you must beat it with a higher trump card if
but can be used to convey extra information to your partner. Note that some you can; even if you can't win the trick you must in any case play a trump if you
people do not allow the use of "Pass with help"; always inquire locally before have one.
starting play.

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3. If you cannot follow suit and you cannot trump the trick, you may "slough", that do not lose points; instead, the other team scores the failed bid in addition to the
is, play any other card. points which they made on meld, and the counters they took in their tricks. This
method of scoring makes for a much faster game.
Notes:

 The first played of two identical cards beats the second.

2 player variant
 The rule obliging you to beat the card currently winning the trick applies even if Number of Players: 2
the card you are obliged to beat is your partner's.
Deck: Standard Pinochle deck of 48 cards consisting of 2 each of all cards 9 and above
 If you have no card of the suit led, you must play a trump if you can, even if (including aces).
someone before you has already played a higher trump than yours. The only
Deal: Each player is dealt 12 cards, the next card is turned up to determine trump for
case in which you are allowed to throw a card of a non-trump suit different from
the hand and the remainder of the deck (the stock) is placed crosswise on this
the led suit is when you have no cards of the suit led and no trumps.
upturned card. Deal alternates between players.
 The obligation to play higher only applies if you are able to beat the card that is
Bidding: There is no bidding in this game.
currently winning the trick. If you are unable to do this you may play any card,
subject always to the necessity to follow suit and to play a trump if you have no The game is played in two phases, described separately below.
card of the suit led. For example, if the non-trump lead has already been Play
trumped, and you have cards in the suit led, you cannot beat the trump that is Phase 1: As long as cards remain in the stock, the game is in Phase 1. The non-dealer
currently winning the trick (since you have to follow suit), so you may play any leads to the first trick, the dealer then plays any card from their hand to the trick (not
card of the suit that was led. required to follow suit or trump). The winner of the trick takes the top card of the
Once all four cards have been played to a trick, it should be clear which player has stock and puts it in their hand, the loser of the trick then takes the next card from the
won the trick. Each team should designate one partner to "pull" the tricks, or gather stock and places it in their hand. The winner of the trick is now allowed to meld if
them from the center of the table. For the declaring team, this is usually the non- they wish. (See section on melding below.) The winner of the trick then leads a card
declarer (giving the declarer time to concentrate on what to lead next). The puller to the next trick (the card led can be in their hand or on the table as part of a meld).
collects the cards, turns them face-down, and places them in a stack in front of him Play continues as above until their are no cards left in the stock. When the stock is
or her on the table. As a courtesy, the puller shows the cards to the other players down to one face down card and the remaining trump card, the winner of the trick
(especially the declarer) before they are turned face-down. may choose which card to take. After picking up these last two cards the winner of
that trick may still meld.
Counting Points Phase 2: Once there are no cards left in the stock, the rules change. There is no
Once all twelve tricks have been played, both teams collect their stacks of pulled longer any melding. Each player picks up any meld they have and place it in their
cards and count the Aces, Tens, and Kings (the "counters") collected during the hand. The winner of the last trick from Phase 1 leads to the next trick. The second
round. Each counter is worth 10 points. The final trick, in and of itself, is worth an player must follow suit if able. If not, they must trump if possible. The second player
additional 10 points. This make 250 points total: 240 for the twenty-four counters in must win the trick if they are able to. The winner of the trick leads to the next trick.
the deck, plus 10 for the final trick. Play continues in this manner until all cards have been played.
Melding
The scores obtained by each side are recorded on the score pad.
In Phase 1, when a player wins a trick they may place any meld they have face up in
If the declaring team "makes the bid" (earns enough points, through melding and front of them and receive points for it. The various combinations that may be melded
trick-taking combined, to meet or exceed the amount bid), all the earned points are and the points they receive are listed below. When a player melds, it is written down
added to the team's previous score. If they do not, they "go set". This means that on the scoresheet immediately.
they do not score any points melded, they score no points taken in the tricks, and Run - A 10 K Q J in trumps - 150 points
their previous score is reduced by the amount bid.
Marriage - K Q in same suit - 20 points
If the non-declaring team fails to earn points while taking tricks (that is, they pulled Royal Marriage - K Q in trumps - 40 points
no counters and failed to capture the final trick), they do not score any points that Aces around - A in each suit - 100 points
were melded. (It is said that they failed to "save their meld.") The exception is that if
their only meld was one or both deeces, the points are scored. Nines of trump are Kings around - K in each suit - 80 points
said to "save themselves". If the non-declaring team does capture points in tricks, the Queens around - Q in each suit - 60 points
meld is added to their previous score, along with any points earned in tricks. Jacks around - J in each suit - 40 points
If the declaring team were not "on the board" (their meld fell short of their bid by Pinochle - J of Diamonds and Q of Spades, - 40 points
more than 250 points) or they decided to throw in the hand without play, they lose Double Pinochle - 2 pinochles - 300 points (Note: A Double Pinochle is the only meld
the amount of their bid, and the opponents score their own meld. The cards are not which gives a bonus for having more than one, all other melds simply count twice.
played, so there is no score for cards won in tricks. Note that if the declaring side e.g. Double aces around count 200 points.)
have no chance of making their bid, it is advantageous for them to throw in the hand, 9 of Trumps (Dix) - 10 points
as this prevents the opponents from scoring for cards taken in the play.
Special rule concerning Dix: The first Dix to be melded is done so by exchanging it for
It is a great coup for the declaring team to take all 250 points during the trick-taking the face-up trump card at the bottom of the stock (even if it is the other Dix). The
phase of the game. It is also a great coup for the non-declaring team to steal enough card taken from the bottom may be used immediately in meld if desired.
points that the declaring team cannot make their bid. This tension, and waiting to see Special notes concerning melding:
how it will be resolved, is part of the great fun of Pinochle. A player may use a card in more than one meld provided it is used to make a different
My Family's Pinochle is generally played to 1500 points when there are only four type of meld. (e.g. A player melds a marriage in spades. If both cards are still on the
people playing (and if both teams exceed 1500 on the same round, the declaring table on a later turn, the player may add the other 3 kings for kings around, the other
team wins regardless of the actual score). If we have several more people, however, 3 queens for queens around, or the Jack of Diamonds for a Pinochle. They may not
we call four rounds a game and switch partners and/or tables. Pinochle is a lot of fun add another single King of Spades for a second marriage.)
when you can play with four or five different people during the course of an evening - If a player has melded a Royal Marriage and they later add the A, 10, and J or trumps
plus, you build up a lot of stories about "the big one that got away". for a run, they only score an additional 110 points instead of 150.
Variations If a player has melded a Pinochle and they later add another Pinocle for a Double
Pinochle (while the original Pinochle is still down), they only score an additional 260
Some play that no extra points are scored for a single extra king or queen added to a points instead of 300. (If the first Pinochle had already been broken up, they would
run. This is probably more usual than the way of scoring meld described in the main only score 40 points for the second one.)
account. A-T-K-K-Q-Q-J of trumps would score 190 for a run plus a marriage in Scoring
trumps.
In addition to any meld a player scored during the hand they also receive 11 points
The rules of play given in most card game books published since 1945 are somewhat for each ace, 10 points for each ten, 4 points for each king, 3 points for each queen,
different from those give in the taking tricks section of this page. According to these and 2 points for each jack they captured in play. The player who captures the last
rules: trick also gets ten points. (Total of 250 points to be taken in play.) The first player to
get a total of 1200 points wins the game.
 If a trump is led, the other players must play trumps if they can, and if possible Variations
they must beat the highest trump so far played to the trick.
Game may be played to 1500 or 1000 points instead of 1200.
 If a non-trump is led, the other players must follow suit if they can, and must
trump if unable to follow suit, but there is no obligation to beat the highest card An optional scoring method for cards taken in play is to count each Ace and ten 10
in the trick. It is neither necessary to overtake when following suit, nor is it points, and count each king and queen 5 points.
necessary to beat the highest trump so far played when trumping. Another scoring method is to simply count each ace, ten, and king 10 points. If this
scoring method is used, then all scores in the game will end in a zero. Since this is the
The older rules, as given on this page, require players to beat the highest card in the case, the zeroes can be dropped off the end of the score, effectively dividing all
trick whenever possible, even if a non-trump was led, and many players, perhaps the possible scores by 10.
majority, still observe these older rules.
In phase 2 the second player is only required to take the trick if possible if trumps
Many players divide all the scores by 10 - so a pinochle is worth 4, a run is worth 15, were led.
each counter (A, T, K) taken in a trick is worth 1, and so on.
Robert J Gauen reports a different method of scoring frequently used in the Pacific Any of the "Special notes concerning melding" could be ignored, except for the rule
northwest of the USA. This uses chips. Each team is allotted 14 colored chips (one that a player can use a card that has already been melded in additional meld.
team red, the opponents blue) representing 100 points each and 10 white chips
representing 10 points each. One player from each team is assigned to hold the chips
at the start and pass them to partner as points are scored. At the conclusion of each
hand one colored chip for each hundred points won and one white chip for each ten
points won is passed across to the partner. The first side to pass all chips to the 3 Player Variant
opposite side of the table wins. There is one notable difference in scoring. When the
bidding partnership "goes set" on a hand (fails to make the points for their bid), they

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The main game described on this page is a version of three player single deck Auction By calculating his potential meld, each player determines whether or not there is
Pinochle played in Bison, South Dakota. This is a version played for points, up to a enough score in his hand to justify bidding. A bid is a promise to score at least a
target score. All three players can meld and the game features special scores for certain number of points in exchange for two privileges: the bidder gets the cards
double melds. Several variations of this game are also described. from the kitty and chooses the trump suit.
Later on there is a separate Auction Pinochle page describing the classic 3-player The player to the left of the dealer begins the bidding process, by passing or making a
game for money in which the players settle up after each hand. In that version only bid of at least 250. The turn to bid passes clockwise around the table. All bids must be
the high bidder can meld and the bidder either wins or loses. Versions of Pinochle for multiples of 10 (250, 260, 270, 280 etc.) At your turn you can either pass or bid higher
other numbers of players are covered on other pages of this web site. than the previous bid if any. A player who has once passed cannot bid again in the
auction. If all three players pass, the cards are thrown in and the next player in turn
Cards, deal, objective deals. If more than one player bids in the first round, the auction continues for as
The game is played with a single 48 card pinochle deck. This can be made, if many rounds as necessary until two players have passed. The third player, who is the
necessary, from two standard 52 card decks by throwing out all the cards 2-8. For the highest bidder, has won the bidding. At this point, the score keeper should make a
purposes of trick taking, the cards in each suit rank from high to low: note of the amount of the final bid - this has saved many arguments.

ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine. Note that although it is legal to begin the auction with a bid of more than 250, or to
"jump the bid", increasing it by more than the minimum 10 above the previous bid, it
The aces, tens and kings are called counters. Queens, jacks and nines are is normal and prudent to start at 250 and increase the bid by just 10 at a time.
called losers (though they can occasionally win a trick). Counters are valued at 10
points apiece, while losers are worth nothing. One aim of the game is to win as many The player who won the bid exposes the 3 cat cards for all to see and then places
counters as possible in your tricks. The last trick is worth an additional 10 points, so them in his hand. He then discards any 3 of his 18 cards face down into what will
the total number of points available to be won in each hand is 250. become his trick pile. The other players are not entitled to see the discards until after
the play. Note that cards that are discarded cannot be used as part of your meld;
The cards are shuffled, cut, and dealt, usually three at a time, but this is not nevertheless it is sometimes to the bidders advantage to discard meld to improve the
imperative. Each player receives 15 cards and 3 cards are placed in the kitty, or cat, as playing strength of his hand.
it is sometimes called. These 3 cards can be placed in the cat at any point during the
dealing, with the exception that the last card in the deck can not be put in the cat. If The Play
the cards are misdealt in any way, they must be shuffled, cut and dealt again. Any fair After discarding, the bidder announces the trump suit and claims his meld, laying out
means can be used to determine the dealer for the first hand; after that the deal his meld combinations on the table for all to see. Only the cards that form part of his
passes to the left after each hand. meld are exposed; the rest of his hand remains concealed from the other players. The
There are two ways of scoring points: by melding combinations and by winning other two players in turn then expose their meld in the same way.
scoring cards in tricks. The object of the game is to be the first player to score 1500 At this point the bidder has to decide whether it is possible to "make the bid". To
points. After the first complete game is finished, the winner is the first dealer of the make, the total of the declarer's meld points and the cards he takes in tricks must be
second game. at least as much as the bid. If the bidder decides that he cannot score enough points
Meld to make his bid, he announces that he is giving up. In this case the amount of the bid
is subtracted from the bidder's score, and the other two players score for their meld.
In each hand, one player - the high bidder - will name trumps, take the cards in the The hand is then "thrown in", and the deal passes to the next dealer.
cat, and play against the other two, aiming to score at least the number of points
mentioned in the bid. The first way of scoring points is the meld, or display of scoring If the bidder decides that the bid can be made, and so elects to play on, the scores for
combinations held in the hand. Therefore, after the deal, each player looks at his 15- the three players' melds are noted, and the players return all their cards to their
card hand and assesses what scoring combinations of cards he holds in his hand, and hands, with the exception of the 3 discard cards in the bidder's trick pile. The play of
what value of meld he might therefore score if he could choose trumps. The cat cards the hand then begins.
are at this stage unknown; they might increase a player's meld but this cannot be The person with the bid begins by "leading" any one card from his hand. The other
relied on. two players in turn each play a card, and who ever plays the highest ranking card of
The scoring combinations and their values are listed below. Each combination exists the suit that was led wins that trick, unless it was trumped. Cards of the trump suit
in a single and a double version. A double combination is one that contains two which was chosen by the bidder beat all cards of any other suit. If any trumps were
copies of each card - for example a double rope consists of A-A-10-10-K-K-Q-Q-J-J of played to the trick, whoever played the highest-ranking trump card wins the trick. In
trumps, and a double pinochle is two spade queens and two diamond jacks. In some all suits, the rank of the cards from high to low is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9. Whoever wins the
cases the double combination is worth exactly as much as two singles; in other cases trick collects the three cards, stores them face down, and leads any card to the next
it is worth more. trick.

Type Name Cards Single Double  When playing to a trick, you have to follow suit. This means that whichever suit
is led, the other players also have to play that suit whenever it is possible to do
A rope A 10 K Q J of trumps 150 1500 so.

Type I: A marriage K Q of the same (non- 20 40  You also have to kill. This means that if you can, you must play a higher-ranking
Ropes, trump) suit card on the trick than any of the other 1 or 2 previously played cards. If you
marriages A marriage in K Q of trumps 40 80 cannot kill, you still have to follow suit.
and deece trump
 If you cannot follow suit you are required to play trump, even if your trump
A deece the 9 of the trump suit 10 20 cards are all of a lesser rank than trump cards already played on the trick.
Type II: A pinochle J of diamonds & Q of 40 300  If you have no cards of the suit that was led, and you have no trump in your
Pinochles spades hand, you are allowed to slough any card of your choosing, but slough cards
100 aces an ace in each of the four 100 1000 have no power when it comes to taking tricks. A trick can only be won by a card
suits of the suit led or a trump.

80 kings a king in each of the four 80 800 Because the deck contains two identical copies of each card, it can happen that two
suits identical cards are played on the same trick. In this case the first of these cards
Type III: played ranks higher then the second. The player of the first identical card therefore
Arounds 60 queens a queen in each of the 60 600 wins the trick if that card is the highest ranking card in the trick.
four suits
Scoring
40 jacks a jack in each of the four 40 400
suits After all 15 tricks are played out, each player counts the number of counters (aces,
tens and kings) that they have managed to accumulate in their trick pile. These
These combinations of cards can be intermingled to a certain degree. They are counters are valued at 10 points each, and the winner of the last trick can count an
divided into three types, and a single card can be used in simultaneously additional 10 points for that. If the three cards discarded by the bidder before play
combinations of different types, but cannot be used in more than one combination of include any counters, the values of these are included in the bidder's total. There is a
the same type. For example, if a player had 60 queens, and a jack of diamonds, he total of 250 points to be won in the play.
could score both 60 queens and a pinochle for a total of 100 (using the Q in a
type II and a type III combination simultaneously). Another example would be to It is now determined whether or not the bidder has made his bid. If the total of his
meld a rope and 100 aces: the trump ace from the (type I) rope could be used at the meld and the points he won in play adds up to at least the amount of his bid, he has
same time as the fourth ace in the (type III) 100 aces to score a total of 250. As far as successfully made his bid. In this case the bidder scores all the points he won in melds
marriages are concerned, 2 kings and 1 queen of the same suit are not scored as 2 and play. Each of the other two players also score for their meld and whatever they
marriages (the queen cannot be used twice in a type I combination) and the same won in the play, provided that they won at least one counter. Any player that fails to
holds true for 2 queens and 1 king. If you score 150 for a rope, you cannot at the capture a counter in the play of the hand scores nothing for any meld they may have
same time score 40 for the trump marriage contained in it - to score 190 you would had on the hand (this is called "losing your meld").
need an additional king and queen of trumps. Tens have no value in the meld portion If the total of the bidder's meld and points won in play adds up to less than the bid,
of the hand, except when making up a rope. the bidder goes set. He does not score anything for his meld nor for points won in
A combination consisting of a king and a queen of each suit is sometimes known as play; instead the amount that was bid is subtracted from his score. The two opposing
a roundhouse. Its total value is 240 points consisting of 80 for kings around, 60 for players still add their meld and whatever they won in play to their total score.
queens around, 40 for the trump marriage and 20 each for the other three marriages. The first player to reach a score of 1500 or more points wins the game. In the event
Note that the total value of a roundhouse and a rope is only 350 points if they share that more than one person reaches the 1500 point mark during the same hand, the
the same king and queen of trumps - not 390 as the trump marriage cannot be person with the bid (assuming he is one of those to score over 1500) is declared the
counted in addition to the rope. winner ("the bidder goes out"). If two players score over 1500 points and neither of
Bidding these players has the bid, the one with the higher score wins the game. In the
unusual event that the two players without the bid should have a tie score over 1500,
another hand is played to decide the winner.

89
 Playing for money Some divide all the scores by 10, so that counters and the last trick are worth 1 point,
a rope scores 15, and so on. In this case a target score of 1500 to win the game would
When playing for money, a stake is agreed for the game and for the set - for example become 150.
$2 a game and $2 a set, or 50 cents a game and 25 cents a set. A set occurs when the
bidder loses. If the hand is thrown in without play it is a single set, but if the bidder Tips and ethics
chooses to play out the hand and then loses it counts as a double set. The final
winner of the game wins the game stake from each opponent, and in addition each A game game can last from 5 minutes to 2 hours or more, but the average game lasts
opponent has to pay the winner a set stake for each time they were set (two set from 45 minutes to an hour. The game can be won with one hand, but an average
stakes for a double set). game requires 10-12 hands, depending on the number of sets.

Another way to achieve the same result is to use a pot. At the start of the game, each 1. It is to the bidder's advantage to discard counters into his trick pile prior to the
player puts a game stake into the pot. Every time you are set you must add a set hand being played out.
stake to the pot - or two set stakes for a double set. The eventual winner takes the 2. It is advantageous for the 2 non-bidders to "smear" to each other. This means
whole pot. that they should try to give each other counters in their tricks in an attempt to
It is important to get the balance of the game and set stakes right. The purpose of the set the bidder.
set stake is to discourage frivolous sacrifice bids. However if the set stake is too high 3. Being the dealer allows a person to be the last bidder. This is sometimes to the
in relation to the game stake, players will only bid on a certainty, making the game a dealer's benefit.
little dull. Sacrifice bidding to prevent another player from going out is a very much
accepted and oft-used tactic and may have a variety of results. For example: 4. Having the ability to determine how the trump is "played out" in a hand can
make the difference between making a bid and going set.
1. A player may sometimes gets good enough cards in the cat to convert a sacrifice
bid into a winning bid. 5. "Talking across the table" is forbidden. This means that you cannot tell any of
the players in the game which cards they should play.
2. Sometimes, a player will make a sacrifice bid and the leader will "meld out"
anyway. 6. Remembering which cards your opponents expose during the meld portion of
the game is essential to being a successful player. Also memorizing which cards
3. Sometimes a player who is on the verge of going out will bid 250 in the hope of have been played out and which cards remain in their hands during the play
coercing another player to bid against him to try to drive the bid up and and set portion of the game is important.
the leader. But then the leader will pass the bid and set the opposing player. We
call this trick "dropping the bid on him". 7. Like all card games, gloating is frowned upon.
4. A player may have a good hand dealt to him, and the person that is near to 8. Any cards accidentally exposed during the dealing process are grounds for a
going out will try to "drop the bid on him", thinking the bidder will go set, but misdeal. Any inaccuracies during the deal will void the hand and cause a
the bidder ends up winning the game. misdeal.

Variations 9. "A card laid is a card played". In the play portion of the game, once a card leaves
a persons hand and is played on the table, it cannot be picked up and placed
Bidding back in the hand. Sometimes this is cause for a renege. This rule applies no
The minimum bid allowed has gradually increased over time. Books from the matter how long the card lays on the table. If either of the other players can
beginning of the 20th century do not specify any minimum. Some people still play describe the card in question it is considered a "played" card.
with a minimum of 100 or 200. On the other hand, more recently some people have Renege
begun to play with a minimum bid of 300 rather than 250.
Any time a player accidentally misplays during the play portion of the hand, it is
Some players require player to the left of the dealer always to begin with the called a renege. There are various forms of misplay:
minimum bid. Others require the dealer to make the minimum bid if the first two
players pass.  playing out of suit
Throwing in the Hand  sloughing on a trick when you hold trump in your hand
Some play that if you have five nines in your hand and you have no meld (except
perhaps deeces), the hand is thrown in ('bunched') and redealt.
 playing out of turn

These requirements vary from place to place. Some require six nines without meld or  failure to discard 3 cards prior to the play portion of the hand - this constitutes a
seven nines irrespective of meld for a throw-in. Some require five nines and no aces, renege if bidder has led to the first trick
or six nines with at most one ace.
 purposely exposing any portion of your hand to another player (during the play
Some allow any hand to be thrown in if all three players agree, though such an portion of the game for all players and also during the meld portion of the hand
agreement is rare. for non-bidders with the exception of meld cards)
Some, on the other hand, require every deal to be played.  failure to kill
Melds  any other action that disrupts the harmony of the game.
There are also a few variations in the values of the various melds, though the values
These are all grounds for a renege.
given above are fairly standard.
If the bidder reneges, he automatically takes a double set and the amount of his bid is
Some play with no special score for some or all of the double melds, so that for
subtracted from his score. The 2-opposing players get to count their meld points and
example a double rope may be worth only 300. On the other hand some add special
the remainder of the hand is thrown in.
scores for double marriages. Gilbert Ohlson reports that in St Joseph Missouri a
double marriage in trumps scores 240; if it is combined with rope (sequence) the If either of the 2 non-bidders accidentally misplay, the bidder automatically makes his
total score is 390. bid. The bidder gets to score the amount of his bid and his meld, the player that
misplayed loses all meld and takes a single set, and the third player scores only his
Some treat a 'Roundhouse', which consists of a King and Queen in each suit, as a
meld.
meld in its own right scoring 240. This 240 replaces the separate scores for the Kings
around, Queens around and marriages contained within it, which scored separately Auction Pinochle
would produce the same total. Difficulties arise when a player has a Roundhouse
along with an overlapping meld such as a Rope or Double Queens around. Some This page is about Single Deck Three-Player Auction Pinochle, which was perhaps the
score 390 for Roundhouse plus Rope, but others argue that this effectively counts the best known and most widely played form of Pinochle in the early to mid 20th
Royal Marriage twice and the total should be only 350. If you treat a Roundhouse as a century. Over the years, Pinochle has evolved and a huge number of local variants
meld, these details should be agreed before the game. have become established. Towards the end of the century this 3-player game seems
Rules of Play to have been overtaken in popularity by 4-player partnership Pinochle and games
using a double deck, but 3-player Auction Pinochle still has a devoted following. This
The newer rule of play, given in almost all card game books since 1945, is that a page is devoted to the classic version which is perhaps characteristic of the East Coast
player is only obliged to beat the highest card so far played to a trick is a trump was of the USA. Typically it is played for small stakes, each hand being a separate event
led. Players are, however, still obliged to trump if they have no card of the suit led. So which is paid for in chips or cash before the next deal.
if a non-trump is led, players may follow suit with a lower card, and if the second
After the deal each hand begins with an auction and the player who commits to
player trumps and the third player also lacks that suit, the third player is free to play a winning the largest number of points plays alone against the other two players who
higher or lower trump than the second player. However, many groups continue to form a temporary partnership. Points are scored for winning tricks containing
follow the older rule that you must always head the trick when possible, as given in valuable cards, for winning the last trick, and for melds, which are scoring
the play section on this page. combinations of cards in the bidder's hand that are declared before the play of the
Scoring and Winning the Game cards begins. The winner of the bidding has the privilege of exchanging three cards
and choosing the trump suit for the hand.
Other targets scores are of course possible, for example 1000 or 2500, leading to a
The main description in the page is based on a contribution from Bob Bassin of a
shorter or longer game.
version played in Brooklyn. Above you can find rules for a different version of 3-
Some play that if any player's negative score goes beyond some agreed value, for player Auction Pinochle from South Dakota, which is played to a target score and
example -1000, while at least one player has a positive score, the game ends and the features higher scores for double melds.
player with the most positive points is the winner. If all players are negative, play Players and Cards
continues until someone has a positive score. This discourages a player who is losing Brooklyn Pinochle is a single-deck three handed individual game with a deck of 48
badly from bidding recklessly in a vain attempt to catch up. cards, in which one player, the winner of the auction, plays against the other two,
Some play a fixed number of deals, rather than to a target score. who form a temporary partnership. Four people can take part in a game, in which
case they take turns to sit out while the other three play. Deal and play are clockwise.

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The deck has two copies of each card. In each of the four suits the cards rank in the  If trump is led to the trick, each player must beat the highest trump so far
order Aces (high), Tens, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Nines (low). Note that in Pinochle, played to the trick if they can. (This only applies if a trump is led. If a non-trump
unlike many card games, the Tens are high cards ranking between the Ace and the is led and neither of the other players has a card of the suit they must both
King. The cards have point values when taken in tricks as follows: trump, but since a trump was not led the third player is not obliged to beat the
card played by the second player.)
Each Ace 11 points
The trick is won by the highest trump in it, or by the highest card of the suit led if no
Each Ten 10 points trumps were played to the trick. If two identical cards are played the first of them
ranks higher than the second.
Each King 4 points
Scoring and Payment
Each Queen 3 points At the end of the hand each side counts the total value of the cards in their tricks,
using the values given above. When the 10 points for the side that won the last trick
Each Jack 2 points
is included the total should be 250 card points.
Each Nine 0 points If the declarer's total card points plus meld score equals or exceeds the bid, the
There is an extra score of 10 points for winning the last trick, making a total of 250 declarer has won the hand: if not the declarer has gone set.
points in the deck. The stake should of course be agreed in advance. The table below shows the amount
A single hand of Pinochle consists of 5 phases: dealing, bidding, melding, playing the that the declarer receives from each opponent if successful and the amount paid to
cards and scoring. each opponent for going set, as a multiple of the agreed stake. These amounts
depend only on the declarer's bid - there is no extra payment for points in excess of
Dealing the number bid.
The first dealer is chosen by any convenient random process, for example by drawing
cards from a shuffled deck, lowest dealing. Subsequently the turn to deal passes to Declarer's
Win Set
the next player in clockwise after each hand. bid
The dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's right cuts. The dealer than deals the 250-330 1 2
cards in packets of three to the three active players, in clockwise order beginning
with the player to dealer's left. After the first round of the deal, the next packet of 350-380 2 4
three cards is dealt face down in the centre of the table to form the kitty. The deal
then continues until the deck is exhausted and each player has 15 cards. If there are 400-430 4 8
four players at the table the player to dealer's right receives no cards and takes no 450-480 8 16
part in the bidding and play, but is involved in the payments at the end of the hand.
Bidding 500-530 16 32
The player to the left of the dealer has first bid, and players speak in clockwise order. 550 or more 32 64
Each bid is a number, and the highest bidder is committed to scoring at least the
number of points of the final bid in order to win. If spades are trump, all payments are doubled.
The first player must bid at least 300. Each subsequent bid must be a multiple of 10 If after exposing the kitty, the declarer sees little or no chance of scoring enough
and be higher than the last. Bids ending in 40 or 90 such as 340, 390, 440 are not points to win, there is the option of throwing in the hand and accepting a 'voluntary
allowed. A player who does not wish to bid can pass, and then cannot bid again set'. In this case the declarer pays only the same amount that would have been won
during the auction. The last player not to pass wins the bid with the amount of the if the bid succeeded, i.e. half the amount that would have been lost if the hand had
last and highest bid. been played out. In case of a voluntary set, the declarer does not have to name a
trump suit, so there is no double for spades trump.
If after an initial bid of 300 the other two players pass, the original bidder can either
take on the 300 bid or require the dealer to take over the bid for the default amount If there are four players at the table, the player who sat out wins or loses with the
of 250. declarer's opponents - so the declarer collects from three players for a win and pays
three players for a set.
Taking the Kitty, Making Trump and Melding
Since the players settle up after each hand, there is no score keeping and no fixed
The player who won the auction ('declarer') turns up the three cards in the kitty for end to the game. The session will end by mutual agreement, ideally after each player
all to see and then picks them up. The declarer, who now has 18 cards, chooses and has dealt an equal number of times.
announces the trump suit, and 'buries' three cards by placing them face down on the
table, leaving 15 cards in hand. Any three cards may be buried, including cards that Variations
were picked up from the kitty. The point values of these buried cards will count This style of Pinochle was popular through most of the 20th century, and numerous
towards fulfilling the declarer's bid. different versions of the rules can be found in the literature, many of which are
The declarer now melds by placing scoring combinations of cards face up on the probably still played. Here are some ways in which they commonly differ from the
table. Cards that have been buried cannot of course be used for melds. The Brooklyn game described above.
combinations that can be scored as meld fall into three classes. When four played it was often the dealer who sat out rather than the player to
dealer's right.
Run The top five cards of the trump suit: A 10 150
The minimum bid allowed varied from place to place. Usually any multiple of 10
KQJ points
above the minimum was allowed, including bids ending in 40 or 90.
Class Dix The 9 of trump 10 points Some groups simplified the card values by making Aces, Tens and Kings worth 10 and
1 all other cards zero. There was also an intermediate version in which Kings and
Royal Marriage King and Queen of trump 40 points Queens had a value of 5 each.
Common King and Queen of the same non-trump 20 points Some groups recognised an extra type of meld called a 'Roundhouse', which consists
Marriage suit of a King and Queen of each suit. The score for this was 240, which is the same as
what would be scored for the Kings around, Queens around and four marriages that
Class Pinochle Jack of diamonds and Queen of spades 40 points it contains. The difference comes when a player holds a Roundhouse and a Run, using
2 the same King and Queen of trumps for each. Some groups scored this as 390
(240+150) while others scored it as 350, arguing that the Royal Marriage component
Aces around One Ace of each suit 100
points of the Roundhouse could not be scored at the same time as the Run of which it was a
part.
Class Kings around One King of each suit 80 points There were numerous different scoring schedules, most with a more gentle increase
3 in payment for higher contracts than in the table above. For example:
Queens around One Queen of each suit 60 points
300-340 1 1 2
Jacks around One Jack of each suit 40 points
A single card can be used in two or three melds in different classes, but cannot be 350-390 2 3 3
used in more than one meld in the same class. For example a Queen of hearts can be 400-440 4 7 4
a member of a “Hearts marriage” (Class 1 meld) and a member of “Queens around”
(Class 3 meld), but cannot also be a member of “Run” (Class 1 meld) if hearts are 450-490 6 10 5
trump since it already appears in the hearts marriage. The points for the melds
presented are totalled and count towards fulfilling the declarer's bid. 500-540 8 13 6
Note that unlike some forms of Pinochle, this version has no extra score for double 550-590 10 16 7
melds. Eight Kings simply form two 'Kings around' for 160 points, and a player who
melds both spade Queens and both diamond Jacks scores just 80 for two Pinochles. 600 or more 12 19 8
Since the result of the hand depends only on whether the declarer scores enough to In some circles, the basic stake was tripled when hearts were trumps.
fulfill the final bid, the declarer's opponents do not meld and any combinations that Auction Pinochle with a Pot
they hold are irrelevant.
It was common to play with a pot, which collected like an additional player when a
Playing the Cards player was set, and paid out for a successful bid that was more than some agreed
The declarer leads to the first trick, and the the winner of each trick leads the next amount, such as 350 or 400. Here is an example of this type of game based on a
one. Tricks won by the declarer's opponents are added to a common pile. contribution from Br. Paul Medvit. The following assumes 5 cent per 50 points.
The player leading to a trick can play any card they wish, but other players must To begin the game each player puts 25 cents in the pot. If the pot is won everyone
follow the restrictions below: must put in 25 cents again before the next deal. The minimum bid is 250 and if the
 They must follow suit, playing a card of the same suit as the card that was led, if first two players pass the dealer must bid at least the minimum.
they have any. If the bidder wins he is paid by both opponents - divide the bid by 10 and round down
to the next 5 cents, so a bid of 250-290 is worth 25 cents, 300-340 is worth 30 cents,
 A player who has no card of the suit that was led must play a trump if they have and so on.
one.
 A player who can neither follow suit nor trump can play any card they wish.

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 If the bidder loses he pays the opponents and also the kitty. For a single set (given up
QQ
without play) the bidder has to pay the same amount per player that the bid would
have won, plus the kitty; a double set (played and lost) costs double. AKKQQJJ
Any bid with spades as trumps wins or loses double. So for example if you bid 330, scores 87 for meld: a run (15), a royal marriage (4), a double marriage in spades (4), a
play the hand out in spades and lose you have to pay $1.20 to each player and $1.20 pinochle (4) and double queens around (60). There is only one royal marriage as one
to the pot. king and one queen of hearts are already used for the run, and the remaining queen
A player who wins a bid of 400 or more takes the pot in addition to the money won can only marry one of the remaining kings. Notice, however, that one of the queens
from each other player. of spades is simultaneously used in the spade marriage, the pinochle and the around
Since the only result on each hand is whether the bidder wins or loses, the opponents - this is allowed because these melds are all of different types.
of the bidder do not meld. Once the bidder has enough points to win, or
The Bidding
acknowledges defeat, the play stops, the hand is settled up and the next person
deals. The person to the left of the dealer bids first. The opening bid must be at least 50, but
It is possible, and even preferable, to play this version with more than three people at may be higher. You may bid by ones until you reach 60; bids above 60 must be
the table. Only three people are dealt cards in each hand; the rest take turns to sit multiples of 5 (65, 70, 75 etc.). Turn to bid proceeds clockwise. Each bid must be
out, and thus have time to go to rest room, get something to eat, drink and so on. higher than the previous one, but a player who does not wish to bid can pass. If the
The players who are currently sitting out take part in the payments as though they first three players all pass, the dealer is forced to bid 50. Once you pass you cannot
are opponents of the bidder. If the pot is won, everyone contributes to the new pot, re-enter the bidding on a later turn. The bidding continues for as many rounds as
including those that were sitting out. necessary until three players have passed. Whoever wins the bid (bids highest) has
the right to call trump and lead.
Calling Trump and Melding
Double Deck Pinochle
The bidder now chooses the trump suit and announces what it is. It must be a suit in
Players and Cards which the bidder holds at least a marriage. If the bidder does not have a marriage,
the hand is not played; in this case the bidding side automatically lose the amount of
There are four players; partners sit across from each other.
their bid and neither side counts anything for meld.
The deck consists of 80 cards, containing A 10 K Q J in each of the four suits, and with
four identical copies of each card. This deck can be formed by mixing together two Once trump is called all of the players lay their meld face up on the table. A
normal Pinochle decks, having thrown out the nines, or from four regular 52 card combination must be entirely within one player's hand to count. Note also that you
decks from which you throw out all the numerals 2 to 9. can count the same card in melds of different types (for example a queen of spades
could be part of a marriage, a pinochle and a set of queens), but not in more than
Idea of the Game one meld of the same type (so a king and two queens does not count as two
marriages). Partners add together the scores for their meld and this is written down
After the deal there is an auction in which players bid the number of points their on the score sheet.
team will try to win. Whoever bids highest has the privilege of choosing trumps and
leading to the first trick. The object of the high bidder's team is to win at least as The Play
many points as the amount they bid. Points can be scored in two ways:
The person who won the bid begins the play by leading to the first trick, and the
1. by declaring and showing (melding) combinations of cards held in a players others play in turn, clockwise. A trick consists of one card from each player and if it
hand; contains no trumps it is won by the highest card played of the suit led. If any trumps
are played to the trick, then the highest trump wins, irrespective of any other cards in
2. by winning aces, tens and kings in tricks the trick. If there are two or more identical cards in a trick, the first of these cards
The game is won by the first partnership to achieve a score of 500 or more. If both which was played beats the others. The winner of a trick leads to the next.
sides reach 500 on the same hand, the bidding side wins. When leading to a trick any card may be played. Each subsequent players must follow
Deal suit if they can and must crawl (this means that each player must play a card which is
higher in rank than the winning card that has been played to the trick so far). A player
Deal and play are clockwise. All the cards are dealt to the players, so that everyone who cannot crawl (i.e. does not have a high enough card of the suit led to beat the
has 20. Dealing practice varies; common methods are 4 cards at a time, 5 cards at a highest so far played to the trick) must follow suit in any case, with a card that will
time, or 2 cards to each player, and the remainder 3 at a time. not win the trick.
Rank and Value of Cards Any player who does not have any cards of the suit that was led must trump. If
someone has already trumped then later players who can follow suit may
In each suit the cards rank, from highest to lowest, Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack. At the
play any card of the suit led (no card of the led suit can beat a trump). If a trick has
end of the play, each side counts the points they have taken in tricks. Each Ace, Ten
been trumped, subsequent players who do not have the led suit either must crawl in
and King is worth one point, and the team who win the last trick get an extra 2
trump, that is beat the highest trump so far played. A player who cannot follow suit
points. Hence there are a total of 50 points available for tricks.
and cannot beat the highest trump so far played must still play a trump, even though
Meld this trump will not be high enough to win the trick.
Points can be scored for certain combinations of cards in hand of one player. These A player who has no card of the suit led and no trumps may play any card.
combinations are called meld; they are displayed to the other players before the start
of the trick play. Any meld can be single (just one of each card), double (two identical Scoring
copies of each card), triple (three of each card) or quadruple (all four of each card). When all the cards have been played, each team counts the points in the tricks they
have won. If the bidding side took in meld and tricks at least as many points as they
There are three types of meld. Any particular card can only belong to one meld of
bid, then both teams add the points they made to their cumulative score.
each type. The point scores for meld are given in the following table:
If the bidding partnership does not "make" the bid (i.e. their meld and trick points do
Type Combination Single Double Triple Quadruple not equal or surpass their bid), they have been "set". In this case they score nothing
for their meld and tricks, and instead the amount of their bid is subtracted from their
Run - Ace, Ten, King, Queen, 15 150 225 300 score. The non-bidding partners get to keep their meld and trick points.
Jack of trumps
If the bidding partners know that they cannot make the bid before play begins, they
Royal Marriage - King and 4 8 12 16 may call trump and throw in their hand. In this case they score nothing for their meld
Type I Queen of trumps and their bid is subtracted from their score. The non-bidding partners add their meld
Runs and
Marriage - Kings and Queen of 2 4 6 8 points to their score. This allows the bidding partners to avoid losing the trick points
Marriages
the same suit, not trumps to their opponents.

Note: A run in a suit other than trumps is not worth anything more Bidding Systems
than the marriage score for the king and queen. It is sensible to use the bids to convey information about what melds are held. In
variations with card passing, bids can also be used to indicate what cards you would
Type II - Pinochle - Jack of diamonds & 4 30 60 90
like your partner to pass. Details of bidding systems vary greatly, and there is no
Pinochles Queen of spades
standard that I know of, so the systems below should be taken only as examples. If
Aces around - An Ace in each 10 100 150 200 anyone would like to let me know about their preferred bidding systems, or systems
suit that they regard as standard in some way, I would be happy to add them to this page.

Kings around - A King in each 8 80 120 160 The systems that are possible or sensible are clearly affected by the version of the
suit rules that is in operation. For example some groups do not require the bids to be in
Type III multiples of 5 above 60. Some allow extra information to be given with the bid, not
Queens around - A Queen in 6 60 90 120 just a number. Some play with with exchanging of cards between partners (see
Arounds
each suit below).
Jacks around - A Jack in each 4 40 60 80 A common system, at least for bids up to 60, is to use skip bids to indicate meld and
suit encourage your partner to make trumps. An opening bid of 50 shows a desire to
make trumps. Opening 51 indicates that some aces are held in other suits. Opening
Note: A set of tens is not worth anything in meld. 52 or more shows meld: 10 points for each point over 50 - so 52 shows 20 meld, 53
Example: with hearts as trump, the following hand: shows 30 meld, etc. Subsequent bidders can show meld by the number of points they
skip. Bidding just 1 more than the previous bidder indicates that you want to make
A 10 K K K Q Q J trump. Increasing the bid by 2 or more shows 10 meld for each point of increase. So if
a player opens 52 (indicating 20 meld), the next player might bid 55 - 3 more than 52
QQJ showing 30 meld - and so on.

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Here is another system, contributed by Jim Davis. This is for use in a game where any a single Pinochle. Details can be found in their Tournament
number from 50 up can be bid, and in which four cards are passed: Rules (archive copy).
50 ... Opening Bid Minimum 20 to score
51 ... Not yet ready to "Pass" Some play that meld can only be scored by a side whose meld is worth at
52 ... I have some meld least 20 points. Before laying down their meld each player announces its
53 ... I have several parts of Pinochle ( J's or value, and if the total for a team is less than 20, they cannot lay down or
Q's) score any meld for that hand. Furthermore, a team that does not take at
least 20 points in the play cannot score anything for the hand - their
55 ... I need Jacks of all suits meld is disregarded.
54, 64, 74, etc. ... I need a Jack
56, 66, 76, etc. ... I need a Queen If the bidding side fails to reach 20 in meld they automatically lose the
bid without playing, but the bidder must still name a trump suit and in
58, 68, 78, etc. ... I need a King
this case the opposing team score their meld provided that it is worth at
59, 69, 79, etc. ... I need a Ten least 20, without the requirement to take at least 20 in tricks. If the
60, 70, 80, etc. ... I need an Ace bidding team takes less than 20 points in tricks, the bid automatically
Jump ahead to 66 ... I need Queens of all suits fails (however much meld they had) and their bid is subtracted from
Jump ahead to 80 or ... I need Kings of all suits their score.
88 Opponents' score when bidder surrenders
Jump ahead to 100 ... I need Aces of all suits
If it is evident before play begins that the bidding side cannot make their
During the bidding process jump ahead to the next appropriate number that will bid, either because the bidder does not have a marriage and so cannot
give your partner a necessary clue as to what to pass if you were to win the bid. make trumps, or because having made trumps, the bidding side has less
Notice that you have to be careful about the possible confusion between (say) than 20 meld (if playing that at least 20 is needed to score), or because
80 asking for an ace and 80 asking for all kings. If the bidding is in the low 70's their meld is more than 50 short of their bid. The bidding side just
and you want to ask for all kings, you should jump to 88 to make this clear. In subtracts the value bid from their score, but their are several variations
this case 80, being the next available bid ending in '0', would be a request for an on what the opponents score:
ace.
 The cards are not played and the opponents score nothing.
Variations
 The cards are not played and the opponents score their meld (if it is
Double Deck Pinochle has apparently been played since the 1940's. Many different at least 20).
versions have developed, and there is no universally accepted standard. Here are  The cards are not played and the opponents score 25 for cards, plus
some fairly widespread variations. their meld (if at least 20).
Variations in Bidding Procedure  The cards are not played and the opponents score 50 for cards, plus
their meld (if at least 20).
Some players allow any number to be bid from 50 up. Some play that bids above 100  If trumps have been made, the cards are played and the opponents
must be in multiples of 10. score as usual according to the tricks they win.
Some play that the bidding goes around once only - each player has just one chance 100 aces
to speak. Some play that it goes around twice only (but if you pass the first time you
cannot bid the second time). Some players multiply all the scores given above by 10 (so single aces
around is worth 100). This is in fact the older way of scoring, but most
Some players allow extra information to be given during the bidding - not just the people now use the lower scores given above. According to a post to
numbers. This normally takes the form of information about meld held. It is generally rec.games.playing-cards by Mike Kelly, 100 aces scoring is found East of
agreed that it is illegal to direct attention to any particular suit. the Hudson River, and 10 aces elsewhere.
Exchanging Cards and Choosing Trumps Variation contributed by Toby Thomas
A common variation allows cards to be exchanged between the partners on the Toby Thomas writes: "My father-in-law, Clare Masek is 81 (Oct 96) and has played
bidding side. This usually happens immediately after the dealer has chosen trumps. It pinochle for over 70 years. It seems that he lives for pinochle and as of late we have
has the general effect of leading to higher melds and therefore higher bidding. The been playing his brand of double partnership pinochle."
high bidder and partner must simultaneously pass three cards to each other face
down across the table. They are not allowed to look at the cards passed to them The differences from the versions described above are as follows:
before they have chosen and placed on the table the cards they are going to pass.
Meld
The rule requiring the bidder to have at least a marriage in the trump suit is not
always followed. Some do not require a trump marriage at all. Some play that it is Values for certain double, triple and quadruple melds are increased as
sufficient for the bidder to have a marriage after the exchange of cards. follows:

Some play that other numbers of cards are passed - the number ranging from one to Singl Tripl
Combination Double Quadruple
four depending on the variation. e e
Some play that the bidder's partner passes cards first. The bidder looks at these and Type I - runs and marriages
then passes back an equal number of cards (possibly including some of the cards just Run in trumps 15 150 500 ---
received).
Royal Marriage 4 30 60 240
Some play that the exchange of cards occurs before the trump suit is announced. In
that case the bidder may be allowed to suggest a suit in which she would like to Ordinary Marriage 2 4 6 8
receive cards (possibly different from the eventual trump suit). Type II - pinochles
Variations in scoring Pinochle 4 30 90 360
Multiple meld scores Type III - arounds
These vary quite a lot. Many books give a lower score of 45 for triple Aces around 10 100 500 ---
pinochle but a higher score of 300 for quadruple pinochle (instead of 60 Kings around 8 80 400 ---
and 90). I have been told that some of the on-line Pinochle servers, such
as Yahoo, also follow this system. Book versions also tend to give no Queens around 6 60 300 ---
bonus for a multiple run, so that a double run counts 30, a triple run 45, Jacks around 4 40 200 ---
and a quadruple run 60. On the other hand some players increase the
scores for all triple and quadruple melds. Toby Thomas's variation The treatment of Royal Marriages is a little unusual. If you have an extra
(below) is an example of this. Royal Marriage alongside a trump run, you are allowed to count the
multiple marriage in addition to the run. For example:
Pinochle 14
 A-10-K-K-Q-Q-J is worth 45 points (15 + 30)
Some players score 14 instead of 4 for a single Pinochle. Double, triple  A-10-K-K-K-Q-Q-Q-J is worth 75 points (15 + 60)
and quadruple pinochle are still 30, 60 and 90 (information posted by Kit
McCormick to rec.games.playing-cards)  A-A-10-10-K-K-K-Q-Q-Q-J-J is worth 210 points (150 + 60)

Roundhouse Bidding

This consists of a king and a queen of each suit. It normally scores 24: The opening bid must be at least 25. You may bid by ones until you reach
royal marriage + 3 marriages + kings around + queens around. However 50; bids above 50 must be multiples of 5 (55, 60, 65 etc.).
some players give a roundhouse a higher score of 32. Some score a Card Exchange
roundhouse with a run as 39 (24 + 15, allowing the royal marriage to
contribute to the roundhouse as well as being part of the run). Some Before choosing the trump suit, the high bidder receives three cards
score a double roundhouse as 240 (it should normally be 160 = 8 + 3*4 + from his partner. The bidder must name a suit he would like to receive
80 + 60). and his partner must give him 3 cards of that suit if he has them. If the
partner has fewer than 3 cards of the suit requested, he must pass any
NPA meld scores cards he has in the requested suit, plus other card(s) of his choice to
The National Pinochle Association (NPA) adopted higher scores for complete the 3 card pass. The partner passes the three cards face down
certain melds - notably 25 instead of 15 for a run and 15 instead of 4 for to the bidder, who looks at them, adds them to his hand, and then
passes any three cards back to his partner, also face down.

93
 When choosing trumps, the bidder will often name the suit he asked to Bids between 25 and 49 are used to suggest what cards should be
be passed, but it does not have to be the same - for example the bidder passed. A bid ending in 6 means you would like queens, a bid ending in 8
may have requested a suit he needed to complete a combination, such asks for kings, a bid ending in 0 asks for tens, and a bid ending in 1 asks
as double aces, but intend to have a different suit as trump. for aces. Other bids suggest that you want a standard book (set of cards
passed) - such as a marriage and an ace. Therefore if you want the
Bidding System standard book you can begin by bidding 50 and shut else everyone out.

All Fours (2, 3, 4)

Introduction If the jack of trumps was not dealt, then of course neither team
All Fours originated in England, probably in the 17th century. It was taken to the USA, scores for it.
where it became very popular in the 19th century and gave rise to numerous other
games. Meanwhile All Fours itself has become the national game of Trinidad, where it This point goes to the team that wins the more valuable cards in
is sometimes known as All Foes, and it continues to be played in England, in Yorkshire tricks. For this purpose only, the top five cards in each suit have
and Lancashire. the following values: ace = 4, king = 3, queen = 2, jack = 1, ten =
Gam 1
All Fours in Trinidad e point 10; other cards (2-9) have no value. Each team adds up the total
With thanks to Glen Benjamin for explaining the modern Trinidad game to me. value of the cards in their tricks, and whichever team has more
scores the game point. If both teams have the same value of
Players, cards and objective cards, no one gets the game point.
Normally there are four players, in two fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite
each other. It is also possible, but less usual, for two people to play. Each team keeps a cumulative total of points they have won, and the first team to
reach a total of 14 or more points over however many hands it takes wins the overall
A standard 52 card pack is used. In each suit, the cards rank from high to low: A, K, Q, game. When nearing the end of a game, the points are counted strictly in the order
J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. high, low, jack, game to determine who has reached 14 first, so a tie is impossible.
The object of the game is to score points by winning tricks with valuable cards in For example, suppose that at the start of a hand both teams have 13 points, that no
them. The player or team that takes more valuable cards in tricks will score one point points are scored for the turned up trump, and the trump suit is accepted. If team A
for "game". In addition, there are points for taking the jack of trumps in a trick, and has the highest trump, but team B win low, jack and game, then team A will win,
for the holders of the highest and lowest trumps dealt. It is also possible for the because their point for high takes them to 14 before the other team can score.
dealer's team to score points for the card turned up for trumps during the deal. Irregularities
Deal Misdeal
Players cut for the deal, and whoever cuts the highest card becomes the first dealer. If the dealer gives the wrong number of cards to the players, the
Deal and play are anticlockwise, and the turn to deal passes to the right after each opponents score one point for a misdeal, and the cards must be thrown
hand. Each player is dealt six cards. The dealer can choose whether to deal the cards in and shuffled and dealt again.
one at a time or in batches of three, but having chosen must stick to the same
method for the whole game. Revoking - also called Reneging
When everyone has six cards, the dealer turns the next card face up to indicate the This is playing a card of a non-trump card of a different suit from the
trump suit. If this turned up card is an ace, six or jack, the dealer's team immediately card that was led when you could have followed suit. There is no penalty
scores for it as follows: provided that the error is corrected by the player of the incorrect card
before the end of the trick. An opposing player who notices the error
Ace turned up . . . 1 point may call the revoke at any time up to the end of the hand, and in that
Six turned up . . . 2 points case the penalty is as follows.
Jack turned up . . . 3 points  If the player failed to follow a trump lead with trumps when they
held one or more of the top five trumps, that player's team loses
If the player on the dealer's right is happy with the trump suit that is shown by the the whole of the game (14 points) currently in progress and a new
turn up, he says "Stand" and play begins. If the player on the dealer's right would game is started.
prefer a different trump suit, he says, "I beg". The dealer then has the option to
change trumps or to keep the suit of the turned up card as trumps.  In other cases - a revoke on a non-trump lead or a failure to play a
If the dealer decides to keep the trumps as turned up, he says, "Take one"; the small trump on a trump lead - the opponents of the revoking player
opponents of the dealer receive one point and play begins. are awarded one point as a penalty, and the revoking team cannot
win the point for game.
If the dealer agrees to change the trump suit, he sets aside the turned up card, deals
three more cards to each player, and then turns up the next card to determine the Calling
trump suit, scoring for it as above if it is an ace, jack or six. If a player exposes a card other than in normal play, it must be left face
up on the table. The opponents can then "call" for this card to be played
 If this new turn up is of a different suit than the first turn up, play begins with on any subsequent trick, provided that playing it will not cause a revoke.
this new suit as trumps.
Variations
 If the new turn up is the same suit as before, the dealer gives another three In Tobago, it is the two rather than the six which scores two points when turned up.
cards to each player and turns up another card, scoring again if it is an ace, jack
or six. This procedure is repeated until the turn up produces a new trump suit. Some play that a player who has no trumps is forced to beg.
 If the deck is exhausted before a new trump suit is found, the entire deck is Some play that "undertrumping" is not allowed. That is: if a non-trump suit is led and
reshuffled and redealt. The dealer's team nevertheless keeps any points they trumped, a later player is not allowed to play a lower trump unless he has no option.
have scored for turned up cards. Other Trinidad All Fours web pages
Play As you might expect, Trinidad All Fours is also played in other places where there are
people with a Trinidadian cultural background. For example, here is the web site of
The player on the dealer's right has the first lead, and the winner of the trick leads to the Manitoba All Fours Association, in Canada.
the next trick. Any card can be led, but the other players are subject to the following
rules: Trinidad All Fours software and on line games
 If a trump is led, the other players must play a trump if they can; anyone who You can play four-player Trinidad All Fours on line against live opponents
at gamepyong.com.
has no trumps left can play any card.
An online Caribbean All Fours game is available at Board Game Arena.
 If a card of a non-trump suit is led, then any player who has a card of that suit
must either follow suit, by playing a card of the suit led, or play a trump. A Sean Bartholemew has writte a Trinidad All Fours game for iPhone or iPad.
player who has no card of the suit led can play any card (there is no obligation West Yorkshire All Fours
to play a trump in this case). All Fours remains popular in parts of northern England. It is played in West Yorkshire
The trick is won by the highest trump card played to it; if no trumps are played it is pubs informally and on a league basis. Also Arthur Taylor, in his book of Pub Games
won by the highest card of the suit led. reports a slightly different version played around Blackburn, Lancashire. I will
Note that the effect of these rules is that is is always legal to play a trump. The only describe the West Yorkshire version first, based on games played in 2003 in the Black
play that is prohibited is to throw a non-trump card of a different suit from the lead Labrador pub, Batley, which belongs to the Heckmondwike league. I would like to
when you could have followed suit. That would be a revoke or renege, and is thank the landlord John Dunning and his wife Anita for their help and hospitality.
penalised as explained below. There are four players in two fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite. A standard
Play continues until all players have played all their cards. If the original trump suit 52 card pack is used, with the ace high and two low as usual. To begin the game, any
was accepted there will be six tricks, but if a change of trump suit was begged for and player shuffles the cards, offers them to be cut by the player to the right, and deals
allowed, the players will have larger hands and there will be 9 or 12 tricks, or possibly the cards one at a time face up clockwise beginning with the player to their left until
even more in a two-player game. a jack appears. The player who received the jack will pitch first, and the player to the
right of the pitcher will deal the first hand.
Scoring
Deal and play are clockwise, and the turn to deal passes to the left after each hand.
At the end of the play, points are scored for the cards that were dealt or taken in The dealer shuffles all the cards, and must offer them to the opponent to the right to
tricks. The points are as follows: cut. The opponent may cut the cards or leave them as they are. The dealer deals six
1 This point is won by the team of the player who had the highest cards to each player, clockwise, in three rounds. The number of cards dealt to each
High point trump. player in each round is at the choice of the dealer, for example all the cards may be
dealt two at a time, or the dealer could deal one round three cards at a time, then
one round two cards at a time and finish with a round of single cards.
This point is won by the team of the player who held the lowest
1 No card is turned up for trumps. Instead, the pitcher (the player to dealer's left) leads
Low point trump that was dealt. It does not matter who wins the trick (or "pitches") any card and the suit of that card is trumps for the hand. The pitcher's
containing this trump - the point is for the original holders.
partner must not look at his or her cards until after the pitcher has led. This is to
Jack 1 or 3 If the jack of trumps wins a trick, or is won in a trick by the avoid any suspicion that the pitcher's partner might signal to the pitcher what suit to
points partner of the holder, the team with the jacks scores 1 point. If lead. (The penalty if the pitcher's partner breaks this rule is 4 points to the other
the jack is captured in a trick won by the opponents of the team.)
holder, the team capturing the jack scores 3 points for hang jack.

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The rules of play are the same as in Trinidad. A player who has a card of the suit led Lancashire All Fours
must either follow suit or trump. A player with no card of the suit led can play any According to Arthur Taylor's book of Pub Games (St Albans, 1976; Guinness, 1992), All
card. The trick is won by the highest trump, or if it contains none, by the highest card Fours is played in Blackburn in casual games and in several leagues. Rules are similar
of the suit led, and the winner leads to the next trick. to the Yorkshire version described above, with a few differences.
The first trick is stacked face up in front of one member of the team that won it, with 1. To begin the game the cards are cut for first pitch. A player of one team cuts
a trump on top, to indicate the trump suit. Subsequent tricks are stored face down in and a player of the other team must guess whether the cut card is red or black:
front of one member of the winning team, in the usual way. if the guesser is right, the guesser's team selects a player to pitch first; if not, a
If you have no trumps and no valuable cards left (nothing higher than a nine), and player of the cutting team pitches first.
you are not winning the current trick, you are allowed to indicate to your partner that 2. The point for Low goes to the team that wins the trick containing the lowest
your remaining cards are useless by throwing in your hand. This is normally done by trump dealt, not the original holder of the card, as in other versions.
playing all your cards together, face up to the current trick. You then take no further
part in the play, and your partner continues alone. 3. Arthur Taylor does not mention that the first trick is stored face up, nor that a
player without trumps or counting cards can throw their hand in. The natural
When the six tricks have been played, points are awarded in order as follows. assumption would therefore be that all tricks are stored face down, and that all
 High: the team that has the highest trump pegs one point. players keep playing to the last trick, even if they have no useful cards left.
 Low: the team that was dealt the lowest trump scores one point. 17th Century English All-Fours
The earliest description of All Fours that I know of was published in Charles Cotton's
 Jack: the team that wins the trick containing the jack of trumps scores one "Compleat Gamester" (1674). According to this account, the game was much played
point. If the Jack was not dealt, this point is not awarded. in Kent, and originated in that county. It was a game for two players, using the 52
 Game: the team whose tricks have the highest total value of cards, counting card pack.
ace=4, king=3, queen=2, jack=1, ten=10 in all four suits as usual, score one The first dealer is chosen by cutting cards - whoever cuts the highest "Put-card"
point. In the unusual case where both teams have exactly the same total value deals. [This apparently means that when cutting for deal, the cards rank from high to
of cards in their tricks, neither team scores the point for game. low 3-2-A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4 as in the contemporary game of Put. For all other
The points are pegged on a special wooden peg board, and the first team to reach 11 purposes, however, the cards rank A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2 as usual. It is not
points wins. In the event that both teams are close to winning, the points are always mentioned, but presumably the dealer shuffles and the dealer's opponent cuts before
pegged in the order high, low, jack, game. So, for example, if the score is 10-10 the the deal. Presumably the turn to deal alternates between the players.]
team holding the highest trump will win the match, even if the other team would The dealer deals six cards to each player in batches of three and turns up the next
have won the other three points. card, the 13th, to show the proposed trump suit, scoring one point if it is a jack. The
When playing for money, it is usual to agree a stake for winning the match, and an dealer's opponent can either accept the trump suit or beg one. If the non-dealer
additional stake for winning all four points in one hand. For example, if playing 2 begs, the dealer must either allow the non-dealer to score one point and throw in the
pounds and 1 pound, if team A scores all four twice and wins the match, while team B cards, or deal another three cards each and turn another card for trumps, repeating
scores all four once, each member of team A would receive 3 pounds (2+1+1-1) and this until a different suit is turned. [It is unclear how the point for a turned up jack is
each member of team B would pay 3 pounds. treated if the trump suit is changed. It could either be like the modern Trinidad game,
in which all turned jacks are scored, or like the 19th century American game, in which
When there is a payment for 'all four', the play of the last hand of a match must be only the jack of the final trump suit can be scored.]
continued as long as there is a chance of 'all four' being made, even if the result of
the match is already settled. (For example, a team with 10 points pitches the ace of The non-dealer leads to the first trick and the usual All Fours rules of play apply:
trumps, winning the match, but can continue playing to try to make all four on the players may trump at any time but can only throw a non-trump of a different suit
hand, but if an opponent has the trump 2, play can end, since there is nothing more from the lead if unable to follow suit. The higher trump wins, or if no trump is played,
at stake.) the higher card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next.
Tactics When all the cards have been played, points are scored in order as follows:
The choice of pitch is of great importance. Since this first card fixes the trump suit, it  Highest: one point for the holder of the highest trump dealt.
determines who will win two of the four possible points: high and low. A short suit
containing the ace is preferable to a longer suit of intermediate cards; a suit  Lowest: one point for the original holder of the lowest trump dealt.
containing the ace and two, for two sure points, is ideal. The jack may yield a point if  Jack: one point for a player who wins a trick containing the jack of trumps.
protected by other cards in the same suit, but it would be better to pitch a bare ace
or even a two for a sure point than (say) the eight from J-8 for a possible point if your  Game: one point for the player whose tricks contain the higher value in cards,
jack is not caught. However, a jack in a three-card suit can usually be saved, so for counting ace=4, king=3, queen=2, jack=1, ten=10 as usual.
example J-9-2 would be a better suit to pitch from than A-6. Lacking aces, it may be The winner is the first player to reach the agreed target score, which can be from 7 to
worth choosing a suit headed by a king or even a queen. Since only 24 of the 52 cards 15, but is most commonly set at 11.
are dealt out, your king or queen could score the high point if no one has the top A variation called Running All-Fours is briefly described. This is played to a target
card(s) of the suit. score of 31 points, and the only other difference is that in the deal, the dealer scores
In the play, do not be too concerned with winning tricks, unless they are of some 4 points if the turned up trump is an ace, 3 is it is a king, 2 if it is a queen or 1 if it is a
value. Rather than win a cheap trick it is often better to leave an opponent 'in' (i.e. jack.
with the lead), so that your side will play last to the next trick. North American All Fours, Old Sledge or Seven Up
The most important objective of the play is to catch or save the jack of trumps, if it To judge from the literature, All Fours became very popular in North America in the
has been dealt. If you have one of the top three trumps, and suspect the opponents 19th century. In the 20th century it was largely superseded by bidding variations such
may have the jack, it is worth saving your top card until you can catch the jack. as Pitch and Pedro.
As far as the game point is concerned, the most important cards are the tens, which In American card game books of the early 19th century, All Fours is a two-player
account for half the value of the pack, but are difficult to save since they are only the game, very similar to the 17th century English game described above. When cutting
fifth highest cards of their suits. If your partner is winning a trick in a suit which you for deal the cards now rank in their normal order with ace high, and the deal can be
are 'off' (have no cards in), don't neglect to throw a ten of another suit into the trick if one or three cards at a time at the dealer's choice. Many play that if the non-dealer
you have one. When playing second to a trick, it is sometimes worth playing a ten in begs and the dealer decides to change the trump suit, then after the necessary extra
the hope that partner can win the trick. Sometimes a player will 'push' with a ten - cards have been dealt, the players discard unwanted cards to reduce their hands to
offer it in the hope that the opponents will use a high trump to capture it. A simple six cards. The target score is 10 points.
example would be to trump with the 10 holding J-10 in the hope that an opponent
with a top trump would use it to catch the 10 and let you save your jack. The version of All Fours described by R.F.Foster in 1897 goes by the name of Old
Sledge or Seven Up. It can be played by two or three players, each playing for
As in any game it is important to pay attention to the fall of the cards. You cannot themselves, or by four players in fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite. The
accurately count the suits, since over half the cards are undealt, but there are many deal and play are clockwise and the turn to deal passes to the left after each hand.
inferences from the cards that are played or not played. To begin with, anyone who The dealer shuffles, the player to dealer's right cuts. The dealer deals six cards to
does not play a trump to the first trick is off trumps, so their right-hand opponent can each player, three at a time, and then turns up a card to show the proposed trump
win tricks efficiently with small trumps or top cards of other suits. Ideally you should suit.
be aware when players are off other suits, and also when any of your cards becomes
a 'bobby' - the highest outstanding card of its suit. The player to dealer's left may beg, and dealer has the usual options.
Tactics are affected to some extent by the score in the match. If you are a long way 1. Say "Take it", and play with the proposed trump suit, allowing the opponent(s)
behind it is worth taking risks to catch up; if you are ahead you should play safe. to score one point for gift. If there are three players, both opponents score, but
if the opponent who did not beg needs only one point for game, he is not
Variations allowed to win in this way, so presumably the dealer is forced to run the cards in
When partnerships are not arranged in advance, at the start of the game cards are that case.
dealt around face up until all four jacks have appeared (a player who has received a 2. Change the trump suit by running the cards. The dealer deals three more cards
jack is dealt no more cards). The people with the two red jacks are partners against to each player and turns up another card; if it is the same suit as the first one,
those with the black jacks. The same procedure can be used when there are more he repeats this until a new suit is turned up for trumps. If the deck is exhausted,
than four people wishing to play. The four who received the jacks play and the others the cards are bunched - the cards are thrown in, shuffled and redealt by the
wait for a future opportunity to join in. same dealer.
Some cut to decide first pitch - highest card pitches first. After the cards have been run, any player who does not like the second trump suit
In some places 'trumping in' is not allowed. In these places you are only allowed to can propose to bunch the cards. If all players agree there is a redeal by the same
play a trump if a trump is led, or if you are unable to follow suit to a non-trump lead. dealer, but anyone can insist on playing with the new trumps and no points are given
One correspondent told me that the (original) version of the rules, in which a trump for this.
can be played at any time, is known as 'Batley Carr Rules' or 'Scarborough Rules'. If a jack is turned up for trump, the dealer (or dealer's team) scores one point for it,
Another tells me that trumping in is allowed in Holmfirth, but 3 miles away in Honley but if the cards are run, no point is scored for a jack turned up in the original turned
it is not. suit, and no point is scored if the cards are bunched. The point is only scored if the
It is possible for six people to play, in three teams of two, or two people to play turned up card that finally determines trumps is a jack.
against each other. The rules of play and scoring are exactly the same is for four After the cards have been run and a new trump suit determined, all players discard
players; the two-player game is played to 9 points and the six-player game to 11 face-down sufficient unwanted cards to reduce their hands to six cards. In some
points. circles this was only done if the players had 12 or more cards, but if the cards were
In the Heckmondwike league, when two pubs compete, each pub fields eight players, run only once, the players kept and played with their 9-card hands.
and they play four simultaneous matches to 15 points. The winners of each score two The player to dealer's left leads and the usual All Fours rules of play apply: players
match points and another two match points are scored by the pub with the higher may trump at any time but can only throw a non-trump of a different suit from the
total game point score over the four tables. There is no bonus for "all four" in the lead if unable to follow suit. The highest trump wins, or if no trump is played, the
league version. highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next.
There are the usual four points: High, Low, Jack and Game, scored in that order, with
the Low point going to the original holder of the card, not the player who wins it in a
trick. In the event of a tie for Game in the two- or four-player game, the point goes to

95
the opponent(s) of the dealer. This is meant to compensate to some extent for the Foster describes a variation called Blind All Fours or Pitch in which no card is turned
dealer's advantage in being able to score a point if a jack is turned for trumps. In a for trumps and there is no begging or running of the cards. In this game the first card
three-player game, if the two non-dealers tie for the Game point no one gets it, but if pitched by the player to dealer's left fixes the trump suit (as in Lancashire All Fours).
the dealer ties with another player, the other player gets it. In this game, when the Game point is tied no one gets it.
The game is usually played to seven points. Each player or team starts with seven
chips, and places one in the pool for each point they win; the winner is the first player
or team to have placed all their chips in the pool.

96
Pitch 2, 3-6, 7

Introduction Winning the Game

Pitch is a North American game, derived from the old English game of All In order to win, a team needs at least 21 points, but they can only win at the end of a
Fours (which was also known in America as Seven Up or Old Sledge). Pitch is All Fours hand in which they made their bid. A team which reaches 21 or more on a hand
with bidding added. Some of the newer versions of Pitch include other features such where they are against the declarer - nor do they win if they bid and lose a contract,
as extra points and an opportunity to improve one's hand by taking extra cards and but still have 21 or more points.
discarding.
It is therefore possible for the winning team to have fewer points than the losing
There are two main types of Pitch game: Partnership Pitch (played with partners, team. For example, suppose that we have 18 points and they have 24, but they have
obviously) and Cutthroat Pitch (in which everyone plays for themselves). Whereas not yet won because they acquired their last 4 points playing against our bids. If we
card game books tend to concentrate on Cutthroat Pitch, most of the e-mail I get is now bid 3 and make it, and they take 1 point, we win, even though we have just 21
about Partnership Pitch, and this preference is reflected in the balance of information points while they have 25.
on this page. I have the impression that Cutthroat Pitch is more often played on the
coasts, and usually for money. The various types of Partnership Pitch are most Partnership Variations
popular in the mid-west and are family or social games played to a score. There are Draw
many variations of pitch, mostly involving increasing the number of points from four
to five, ten or more by introducing extra scoring trumps. After trump is declared, players discard any cards they don't want face down, and the
dealer replenishes their hands to six cards from the undealt portion of the deck. It is
Partnership Pitch illegal to discard trump, and normally, players will discard all their non-trump cards in
This description is based on a contribution from Brian Gordon. the hope of replacing them with trump. This makes it more likely that the ace, two,
and jack will end up in play.
Players and Cards
Pitching
The deck is a standard American deck of fifty-two cards, ace high. The game is usually
for four players in two teams, partners sitting across from each other. The game is A player may lead (or "pitch") a card insetad of bidding. Pitching in this way is
played clockwise. equivalent to a bid of four with the led suit as trump. If someone pitches, none of the
other players can bid, except for the dealer, who still has the option to take the bid
Deal by pitching or announcing a smudge. If the dealer does take the bid in this way, the
original bidder must take back the card they pitched. Some play that if the dealer
Each player receives six cards, dealt three at a time. The turn to deal rotates does this and is set, the loss is doubled.
clockwise after each hand.
Six players
Bidding
The six player game is two against two against two, all sitting opposite their partners.
There is one round of bidding. The possible bids Instead of six cards, each is dealt eight. There is no draw, but everyone discards two
are two, three, four and smudge (smudge is really a bid of five). Each player in turn cards after trump is announced.
either passes or bids higher than the previous bid if any, except for the dealer, who,
having last bid, may "steal the bid" by bidding the same as the highest bid. The final No trumps on first trick.
bidder becomes the pitcher, and has the right to name trump and lead to the first
trick. In this variation, the declarer is allowed to make a non-trump lead. In this case it
is illegal for any player to a play a trump on the first trick. Usually the declarer will
If the first three players pass, the dealer must bid at least the minimum bid of two. use this opportunity to lead the ace of another suit, so that partner may throw the
This is called a "force bid". ten (for game points) under it.
The bids represent how many of the following four items will be won when the tricks Smear
of the game are played out:
There is a group of Pitch variations which go by the name of Smear. These are
High described on the Smear page of this site.
awarded to the team which holds the highest card in the trump suit in
play, i.e. the ace if it has been dealt; Five Point Set Back
Low On his former Set Back page, Brad Wilson described a partnership version with five
awarded to the team which wins the trick containing the lowest trump points: high, low, right, left, game. The "right bower" is the trump jack and the "left
card in play, i.e. the two if it has been dealt. If the two is not dealt in bower" is the off jack, ranking just below it. Note that these two cards rank between
play, the three may be low. If the three was not dealt either, the four, the queen and ten of trumps, not at the top of the suit as in Euchre.
and so on;
Jack This game is played with a 28 card pack: the cards from 3 to 8 of a 52 card pack are
awarded to the team which wins the trick containing the jack of trumps. removed, leaving A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 2 in each suit. Six cards are dealt to each player, in
If the jack of trumps was not dealt no one gets this point; threes, and the remaining cards are not used. You can bid any number from 1 to 5,
Game and the bidding can go around the table several times if necessary, but you cannot
awarded to the team which has the higher total value of cards in its bid any more after you have passed. When everyone has passed except the high
tricks. Card values are as follows: bidder, or someone has bid five, the bidding ends. The high bidder nominates trumps
each ace 4 and leads any card to the first trick. Players must follow suit, except that a non-trump
each king 3 lead may be trumped even if you have a card of the suit led.
each queen 2 As usual the bidding team score the points if they fulfill the bid, and are set back the
each jack 1 amount of the bid if they don't. The bidder's opponents always score the points they
each ten 10 make. The first team to reach 12 or more points wins.

The total value of all the cards in the deck is 80, and whichever side has Arizona 29-card Pitch
the higher total in its tricks gets the point for game. In case of a tie, no This is another game using a shortened deck: A-K-Q-J-10-9-6 in each suit plus a joker,
one gets this point. ranking between the jack and ten of trumps. There are points for high, low, jack,
The bid of smudge requires all six tricks to be won by the declaring side, in addition joker and game. Here is an archive copy of the rules from blakeware.com.
to the four items listed above. (Sometimes a team can win all the tricks, but if the Oklahoma Ten Point Pitch
jack of trumps was not dealt, that is not sufficient to win a smudge bid.)
This variation from Oklahoma was contributed by Al Connor. It is very closely related
The play to Minnesota Smear.
The pitcher leads a card to the first trick, and the suit of this card becomes the trump 1. Players and Cards.
suit. The winner of each trick leads the next, and may lead any card. A player who has The game is played by either four or six people in teams two, using a
a card of the suit led must either follow suit or trump. Players may play trump on any standard American 52 card deck with two distinguishable Jokers,
trick, even if they can follow suit. A player who has no cards of the suit led can play designated high and low. The Jack of the same color as the Jack of
anything - either a trump or a card of another suit. Each trick is won by the highest trumps is known as the Off-Jack (for example, if clubs are trumps, the
trump card played, or if there are no trumps in it then by the highest card in the suit Jack of Spades is the Off-Jack). The Off-Jack and High and Low Jokers are
led. part of the trump suit and the ranking of trumps from high to low is: Ace,
Scoring King, Queen, Jack, Off-Jack, High Joker, Low Joker, Ten, Nine, Eight,
Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two.
Each of the items High, Low, Jack and Game is worth one point. If you bid and make 2. Deal
your bid, you get the number of points you make (in other words, if you bid two and If there are four players, each is dealt nine cards. If there are six players,
make four, your team scores four points). However, to score five points (smudge), each is dealt eight cards. The remaining undealt cards are placed face
you need to actually bid smudge - if you bid four, and actually win all the tricks, down to form a "widow" hand.
including the jack of trump, you still only score four. The opposing team makes 3. Points
whatever number of points they earn. For example if the declarer's team bid two, but There are extra points for the Off-Jack and Jokers, and optionally for the
the opponents capture the 2 of trump, the opponents score one for Low. three of trumps. This makes a total of ten or seven points to bid for. The
points are:
If a team fails to make its bid is said to be set. It loses (or is set back) the value of the
bid, while the other team again scores whatever points it makes.  High: Scored by the team who hold the highest trump in play.
 Low: Scored by the team who hold the lowest trump in play (not by
Note that if a side that bids smudge loses a trick, the bid has failed and they will be the team that wins it in a trick).
set back 5 points no matter what happens after that. However, the play must be  Jack: Scored by the team (if any) who win the jack of trumps in a
continued to the end to give the other side a chance to score points. trick.
A cumulative score is kept for each team. A team's score can be negative.  Off-Jack: Awarded to the team (if any) which wins a trick containing
the Off-Jack.

97
  High Joker: Awarded to the team which wins the trick containing The possible bids are three, four, five and six. After the pitcher has declared trumps,
the High Joker, if it is in play. each player may discard up to four cards, to be replaced by cards from the undealt
 Low Joker: Awarded to the team which wins the trick containing part of the deck. The play is as in normal Pitch, except that the pitcher is not required
to lead a trump to the first trick.
the Low Joker, if it is in play.
 Trey of Trumps: Three points are awarded to the team that wins Each team begins with a score of 21, and their score for a hand is subtracted from
the trick containing the Three of Trumps. this if they are successful. If they fail in their bid, they are said to "go up", and their
Note: The 3 point score for the three of trumps is optional. If not bid is added to their score. The winners are the first team whose score reaches zero
used then there would be only seven points available for bidding. or less, but it is only possible to win on a hand where you succeed in a bid, or the
 Game: Either as in the basic game, or some players award the point opponents fail in their bid. If a team's points won in play would cause them to reach
to the team that wins the trick containing the Ten of Trumps. or pass zero while they were playing against a successful bid, that team's score
4. Bidding becomes one.
There is just one round of bidding. The minimum bid is two; the Fish Pitch
maximum is the total number of points available - either ten or seven,
depending on whether you count the trey of trumps. The dealer is not This variation was contributed by Judd A. Schorr
allowed to "steal the bid".
5. The Discard Each of the four players is dealt 12 cards from a 52 card pack: 6 for their hand and 6
If playing six-handed, the bid winner picks up the six cards from the which are kept face down in front of them. The bidding is as in normal Pitch. In the
"widow" and declares the trump suit. All players then discard down to first trick everyone must play from their hand, but from then on, players can either
six playing cards. The bid winner then starts the play. play from their hand or 'fish' a card from the unknown 6 in front of them. There are
If playing four-handed, the bidder declares the trump suit and then all 12 tricks played in all, and all but 4 cards are out, so the two and jack of trumps are
players are allowed to discard from 0 to 3 cards, and receive an equal usually in play.
number of replacement cards from the deck (if sufficient are available), You can try to take a trick that you really, really want by fishing a card on it, and
bringing their hands back to nine cards. All players then discard down to sometimes you can make it. However, sometimes, you give the opposite team low or
six cards. Some play without the discard and draw feature - the players an extra ten towards game. In this variant, even if you are dealt a poor visible hand,
simply each discard three cards. The bid winner then starts the play. you are still in the action, as nobody knows what you will throw next. It also makes it
6. The Play difficult (and fun) to 'count cards' for two reasons - all the cards are out, and you can
Some play that the bidder's first lead must be a trump; others play that seemingly violate following suit by fishing a card. (You can't tell for certain if a person
anything can be led. is out of trump altogether, only that they are out of trump in their hand!) This variant
There are three options for following suit, depending on house rules: is really a lot of fun, and should be tried.
1. Players who can follow suit must either do so or trump; players
who cannot follow suit may play anything. Pitch with Fives, Pedro, Cinch, Catch Five
2. Players who can follow suit must always do so; players who cannot
follow suit may play anything. The version of Pitch in which the five is an additional scoring trump worth 5 points
3. Players must either follow suit or trump unless unable to do either, (making 9 points in all) is now described on the Pedro page, along with Double Pedro
in which case they can play anything. or Cinch, in which the other five of the same colour is also a trump scoring 5 (for a
7. Scoring total of 14 points).
The scoring and conditions for winning the game are the same as in the Cutthroat Pitch
basic game, except that there is no 'smudge'.
Pitch can also be played by two or more players, each playing for themselves. The
Dave Coleman-Reese reports a variation of this game without the Off-Jack and with rules of bidding and play are the same as for the partnership game. In the game with
no score for the Trump Three, so that there are 6 points to bid for. more than two players, the opponents will tend gang up against the bidder to try to
On his web page, Larry Charbonneau describes another version of ten-point Pitch. prevent the bid being made.
Each of the four players is dealt nine cards, the minimum bid is four, and the dealer Money game
must take the bid for four if everyone else passes. After the bidder has named trumps
the players discard all their non-trump cards and refill their hands to six cards. Any Ben Butzer reports that at UCLA, instead of playing up to 21 points for game, they
cards remaining in the stock are given to the bidder, who can take them or give them would play for 10 cents per point. The game is played without partners. The scoring is
to partner without first looking at them. A player with more than six trumps must as in the partnership game, except that each player individually scores the points
discard any excess trumps out of the game. they make. If you are the high bidder you are set back if the points you make are less
than your bid.
In the play, only trump plays are legal. A player who has no trumps left drops out of
the play. If they won a trick with their last trump, the lead passes to the left. The Players can join or leave the game after any hand. When the personnel change, the
game point goes to the side that wins the ten of trumps in a trick. The bidding side game is settled up: each player's score is compared to the average - winners receive
win the points they bid if successful, and lose the same amount otherwise. The first 10 cents for each point they are above the average and losers lose 10 cents for each
team to 52 points or more wins the game. A player can bid to "shoot the moon", for point below.
which their team has to rake all ten points; if they succeed they win the whole game
if their previous score was zero or above, or advance to zero if their score was below The smudge bid in this version is called shooting the moon or mooning. Mooning has
no effect on your points score. If you shoot the moon successfully you win $1 from
zero; if they fail they lose the whole game.
each other player (recorded on the scoresheet with a star). If you shoot and miss you
Variations are given for Pitch with other numbers of points by omitting some of the pay out $1 each.
ten, or by adding other off-trumps (Off-Ace, Off-Ten, Off-Three, Off-Two) ranking just
below their real counterparts. There is also "Dirty Pitch" in which the point for Low Moon can only be bid over 4
goes to the side that wins the Two rather than holding it, and "Reverse Pitch" in Tom Price reports a version in which Moon can only be bid over a bid of 4 by another
which the rank of the trumps is reversed (two high and ace low). player. The only person who can bid over Moon is the dealer, who can still "steal" the
bid. If you bid Moon and make it you gain 4 points, just as though you had bid 4; if
Pawnee Ten Point Call Your Partner Pitch
you lose your score goes to 4 in the hole (i.e. minus 4), irrespective of what score you
This version was contributed by James Adams, whose brothers learned it while were on before.
working for Boeing aircraft in Wichita Kansas in the 1950's. An archive copy of the
rules can be found on his Pawnee Ten Point Call Your Partner Pitch web page. The In this game the players other than the eventual winner have to pay the winner an
additional stake for each time they were set (as in the money version of Smear). A
game is normally played by five players using a 54 card pack including two jokers;
player who bids Moon and fails is charged for two sets.
points are one each for high, jack, off-jack, high joker, low joker, ten, low and three
points for the three. The low point is acored by the team of the player that was dealt Racehorse
the lowest trump; the other points by the players who win the cards in play. Ten
cards each are dealt, leaving four in the kitty. The minimum bid is five and the dealer Patrick Mathews describes a version of the money game above, called Racehorse.
must bid five if everyone else passes. The highest bid, for ten points, is called "shoot This is usually played by 5 or more people, each playing for themselves. If the
the moon" and is worth 42 points if successful. pitcher's bid succeeds, the pitcher receives $1.00 for each point bid from each of the
other players. A pitcher whose bid fails pays $1.00 per point bid to each opponent. In
The high bidder calls for a trump, and the holder of this trump is the bidder's partner. either case, the other players do not receive anything for the points they make. The
The high bidder takes the kitty and everyone discards down to six cards. Point scoring play of the hand ends as soon as it is clear whether the bid has succeeded, since
trumps (jacks, jokers and three) and the called trump cannot be discarded. Only further points won by either side do not affect payment.
trumps can be played; players who run out of trumps drop out of the play. The high
bidder leads to the first trick, on which the called trump must be played. The bidding A pitcher whose bid fails is said to be "upped". Presumably this term derives from the
team each win the number of points they made if these are enough to fulfill the bid; practice of scoring in reverse in some Pitch variations - see for example Nine Card
otherwise they lose the amount of the bid. Each member of the opposing team Pitch above.
acores the points made by that team. If the called trump is held by the high bidder A pitcher who wins deals the next hand. If the pitcher is upped, the player to the
(for example if it was in the kitty), the bidder plays alone against a team of four pitcher's right deals the next hand, so that the upped pitcher has the first bid.
opponents. Game is 42 points. If more than one player reaches or exceeds 42 in the
same hand, and the bidder is one of these, the bidder wins; if none of them is the 14 point Tunkhannock Pitch
bidder, further hands are played until a player has 42 ort more points after a
successful bid. This game from Pennsylvania is somewhat related to the first version of
partnership 10-point Pitch described above. It is normally played "cutthroat" by four
Nine Card Pitch people, but can also be played as a partnership game. A 54 card pack including two
jokers is used -the off-jack, high joker and low joker rank in that order as trumps just
Like normal pitch this is for four players, two against two, with partners facing each below the jack. There is a six card deal and after the bidding three cards are discarded
other, but as the name suggests, nine cards are dealt to each player. and the hands replenished. The minimum bid is 3, maximum is smudge (equivalent to
In additional to high, low, jack and game, there are two further points available: 15), which is a bid to take all 14 points and six tricks. Dealer can steal the bid with an
equal bid, and must bid three if the others all pass.
 Five - scored by a team which wins the five of trumps in a trick;
The points are high, low, jack, off-jack, high joker, low joker, game, last trick, high
spade (worth one point each) and five (5 points). Points go to the player winning the
 High spade - the highest spade in play, scored by the team which wins it in a card in a trick. The game point is scored by the player who takes most card points.
trick. Trumps need not be led at the start. You may trump even when you have the suit led,
but you may only discard from a different non-trump suit when you cannot follow
suit.

98
Don / Phat 4

Introduction a time, face up to the stakes. When a jack appears, the player who contributed that
The card game Don, which is played in various forms in Ireland and Britain, is a stake is in the game, and no further cards are dealt to that stake. Where the four
descendant of the old game of All Fours. In the nineteenth century the game of Dom jacks eventually land, those are the players. All the stakes, including those of the
Pedro became popular in both Ireland and America. In Ireland the name was players who were not selected, form a pool which goes to the eventual winners of
shortened to Don, and it seems likely that it was from Ireland that it spread to the game. Partnerships are then determined by cutting cards. In some pubs, people
England and Wales. also bet on who will be partners.

The first version described on this page is Nine-card Don, which is played in Cheshire, Play
Lancashire and South Wales, and also under the name Chase the Nine or Chaser in The player to dealer's left is the pitcher. The pitcher leads to the first trick, and the
Worcestershire, Herefordshire, South Shropshire, the "Black country" suit of the first card led becomes trumps for the remainder of the hand. The pitcher's
(Wolverhampton and Sandwell - especially Smethwick) and parts of Warwickshire. partner may then pick up his or her cards. Tricks are won by the highest card of the
According to Arthur Taylor's "Guinness Book of Traditional Pub Games" (1992) it is suit led unless trumped, in which case the highest trump wins. Players must follow
also known as Big Don, Long Don, or Welsh Don. suit (play a card of the same suit as the card that was led) whenever possible; a
player who has no card of the suit led may trump or discard at will. The winner of
The second game is Blind Don, or Two Player Don, which is a version of Nine-Card each trick leads to the next trick.
Don for two players, played in Lancashire.
Scoring
The third version is played mainly in Ireland, and I have therefore called it Irish Scores are often kept by pegging on a Cribbage board:
Don on this page, though in Ireland it is just known as Don. It differs from Nine-card
Don in that all the cards are dealt - 13 to each player rather than nine, that the
scoring value of the nines is increased, and that there is no score for 'game'.

The fourth game on this page is Phat, sometimes spelled Fat, which is played in
England and Scotland, and is quite similar to Irish Don, but with the 'game' score as in
9-card Don included. The term 'fat' is used in Ireland as well as Britain to refer to the
high scoring cards in the game. It is tempting to think that the valuable cards are 'fat'
because they carry many points, which would account for the name of the game, but
does not explain how it came to be spelled Phat in most places. When any of the scoring trumps (A, K, Q, J, 9, 5) or any other five is played, the team
that wins the trick pegs the points shown in the left hand table above at the end of
Nine Card Don the trick.
This description is based on information from players in the Bolton Don League
(Lancashire) and the Abercarn Crib and Don League (South Wales), and reports from When all nine tricks have been played, each team counts the total value of the cards
other players in both areas: Pontypool, Bridgend and Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales they have taken, according to the right hand table above, and the team that has
and Preston in Lancashire. I am told that this game is also extremely popular in more pegs 8 points for game. In case of a tie, neither team gets these 8 points.
Cheshire and former parts of Cheshire such as Widnes, Stockport and Stalybridge. It is
played intensively in the Cheshire Regiment - now 1st Bn The Mercian Regiment
It can be seen that the maximum number of points that it is possible to peg on the
(Cheshire) and also, to a lesser extent, in the Staffordshire Regiment - now 3rd Bn The board from one hand, by winning all the scoring cards and the game is 52:
Mercian Regiment (Staffordshire).
 4+3+2+1 = 10 for A K Q J of trumps
Players and objective  10+9 = 19 for 9 and 5 of trumps
There are four players in fixed partnerships; partners sit opposite each other. Deal  5+5+5 = 15 for the other 5's
and play are clockwise. This is a point trick game: each team scores points during the  and also 8 for game
play for winning particular cards in tricks, and also the team which has the greater
total value of cards in their tricks, according to a different card value scale, scores Often, fewer than 52 points are available, because some of the scoring cards are
extra points. The first team to reach an agreed total (91 or 121) wins the game. among the 16 undealt cards.
Cards, Ranking and Values In Lancashire the winners are the first team to reach 91 points or more (one and a
A standard 52 card pack is used. The cards in each of the four suits rank from high to half times round the board).
low A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
In the West Midlands the game of Chase the Nine or Chaser is played to 121 points
Tricks have no value in themselves; the object is to win tricks with certain cards in (twice round the board).
them. It is important to distinguish between the points that are scored during the
play (usually by pegging on a peg board) for winning tricks containing particular
trumps or any five, and the card values in all suits that are used to decide which team In South Wales the first team to reach or pass 121 points (twice round the board)
wins the 'leg'. For the next leg, the partnerships remain the same, and there is a new
scores the extra points for 'game' at the end of the play.
cut for pitch, normally between the two players who did not cut at the start of the
previous leg. The first team who win two legs are the overall winners of the match.
Points scored immediately Card values used to decide which
for cards and game team In Cheshire, each row of 30 holes is a "leg", so a complete game (121 points) contains
scores the 8 points for game four legs.
Ace of trumps 4 points
King of trumps 3 points Each Ace 4 points
Variations
Queen of 2 points Each King 3 points 1 for high; 1 for jack; 6 for game
trumps Each Queen 2 points
Jack of trumps 1 point Each Jack 1 point Ken Swain reports that in Preston, Lancashire, instead of pegging 8 points for game at
9 of trumps 9 points Each Ten 10 points the end of play, the team that has taken the greater total value in cards scores only 6
5 of trumps 10 If both teams have cards with points. In addition, one point is pegged by the team that took the Jack of trumps in a
points the same total value then neither trick (additional to the point scored at the end of the trick to which the Jack was
team played), and one point is pegged by the team that had the highest trump. If the jack
Each non-trump 5 points was not dealt, then the jack point is not scored.
5 scores the points for game
Game 8 points 1 for high, 1 for low, 1 for jack, 5 for game
Phil Wrench of Macclesfield and Colin Rawlinson of Barrow in Furness report a
version in which points are scored at the end of the play for high, low, jack and game.
The high point is pegged by the team that was dealt the highest trump, the low point
In South Wales the Fives are generally known as Dons. by the team that took the trick containing the lowest trump, the jack point by the
team that wins the jack (if it is dealt) and the 5 points for game are pegged by the
Choice of players, Seating, Deal team with most card points (in case of a tie no one gets the points). Note that these
The cards are cut for first 'pitch', i.e. the right to lead first (and make trumps) on the points are only pegged at the end of the play, and strictly in the order high, low, jack,
first deal. One player from each partnership draws a card and the higher card wins, game. This order of precedence can be important if both teams are close to winning.
with Ace counting high. The winner of the cut decides who will lead to the first trick
(normally if you win the cut you should give the first pitch to yourself or your Another feature of the Macclesfield game is that when the cards are cut at the start,
partner). it is the team that draws the lower card (ace counting as high) that pitches first.
The person to the right of the player with the pitch is the first dealer. The dealer The separate scoring of 'high', 'low', 'jack' and 'game' at the end of the play, as in its
shuffles, and offers the cards to the player on his right to cut. The dealer then deals ancestor All Fours, presumably represents an older form of the game that was later
nine cards to each player, one at a time. The remaining 16 cards are set aside face simplified in many places by consolidating these scores into a single 8-point score for
down and are not used in that hand. Subsequently the turn to deal rotates clockwise game.
after each hand. The pitcher is the player to dealer's left.
Four Pitches
The players may look at and sort their hands, except for the player to dealer's right - In Burnley a game consists of 'four pitches' - that is one deal by each player - at the
the pitcher's partner - who must not touch the cards until after the first card has end of which the team with the higher score wins. The '1 for high, 1 for low, 1 for
been led. (This is to prevent any possibility of illegally signalling to the pitcher which jack, 5 for game' method of scoring is used.
suit to make trumps.)
Jacks Out
In Lancashire, Don is often played in pubs, where there may be more than four In the Cheshire Regiment the formation of a Don School is heralded by the cry "Jacks
people waiting for a game. In this case, a procedure called 'jacks out' is used to Out". People then purchase a number of cards from the pack at a set price per card
decide which four people will play. Those who wish to take part (5 to 7 people - and this becomes the kitty, to be collected by the winning team. Each potential player
because if there were 8 you would have two complete tables) each place a stake is dealt the number of cards purchased, face up, and this is repeated until all the
(typically a pound - maybe 5 pounds) on the table, and the cards are dealt out one at Jacks have appeared. A player who already has one or more Jacks is dealt that

99
number fewer cards in subsequent rounds of dealing. For example a player who Card ranks and values
bought 5 cards and gets two jacks in his first 5 cards will be dealt only 3 further cards A previous edition of this page stated that the ranking of cards in the trump suit in
when the deal comes round to him again. The player who has the advantage of being Lancashire from high to low was 5 9 A K Q J 10 8 7 6 4 3 2, but this was an error.
dealt the first cards is determined by cutting a card and counting around from the Subsequent enquiries confirm that the ace of trumps is the highest card in all regions
(impartial) dealer (J=11, Q=12, K=13). If the four Jacks are dealt to four different where this game is played. The misunderstanding arose because the trumps are often
people, these are the players, paired off as red versus black. A player who gets two listed in order of their point scoring values, rather than in ranking order.
Jacks may sell one on to someone who has none. A player who is dealt three Jacks Unfortunately my mistake has since been copied in various books. I apologise for my
wins the kitty outright and if two players get two Jacks each they divide the kitty part in propagating this error.
equally between them: the cry is "No game, Jacks out" and the purchasing of cards
starts again. Side bets are common, for example on the first team to reach a certain In his Guinness Book of Traditional Pub Games, published in 1992 before this web
score, on who will win the 8 points for game on a particular deal, on how many tricks page existed, Arthur Taylor listed the trumps in the order 9-5-A-K-Q-J without making
a team will win, and so on. it clear whether this was intended to be the ranking order. His book also gave the 5 of
trumps a scoring value of 19 points rather than 10, but it seems likely that this was a
Crib and Don League misprint.
The Abercarn Crib and Don League consists of 12 pub or club teams, with a minimum
of five players in each team, though teams sometimes turn out with more than ten Irregularities
players. Nine matches are played, three of Don, three of Double Cribbage and three The following penalties for irregularities are those used by my informants in Bolton.
of Single Crib. Each of these nine matches is played as the best of three 'legs', with
the match winners scoring one point towards the team's total for the night. Playing out of turn
Friendly: The card is 'boarded', meaning the card is left face up on the table and it
Double Cribbage is four player cribbage with fixed partnerships; five cards each are must be played at the next legal opportunity.
dealt, one being discarded to dealer's box. Game is 121 points. Single Crib is two- League: In addition, the offending team loses 19 points from their score.
player five card cribbage, played to 61 points. Reneging: Failing to play a card of the suit led, although you have such a card.
Friendly: The deal is abandoned, and there is a re-deal.
When all the matches have been played the number won by each team is added to League: In addition, the offending team is penalised 52 points.
their running total of championship points. For example, if a team wins 7 - 2 then
they get 7 league championship points, whilst their opponents get 2.

Phat / Fat It sometimes happens that each team has 40 points of muck. In that case the 8 points
are carried over to the next deal, and the team with more muck will then peg 16 - 8
In Hereford there is a tradition that Phat was brought to the area by US servicemen for the new deal plus 8 carried over.
stationed there during World War II. However according to Ian Ledgerwood Fat was
already played in Britain during World War I and that both his grandfathers played it. Some play that if the muck is tied 40-40 but one team has the majority of tens (three
He tells me that London bus drivers and clippies used to play Fat while waiting for or four), that team wins the 8 points for muck. If the tens are also divided 2-2 the
their shifts or departures. Arthur Taylor reports in his book that Phat is also played muck has to be carried over as above.
around Norwich, and an article in the Eastern Daily Press (Feb 2018) confirms that it
is played regularly at The Wherry Arms at Geldeston, near Beccles. Variants
In some places the cards are dealt in batches of three and four - any combination so
Players, Cards and Objective long as each player gets 13 cards - or in four batches of three followed by a single
There are four players, partners sitting opposite each other. A standard 52 card pack card.
is used.
Originally the game was scored using a normal cribbage board with two 30-point
The aim is to score points by winning tricks containing valuable cards. Some cards - lanes on each side. The game was still 181 points: three times around the board and
the phat - give an immediate score to the team that wins the trick to which they are then out.
played. These are recorded on a peg board - see below. Further points are pegged
after the end of the play by the team that has collected more than half of the muck in In Hereford the deal is four rounds of three cards at a time, and a final round of one
their tricks. card to each player. If the muck is tied 40-40 the game score is divided 4-4 between
the two teams. In the 1960's a new style of scoring board was introduced with three
lanes on each side and 60 points per lane, so a team has to peg up the first lane,
The Phat The Muck down the second and up the third plus a final point to have 181 and win.
Ace of trumps 4 points Each Ace 4 points
King of trumps 3 points Each King 3 points
Queen of trumps 2 points Each Queen 2 points
Jack of trumps 1 point Each Jack 1 point
9 of trumps 18 points Each Ten 10 points
5 of trumps 10 points
Each non-trump 9 9 points The total is 80 points.
Each non-trump 5 5 points A team that collects in their tricks
at least 41 points of muck
Majority of muck 8 points pegs 8 points on the board

In Scotland, the trump nine is called the "Big Don" and the trump five is the "Wee
Don". In Hereford the trump nine is the "Bubbler" and the trump five is the "Don".

Deal and Play

Deal and play are clockwise. Each player cuts a card, and whoever cuts the lowest
card will pitch first. The dealer will be the player to the right of the pitcher. The turn
to deal passes to the left after each hand, and the pitcher is the player to dealer's left.

The dealer deals out all the cards one at a time, so that each player has 13 cards. The
player to dealer's right (the pitcher's partner) must not pick up his or her cards until
the pitcher has led.

The player to dealer's left leads first, and the suit of the card led to the first trick is
trumps for remainder of the hand. Players must follow suit if they can; a player with
no card of the suit led can trump or throw away at will. The trick is won by the
highest trump in it, or if none are played, by the highest card of the suit led. The
winner of a trick leads to the next trick.

Scoring
The score is usually kept on a peg board which is like a cribbage board but half as long
again:

In Scotland, I am told that the scores are written down on a special score sheet.

Points are scored or pegged at the end of each trick containing phat, and at the end
of the play for muck, as described above. The first team to peg a total of 181 points
(twice round the board) wins the game.

Since there are 88 points in each deal - 80 phat plus 8 for the muck - most games are
completed within four deals - one pitch by each player. If neither team has won by
then a fifth deal is started, and the winners are the first team to peg enough phat to
reach 181. The pitcher for the fifth deal will of course be the same as for the first
deal. Note that muck cannot count in this fifth deal, since the phat will always be
sufficient to allow one team to reach 181 before the end of play.

100
101
Spoil Five / Twenty Five 2, 3–9, 10

Introduction  Spades are trumps. You hold 5, A and no other trumps. The 7 is
Twenty-Five could be considered the national card game of Ireland: it is played widely led. Your trumps are both from the top three better than the lead, so you do
in rural pubs and at home. The game moves quite quickly - it does not take long to not have to play either of them - you may play any card.
play a hand - and although there is a fair amount of luck in it, there is also some
scope for skill. It is normally played by about five people but can be played by as few  Spades are trumps. You hold 5, A and no other trumps. The 7 is
as two or as many as ten. The ranking order of the cards may seem a little arcane at led. The A does not have the privilege of reneging, so you must play
first, but with a little practice it becomes second nature.
either this or your other trump, the 5. Yoiu cannot throw a card of
As well as the basic game, there are more complicated bidding versions called 55, 110 another suit on this trick.
or 220 depending on the final score to be atained.
Twenty-Five  Spades are trumps. You hold A and no other trumps. The J is led.
Since the trumps that was led is better than yours, you are forced to play
This is the basic form of the modern Irish game, without bidding. Apart from the
scoring it is more or less the same as the old games of Maw and Spoil Five. your A.
Players  Spades are trumps. You hold A and no other trumps. The 7 is led and
The game is normally played by from 3 to 9 people; two-player and ten-player games the next player plays the 5. You are the third player. Although the trick
are possible, but the two-player game is not very interesting and ten players might contains a card that is higher than yours, that hightrump was not led to the
prefer to split into two five-player games. Any number can play as individuals; 4, 6 or
8 (or 10) can play in pairs, partners sitting opposite each other; the nine-player game trick (the lead was a low trump - the 7) so you need not play your A. You
can be played between three teams of three, each player sitting between members are free to play any card to this trick.
of the two other teams; it would also be possible for 6 players to play 3 against 3, but Scoring
I'm not sure whether this is customary.
Each trick is worth five points to the team or player that wins it. As soon as a player
Object of the Game reaches 25 points (i.e. has won five tricks) the game is over and that player or team is
To be the first player or team to twenty five points, scoring five points per trick. This the winner. If no one has reached 25 at the end of the hand, the next dealer shuffles,
will usually take two or more deals. Pairs (or threes) combine the scores for the tricks the cards are cut, and a new hand is dealt and played.
they win. Note that the game very often ends in the middle before all the cards are played. As
Ranking Order of the Cards soon as a player or team wins its fifth trick, reaching 25 points, play stops and the
25 is played with a standard 52-card pack. In each deal, one suit will be chosen as winners are paid. If another game is to be played the cards are shuffled and there is a
trumps. the rank of cards is different depending on the colour of the suit and whether new deal.
it is trumps. From high to low, the cards rank as follows: Usually the game is played for a small stake, for example 20p. Some people pay for
each game, but when the game is played between two teams, some play (for
example) best of five games, in which case the first first team to three games wins
the stake.
It is often agreed that if one player or team wins in one hand by winning all five tricks
(for 25 points), that entitles them to a double stake (40p if the basic stake per game
was 20p). The five tricks do not necessarily have to be won in the first hand, but in
order to claim the double stake, the player or team must have no previous score in
that game.
Example of Play
Three players A, B, and C. A is the dealer and deals three cards to each player, and
then two cards to each player. He then turns up the two of spades - thus spades are
trumps.
The three hands
To summarise:
 The highest trump is always the five of the trump suit.
 The second highest trump is always the jack of the trump suit.
 The third highest trump is always the ace of hearts, no matter what the Play
trump suit is.
 Trick 1: B places his 2 face down indicating that he is robbing the two of
 If the trump suit is not hearts, the fourth highest trump is the ace. spades and plays the Q, C plays the K and A plays the 3, happy to
 After the ace of trumps follow the King, Queen and numeral cards. have won a trick with his little trump. A wins the first trick.
 In a suit that is not trumps, the highest card is the King, followed by the  A leads back the 2. B plays his queen of spades (trump) and C not
Queen, Jack and numeral cards.
wanting to overruff with the 5 (a very high trump) plays his 5. B wins
 Among the numeral cards, the highest cards are best in the red suits, but the second trick.
the lowest cards are best in the black suits: players remember this
as "highest in red, lowest in black".  B now plays the ace of trumps. To this C reneges his 5 (his privilege) and
 The ace of hearts is always a trump. The other aces, when their suit is plays the 8 of diamonds (now the worst card in his hand) instead. A plays
not trumps, count as ordinary ones. Therefore the ace of diamonds is a lowly 10. B wins the third trick.
the lowest card of its suit when diamonds are not trumps. The black
aces, when not trumps, rank between the jack and the two.  B then leads his other trump (from the top of the deck) the two of
Deal and Robbing spades. C (with a smile) plays the five, and A plays the J. C wins the
fourth trick.
The dealer shuffles and offers the cards to the player on the right to cut if he or she
wishes to. The dealer then deals five cards to each person, two at a time followed by  C then leads the 10, winning against A's Jack of Diamonds and B's 6.
three at a time or three at a time followed by two at a time. The turn to deal passes
to the left after each hand. Score:
After dealing, the dealer stacks the undealt cards face down and turns the top card of  A: 1 trick therefore 5 points
this stack face up. The suit of this turned card is trumps for the hand. If you hold the
ace of trumps you may "rob" the trump turned up by the dealer. To rob the trump,
 B: 2 tricks therefore 10 points
you place any unwanted card from your hand face down beside the undealt part of  C: 2 tricks therefore 10 points
the deck and either take the turned up trump into your hand or leave it where it is to The cards are combined, shuffled and dealt again.
play as though it were one of the cards in your hand. If the dealer turns up the ace,
the dealer can rob it. If the ace of trumps is not dealt, no one can rob the turned
trump. If you are entitled to rob the trump, it must be done before you play a card to 55, 110 and 220
the first trick, otherwise you lose the right to rob it.
These are variations of 25 with bidding. The difference between the three games is
It is not obligatory for the holder of the ace of trumps to rob. If you have the trump only in the target score needed to win - the winner is the first player to reach 55, 110
ace and decide not to rob (or forget to do so) then you lose your opportunity to rob or 220 points (or more), depending on the game, over however many deals as it
after you have played to the first trick. You must then play with the five cards you takes.
were originally dealt. Your concealed ace of trumps keeps its normal power, ranking
above the king. Players, Cards, Deal
Play There are two or more players, up to a theoretical maximum of nine, since five cards
are dealt to each player and five to a kitty from a single 52-card pack.
The player to dealer's left leads to the first trick. The highest card of the suit led wins
unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump wins. The winner of each The ranking of the cards is the same as in 25.
trick leads to the next. As in 25, deal and play are clockwise and the turn to deal passes to the left after each
When a card of a non-trump suit is led, players who have cards of this suit hand. The dealer shuffles, the player to dealer's right cuts, and the dealer deals five
must either play a card of the suit that was led or play a trump (which is known as cards to each player plus five to the kitty. The cards are dealt two at a time and then
ruffing). In this game you are always allowed to trump even if you could have three at a time or three at a time and then two at a time, dealing cards to the kitty as
followed suit. If you don't wish to ruff, you must follow suit if you can. However, if though it were an extra player.
you are unable to follow suit you do not have to trump - in this case you may play any The Bidding and Play
card - either a trump or a card of another non-trump suit.
There is then a round of bidding, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer
When a trump is led, the other players must play trumps if possible, with the and continuing clockwise. The only possible bids are 10, 15, 20, 25 and 60. Each
exception of the top three trumps (the 5, J and A), which have the privilege player must pass or bid higher than the last bid, except the dealer who can 'take' the
of reneging: you can never be forced to play any of these three top trumps unless bid by equalling the highest bid so far. A player who passes or is outbid by another
another player leads a better trump than the one you hold. A player who holds no player cannot bid again, but a player whose bid is 'taken' by the dealer can then
trumps (except possibly one or more of the top three when a lower trump was led) increase their bid, the dealer can 'take the increased bid, and so on.
may play any card. The final bidder picks up the 5-card kitty without showing it, discards 5 cards face
Note that for the purposes of following suit, the ace of hearts counts as a trump, not down and names the trump suit. There is no robbing, since there is no turned up card
as a heart. in this game.
Examples:

102
The player to dealer's left leads to the first trick, and the rules of play are the same as Example: In a game of 110, player A has 100 points and bids 20; player B has 100
in 25. points and holds the trump jack. B wins the first trick with the trump jack. Now B has
The Scoring won the game, provided that the trump 5 is not in play, as he scores 5 for the trick
and 5 for the highest trump. Even if A wins the other four tricks, if no one has the
Each trick is worth 5 points; the holder of the highest trump in play gets an extra 5 trump 5 B will win the game, since the points for the highest trump are considered to
points. be scored as soon as the card is played.
The bidder scores his points for tricks if they are at least as much as his bid. Variations
Otherwise he loses the amount of the bid. (Scores can be negative.) All other players
score for the tricks they won. 1. Some play that only the bidder can win the game. If someone reaches
the target score through points won against another player's bid, the
60 is a bid to win all the tricks. The bidder scores 60 points if he succeeds and loses game continues.
60 points if not. However, if you make a lower bid (say 25) and then win all the tricks
you only score 30 points (for the five tricks and the highest trump), not 60. 2. Some play that the bidder must name trumps before picking up the kitty.
The first player to score 55 or 110 or 220 (depending on the game) wins, but the last 3. Some play that the first lead is made by the player to the left of the
hand must be played out to discover whether the bid succeeds or not. If two or more bidder; others play that the player to the right of the bidder leads first.
players reach the target score in the same deal, the order in which they took their 4. Some play that the bidder can only score what he bids. For example if
tricks decides who got there first and won the game. you bid 15 and win all the tricks, you only score 15.

3-2-5 3

Introduction This process is repeated until everyone has over quota has stolen a card for each trick
The card game 3-2-5 (Teen Do Panch), also sometimes known as 2-3-5 or 5-3-2 is that they were over quota, and each player who was under quota has had a card
played in India, Pakistan and Nepal using a pack of 30 cards. The three players have stolen for each trick that they were short of the quota.
quotas of 3, 2 and 5 tricks, and those who win more than their quota have the If there are two players over quota, the player to dealer's right has the first chance to
advantage in the next deal of stealing or 'pulling' cards from those who were short of steal, then the player to dealer's left, and finally the dealer. If they are two players
their quota. 3-2-5 is closely related to the 52-card game Sergeant Major, which is also under quota the over quota player steals first from the dealer if under quota, then
known as 3-5-8 or 8-5-3. from the player to dealer's left and last from the player to dealer's right.
Note on terminology. As in many South Asian games, in 3-2-5 the word "hand" is It is said to be part of the fun of the game for a player whose card is to be stolen to
often used to mean what Western card players call a "trick" - i.e. a set of cards, one rearrange their cards before offering them face down and to offer misleading advice
card played by each player in succession, which is won by the best card played. This about which cards are best.
can be confusing as the word "hand" has other meanings - it can also refer to the set Play
of cards held by one player or the period of play from one deal to the next. Therefore
on this page I use Western term "trick" rather than "hand" for a set of cards, one The player to dealer's right leads to the first trick. Each trick is won by the highest
played by each player. trump in it, or if it contains no trumps by the highest card of the suit that was led. The
winner of each trick leads to the next.
Players, Cards and Objective
Any card may be led. Subsequent players must follow suit, playing a card of the suit
There are three players. Deal and play are usually counter-clockwise. that was led if they can. A player who has no card of the suit led may play any card -
A 30-card pack is used, made from a standard 52-card pack by throwing out all the either a trump or a card of another suit.
cards from 2 to 6 and two of the Sevens. Usually it is the Sevens of hearts and spades There is no obligation to beat cards previously played to the trick.
that are kept in the pack. The cards in each suit rank from high to low A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-
(7). Players keep the tricks they have won face down, neatly arranged to that everyone
can see how many tricks each player has won.
Each player has a quota of tricks. The dealer tries to win at least 2 tricks, the player to
dealer's right, who plays first and chooses trumps, tries to win at least 5 tricks and Scoring
the third player, to dealer's left, tries to win at least 3. Each player scores 1 point for each trick that they have taken.
Deal Variations
The first dealer is chosen by any convenient method. One neat idea is to take a 5, a 3 Some people play the whole game clockwise, so that the player to dealer's left
and a 2 from the discarded part of the pack, mix them face down and let each player chooses trump, has a quota of 5 tricks and leads to the first trick and the player to
draw one. Whoever gets the 2 is the dealer, the player with the 5 sits to dealer's right dealer's right has a quota of 3.
and the player with the 3 sits to left, so that their initial trick quotas correspond to Some play that instead of announcing a trump suit the 5-trick player may specify that
the cards they drew. Subsequently the turn to deal passes to the right for each new the 7th card (i.e. the middle card of the second batch of three dealt to this player)
deal. will be turned up and its suit will be trumps. Others allow the 5-trick player to choose
The dealer shuffles, the player to dealer's right cuts, and the dealer deals a batch of 5 trump to be the suit of the highest card in the next batch of three, while yet others
cards to each player, first to the right, then to the left, then to dealer. The player to use a randomly drawn card from the remainder of the trump maker's hand.
dealer's right chooses and announces the trump suit. After this the dealer deals a Some only require a player who has stolen a card to retain one card in the suit that is
batch of three cards to each player in the same order and then a batch of two to returned.
each, so that each player has 10 cards.
Some play that the Sevens are permanent trumps. The 7 is the highest trump
Pulling Cards
In the second and subsequent deals of a session, players who took more than their followed by the 7 and then the remaining cards of the chosen trump suit. So for
quota of tricks in the previous deal can try to improve their hands by taking cards example if clubs are trumps the trump suit in descending order is 7- 7- A-
from players who took fewer tricks than their quota.
K- Q- J- 10- 9- 8. The Sevens count for all purposes as members
In the very first deal of a session or if everyone made exactly their quota of tricks in
the previous deal there is no pulling of cards: everyone plays with the 10 cards they of the trump suit. In the example if a club is led you may play any club or any 7: if you
were dealt. have no other trumps you must play a 7 if you have one. Likewise if a 7 is led you can
play any club or the other 7 and must play one of these cards if you have one. If a
In the second and subsequent deals, players who made more than their quota of
tricks in the previous deal are entitled to steal cards from opponents who were under hearts is led you cannot play the 7 (which is a trump) unless you have no ordinary
quota. One card is stolen for each trick above quota and one card must be given up hearts: if you have no ordinary hearts you may play any card. This rule is also found in
for each trick under quota. the related two-player children's game 7-8 (Sath-Aath) played with the same 30-card
pack.
The player who was under quota fans out their hand of 10 cards face down and the
over quota player chooses a card (without knowing what it is) and takes it without Some award an extra 5 points (total 15) to a player who manages to win all 10 tricks.
showing it to the third player. The over quota player then selects an unwanted card Some allow a player who was below quota in the previous deal, instead of allowing a
to give back face down to the under quota player. There are two restrictions: card to be stolen, simply to transfer a trick to the player who was above quota.
 the over quota player cannot returned the same card that they just took, Some play that the loser (the player who is most below quota) deals the next hand. If
everyone takes their quota of tricks the deal rotates (to the next player to the right if
 the over quota player must retain at least two cards in the suit of the returned playing anticlockwise.) If there are two equal losers presumably the deal passes to
card - in other words the returned card must come from a suit of three cards or the loser who is next in rotation.
more.

103
Sergeant Major 3, 4

Introduction usual way (according to tricks above or below target on the previous hand) before
trump is called. The game ends when someone wins by reaching +10 points.
This game was described to me by John Card, who tells me that it used to be popular
in Britain's Royal Air Force. Some closely related games, generally known as 8-5-3 or Ralph Birch describes a similar variant played by his grandfather who was the
3-5-8, are played in India and the near east; also the game 9-5-2, played in Canada, is Regimental Sergeant Major of the Kings Own Scottish Borderers, serving in the British
very similar. Army in India in the 1930s and 40s. The two of spades is removed, 17 cards each are
dealt, the targets are 9 tricks for dealer, 5 the dealer's left-hand opponent and 3 for
Players and Cards
dealer's right-hand opponent, and in theory the game is supposed to continue until
Sergeant Major is a trick taking game for 3 players, using a standard 52 card pack. It is someone wins all 17 tricks though in practice the game is nearly always abandoned
played clockwise. 'with a useless hand being thrown at the dominant player'.

Object of the Game 9-5-2

The aim is to win as many tricks as possible. If a player succeeds in winning 12 or Details of this Canadian variation were sent to me by Henry Stevens. The game is
more tricks in one hand, the game ends and that player wins. identical to Sergeant Major apart from the following:

Deal and Card Exchange (first hand) 1. The targets for the three players are:

The first dealer is chosen at random. The cards are shuffled, cut and then dealt singly, o Dealer - 9 tricks
16 to each player. The last four undealt cards are placed face down on the table to
form a kitty. The dealer names a suit as trumps (clubs, spades, hearts or diamonds - o Player to dealer's left - 5 tricks
"no trump" is not allowed), discards any four cards face down, and takes the four
undealt cards from the kitty in their place. o Player to dealer's right - 2 tricks.

The Play 2. After trading cards and choosing trump, the dealer picks up the four kitty
cards before discarding four.
The player to dealer's left leads any card to the first trick. It is compulsory to follow
suit if able to; a player holding no card of the suit led may play any card. Each trick is 3. A cumulative score for each player is kept on paper. The score for each hand is
won by the highest trump it contains, or if there are no trumps in it, by the highest assessed based on whether the required number of tricks were taken (zero
card of the suit led. The winner of each trick leads to the next. score), more tricks were taken (plus score of number of tricks over required
tricks) or fewer tricks (minus score of number of tricks under required tricks).
Targets and Scoring
Scores are totaled with the score from previous hands, and the total score of all
Each player has a target. The dealer's target is 8 tricks; the player to dealer's left has a three players should always be zero.
target of 5 tricks; and the player to dealer's right needs 3 tricks. A player who won
4. 9-5-2 is played to a target score agreed in advance, usually 10 or 20 points. The
more tricks than the target is said to be up by the number of tricks won in excess of
game ends when someone's score reaches or exceeds the target. Since the sum
target. A player who failed to reach the target is down by the number of tricks short.
of the scores on each hand is zero, in theory the game could go on for ever, but
The player(s) who are down pay one stake per trick short of target, and the player(s)
in practice someone will eventually reach the target.
who are up receive one stake per overtrick.
Nicholas Tallyn reports another variation of 9-5-2 with the following differences:
Deal and Exchange (second and subsequent hands)
The turn to deal rotates clockwise, so the new dealer is the player who led to the first  The targets of the players left and right of dealer are reversed - the player to
trick previous hand. The pack is shuffled and cut and 16 cards each are dealt singly as dealer's left needs 2 tricks and the player to the right needs 5 tricks. [This seems
before. odd given that dealer's left hand opponent has the advantage of leading first.]

Now each player who was up on the previous hand gives away one unwanted card  The order of exchanging cards and making trumps is:
per overtrick to a player who was down, and that player must return the highest
1. Dealer picks up the four spare cards and then discards four;
card(s) held of the same suit(s). The exact procedure is as follows:
2. Players with positive scores on the previous hand pass cards;
 If just one player was up, that player gives each of the other players as many
unwanted cards face down as they had undertricks. These cards are all given 3. Dealer calls trump;
simultaneously. The other players add these cards to their hands, and for each 4. Players with negative scores pass back their highest cards in the suits they
card received, they give back face down their highest card of that suit. A player were given.
who has no other cards of the suit received will of course have to give back the
same card.  The game continues until someone reaches or goes beyond +15 or -15, and
whoever has the most points at that time is the winner.
 If two players were up, the player with the higher target for the hand about to
be played trades first. This player gives (face down) as many cards as he or she Four-handed Sergeant Major
had overtricks to the player who was down, and that player gives back face
Bryan Weaver writes:
down the highest card(s) held in the same suit(s). After that, the other player
who was up gives a card per overtrick to the player who was down, and receives When I was in college at Georgia Tech in the mid 1980's, there was a large
in exchange that player's highest card(s) in the same suit(s). community of card players there. In addition to a lot of Bridge and Hearts (which
were typically played for stakes) we played a four-handed variety of sergeant major.
After this exchange of cards is complete, the dealer names trumps, discards four
cards and takes the four undealt cards. If the dealer was down and had to give away No cards were undealt; the trick taking requirements were 5-4-2-2 with the usual
the highest card of a suit, but then picks up one or more higher cards of that same rewards and penalties.
suit from the undealt cards, any such high cards must be shown privately to the
The four-handed game introduces complications when taking extra cards from those
player(s) who traded cards in that suit.
who were down (we called the process "plucking" and individual cards "plucks"). To
The play and scoring then proceeds as described above. The targets are always 8 begin with, we handled the situation of competitive "plucking" different from the
tricks for the current dealer, 5 for the player who leads to the first trick, and 3 for the standard. If more than one player passed cards to the same person, then the person
other player. returned his highest cards in the suit to those players based upon the rank of the
cards that they used to "pluck" from him, rather than doing it in a particular order.
End of the Game
An example: West has the A9872 of Hearts. North exchanges the 5 of hearts with
The game ends when any player succeeds in winning 12 or more tricks in one hand, him and South the 3 of hearts. West returns the A of Hearts to North and the 9 of
thereby winning the game. hearts to South.

Variations It was possible for West to give cards from one opponent to the other.
Example: West has the A432 of Hearts. North exchanges the 8 of hearts with him and
Some play that the dealer picks up the kitty and then discards (rather than discarding South the 5 of hearts. West returns the A of Hearts to North and the 8 of hearts to
before picking up). South.
Some play that the game goes on until someone takes all sixteen tricks. This can lead The general procedure for determining who you plucked when two players were up
to an extremely long game - my experience with this version is that the game and two players were down was as follows.
generally gets abandoned before the end is reached.
1. Encourage Competition. Suppose N is -2, E is -1, W is +1 and S is +2. If plucks are
Shawn's Sergeant Major page, formerly at uneven, ensuring competition is the most important guideline: South sends a
http://www.erols.com/shawncoons/sarge.htm but now disappeared, described a card to both N and E, and West sends a card to North.
variation played with only 51 cards (the 2 of clubs is removed). 17 cards are dealt to
each player. The dealer chooses trumps, as usual, and the targets are 8 tricks for 2. Discourage passing cards to your left if possible. Suppose N and S are each +1
dealer, 6 for player left of dealer, 3 for player right of dealer. The player to dealer's and E and W are each -1. South should pass a card to East, not West. The reason
left leads to the first trick (as usual). Players score +1 for each trick above target, -1 for this is that South should get the card, but not the extra benefit of the
for each trick below. From the second hand onwards cards are exchanged in the information that his LHO has no card larger than the one he received.

104
Rook 4

Rook is the name of a group of games and of the special deck of cards for the game A player may not pass any cards that were passed to him. The winner of the bid may
which was introduced by Parker Brothers in 1906. The games are popular in Eastern not look at the cards passed to him until trump has been called. All other players may
Kentucky, in the Mennonite communities of Southern Ontario (near Elmira / look at the cards passed to them only after they have passed cards.
Waterloo), Manitoba, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and probably also in other parts of
North America. Rook playing cards were introduced by Parker Brothers in 1906 to After the cards have been passed, the winner of the bid calls trump. Players may
provide an alternative to standard playing cards for those in the Puritan tradition, and quietly curse or cheer within reason. The winner of the bid picks up the cards passed
those in Mormon or Mennonite culture who considered the face cards in a regular to him, and play commences.
deck inappropriate because of their association with gambling and cartomancy. Step Four: Playing
The Rook deck contains 57 cards. There are four suits coloured black, red, green and The person who called trump gets to choose whether he goes first or the person to
yellow. In each suit the cards are numbered from 1 to 14. The 57th card is the rook his left goes first. Whoever goes first plays a card (placing it face-up in the center).
card, which carries a picture of the bird. Rook cards are made by Parker Brothers / Each player in turn (clockwise) plays a card until all four have played a card. This is
Hasbro and by Winning moves and Rook or Deluxe Rook cards can be ordered from called a trick.
amazon.com. Alternatively, Rook can be played with a deck of '57 Cards', which have
similar cards in four colours, but the 57th card shows a flower rather than a bird. As in most games of this type, all other players must follow suit, if they can. In other
Below are rules adapted for a standard deck. words, a player must play a card in the suit that was led if he has any cards in that
suit left. If a player does not have a card in the suit that was led, then he may play any
Rook is a 4-player bidding and trick-taking partnership card game. If you are put off card in his hand.
by the maddeningly complex bidding conventions of bridge, but desire more of a
challenge than hearts or spades, then Rook is the game for you. The winner of the trick is the person who played the winning card, as determined by
the following rules:
Rook has the following major differences from bridge:
 If the lead card is not trump, and nobody else plays a trump card, then
 The regular 52-card deck plus the Joker is used. the winning card is the highest card played in the lead card's suit.
 There is no dummy hand.  If the lead card is not trump, and someone else plays a trump card, then
 A player may not re-enter the bidding after passing. the winning card is the highest card played in the trump suit.
 Each player passes three cards to an opponents before play starts.  If the lead card is a trump, then the winning card is the highest card
 Some cards are worth points, as is the last trick. played in the trump suit.
 The object is to win a certain amount of points, not a certain amount of  Within each suit, Ace is high, 2 is low (with the Rook exception, below)
tricks.  The Rook is the lowest trump card. In other words, it is lower than the 2
 Bidding is based on expected points, not tricks, and makes no mention of of trump, but higher than any other card. It is considered a trump suit
suit. card.

Of course, if you have never played bridge, or if you have never played cards period, Whoever wins the trick keeps all the cards, and thus all the points in the trick, in a
then these differences should mean nothing to you. That's fine - just read along and pile kept by him or his partner. He then leads for the next trick. Play continues in this
learn! way until all cards have been played, for a total of 13 tricks.

(NOTE: There are many varieties of Rook. To differentiate these rules from those of Step Five: Scoring
other varieties, I've termed them "Princeton Rules," for that's where I learned to play After play is over, each team counts up the number of points in their pile. A reminder:
the game. Variations on Princeton Rules and other variations are listed below.)
Step One: Beginning
 Each Ace is worth 15 points.
 Each King is worth 10 points.
First, the simple and straightforward stuff, for completeness.  Each 10 is worth 10 points.
The four players should sit around a card table or suitable substitute, partners sitting  Each 5 is worth 5 points.
across from each other. Deal out the first 52 cards, placing the 53rd face down in the  The joker (or "rook") is worth 20 points.
center. (Each person should now have 13 cards. Duh.) Arrange your cards in suit
order without telling any other player what you have. (Don't worry about what the
 And winning the last trick is worth 20 points.
joker (or "rook") means just yet.) Now we are ready to bid. So there are 200 points in each game. A running score is kept; usually games go up to
1000 points (first team to reach or exceed 1000 points wins), but any number may be
Step Two: Bidding
agreed upon beforehand.
After the cards are dealt, players bid for the right to call trump. Starting with the
If the team of the player who called trump has fewer points than he had originally
player to the left of the dealer and going around clockwise, each player either makes
bid, then they are "set." They do not add the amount of points they get to their total;
a bid, or passes. A player who passes may not re-enter the bidding. This process
rather, they subtract the amount of points that they bid. The team that did not call
continues until three players have passed; the fourth is the winner of the bid. The
trump has no such restriction.
winner gets to call trump (but not just yet! First, I must explain bidding a bit more).
Example: If you and your partner win the bid at 110 points and you win 110 points in
A player's bid signifies the minimum number of points that he believes he and his
the game, then 110 points are added to your total score and 90 points (the number
partner will win in the hand. (More on winning points later.) Bidding starts at 70 and
of points your opponents won) are added to your opponents' total score.
increases by 5 each time someone bids again. There are 200 total points in a hand,
broken down as follows: Another example: If you and your partner win the bid at 110 points and you win 105
points in the game, then 110 points (the number of points you bid) are subtracted
 Each Ace is worth 15 points. from your total score and 95 points (the number of points your opponents won) are
 Each King is worth 10 points. added to your opponents' total score.
 Each 10 is worth 10 points.
One further scoring bonus: If a team takes all thirteen tricks, then they get a 100
 Each 5 is worth 5 points. point bonus, giving them 300 points for the game. This does not happen very often,
 The joker (or "rook") is worth 20 points. so if it does, one has the right to gloat.
 Winning the last trick is worth 20 points. Other Rook Variations
No other cards are worth points. Judging from your letters, the most common variation of Rook is to play without 2's,
So what keeps people from bidding right up to 200 in order to get to call trump? If 3's, or 4's. Proponents of this variation say that it makes the game faster and makes
after playing the hand, the player who called trump and his partner do not make their playing 5's a bit trickier. Someone named Scott told me that this is the way they play
bid (in other words, they get fewer points than they bid), then they lose the number in Rook tournaments.
of points that they bid. Other common variations involve playing the rook card as either the highest trump or
Step Three: After Bidding as a "10.5" of trump (i.e. higher than a 10, but lower than an 11 or jack).

After bidding, the winner of the bid takes the card from the center and drops a card Five-player rook is possible, too. If one is using a standard deck, discard two of the 2's
from his hand, placing it face down in front of him. This card may be the card from (red or black - your choice) and deal 10 cards to each player. If one is using a Rook
the center. The winner and his partner keeps any points that the dropped card may deck, deal 11 cards to each player. Both ways will leave one card in the middle, as
be worth. usual. Players bid without knowing who will be their partner. Cards do not need to be
passed. The winner of the bid calls trump and calls a card that he wants. The player
All players must now choose three cards to pass face-down to the opponent on either with that card becomes his partner; however, the identity of the partner remains a
their left- or right-hand side. The direction of passing alternates between each hand secret, until of course certain tricks make it obvious. Each player keeps an individual
(right, left, right, left, etc.). You may also alternate between passing to the right, to score (each player on a team receives the full amount of points won by the team in a
the left, and not passing, as long as the order is regular and agreed upon beforehand. hand).

Piquet 2

Introduction Piquet is game for two players, using a shortened pack of 32 cards which omits 2 to 6
in each suit. In ascending order, the cards rank 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A (high). A number

105
of French terms are traditionally used for various features of the game and these are a set of cards of the same rank. There are two types:
included below.
 quatorze is four Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks or Tens, and scores 14;
A game consists of a set of 6 deals called a partie, with the deal alternating. Each
player is dealt 12 cards, with 8 left as a talon. A deal consists of three parts:  trio is three Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks or Tens, and scores 3.
discarding a number of cards and replacing them from the talon to try to improve the
hand, declaring various features in the hand, and then playing the cards in tricks. Note that sets of 9s, 8s or 7s do not count.

Piquet is a very old game. It was well established by 1650 with similar rules to the Elder hand declares first, announcing his best combination in each category, usually
present ones (it differed in using a 36 card pack with a 12 card talon, elder hand being in the order given. After each announcement, younger hand says "good", meaning
allowed to change 7 cards, and a partie was ended by the first to reach 100, a variant elder's is better and can be scored, "not good" if younger has a better combination,
still sometimes played). It was mentioned by Rabelais in 1535 although whether this or "equal" in which case elder gives more information then younger says good or not
was the same game is unclear. It has retained its popularity to the present day as one good, or equal if they are precisely equal, in which case neither player scores.
of the best and most skilful card games for two players. The rules described are those Equal length points are compared by adding the face value of each card, court cards
published by Cavendish in 1882. being counted as 10 and ace as 11. Equal length sequences are compared according
Scoring to the highest card, eg A-K-Q beats K-Q-J. Any quatorze beats any trio, and when
comparing two quatorzes or two trios, the one with the higher ranked cards wins.
During the play of the hand, players announce their running total for the hand every
time they score points. At the end of the hand the final totals are written down and The player with the winning sequence can score any other sequences they hold. The
added to the scores so far for the partie. The winner is the player who has a higher other player scores nothing for sequences. Similarly, the player with the better trio or
score at the end of partie. If the scores are equal after 6 deals, two more hands are quatorze can also score any other trios and quatorzes they hold, but the other player
played. If they are then still equal the partie is a draw. A major aim of the players, scores nothing for any trios or quatorzes.
apart from scoring more than the opponent over the six deals, is to "get over the After elder hand has declared he leads a card, and then younger hand announces and
Rubicon" by scoring 100 points or more in the partie. scores for combinations in categories where she has said "not good" or where elder
At the end of the partie, if the loser has scored at least 100 points, the loser pays the has not made any declaration.
winner the difference between the players' scores plus 100. If the loser has not After Elder Hand has led to the first trick either player may ask to see any
scored as many as 100 points then the loser pays the winner the sum of the players' combination that has been scored for or which caused no score because of equality,
scores plus 100. If another partie is to be played, the scores are started from zero although in practice this is rarely necessary as you can normally deduce what the
again. cards are. You might, for example, after a declaration of three queens ask which one
Examples is missing. It is not obligatory to announce your best combination (or to announce
anything in a category at all) if you think you can obtain some advantage in the play
At the end of a partie the scores are A:99, B:120. Player A pays 319 to by concealing the cards, or if you think it is certain to be beaten. Deliberately not
player B. announcing a combination is known as sinking a declaration. For example, if you only
have a trio of tens and are sure your opponent has a trio of aces, there is little point
At the end of a partie the scores are A:101, B:120. Player A pays 119 to
in announcing the tens. However, once elder hand makes a declaration, it cannot be
player B.
revised by declaring a higher one if younger hand says not good or equal, nor may
Deal such better combinations be scored by elder hand if younger hand says good.
Deal alternates between the players. Players cut for the highest card. The winner can Repique and Pique
choose who deals first (but should always choose to deal first, as there is a slight
A player who scores 30 in declarations before his opponent has scored anything gains
advantage to being non-dealer on the critical sixth hand).
a repique which is worth 60 points extra. A player who scores 30 in declarations and
The cards should be shuffled thoroughly. Twelve cards are dealt to each player, play before his opponent scores anything gains a pique, which is worth 30 extra. In
leaving 8 over as a talon. Dealer may deal in either 3s or 2s, but must deal her deciding whether the 30 has been reached before the opponent scores, points are
remaining two hands in the partie the same way. The talon is put face down in the reckoned strictly in this order:
middle.
1. Carte Blanche
The non-dealer is known as elder hand, the dealer as younger hand.
2. Point
If either player is dealt a hand with no court cards (J, Q, K) he may announce carte
3. Sequences
blanche and score 10 points. It should be announced as soon as it is noticed. The
announcement is proved by rapidly dealing the cards face up onto the table after 4. Quatorzes and trios
your opponent has discarded but before you discard. If Elder hand has carte blanche
he announces how many cards he intends discarding so that younger hand can 5. Points made in play
choose her discards before seeing Elder hand's cards. For example, suppose elder hand chooses not to declare a point or sequence but
Exchange announces four aces. If younger then announces two quints for 30 points this counts
as a repique. Similarly, if elder hand scores 30 for sequences and sets, but younger
Elder hand exchanges first and must discard at least one and at most five cards face hand has the better point, elder hand does not score a repique.
down (in practice, elder hand will almost always exchange 5). He then picks up the
same number of cards from the top of the talon. Younger hand then does the same, Because elder hand always scores one for leading to the first trick, only elder hand
discarding at least one card and at most the number of cards not taken by elder hand can ever score a pique.
(usually 3), and taking an equal number of cards from the talon. If either player Equality in a declaration does not prevent a pique or repique.
exchanges fewer than the maximum allowed they must announce this before picking
up cards. Each player keeps his discards by him, and may refer to them during play to Play of the Cards
remind himself what he discarded. Play is in tricks with no trumps, and you must follow suit. A point is scored each time
If elder exchanges fewer than five cards he can look at the remainder of the five. If a card is led, and an extra point is scored for winning a card lead by the opponent.
younger exchanges fewer than permitted she may expose the remainder (to both There is one additional point for winning the last trick. The contents of tricks already
players) after elder hand leads. played may be examined by either player at any time.

Declarations The player who wins more tricks scores 10 for the cards, or 40 for capot if all 12 tricks
are won. There is no score for cards if each player wins 6 tricks. The cards can be
There are three categories of scoring combinations. Only the player with the best counted towards a pique as soon as seven tricks have been won. Capot does not
combination in each category scores for that category: count towards a pique.
Point Advice on Play
the most cards in one suit. The number of cards in the suit is announced The most interesting and difficult part of the game is choosing what to discard. Elder
(e.g. "point of 5") and it scores this number. hand, with 5 cards available and the lead is in a much stronger position than younger
Sequence and should normally go all-out for the best possible hand, ignoring any thought of
defence. Younger hand however will want to try and preserve (or pick up) a holding
the longest run of consecutive cards in one suit (minimum 3). The such as Kx or Qxx in what looks likely to be elder hand's longest suit.
possible sequences are:
It is very rarely correct for elder hand not to take 5 cards; beginners will often
 tierce (3 cards, scores 3); exchange only 4 in order to retain a side suit ace or king, but it is better to take the
extra card and increase the chance of winning one of the categories or of scoring
 quart (4 cards - pronounced "cart" - scores 4); pique or repique. Also, leaving 4 cards gives younger hand an extra card to exchange.
For younger hand it is more frequently correct not to take the maximum, but still
 quint (5 cards, scores 15); rare.
 sixième (6 cards, scores 16); It is normally correct to retain all of your longest suit. It is valuable both for the point
and to try and take the cards, as well as the possibility of a sequence. If there are two
 septième (7 cards, scores 17); of equal length, keep the one with the better potential in play, or sometimes the one
which is most likely to make a run of five or more. In addition you will normally keep
 huitième (8 cards, scores 18). aces and the cards most likely to form a Quatorze or trio. For elder hand, this will
Set often determine all 7 cards to keep.

106
When deciding what to exchange consider what, from the cards you can see, is the
AJ8
best possible combination your opponent can have. For example, if you have a
Quatorze of 10s then if you have, in various suits, at least one A, K, Q and J you know AJ
it cannot be beaten ("good against the cards"), and should keep it. If however you
have neither an ace nor a king it is unlikely to win, particularly if you are younger Ann has:
hand and only get 3 cards. Similarly, 7 8 9 10 is probably worth keeping as younger
hand if you have cards in each suit which prove your opponent cannot have a run of K Q 10 9 8
4, particularly if you think there is a danger of a repique or pique. J7
As younger hand, while you should still keep your longest suit you should also try to 9
retain a "stop" in each suit (eg Qxx), or to keep cards that might help towards a stop.
Often the best discard is a from a suit consisting of three or four small cards: it is no KQ97
use on its own in the declaration or play, and if you pick more then your opponent's
This is a much more difficult discard than Bill's. The clubs should be kept to try to gain
suit cannot be long and is not a great threat. Sometimes it is best to throw a
the point, also they only need the jack to form a sixième which is good against the
moderately strong 3 card suit such a K J 7: your opponent may avoid leading it,
expecting this to set up tricks for you. cards. The 9 7 are obvious discards as you are not saving this suit (and nor is Bill

Be alert for situations where a particular card up would give you a repique (whatever likely to be) and the K Q form a stop.
else your opponent holds) - it is always worth discarding for this to happen. The choice of the third card is more difficult, although you must throw three to
Note that having a better trio than your opponent is really worth 6 not 3, as you maximise your chances of picking up a club (preferably the jack) and also to try and
deprive your opponent of the score, but a second trio is only worth 3 points. get a stop in hearts or spades. You could find players who would choose any of the
Similarly, winning the cards rather than your opponent is worth 20 points not 10. suits. The 9 should be kept as part of a possible stop in what seems most likely to
The odds of elder hand picking up one of two particular cards are about 5 to 4 be Bill's suit. You might discard the 8 on the grounds that if you pick up the jack
against, so saving an open sequence of 4 (ie one which you can add a card at either the quint is still good against the cards, but this reduces both your chances of the
end) is usually worth doing provided it would be good against the cards. For younger point and the playing strength of the hand and should not be done. The discard of the
hand the odds are 5 to 2 against, much less attractive. seven of spades is attractive as you still have the jack towards a possible block.

Some care is needed in making declarations. For example, younger hand should not However, discarding a third diamond is slightly better. It is unlikely that this is Bill's
automatically say equal to the point because she holds the same number of cards suit, and he will not expect it to run so is unlikely to lead it. Being able to keep both
when she can tell it cannot be good. Occasionally you might declare a shorter point two kings and queens is unlikely to score for a trio since you are missing all 4 aces.
than you hold (provided the shorter is good against the cards) to mislead your Similarly, even if you pick up two kings or queens your quatorze is likely to be beaten
opponent. You might sink an additional trio or tierce if the three points gained would by a quatorze of Aces. However, the two spades will form a stop if you pick up the
cause you to fail to win the cards. queen, and a double stop if you pick up the ace or king. The latter might help you win

With experience, the play of the cards can be near perfect since you know almost all or split the cards. Ann discards the Q, although the K is equally good, possibly
the cards in your opponent's hand. However, beginners will lose many tricks to an better since Bill is less likely to continue diamonds in the play if the Ace drops the
experienced player, and with it 10 points for taking the cards. You must be alert to Queen rather than the King. In practice, when choosing between two equal cards, in
the possibilities of a throw-in, e.g. to give your opponent the lead in a suit where you discarding or in play, you should vary your choice in order to avoid revealing too
have no chance of a winner, so that your opponent eventually has to lead to your A- much to an alert opponent.
Q in another suit, giving you two tricks in that suit. The beginner leads the ace in the
Ann is lucky and picks up A, Q and J giving:
faint hope that the king will fall. It is very important to keep careful note of what
cards your opponent discards and what is left, taking into account what he has
declared (and failed to declare). When playing cards, always play a card you have K Q J 10 9 8
declared in preference to an equivalent card your opponent does not know about. AJ7
A common mistake by beginners is that when your best suit proves to be blocked by Q9
the opponent to switch and try each other suit in turn. Unless there is another suit
which has a good chance of running, it is normally best to continue the first suit. K

On the last hand, if the losing player has scored less than 100 this affects the game. The declarations go as follows:
The leading player should try to discard to minimise the loser's score. In the play, Bill: Point of 5
each time the lead changes hand this in adds one to the score so the loser might try Ann: Not good
to cause this to happen if it will get his score to 100. However, if the loser has no Bill: Trio of aces
chance of making 100 each time the lead changes hand it adds one the total score
and so it is to the loser's advantage to avoid lead changes. Similarly, the loser who There is no point in Bill mentioning the sequence of 3, as he knows Ann has a
cannot reach 100 wants to have equal declarations (by deliberately declaring a sequence of six in clubs and it just gives Ann additional information
shorter sequence than held, for example) so that no points are scored, and to split
Ann: Good
the cards if possible.
Bill: 3, [leads K] 4
Illustrative Hand
Ann: Point of 6, 6, Sixième for 16, 22, [plays A] 23, [leads K], 24
Ann is playing Bill. In the first hand of the partie she deals him:
Bill: [ A] 5, [leads Q] 6
A Ann: [ 7]
K Q 10 9 8 Bill thinks Ann may have J, but there seems no better play than continuing
K 10 7 spades.

A 10 8 Bill: [ 10] 7
Ann: [ J] 25
This is a fairly straightforward discard. The long suit, spades, should be kept. The
7 and 8 can be discarded, as they are of little use. There is little point in keeping Ann now cashes five clubs on which Bill discards down to the two aces and the 9
the other two 10s. The odds are about 3 to 1 against picking up the fourth, and even
Ann: 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, [leads any card, confident Bill has only winners left] 31
if you do your opponent may well have four jacks, and they will be of little use in the
Bill: [playing three remaining cards] 8, 9, 10, 11 (for last trick)
play. In order to discard 5 cards then one of the two aces and K must be thrown.
The king is best: it might be a loser, the hand only has one other king so it is unlikely Ann has won seven tricks and hence the cards, so she scores a total of 41 for the
to form a Quatorze, and as two hearts have already been discarded it is less likely to hand. Bill scores 11. This is a very good result for younger hand, as on average elder
be Ann's suit (and in any case, it is rarely correct for elder hand to be defensive). hand scores about 14 points more than younger.
Saving both spades worked out very well for Ann because Bill saved spades rather
Bill picks up some poor cards from the talon: A J 8, 7, J. The resulting
hand is: than hearts. If she had discarded the 7 and kept the Q, Bill would have taken
9 tricks and the scores would have been Ann: 27, Bill: 23. If she had discarded
A7 8 the cards would have been split, for a score of Ann: 30 Bill: 12. This illustrates the
K Q 10 9 8 importance of winning the cards, which represents a swing of at least 22 points.

107
Skat 3, 4

Introduction The first dealer is chosen at random; thereafter the turn to deal rotates clockwise.
The dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's right cuts. The dealer deals a batch of
Skat is the national card game of Germany, and one of the best card games for 3 three cards to each player, then two cards face down in the centre of the table to
players. It was invented around 1810 in the town of Altenburg, about 40km south of form the skat, then a batch of four cards to each player, and finally another batch of
Leipzig, Germany, by the members of the Brommesche Tarok-Gesellschaft. They three cards each. If there are four players at the table, the dealer deals to the other
adapted the existing local game Schafkopf by adding features of the then popular three players only, and takes no further part in the hand.
games Tarok and l'Hombre. Altenburg is still considered the home of Skat and has a
fountain dedicated to the game. The Auction
Note: Skat is not to be confused with the American game Scat - a simple draw and Each bid is a number which is the value in game points of some possible game (see
discard game in which players try to collect 31 points in a three card hand. below for calculation of game values). The possible bids are therefore 18, 20, 22, 23,
24, 27, 30, 33, 35, 36, 40, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50, 54, 55, 59, 60, etc. If you bid or accept a
The main description on this page is based on the current version of the official bid it means you are prepared to play a contract of at least that value in game points.
German and International rules (which were revised on 1st January 1999). In social
games many variations will be encountered. In Skat clubs in Germany, the game is The player to the dealer's left is called forehand (F), the player to forehand's left
generally played as described here, though often with tournament scoring. In parts of is middlehand (M), and the player to middlehand's left is rearhand (R). If there are
the USA other versions of Skat survive: Texas Skat is fairly close to the German game three players at the table R is the dealer; if there are four R is to dealer's right.
but in Wisconsin they play a significantly different game: Tournée Skat, which was Throughout the bidding F is senior to M who is senior to R. The principle is that a
brought by immigrants from Germany in the 19th century and reflects the form of senior player only has to equal a junior player's bid to win the auction, whereas a
Skat which was played in Germany at that time. junior player has to bid higher than a senior player to win.
Skat is a three-handed trick taking game. It is also quite often played by four people, The first part of the auction takes place between F and M. M speaks first, either
but there are still only 3 active players in each hand; the dealer sits out. Each active passing or bidding a number. There is no advantage in making a higher than
player is dealt 10 cards and the remaining two form the skat. Each hand begins with necessary bid so M will normally either pass or begin with the lowest bid: 18. If M
an auction. The winner of the bidding becomes the declarer, and plays alone against bids a number, F can either give up the chance to be declarer by saying "pass" or
the other two players in partnership. The declarer has the right to use the two skat compete by saying "yes", which means that F bids the same number that M just bid.
cards to make a better hand, and to choose the trump suit. If F says "yes", M can say "pass", or continue the auction with a higher bid, to which F
will again answer "yes" or "pass". This continues until either F or M drops out of the
Some cards have point values, and the total number of card points in the pack is 120. auction by passing - once having passed you get no further opportunity to bid on that
To win, the declarer has to take at least 61 card points in tricks plus skat; the hand.
opponents win if their combined tricks contain at least 60 card points. Instead of
naming a trump suit the declarer can choose to play Grand (jacks are the only The second part of the auction is similar to the first part, but takes place between R
trumps) or Null (no trumps and the declarer's object is to lose all the tricks). and the survivor of the first part (i.e. whichever of F and M did not pass. As the junior
player, R either passes or bids a succession of numbers, the first of which must be
The value of the game, in game points, depends on the trumps chosen, the location higher than any number mentioned in the first part of the auction. To each number
of the top trumps (matadors) and whether the declarer used the skat. Declarer bid by R, the survivor must answer "yes" or "pass". The winner of the second part of
generally wins the value of the game if successful, and loses the twice the game value the auction becomes the declarer, and the bid is the last number the declarer said or
if unsuccessful. In is important to realise that in Skat the card points, which generally accepted.
determine whether the declarer wins or loses, are quite separate from the game
points, which determine how much is won or lost. If both M and R pass without having bid, then F can either be declarer at the lowest
bid (18), or can throw in the cards without play. If the cards are thrown in there is no
The Cards score for the hand, and the next dealer deals.
Skat was originally played with German suited cards, and these are still in general use Examples:
in South and East Germany, including Altenburg. Elsewhere, Skat is played with
French suited cards. 32 cards are used: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 in each suit. In this article
French suits are assumed, but in case you are using German suited cards the
correspondence is as follows:
Abbreviation French Suits German Suits

clubs (Kreuz) acorns (Eichel)

spades (Pik) leaves (Grün)

hearts (Herz) hearts (Rot)

diamonds (Karo) bells

(Schellen)
K king (König) king (König)
Q queen (Dame) ober (Ober)
J jack (Bube) unter (Unter)
To remember whose turn it is to start the bidding, German players sometimes say
Ranking of Cards "geben, hören, sagen" (deal, listen, speak), pointing in turn to dealer, forehand and
The ranking of the cards depends on the game the declarer chooses to play. middlehand. If middlehand forgets to begin, forehand can start proceedings by saying
"I'm forehand" or "I'm listening", or "Speak to me!".
Suit games
The Possible Contracts
Irrespective of the suit chosen as trumps, the four jacks are the top four
If you win the bidding you are entitled to pick up the two skat cards, add them to
trumps, ranking in the fixed order . Then follow the your hand without showing them to the other players, and discard any two cards face
remaining seven cards of the chosen suit, making eleven trumps in all, down. The cards discarded may include one or both of the cards picked up, and their
ranking from highest to lowest: value counts along with your tricks. Having discarded, you declare your game. If you
J- J- J- J - A - 10 - K - Q - 9 - 8 - 7. looked at the skat, your contract is a skat game. There are seven possibilities:
The other three suits each contain just seven cards ranking from high to
Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, Clubs (in which the named suit is trumps and the declarer
low:
tries to take at least 61 card points),
A - 10 - K - Q - 9 - 8 - 7.
Grand Grand (in which the jacks are the only trumps and the declarer tries to take at least
The four jacks are the only trumps. They form a suit by themselves 61 card points),
ranking from high to low: Null (in which there are no trumps and the declarer tries to lose every trick),
J- J- J- J.
Null Ouvert (Open Null) (like Null but with declarer's cards are exposed).
The remaining four suits each contain seven cards ranking from high to
low: You may choose not to look at the skat cards, but to play with the 10 cards you were
A - 10 - K - Q - 9 - 8 - 7. originally dealt. If you don't look at the skat you are playing a hand game, and again
Null there are seven possibilities: Diamonds Hand, Hearts Hand, Spades Hand, Clubs Hand,
Grand Hand, Null Hand and Null Ouvert Hand. In this case no one must look at the
There are no trumps. The eight cards of each suit rank from high to low: skat cards until after the play.
A - K - Q - J - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7.
Point values of the cards If you are declarer in a Suit Hand or Grand Hand game, you can increase the value of
the game by announcing Schneider (undertaking to win at least 90 card points),
In suit games and Grand, the cards have the following values: or Schwarz (undertaking to win all the tricks), or Open (Ouvert) (undertaking to win
Card: J A 10 K Q 9 8 7 all the tricks with your cards exposed). Such announcements must be made before
Value 1 the lead to the first trick. These announcements are not allowed if declarer has
2 10 4 3 0 0 0 looked at the skat. Also (obviously) they do not apply in Null games.
: 1
The total value in the pack is 120 card points. The Play
The Deal

108
Play is clockwise. No matter who is the declarer, forehand always leads to the first The game multiplier is always counted, whether declarer wins or loses. The
trick. Players must follow suit if they can. A player with no card of the suit led may calculation of the value of a game sounds something like this: "with 2, game 3,
play any card. Note that in Suit and Grand games the jacks belong to the trump Schneider 4, 4 times spades is 44". The declarer must always be with or against at
suit, not to the suits marked on them. For example if hearts are trumps, the jack of least one matador (the jack of clubs must be somewhere), so the smallest possible
clubs is the highest heart, and has nothing whatever to do with the club suit. multiplier is 2, and the smallest possible game value (and the lowest possible bid) is
18.
A trick is won by the highest card of the suit led, unless it contains a trump, in which
case the highest trump wins it. The winner of a trick leads to the next. Null contracts
If you are declarer in a Suit or Grand game you win if the cards in your tricks plus the These are easy to score. Each possible Null contract has a fixed value unaffected by
skat contain at least 61 card points. The opponents win if their combined tricks multipliers. As with all contracts, an unsuccessful declarer loses twice the value of the
contain at least 60 card points. game. The Null values are:
If the declarer's opponents take 30 points or fewer in tricks, they are Schneider. If Amount lost if
they take 31 or more they are said to be out of Scheider. If they take no tricks at all, Contract Fixed Value
unsuccessful
they are Schwarz. The same applies to the declarer - as declarer, you are Schneider if
you win 30 card points or less including the skat, and Schwarz if you lose every trick. Null ..... 23 ..... 46
Note that Schwarz depends on tricks not points - if a side wins just one trick and it
has no card points in it, that is sufficient to get them out of Schwarz. Null Hand ..... 35 ..... 70

If you are declarer in Null or Null Ouvert, you win the game if you manage to lose Null Ouvert ..... 46 ..... 92
every trick. If you take a trick, you have lost and the play of the hand ceases at that
point. Null Ouvert ..... 59 ..... 118
Hand
If you are declarer in an Open (Ouvert) contract - i.e. you are playing Null Ouvert or
have announced Open in a Suit or Grand contract - you have to spread out your hand These rather eccentric looking numbers are chosen to fit between the other contract
face up on the table before the lead to the first trick. Play then proceeds normally, values, each being slightly below a multiple of 12. (Before the rule change of 1st Jan
and you play from your exposed hand. The opponents are not allowed to discuss 1999, Null Hand cost only 35 when lost and Null Ouvert Hand cost only 59 -
tactics. see scoring variations.)

Calculating the Value of the Game The Scoring

Suit and Grand contracts If declarer wins the game and the value of the game is as least as much as the bid,
then the value of the game is added to the declarer's cumulative score.
The value of a Suit or Grand contract is obtained by multiplying together two
numbers: the base value and the multiplier. The base value depends on the trump If the declarer loses the game and the value of the game is as least as much as the
suit as follows: bid, then twice the value of the game is subtracted from the declarer's score.

Contract Base value If the value of the declarer's game turns out to be less than the bid then the declarer
automatically loses - it does not matter how many card points were taken. The
Diamonds 9 amount subtracted from the declarer's score is twice the least multiple of the base
Hearts 10 value of the game actually played which would have fulfilled the bid.

Spades 11 Note that the above are the official rules as from 1st January 1999. Before then,
scores for lost games played from the hand were not doubled (see scoring variations).
Clubs 12
If as declarer you announce Schneider but take less than 90 card points, or if you
Grand 24 announce Schwarz or Open and lose a trick, you lose, counting all the multipliers you
The multiplier is the sum of all applicable items from the following table: would have won if you had succeeded.

Skat Example: Middlehand holds J, J, 10, K, 9, 8, A, A,

Multiplier Hand game
game
10, 7, and decides to play Clubs Hand. This should normally be worth 48 game
Matadors (with or against) 1 each 1 each points ("against 2, game 3, hand 4, 4 time clubs is 48"). Rearhand has a Null Ouvert
Game (always applies) 1 1 and bids up to 46, to which M says yes. M plays clubs hand and takes 74 card points
(including the skat cards), but unfortunately the skat contains J, Q. M is
Hand (declarer did not look at the skat) n/a 1
therefore with 1 matador (not against 2 as expected), and the game is worth only 36
Schneider (one side took 90 or more card points) 1 1 ("with 1, game 2, hand 3 times clubs"), which is less than the bid. M therefore loses
Schneider announced n/a 1 96 game points (twice the 48 points which would be the minimum value in clubs
which would fulfill the bid). Had M taken (say) 95 card points, the Schneider
Schwarz (one side took every trick) 1 1 multiplier would have increased the value of the game to 48 ("with 1, game 2, hand
Schwarz announced n/a 1 3, schneider 4 times clubs") and M would have won 48 game points.
Open n/a 1 It is unusual, but occasionally happens that the declarer in a suit or Grand contract
takes 30 card points or fewer. In this case the opponents have made the declarer
(n/a = not applicable)
Schneider, and the Schneider multiplier applies. In the practically unknown but
Note that all applicable multipliers count - for example theoretically possible case where the declarer in a suit or Grand contract loses every
trick, the Schneider and Schwarz multipliers would both be counted.
 if you make the opponents Schwarz, you count the matadors, game, Schneider
Example: the declarer plays spades without 2 and takes 28 card points. Result:
and Schwarz multipliers;
without 2, game 3, schneider 4. The base value of spades is 11 and 4×11=44, so the
 if you announce and make Schneider you count matadors, game, Hand, declarer scores -88 points.
Schneider and Schneider announced;
Normally a running total of each player's score is kept on paper. At the end of a
 if you announce and make Schwarz you count matadors, game, Hand, session (to be fair, each player should have dealt an equal number of times), the
Schneider, Schneider announced, Schwarz, Schwarz announced. players settle up according to the differences between their scores. Between each
Open contracts are extremely rare: you can only play open if you did not look at the pair of players, the one with the lower score pays the one with the higher score the
skat and you also undertake to win every trick. By implication, an open contract difference in their scores multiplied by the stake.
includes announcements of Schneider and Schwarz,so you count: matadors, game, Example: A, B and C are playing for 5 Pfennig a point. At the end the scores are A:
Hand, Schneider, Schneider announced, Schwarz, Schwarz announced, and Open. 96, B: 30, C: -8. Then B pays A 66 x 0.05 = 3.30, C pays A 104 x 0.05 = 5.20,
Matadors and C pays B 38 x 0.05 = 1.90. So the net result is that A wins DM 8.50, B loses DM
1.40 and C loses DM 7.10.
The jack of clubs and any top trumps in unbroken sequence with it are
called matadors. If as declarer you have such a sequence in your original hand plus A side effect of the method of scoring is that if there are four players at the table, the
the skat, you are with that number of matadors. If there is such a sequence in the dealer of a hand is effectively against the declarer, winning or losing the same as the
opponents' combined hands, declarer is against that number of matadors. declarer's opponents.
Variations
Examples of matadors (Hearts are trumps)
Tournament scoring
Declarer has: Declarer is:
In tournaments organised by the Deutscher Skatverband, the game is played with
with 1 four players at each table (with dealer sitting out of each hand) wherever possible. A
J, J, J, A, 10, Q, 9
session generally consists of 48 deals. A small number of three-player tables may be
with 7 formed if necessary, depending on the number of players in the tournament; at these
J, J, J, J, A, 10, K table 36 deals are played.
against 1 The scoring is modified somewhat to reduce the difference in value between the
J, J, A, K, Q, 7
different contracts. At the end of the session, the following additional scores are
against 3 calculated:
J, A, 10, K, Q, 7
Note that for the purposes of matadors, cards in the skat count as part of declarer's  each player scores 50 extra points for each contract they won as declarer;
hand, even though in a Hand game declarer does not know what is in the skat when  each player loses 50 extra points for each contract they lost as declarer;
choosing the game.

109
 for each lost contract at a four-player table, the other three players (including Bockrounds and Ramschrounds
the dealer for that hand) score an extra 30 points each; at a three-player table A Bockround is a round (i.e. 3 consecutive deals when there are 3 players; 4 deals
the two opponents of the declarer score an extra 40 points each. when there are 4 players) played for double stakes (i.e. double scores). Note that this
In 2001 an improvement in scoring at 4-player tables was suggested, by which when doubling only affects the final scores on the scoresheet; the bids and game values are
a contract is lost the declarer loses an extra 50 points (as usual), and the two active unaffected. It is usual to play a Bockround after some special event; the events which
opponents each gain 40 points (instead of 30); with this scoring the inactive dealer at cause a Bockround should be agreed before the game. Possibilities are:
a 4-player table does not gain points when a contract is defeated.
 a hand where the declarer and the opponents take 60 points each
Kontra and Rekontra  a successful Kontra - i.e. the opponents Kontra and the declarer loses
This variation is very widely played in social games. Either opponent of the declarer,  a successful Grand Hand
at any time before they play their card to the first trick, may say kontra. This doubles
the score for the contract, whether won or lost. The declarer may immediately  any Rekontra
answer with rekontra, which doubles the score again.  a player's cumulative score being some special number - for example a multiple
Note that it is the score that is doubled, not the value of the contract. For example of 100, or a number with 3 or more digits all equal, such as 222.
suppose I bid up to 20, look at the skat, and play in diamonds. I am only with one Note that if you have too many of these, you will end up playing for double score all
matador, but am hoping to make the opponents schneider. One of the opponents the time, and you might as well have just agreed to double the stake and not have
says Kontra, and in the play I win 85 card points. As I am with 1, the game value is 18, bothered with the Bockrounds.
so I have overbid (the Kontra does not affect this). So I lose based on the lowest
multiple of diamonds which would have been sufficient, namely 27. I lose double If you play with Bockrounds, you also need to agree the following rules:
because I looked at the skat and the score is doubled again for the Kontra, so I lose
108 game points altogether.  What happens if an event causing a new Bockround happens before the current
Bockround is over - or several Bockround events happen at the same time? You
There is some variation as to when Kontra and Rekontra can be said. Some play that can decide to play the Bockrounds consecutively (which can take a long time) or
Kontra can only be said before the first lead (and a declarer who is Forehand must simultaneously (for example 3 simultaneous Bockrounds multiply the stake by 8
wait before leading to give the opponents an opportunity to Kontra). - this makes certain hands very expensive).
A variation occasionally met with is that you are not allowed to Kontra if you passed  What happens to uncompleted Bockrounds when you want to finish the
an opportunity to bid 18 or say yes to 18. For example, A is forehand, B bids 18 session?
to A and A passes; C also passes. A will not now be allowed to kontra B's contract,
because A failed to say yes to B's 18 bid. On the other hand, C can Kontra, Some people like to play a round of compulsory Ramsch after each Bockround, or
because C would have had to say at least 20 to enter the bidding - C never had an after every third Bockround. Ramschrounds are played according to the rules
opportunity to bid 18. The thinking behind this variation is that a player with a good of Schieberamsch, including the possibility of playing Grand Hand. A Ramschround
hand should bid - they should not be allowed to pass and lie in wait, ready to Kontra consists of as many hands of Ramsch as there are players; a Grand Hand does not
another player. count towards completing the Ramschround, and after a Grand Hand the same player
deals again.
Ramsch
Schenken
This is also very widely played. If Middlehand and Rearhand pass, and Forehand also
does not want to play a contract, the cards are not thrown in, but a game of Ramsch If the opponents decide at the start of the play that they cannot defeat the declarer,
is played. Ramsch can be thought of as a punishment for a player who does not bid they can give up (schenken). If the declarer accepts, the score is as though the game
with good cards. The rank and value of the cards is the same as in Grand, but the was won simply (i.e. with 61-89 card points). The declarer can insist on playing on,
object is to avoid taking card points. Players keep their tricks individually, and but in that case has to make the opponents Schneider to win. The score in this case is
whoever takes the most card points loses. as for an announced Schneider (but without the hand multiplier if it is not a hand
game). If the declarer goes on the opponents can schenken again, giving the declarer
There are many varieties of Ramsch. The players need to agree in advance on the the Schneider. The declarer can accept Schneider or insist on playing on for Schwarz.
following rules:
The normal way of giving up is for one opponent to say "schenken". The other then
What happens to the Skat? either agrees, in which case they are offering to give up, or disagrees, in which case
play continues as though nothing had happened.
In the simplest version, everyone plays with the cards they were
originally dealt. A popular variation is Schieberamsch, in which each There are some tricky ethical problems about this variation (for which as far as I know
player in turn may pick up the skat cards, and discard two cards face- there are no standard answers), for example:
down to be picked up by the next player. (Notice this happens in order -
not simultaneously as in Hearts - in Schieberamsch you pick up the cards  Exactly when are you allowed to say schenken?
before deciding on your discard). Forehand has the first chance to  If your partner refuses can you say it again?
exchange the skat, then Middlehand, and finally Rearhand, whose
discards are then left face-down until the end of the play. A player who is  To what extent can you use an offer of schenken to convey information to your
brave enough to play without exchanging cards can pass them on partner about your hand?
without looking at them; this action doubles the score for the hand.
Some people play that if the bid is 18 and the contract is diamonds, or the bid is 20
Some players do not allow jacks to be passed on; other players allow
and the contract is diamonds or hearts, then the hand is automatically conceded by
anything to be passed.
the opponents and won simply by the declarer, unless the opponents Kontra or the
Who gets the card points in the Skat? declarer makes some additional announcement (such as open or Spitze).
There are three options here: Spitze
1. the skat goes to the winner of the last trick; This is an announcement that the declarer will win the last trick with the lowest
2. the skat goes to the player who had most points without the skat, trump - the 7 in a suit contract or the jack of diamonds in a Grand. It is announced
thus increasing that player's loss; verbally, or by reversing the card in your hand so that the face is visible to the
opponents. Spitze increases the value of your game by one multiplier. In order to win,
3. no one gets the points in the skat. you have to win the last trick with the lowest trump in addition to taking 61 or more
How much does the loser lose? card points. If you fail in either, you lose.

In simple Ramsch the loser loses a fixed amount - for example 10 points. You can announce more than one Spitze - in fact you can produce any unbroken
More usual is the version called Augenramsch (point Ramsch), in which sequence of trumps including the lowest and contract to win an unbroken series of
the amount lost is the number of card points taken. tricks with them at the end of the hand. This is worth one extra multiplier per card -
for example contracting to win the last 3 tricks with the 9-8-7 of trumps is worth 3
What happens if there is a tie for most card points? extra multipliers.
If two players tie, they both lose. Some play that they both lose the full Scoring and contract variations
amount; others play that they share the loss, losing half each. If all three
players tie there is no score. Two changes to the scoring were introduced at 1st January 1999 when the German
(DSkV) and International (ISPA) rules were unified. These changes seem to have been
What happens when someone takes no tricks? swiftly adopted by Skat clubs in Germany, but the older rules may well still be found,
especially in private games. The main description on this page now follows the new
A player who takes no tricks is called a virgin (Jungfrau). In Augenramsch,
this doubles the amount lost by the loser is doubled. In simple Ramsch rules. The differences in the older rules were as follows.
the loser loses 15 rather than 10. Note that to be a virgin you have to 1. Until the end of 1998, the amount subtracted from declarer's score for losing a
take no tricks; a trick with no card points in it is sufficient for you to lose game played from the hand was not doubled, according to the official rules. The
your virginity. declarer lost twice the value of the game only in games where the skat was
taken. Many people regret this rule change, since it removes one of the
What happens when someone takes all the tricks?
incentives for playing hand games.
In this case there are two virgins, and in simple Ramsch the loser loses
20 points. In Augenramsch you could play that the loser loses four times 2. Until the end of 1998, Grand Ouvert had its own base value of 36, and the open
the number of card points taken (i.e. 480). However, most people play multiplier was not counted when Grand Ouvert was played.
that if you succeed in winning all the tricks in Augenramsch you win 120 Here are some other scoring variations that may be encountered. These have no
points. official status.
If you like playing Ramsch, it is possible to play it as a game in its own right. That is,  Until the 1930's, the base value of Grand was 20 not 24. A few people still play
you just play Ramsch on every hand. See the Schieberamsch page for a description of with the base value of Grand as 20.
how this works.
 Some people do not recognise the Null Hand contract.

110
 Some people value Null Ouvert Hand at 69 rather than 59. If the game is lost, the amount lost is the value of the game if the first
card was used to make trumps, but double this amount if the second
 Some people allow a contract of Revolution worth 92 which is like Null Ouvert, card was used.
but with the additional feature that after the declarer's cards are exposed, the
Solo
opponents can look at each other's cards and rearrange their 20 cards in any
way they wish to construct a 10-card hand for each opponent. When the These are similar to the Hand contracts in German Skat. There is no
opponents have finished rearranging their cards, the hand is played like a Hand multiplier and lost games are not scored double: the amount lost if
normal Null Ouvert. the game is lost is just the game value. The base values are:
Open contracts  diamonds 9
Some people play that declarer's cards are not exposed until after the first lead, or  hearts 10
after the first trick.  spades 11
Some people allow the declarer to play any contract open, adding an extra multiplier  clubs 12
to the game value. Some score contracts played open as double value. Some play
open contracts as double value if exposed before the first lead, but adding one  grand 20
multiplier if exposed after the first trick. Guckser
Rum The declarer picks up the skat, discards two cards, and must play Grand.
The base value is 16. If the game is lost, the score is doubled.
In this variation, the declarer can score an extra multiplier when using the skat in a Null
suit or grand contract by showing the skat cards to the opponents before picking
The skat is not used. A simple Null is worth 20 and a Null Ouvert is worth
them up. ("Der Skat geht rum"). This variation is not recommended - there is very
40. The same amount is lost if the game is lost (no double).
little advantage to the opponents in seeing the original skat (as opposed to the
declarer's discards) so the multiplier is too easy to score. Ramsch
If all pass a simple Ramsch is played, as in Texas Skat. The player who
Playing with a pot takes fewest card points wins 10 game points, or 20 for taking no trick. If
Gamblers may like to play with a pot. This can work in various ways. A common two players take no trick the third player loses 30 game points.
scheme would be that everyone puts a small amount in the pot at the start or when it Grand Ouvert
is empty. Any declarer who loses a contract (or a Ramsch) pays to the pot as well as Apart from Null Ouvert the only open contract allowed is Grand. It is
to the other players. The contents of the pot are won by a player who wins a Grand played without looking at the Skat and the declarer must win every trick.
Hand. If you play and lose a Grand Hand you have to double the pot. The base value is 24 and multipliers up to and including Schwarz
Texas Skat Announced are applied. There is no Open multiplier.
In Tournee Skat the declarer needs 91 card points to make the opponents Schneider -
Texas Skat differs from German (or International) Skat as follows: with 30 points they are out. However, the declarer needs 31 points to be out of
Value of Null Schneider, as in Germany.
Null is worth 20 points, Null Hand is 30, Null Ouvert is 40 and Null Ouvert Return to contents
Hand is 60.
Danish Skat
Value of Grand
The base value of Grand is 16 points. Skat is popular in Sønderjutland, the southern part of Jutland that was under German
rule from 1864 to 1920. Whilst the German minority in this region play by German
Schneider
rules, the Danish population play a slightly different version of the game. The official
The declarer (known here as "the player") needs at least 91 card points rules of the Danish Skat Union differ from the German rules as follows:
to make the opponents Schneider. With 30 card points the opponents
are out of Schneider. However, the declarer needs 31 points to be out of 1. The base value of Grand is 20.
Schneider, as in Germany. 2. The declarer needs at least 91 points to make the opponents Schneider: with 30
Announcing Schneider, Schwarz and Ouvert points they are out of Schneider.
In Texas Skat you can announce Schneider, Schwarz and Ouvert even 3. There are only three Null contracts:
after you look at the skat. Announcing Ouvert doubles the value of the
game rather than adding a multiplier.
o Nul (ordinary Null, with concealed cards, using the skat), with a fixed value
of 23
Example: Grand Ouvert with 4 would score: "with four, game 5,
Schneider 6, Schneider announced 7, schwarz 8, schwarz announced 9, o Nul Ouvert, using the skat - fixed value 46
open (ouvert) 18; 18 times 16 is 288 points". o Nul Ouvert Hand (known as Dækker) - fixed value 69
Ramsch 4. Any suit or Grand game can be played Open. When playing Open, one extra
If all pass and Forehand does not wish to play a game, Ramsch is played. multiplier is added. The declarer's cards are exposed before the lead to the first
The skat is not looked at until the end of the play and then goes to the trick. It is permissible to play Open after looking at the Skat, and it is not
winner of the last trick. If everyone takes at least one trick, the player necessary to make Schneider or Schwarz. (As in Germany, Schneider or Schwarz
who took the fewest card points scores 10 game points. If two players can only be announced in a game played from the hand.)
tie for fewest, the one who did not take the last trick as between them
scores 10. If all three tie with 40 each, Forehand scores 10. If one player In tournaments, when playing for the highest score at the end of the session, rather
takes no tricks, that player scores 20 instead of 10. If two players takes than paying the difference between the scores of each pair of players, the opponents
no tricks, the player who won all the tricks loses 30 points. of an unsuccessful declarer each score the value of the contract. Example: declarer
plays Open Grand with 2 and loses: with 2, game 3, open 4 x 20 =80. The declarer
Looking at the discard
scores -160 and each opponent scores +80. In money games normal scoring is used:
A declarer who looked at the skat is permitted to look again at the in the example the declarer is paid 80 by each opponent if successful and pays 160 to
discarded skat cards at any time before the first card has been played to each opponent if not.
the second trick.
Tournee Skat In private games, many other variations are played. The version played at the Århus
club differs from the official Danish game as follows:
This game is played in Wisconsin, USA. It corresponds to a form of Skat played in
Germany in the 19th century but no longer known there. There are several significant 1. In suit and grand games, the declarer can play with "music". This is the
differences from modern German Skat. equivalent of Spitze in the German game: the declarer must win the last trick
with the lowest trump - the seven in a suit contract or the J in a Grand. This
There are no Skat contracts in the usual sense (where you pick up the skat, discard, is worth 2 extra multipliers. For example Hearts without 2, game 3, music 5: 5 x
and then choose a trump suit). The only possible games are as follows: 10 = 50.
Tournee 2. The possible Null games are: Nul (35), Nul Hand (46), Nul ouvert (69), Dækker
The declarer looks at the top card of the skat, without showing it to the (Null ouvert hand) (92).
other players, up and has two options: A version described by Reinar Peterson differs in other ways from the official Danish
1. show the card and accept its suit trump; then pick up both cards game:
without showing the second one and discard two cards face down;
2. pick up the first card without showing it and turn the second skat  There is no Null contract played with closed cards. The only possible Null
card face up; the suit of the second card automatically becomes contracts are Nul Ouvert (46) and Dækker (Open Null Hand) (59).
trump; declarer then picks up the second card as well and discards  In all open contracts (Suit, Grand and Null), the declarer's cards are
two cards face down. exposed after the first trick has been played.
If either card is a jack, the declarer may choose either Grand or the  The lowest bid allowed is 24.
nominal suit of the card.
The base values of tournee contracts are:  Suit and grand games can be played with music (Spitze) for one extra multiplier.
 diamonds 5  If all pass, there is a Ramse (similar to Schieberamsch). Each player in turn can
take the Skat and discard two cards. After this, each player in turn has the
 hearts 6 opportunity to play a Grand. If no one wants to play Grand, a Ramsch is played
 spades 7 in which the Skat is given to the winner of the last trick. The player who takes
least points wins, unless someone takes 101 or more points, in which case that
 clubs 8 player wins.
 grand 12

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Sheepshead 3-5

Essential (and Common) Rules Playing a hand

The player at dealer's left (who had the first opportunity to pick) leads the first card,
First, the Deck and play continues clock-wise. The winner of each trick leads the first card of the next
Sheepshead players never play with a full deck. A sheepshead deck contains 32 cards; trick. Once a card is led, subsequent players must follow suit if possible. (Remember
the 2-6 of all four suits are removed. Fourteen cards are designated as a fixed trump that trump cards are a suit in themselves, and so must be followed when led). If a
suit. The trump suit contains the four queens, the four jacks, and the remaining player does not have a card of the suit which has been led he has two options. He
diamonds. The remaining six hearts, clubs and spades are known as the "fail" suits. may "fail off", that is, play a card from one of the fail suits, or he my play a trump
The trump cards are ranked from highest to lowest as follows: card. The choice is a matter of tactics and strategy, of course.
Q, Q, Q, Q, J, J, J, J, A, 10, K, 9, 8
Each trick is taken by the person who played the highest ranking card [that is, the
, 7. highest trump if any were played, or if not, the highest card of the fail suit that was
The six cards in each fail suit are ranked like the six lowest diamonds: led; cards of fail suits different from the led suit can never win]. That person then
A, 10, K, 9, 8, 7 leads the first card of the next trick. After all tricks have been played the offensive
(this rank ordering is used in some other card games of German origin as well.) (picker and/or partner) and defensive teams count the points in the tricks they have
taken to determine the winners of the hand. Then the cumulative score is adjusted
The aces, tens and face cards have point values associated with them. (or tokens are exchanged) and players analyse each other's skill while the next dealer
A=11, 10=10, K=4, Q=3, and J=2 shuffles and deals another hand.
Thus there is a total of 120 points in the deck.
Tactics
The object of the game is to capture tricks containing 61 points or more, i.e. the Sheepshead can be a game of considerable subtlety. Fortunately there are some
majority of the points in the deck, during the play of each hand. After dealing a new helpful rules of thumb to guide one's decisions. Naturally none of these guidelines is
hand, players establish roles that are essentially offensive and defensive. One player absolute. There are occasions when one must abandon conventional wisdom. These
challenges the others, declaring intent to take tricks worth 61 points or more. If that tactics probably cover 80% of one's decisions, however.
player is successful the losers sacrifice points to the challenger. If the challenger  Offensive players lead trump; defensive players lead fail.
loses, however, the "defensive" players gain twice as many points, in recognition of This fundamental principle is fully appreciated only after trying the opposite
their upset victory. approach. Leading to a trick is an opportunity to exert control over the other players.
They must follow suit when possible, which limits their choice of cards, or they must
The Art of the Deal decide whether to try to wrest control away from the leader. Leading trump means
The 32 cards are dealt so that each player receives an equal number, with a few cards one is trying to control the power cards. Leading fail means one is conserving trump
reserved. Three players should be dealt 10 cards, four players seven cards each and or trying to harass the offense by forcing the picker (and partner) to decide whether
five players six cards each. The remaining two cards (or four in four-handed) are the trick merits a high trump card.
called the "blind" (Hoyle calls it the "widow"). It is customary to deal the cards two or
three at a time, dealing the "blind" cards between rounds. It is considered poor form When using the called ace method to choose a partner, it is usually wise for a
to deal the blind from the bottom of the deck. defender to lead the called suit when possible. You know the picker has at least that
one fail card, and you know the picker cannot possibly take the trick. If you have two
Pick and Win or more cards of the called suit, lead the highest scoring card. This may be your best
Starting with the player at the dealer's left and circling the table clockwise, each opportunity to get those points home for your team.
player has the opportunity to "pick", that is, to pick up the blind cards. Picking up the
blind signifies that one intends to challenge the other players. In three-handed The application of this guideline signals which players are on the offensive and
games, the picker plays alone against the other two, who play in a team. In five- defensive sides. Until the called suit is led and the called ace is exposed, (or until the
handed games, the picker identifies a partner, and they play two-against-three. In jack of diamonds is played), the identity of the picker's partner is not known to
four-handed play, table rules specify whether the picker may have a partner or must anyone but the partner. When a player other than the picker leads trump, it is a sign
play alone against the other three. In any case, a player who feels particularly skilful, that the player holds the designated card and is playing along with the picker.
lucky, or reckless may opt to play without the assistance of a partner. The picker may
exchange the blind cards for some of those dealt, but must "bury" the same number It is possible to break this rule of thumb with brilliant skill. More often, however, one
of cards. [The picker adds the blind to hand before burying, and the buried cards may incurs the wrath of one's teammates by straying from this principle.
include cards that came from the blind. Neither the blind cards nor the buried cards  Pay attention.
are shown to the other players.] If aces, tens, or face cards are buried, their points In particular, try to count the number of trump that have been played. The game
count [in favor of the picker] as a head start toward the goal of 61. tends to revolve around the fourteen trump cards. If you know there are many, one,
or none left to be played, you can choose your play accordingly. Watch who plays
If no one picks the blind, table rules specify whether to play a least or to declare trump, and when, for clues about who is the picker's partner.
a doubler and deal a new hand (see variations).  Position is power.
Your position with respect to the first (or next) lead will affect your play. When you
Identifying a Partner are at the dealer's left, with the first chance to pick, you do not have the luxury of
Two methods of selecting a partner are common: "jack of diamonds" and "called knowing how many other players might pass or wish to pick. On the other hand you
ace". In the former version, the holder of the jack of diamonds is automatically the also have the chance to set the pace of the game with your initial lead. At the end (as
picker's partner. In the latter version, the picker calls the ace of one of the three fail the dealer) you may be able to pick with a weaker hand than usual. The other players
suits, whose holder becomes the partner. In this case, the picker must have at least have all indicated some degree of weakness by passing. The fact that no one will pick
one card of the called fail suit and must reserve that card until the "called suit" is first may also indicate that crucial high trumps are in the blind. But beware
led. Likewise, the partner must save the called ace until the called suit is first led, the mauer who passes despite a strong hand.
when the ace must be played. Either the picker or the partner may lead the called
suit. [The picker is not allowed to call an ace that is in his own hand.] For the jack of As a picker or partner, you want to be at the lead or on the end. At the lead you can
diamonds method, the partner may play the jack any time a trump card is allowed. dictate the choices of the defence. On the end you can survey a trick before making a
decision. As a defender, you want to keep the offense in the middle. Then you can
Table rules often allow some latitude to cover special situations. For example, if the force the picker to make a difficult decision, knowing that your hostile teammates
picker finds the jack of diamonds as an unpleasant surprise in the blind, some groups await their turns to validate or overturn the picker's choice of card.
allow him to "call up" the next higher-ranking jack, the jack of hearts. Similarly, if the  Sacrifice points before power.
picker has the ace or aces of all fail suits he holds, he may be allowed to call the ace Regardless of which side you play on, you will usually obtain a greater return by
of one of the other fail suits and to designate one card as an "under" or "unknown" taking a trick with a high-ranking card later than by hoarding your points. When
card. That card is typically placed face down on the table before play begins to assure forced to play trump, for example, and you have only a queen and the ace of
the other players that the designated card will be played when the called suit is led. If diamonds, but you know you cannot take the trick, it may be better to sacrifice the
the picker holds all three aces of the fail suits, he may then call a ten of one of the fail ace. The queen may take a trick with more points later or win the lead at a crucial
suits instead of the ace. Then he must reserve the ace of the fail suit to play when moment. You may wish to bend this rule when you know you would be giving away
that suit is first led. If the picker feels his hand is particularly strong, he may opt to go the game-winning points.
alone, and he must announce this before the lead to the first trick.
Tactics for three-player sheepshead
Keeping Score Three-player sheepshead reduces the emphasis on trump and shifts some of it to the
If the losers take tricks worth 30 to 59 points during the play of one hand, each loses fail aces. With only three cards per trick an ace has a good chance of taking a trick.
one cumulative point. If the losers take tricks worth 29 points or less, but take at least Quantity of trump and aces becomes almost as important as quality. With ten tricks
one trick, they lose two cumulative points each. Failing to take a single trick costs to play, stamina becomes a factor. It's quite possible to lose a three-handed game
three points each. The 30 point threshold is commonly called 'schneider', for reasons despite holding all four queens. One rule of thumb is to pick when you have seven or
that some German historian may someday explain. The challenger is obligated to take more trump and aces combines.
one more point beyond the threshold, i.e. 31 points to achieve "schneider" in the
event of a loss. Likewise a 60-60 tie in points taken during one hand is awarded as a
win to the defensive players, who receive two, four or six cumulative points each. As a defender, you want to set up a crossfire between you and your teammate. Try to
keep the lead in front of the picker.
Since points won are deducted from the scores of the losers, scoring is a zero-sum
exercise. The losers "pay" points to the winners, and the sum of all scores should Tactics when playing least
always be zero. Thus some players' scores may be negative numbers. This scheme "Leasters" annoy some players so much that they refuse to play them at all. This has
lends itself to the use of coins as scoring tokens; say, a nickel per point perhaps. Such led to variations that eliminate their necessity. Others find the sudden shift of tactics
practice is rare in polite social circles of course. to be stimulating.

Least In least it is often tempting to dump one's aces and tens on a trick that is already won
If no one picks the blind, the hand may be played in "least" (or in common by an unfortunate rival. This can make later tricks much cheaper, however. It is often
sheepshead slang, a "leaster"). Least is a cut-throat game in which the goal is prudent to ration one's "schmier" (aces and tens) by doling out the points to players
reversed. There are no partners. Each player tries to take as few points as possible who seem to be getting by too easily. It can be disastrous to have a lone ("bare") ace
rather than the majority of the points. Most groups require that a player take at least or ten of a suit, however. Then it's wise to dump those counters whenever one has an
one trick to qualify to win. (Merely ducking every trick is not sufficient then.) This opportunity. A leaster is often won by the player who spends a high-ranking trump
does allow the possibility of taking every trick and winning with 120 points. Such card to buy a relatively cheap trick.
behavior is frowned upon, however. The winner of a least hand receives one
cumulative point (or token, coin, or what have you) from each of the other players. Variations
 Two player rules
Some groups simply ignore the blind when playing least. Others allow the dealer to This version emphasises luck over skill. It's a time-waster for those occasions when
identify one trick before play begins, the winner of which gets the blind along with you and one friend are very bored. There is no blind. Each player receives 16 cards, as
the trick. In that case, the unfortunate player is usually allowed to peek at the blind follows. A row of four cards is placed face down before each player. A second round
before continuing. of four cards per player is dealt face down, stacked on the first rows. A third round of

112
four cards per player are placed face up on the stacks. Each player is also dealt four Each player is dealt four cards, with four left for the blind. When someone picks he
cards to hold. (You may deal these in any order, so long as the result is as described.) takes just two cards from the blind. He then rolls one die. The number that comes up
identifies one partner, as counted clockwise from the picker. That player receives the
The player opposite the dealer leads, either from his hand or from his face-up row. remainder of the blind, and must bury two cards as well.
The dealer then plays a card from his hand or from his face-up row. After taking the
trick, any cards played from the stacks are replaced by the card below, which must be The game then proceeds as normally as possible. With only four tricks of seven cards,
turned up. Play then continues, with the lead by the person who took the previous don't rely on aces to take tricks.
trick. Since half one's hand is a surprise, one's strength varies unpredictably. But
having some of both hands exposed also eliminates some of the strategy, and this
 Dealer forced to pick
Rather than play least, the group may force the last person (the dealer) to pick
game can be rather mechanical. regardless of his hand. As a small consolation, they may waive the doubling of the
 Six player rules stakes if the picker loses. Otherwise this practice leads to mauering. If the group uses
Each player gets five cards, with two left in the blind. Typically the jack of diamonds the jack of diamonds to select a partner, they may also allow the dealer to "call up"
identifies one partner. The player to picker's right becomes a second partner. If the the jack of hearts if he has the jack of diamonds himself.
picker of the player to his right also has the jack of diamonds, they play two-against-
four.
 Doublers
Instead of playing least when no one picks, the group may elect to deal again and
 Seven player rules play the next hand as a doubler. In a doubler, the stakes of winning and 1osing the
This is quite a crowd, and it makes for an odd game. The picker has two partners, one hand are doubled. In the event of consecutive doublers, the stakes are not
who holds the jack of diamonds and one who is determined by the roll of a die. If the quadrupled for one hand, but are doubled for the next two hands instead.
picker or randomly selected partner holds the jack of diamonds, they play two-
against-five.
 Crack and Recrack
This exercise in machismo results when someone picks up the blind, but another
player, whose opportunity has been denied asserts that he has a stronger hand and a
better chance to win. This assertion doubles the stakes. Some groups also allow
"recracking", when a player wishes to assert superiority over the upstart.

Écarté 2

Ecartè is a two player trick taking game that is thought to be several hundred years the dealer deals him this same number face down. After the opponents exchange,
old. Although originating in France, it is also well known in England. While it is not as the dealer than has the same option, discarding from 1 to 5 cards and dealing himself
popular today as it once was, it still has many adherents. Ecartè is also often found in an equal number from the top of the deck. If both players discard and draw in this
much late 18th century and early 19th century literature, media and song. way, the opponent again has the option to say "I Propose" and the dealer has the
Ecartè uses the 32 card Piquet pack, which consists of one standard pack in which all same options to "Accept" or "Refuse". This continues until either a player elects not
cards lower than seven have been removed. The ranking of the remaining cards in to exchange additional cards or the deck runs out of cards. A player may never opt to
this pack are as follows (from high to low); King, Queen, Jack, Ace, 10, 9, 8, 7. Ecartè take more cards than are left in the deck (if there are fewer than five remaining in the
is designed to be played by two participants. deck), and if the last card is taken from the deck, play begins with no further card
exchanges possible.
Setup: Before beginning, determination of first dealer should be the first order of
business. The most common method is for each player to cut a card from the face- Once the exchange phase has been completed and before play begins, if a player
down shuffled deck. The player drawing the highest card takes his choice of seats at holds the King of the trump suit, he has an opportunity to show the card and score 1
the table and is set as the first dealer. If both players draw cards of the same rank, point for it. He is not obligated to show the card, but failure to do so before play
they should each draw another card, until one player draws a higher card. For each begins results in the player not scoring the point he might score for showing it.
hand the deal alternates between the two players.
The Play: The play of the hand then begins, with the dealer's opponent leading the
The Deal: Once the dealer is determined, he thoroughly shuffles the cards and offers first card to the first trick. The dealer then plays a card from his own hand to the trick.
the deck to his opponent to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins distributing the When leading a card to a trick a player may play any card remaining in his hand. The
cards to the players beginning with his opponent. He first deals a packet of three face dealer then plays a card of his own to the trick. If he has a card of the suit led to the
down cards to his opponent and then himself, and follows this with a two card face trick he must play it. If he does not have a card of the suit led but does have a card of
down packet first to his opponent and then himself. Each player thusly receives a the trump suit, he must play that. If he has neither a card of the suit led or the trump
hand consisting of five cards. The dealer then places the remainder of the deck face suit, he can play any other card from his hand. When playing to the trick, he must
down in a stack (the talon) in the center of the table and takes the top card from the attempt to win the trick if possible. Each trick consists of one card played by both
pile laying it partially under the stock. The suit of this card will be the trump suit for players. The trick is won by the highest card of the trump suit played to the trick. If no
the hand. If this exposed card is a King, the dealer immediately scores one point. card of the trump suit was played to the trick, it is won by the highest card of the suit
led to the trick. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick. The
After exposing the card for determination of trump, the dealer's opponent then has game continues in this manner until all 5 tricks have been played and won after which
the option to request an exchange of cards from the remaining stack. He is not the hand is scored.
obligated to so request an exchange, but if he elects to do this, he declares "I
Propose". If he opts not to exchange any cards, he says "I Play". If the opponent Scoring: If either player manages to win all 5 tricks he wins 2 points (called "vole"). A
declares "I Propose" the dealer then has the option to accept or decline the offer of player winning 3 or 4 tricks wins 1 point.
exchanging cards. To decline he states "I Refuse", if he accepts he asks the opponent
"How Many?" If the opponent says "I Play" or the dealer declares "I Refuse", no card However, if either opponent did not elect to initially Propose, or the dealer refused
exchanges occur and play immediately begins. However, if both players opt to draw the original Proposal (called being vulnerable), and the opponent of that player wins
cards, the opponent states how many cards he wants to exchange (minimum of 1 3 or more tricks, that player wins 2 points. <br
maximum of 5). He then discards this number of cards face down and out of play and The first player to amass five or more points is declared the winner of the game.</br

Preferans 3, 4

Preferans is a Russian game that spawned off as a sophisticated variant of Austriam 6 4

Preference. It became popular in Russia since the 1830s and still is today amongst 7 2
more serious card players. Other variations (not discussed here) come from Austria 8 1
(as mentioned), Croatia, Greece and Hungary. 9 1
PLAYERS: There can be three or four players.
DECK: There are 32 cards, divided into 4 suits: Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, with If both opponents choose Whist bid their obligation is to win that number of tricks
8 cards of each suit: 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, by ascending seniority. together. If a player chooses Pass bid he undertakes no trick obligation. In this case
the opponent who chose Whist bid will play both hands. If the final bid was 6 Spades
DEALING: The 32 cards are dealt in portions of two among three players in a (minimally allowed), both opponents must bid Whist. If the declarer claimed Miser
clockwise sense, starting from the one sitting clockwise from dealer. If there are four the opponents undertake no obligation and skip defensive bidding. A player cannot
players, the dealer gets no cards. One pair of cards, which should be neither the first claim Miser as his final bid after his previous bids other than Miser.
nor the last one dealt, is the widow (Rus. PRIKUP), which does not go to players but is
placed in the centre of the table face down. PLAYING: The player to the left (i.e. clockwise) from the dealer leads first. All players
must follow suit if possible, or else play trump. If a player has no suit or trump card
BIDDING: At the start of bidding each player has 10 cards. Minimum bidding level is he can play any other card. The highest ranking card of the first suit played wins the
six tricks, maximum - ten tricks. The accending order of suits and a no trump bid is as trick. If any trump card was played in the trick, the highest ranking trump card wins
follows: the trick. Then the winner of each trick (specific round of the hand) leads the next
Spades trick.
Clubs
Diamonds MISER: The object of Miser for the declarer is to avoid taking any trick. The object of
Hearts two other players is to make him win the maximum number of tricks. No trumps.
No trump
ALL PASS: The object of All Pass game is similar to Miser but all three palyers should
A player can also bid Miser (no tricks at all in no trump game) at his first bid only. Any win the minimum number of tricks. No trumps. As nobody takes the widow in All Pass
opponent's bid of nine tricks overrides Miser bid and the player who claimed Miser game, these cards are opened in two first tricks, one card in each lead. All the players
cannot continue bidding. If Miser is not overridden, its claimer cannot change it in the must follow the suit of a card from widow if possible. The rank of cards from the
final bid. After claiming Pass a player cannot continue bidding. When one player widow doesn't affect the determination of winning hand - a card from the widow
passed the following player (in clockwise order) may rebid the previous bid of the cannot win the trick. The All Pass game can continue for three rounds. That is, after
third opponent ("here", or "the same"). After two player passed the third player pick the first All Pass game the minimum bidding level is increased to seven tricks and
up the widow. Then he discards any two cards from the 12 he now has and chooses a players enter the second round. If all players Pass again in this round, the minimum
final bid, that may be different from his last bid but not lower. If all three players bidding level is increased to eight tricks and players enter the third round. After the
passed on the first round, the All Pass game goes in effect. The All Pass game third round of All Pass game the minimum bidding level is decreased back to six
increases the minimum bidding level for the next deal. tricks. If any player doesn't Pass on the second or third round but bid at least seven
or eight tricks (or more) instead, the minimum bidding level is also decreased back to
DEFENSIVE BIDDING: After the declarer has made his final bid (except Miser), his six tricks for the next deal.
opponents start defensive bidding (in the same order as in previous bidding). Each
opponent has two options - Pass and Whist. If a player chooses Whist bid he OPENING CARDS: Before the first move of the declarer's opponents, they have the
undertakes to win a number of tricks, according to the following table opportunity to open their cards. The opponent who made the defensive Whist bid
has the right to decide upon opening cards. If both opponents made the defensive
Final bid level Whist tricks Whist bid, or were forced to do that (in case of the final bid of 6 Spades), the cannot

113
 open their cards. In case of Miser game the declarer's opponents always open their All Pass Level Whist points (per each remaining trick)
cards. In case of All Pass game nobody opens his cards. 6 2
7 4
SCORING: Before the start of a game players negotiate on the Game Limit score and 8 6
the Whist point price. To obtain winning points player should win the number of 9 8
tricks stated in his final bid (Pool points, Rus. PULYA) or defensive Whist bid 10 10
(Whist points, Rus. VISTY). Overtricks result in no additional winning points of the
player, they instead adds to the penalty (Heap points, Rus. GORA) of the opponent After one player reached the Game Limit with his Pool points he can add his extra
which failed to win all his tricks. All the points are accounted in a special form (see Pool points to the opponents' Pools. For each added Pool points he obtains 10 Whist
below), where each player has four fields called Pool, Heap and two Whist fields points against the opponent to whom he donated Pool points. After two player
(against each opponent). Whist points are added to the corresponding field against reached the Game Limit with their Pool points they both can add their extra Pool
declarer. When a player wins that number of tricks, he obtains: points to the third opponent. After all three players reached the Game Limit with
their Pool points, the game is over and final score is calculated as follows:
Final bid Pool points Whist points (per each trick)
6 2 2 1. All players' Whist points against one another are subtracted to obtain the net
7 4 4 Whist point difference for each pair of players. This difference is paid according
8 6 6 to the Whist point price.
9 8 8
10 10 10 2. All players' Heap points are added and the sum obtained is divided by 3 (to get
the average Mointain points). Then the average Heap points are subtracted
When a player fails to win that number of tricks, he obtains Heap points for each trick from each player's Heap points and the result is multiplied by 10 Whist points.
not won, according to the following table: Players which have the positive result pay this sum according to the Whist
point price. This sum is divided between players which have the negative result
according to their share in total negative result.
Final bid Declarer Whist bidder
6 2 2
7 4 4
8 6 6
9 8 8
10 10 10

MISERE: In case of Misere game, the declarer only may obtain points. He can either
earn 10 Pool points for no trick won, or 10 Heap points for each trick won.

ALL-PASS: In case of All Pass game the player who took the minimum number of
tricks obtains winning Whist points. The number of tricks won by this player is
subtracted from the number of tricks won by each opponent and then their
remaining tricks are converted to Whist points against each player respectively. If two
players won the same minimum number of tricks they share Whist points against the
third player according to his remaining tricks.

Napoleon 2-4, 5, 6
Preferans score sheet for four players
Introduction hand. The adjutant's identity remains secret until the called card is played. The other
three players form a team whose aim is to prevent Napoleon and the adjutant from
This page describes the Japanese game of Napoleon. This is a point-trick game with fulfilling the bid.
trumps, and is currently the most popular trick-taking game in Japan. It is completely
different from the British card game also known as Napoleon (or Nap, for short), Napoleon picks up the two blind cards without showing them, and discards two
which is described on the Nap page of this web site. cards. If any scoring cards are discarded they are placed face-up and count for
Napoleon's opponents; non-scoring cards are discarded face-down. If Napoleon finds
Napoleon belongs to the picture group of games, collectively known in Japanese as the called card in the blind (or chose to call one of his own cards), he plays alone -
Etori. These games appeared in the late 19th century and the earliest known this is called hitori-dachi (standing alone). It is not announced to the other players,
description of Napoleon is from 1887. but will become clear when Napoleon plays the called card.
Players and cards Play
Japanese Napoleon is best for five players, and the five-player game will be described Napoleon leads to the first trick, and winner of each trick leads to the next.
first. It is also possible, though much less interesting, for two, three, four or six Throughout the play it is compulsory to follow suit, and a player who has no card of
players to play - see variations. the suit led can play any card. The first trick is played without trumps, and
Napoleon is played with a standard 52-card pack. The scoring cards are the ace, king, the maiti, sei-jakku and ura-jakku do not yet have their special status as high cards.
queen, jack and ten of each suit, which are worth one point each, so there are 20 The normal ranking of cards A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2 therefore applies to all suits,
card points altogether. The normal ranking of the cards in each suit from high to low and the trick is won by the highest card of the suit that Napoleon led. The winner of
is A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2, but there are three special cards, which are the highest each trick leads to the next.
in the game. From the second trick onwards the trumps and the three special cards acquire their
1. The ace of spades is the most powerful card, irrespective of what suit is trumps. power. Also, the same two rule comes into effect. This rule says that in a trick where
It is called the ohrumaiti (from the English 'almighty'), which is often shortened everyone plays the same suit, the two of the suit becomes the fourth highest card,
to maiti (mighty). In the early 20th century it was known beaten only by the three special cards.
as supekyureishon (from the English word "speculation"), and a few players still It is still compulsory to follow suit if you can. The trick is won by
call it supeki.
2. The jack of the trump suit, known as sei jakku (regular jack) is the second  the maiti ( A), if it was played
highest card.
 the sei-jakku (trump jack), if the maiti was not played
3. The jack of the same colour as trumps, known as the ura jakku (sub-jack) is the
third highest card.  the ura-jakku (jack of the same colour as trumps) if neither the maiti nor
the sei-jakku was played
These three cards always belong to their own suits: for example, if hearts are trumps,
the jack of diamonds (ura-jack) still belongs to diamonds, not to hearts, and the  the two, if all the cards in the trick are of the same suit, and none of the three
mighty always belongs to spades. When a red suit is trumps, therefore, the cards in special cards was played ("same two" rule)
hearts and diamonds rank from high to low J-A-K-Q-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2, and the cards
in spades and clubs A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2. With black trumps, the spades  the highest trump in the trick, if none of the three special cards was played and
rank A-J-K-Q-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2, clubs J-A-K-Q-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2, and hearts and the same two rule does not apply
diamonds A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2.
 the highest card of the suit led, if no special cards and no trumps were played,
Deal and the same two rule does not apply.
The deal and play are clockwise. The dealer shuffles and deals each player ten cards, The winner of the trick leads to the next.
one at a time. The last two cards are put face-down in the middle of the table to form
the blind. The turn to deal passes to the left after each hand. During the play, all the scoring cards are stored face-up in front of the player who
won them in a trick, and the other cards are piled face-down in a single heap.
Bidding
Example: diamonds are trumps and A is leading to a trick (not the first). The cards
The bidding begins with the player to dealer's left and goes clockwise around the played by the five players are:
table. A bid consists of a number of points (from 11 to 20) and a suit. A higher
number outbids a lower number, and between bids of the same number, a higher A B C D E result
suit outbids a lower suit, the suits ranking in ascending order: clubs, diamonds,
hearts, spades. So the lowest possible bid is 11 and the highest is 20 . A wins (highest
A 3 7 10 Q heart)
Each player in turn must either bid higher than the previous bidder, or pass. A player
who has passed takes no further part in the bidding. If all five players pass (which is B wins (same
unusual), the cards are thrown in and the same player deals again. If someone bids, A 2 7 10 Q two rule)
the bidding continues clockwise for as many circuits as necessary until four players
have passed. The player who made the last and highest bid becomes the declarer, D wins (ura-
known in this game as Napoleon. Napoleon's objective is, with the help of a partner, A 2 7 J Q jakku)
to win in tricks at least the number of points stated in the bid, with the named suit as
trumps. A wins (highest
A 2 7 10 Q heart)
Calling a partner and taking the blind
C wins (with a
Napoleon now chooses a partner by calling any card - for example the maiti. The A 2 7 10 Q trump)
holder of this called card is the adjutant (fukkan), and is Napoleon's partner for the

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 D wins (ura- When the joker is led, the other players must play a trump if they have any. Those
A 2 7 J Q jakku) with no trumps can play any card. The joker itself becomes the fourth strongest card;
in other words, it is beaten only by the mighty, the sei-jack or the ura-jack. (Some
E wins (sei- play that the joker becomes the second strongest; it beats even the sei-jack or
A 2 7 J J jakku) the ura-jack, and is beaten only by the mighty.)
Leading the joker to the first trick is forbidden.

Scoring Some play that the 3 is the joker hunter. If the joker hunter is led, the player who
has the joker must play it. (Remember the rule that the joker is the weakest card
At the end of the play, the scoring cards won by Napoleon and the adjutant are unless led.)
counted. If the bid was less than 20 and Napoleon's team has taken at least as many
as scoring cards as were bid, but not all 20 of them, Napoleon's team wins. Each 2. Joker as weak trump hunter
member of the opposing team pays one chip, Napoleon wins two chips and the Some play that when the joker is led, the other players must play a trump if they
adjutant wins one. If Napoleon's team takes fewer scoring cards than the bid, have any, and anyone who does not have a trump must play a scoring card if
Napoleon must pay two chips, the adjutant pays one, and the opponents collect a possible. If they have no trumps and no scoring cards, they may play any card. The
chip each. joker itself is regarded as the weakest trump. In other words, the joker wins the trick
Napoleon's team also loses if they take all 20 scoring cards having bid less than 20 - unless anyone has played a trump or one of the three special cards. This means that
this is called the "Siberian rule". As usual, Napoleon must pay two chips, the adjutant the joker loses the trick in most cases.
pays one, and the opponents collect a chip each. Leading the joker to the first trick is forbidden. When playing with the joker as a weak
However, if the bid was 20, the normal payments are doubled. If they succeed in trump hunter it is normal to play without a joker hunter.
taking all 20 points, each opponent pays 2 chips, Napoleon collects 4 chips and the Variations in scoring
adjutant 2. If the opponents manage to win any scoring cards, Napoleon must pay 4
chips and the adjutant 2, and the opponents collect 2 chips each. Some play that if Napoleon's opponents take no scoring cards in their tricks and
Napoleon has bid less than 20, Napoleon's team loses. In this variation, Napoleon
In case of hitori-dachi, when Napoleon plays alone without an adjutant, the result is cannot protect himself from the "Siberian rule" by including a scoring card in the two
decided in the same way, counting just the scoring cards that Napoleon won in tricks. cards he discards before play begins.
Each of the four opponents pays or receives 1 chip (2 if the bid was 20) and Napoleon
therefore receives or pays 4 chips (8 if the bid was 20). Some people adopt the rule that the payments are doubled when Napoleon bids 14,
tripled when 15, quadrupled when 16, and so on. This makes it advantageous to bid
Variations as many points as you think you can take, rather than trying to win the bidding as
Napoleon has numerous variations, some of which are described below. cheaply as possible.

Bidding variations Florent Barraco has provided a formula which generalises the above method of
scoring for any minimum bid and any number of players.
Bidding without turns
 Each opponent scores the basic score: [basic score] = [napoleon's bid] -
Many groups do not follow the formal bidding procedure by which the bidders speak [minimum bid] + 1
in clockwise order. Instead, the bidding can be started by anyone who wants to bid
and the players speak in any order, each bid being higher than the last. The bidding  [adjutant's score] = [basic score] × [number of opponents] ÷ 3
continues until four of the players have said "pass".
Minimum bid
 [Napoleon's score] = [adjutant's score] × 2
These scores are of course positive for the winning side and negative for the losing
Some play that the minimum number of points that can be bid is 12; some groups side. In the 4-player game, when there are only 2 opponents, Napoleon's and the
even play with a minimum bid of 13. adjutant's score are rounded to the nearest whole number. When there is no
No-trump bids adjutant, Napoleon's score is just [basic score] × [number of opponents].
Some groups allow bids in no-trumps (NT). Usually no-trumps ranks above spades, so Four players
that for example a bid of 13 NT is higher than 13 but lower than 14 , and the The dealer deals 12 cards to each of the four players, and leaves the last four cards in
highest bid is 20 NT. However, some groups play that no-trump bids are lowest, a no- the middle of the table (five cards if a joker is used). Some players remove the
trump bid ranking below the same number in clubs.
3 and/or the 3 from the pack to reduce the number of cards in the kitty. Scoring
If the winning bid is in no-trumps, there is of course no trump suit. Therefore there is varies - some play that Napoleon wins or loses 3 points, the adjutant 1 point and the
no sei-jack and no ura-jack. The mighty retains its usual power and the same two rule opponents 2 each; some that Napoleon wins or loses 4, the adjutant 2 and the
still applies as usual. opponents 3 each, and some that each of the four players wins or loses just 1 point.
Bidding after passing Alexey Lobashev has provided a description of a specific version of the four-player
game, taught to him by Hattori Takeshi:
Some groups allow a player who has passed to bid later in the auction.
Procedure when all pass  Players may bid in any order. The bidder names the number and suit, but there
is no order of suits. To outbid another player, you must bid a higher number.
If everyone passes in the bidding, many people play that the cards are thrown in and
there is a redeal by the same dealer.  When appointing an adjutant, Napoleon is not allowed to name a card that is
already in his hand. After Napoleon has called a card, the dealer deals the last
Some play that the two cards of the blind are turned up (or three cards, four cards to the players, so that everyone has 13 cards.
when Napoleon with a joker is played) and there is a second round of bidding; if
everyone still passes, there is a redeal.  There are no special rules for the first trick: the special cards have their power
and the same two rule is in effect from the beginning.
Others play that the player who holds the mighty is compelled to be Napoleon if
everyone else passes.  It seems that there is no formal scoring, except that a count is kept of how many
Variations in the role of the special cards times each player has won as Napoleon. With this method of scoring it is
unclear why the adjutant should help Napoleon to win. However, according to
First trick Mr Hattori it is the custom that if the Napoleon's team loses, the adjutant
should offer his apologies to Napoleon.
Some play that the three special cards have their power in the first trick, though
there are no trumps as yet. Others play that the mighty has its power, but not the Six Players - Deal each player eight cards. The last four (or five when you play with a
jacks. Some play that Napoleon is not allowed to lead a trump to the first trick. joker) cards form the blind. Some people who think four or five cards are too many
Yoromeki (Enchantress) remove 3 and/or the 3. The game is played like Napoleon for five, with
appropriate adjustments to the scoring: either Napoleon wins or loses 3 and the
Some play that if the mighty and the yoromeki (the queen of hearts) are played in the adjutant 1, or Napoleon and the adjutant win or lose 2 each. In either case, the
same trick, the yoromeki beats the mighty. opponents win or lose 1 point each.
Special cards are top trumps Three Players - We are not certain about the rules for this version. It seems that it is
played without a Fukkan. Sixteen cards are dealt to each player and the last four (or
Some play that the mighty and the ura-jack belong to the trump suit, not to their own five when you play with a joker) cards form the blind. The game is played like
suits. Napoleon for five.
For example, if hearts are trumps, the mighty and the ura-jack ( A and J) We have also heard of a variation with a fukkan, which sound very strange. It seems
belong to hearts, and can be played on any heart lead. If either of these cards are led that the main strategy of the third player is to try to take no point cards, so causing
the other players are compelled to follow with hearts if they can. When spades are Napoleon's team to lose unless they have bid 20.
led (and spades are not trumps), you cannot play the mighty unless you have no
other spades, in which case you can play any card; similarly, when the suit the same Two Players - This game was invented by TAKASAKI Shin-ichi.
colour as trumps is led, you cannot play the ura-jack unless you have no card of the First the dealer deals each player sixteen cards, in four piles of four cards, with the
suit led. If a trump is led, and you have no trumps except the mighty or ura-jack, you top and third card of each pile face up and the others face down - the piles are
are compelled to play one of these cards. fanned so that all the face-up cards can be seen by both players. Then the dealer
So in this variation the mighty, sei-jack and ura-jack behave just like the joker, right deals each player a hand of nine cards. The last two cards (or three when you play
bower and left bower in 500 or Euchre. with a joker) form the blind.

Napoleon with a joker The game is played like Napoleon for five. The top card of each pile is regarded as a
part of the player's hand, though the opponent can see it. If a top card is used and
A standard 52 card deck with one joker (53 cards in all) is used. The dealer shuffles the next card of the same pile is face down, the player immediately turns it up.
and deals each player ten cards, one at a time. The last three cards are put face-down
in the middle to form the blind. Earliest form of Napoleon
The joker is a special card. It is the weakest card and can never win a trick unless it is The first known description of Napoleon is in the book Sêyô Yûgi Karuta Shiyôhô,
led. You can play the joker at any time you want, regardless of the suit led. Some play published in 1885. It differs from the modern game as follows.
that Same Two is not valid in the trick to which the joker is played since the joker 1. It seems that tens were not scoring cards, so there were only 16 card points.
doesn't belong to any suits; others play, however, that Same Two is still valid if the
other four cards belong to the same suit and one of them is the two. 2. It was played without the fukkan (partner) - Napoleon played alone against the
others.
There are numerous variations as to what happens when the joker is led. Two of the
most popular are as follows. 3. Napoleon was not obliged to take more scoring cards than the other players in
order to win.
1. Joker as strong trump hunter

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4. There was no sei or ura jakku - all the jacks ranked between the queen and ten 5. Napoleon's aim was not to take at least as many points as the bid, but to take
of their suits - and no "same two" rule. the exact number bid: no less and no more. Otherwise he lost. This could be the
precursor of the Siberian rule in the modern game.

Mighty 3, 4, 5, 6–8

Introduction The declarer leads to the first trick, and is not allowed to lead a trump, nor the joker,
nor the joker hunter (ripper). The other players, in clockwise order, each play one
The card game Mighty is said to have been invented by Korean college students in card from their hands. The winner of each trick leads to the next trick. In the second
the mid 1970's, but it is closely related to the group of Japanese picture capturing and subsequent tricks any card may be led.
games, especially Napoleon, which date back to the beginning of the 20th century.
Mighty is played mostly by current or former students in Korea, and it is known there Players must follow suit when possible, except when playing the mighty or joker as
by the English sounding name "Mighty". It is also played by some groups in North described below. A player unable to follow suit is free to play any card. A trick is won
America. by

Mighty is a point-trick game with bidding. In each hand the high bidder chooses a
partner by calling a card, and these two players try to take enough of the scoring
 the mighty, if it was played;
cards (A, K, Q, J, 10) to fulfill the bid. The basic version for five players will be
described first, followed by versions for other numbers of players from three to eight.  the joker, unless the mighty was played or the ripper was led;
There are several variations of the rules, which will be described at the end.
 the highest trump played, if not beaten by the mighty or joker;
Players and cards
 the highest card of the suit led, if not beaten by a trump, the mighty or
The basic game is played by five players, using a standard 52 card deck with one joker the joker.
- 53 cards in all. The cards in each suit rank from high to low A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-
3-2. The ace, king, queen, jack and ten of each suit are worth one point each, so that All point cards (10 and higher) won in tricks by a player not known to be in the
the pack contains 20 points in all. The other cards have no value. declarer's team are displayed face up in front of that player. All other cards - the
tricks won by declarer's team and the non-scoring cards played to other tricks - are
There are three cards with special powers: kept in a single face-down pile in front of the declarer, along with the discard.

 the mighty is the A unless spades are trumps in which case it is If you hold the called card and win a trick containing point cards, you are allowed (but
not forced) at this point to announce that you are the partner and add your tricks to
the A. It is the most powerful card in the pack, beating all others; declarer's pile. If you choose not to reveal yourself, the fact that you are the partner
will only become officially known when you play the called card. When the declarer's
 the joker is the second most powerful card, but loses its power if the partner is identified, any point cards in front of this player are also added to
ripper is led; declarer's pile.

 the ripper or joker hunter is the 3 unless clubs are trumps, in which The Mighty always wins the trick it is played to, and it can be played to any trick,
even if you could have followed suit. However, it still functions as a card of its suit in
case it is the 3. If led, the ripper forces the joker to be played and the following cases:
robs it of its power.
1. if the suit of the mighty is led, and the mighty is the only card you have
The Mighty and the Joker are together referred to as the Magic Cards because of in that suit, you have to play it;
their properties and strength.
2. if the mighty is led, the other players have to play the suit of the mighty
Deal if they can.

The first dealer is chosen at random. Thereafter the holder of the called The Joker is the second highest ranking card unless the Joker Hunter is led. The Joker
card becomes the dealer for the next hand. can be played to any trick except the first or the last, even if you could have followed
suit. If you lead the Joker to a trick, you can nominate the suit that the other players
The cards are shuffled by the dealer and cut by the player to dealer's left. Ten cards must play to that trick if they can.
are then dealt to each player and three to a face-down blind or kitty. Normally they
are dealt as follows: first one card to each player, starting with the player The Joker Hunter (or Ripper) has no special power to win a trick, but if it is led, the
immediately to the dealer's left, then a batch of two cards each, then a batch of three player who holds the Joker is compelled to play it, unless he also has a Mighty which
cards each and finally a batch of four cards each. The last three cards are placed face- he may choose to play instead. When the Joker is 'ripped' by the Joker Hunter, it
down in the center of the table to form the kitty. cannot win the trick. Unless someone plays the mighty, the trick is therefore won by
the highest trump, or if none are played, by the highest card of the Joker Hunter's
Bidding suit.

In the first hand the dealer starts the bidding. In subsequent hands the bidding is Scoring
begun by whoever was the declarer in the previous hand. The bidding continues
clockwise around the table for as many circuits as necessary until the highest bidder The scores are kept in such a way that they add up to zero, representing the amount
and contract are established. At your turn you can pass or bid. A bid specifies the won or lost by each player. The score can be recorded on paper or you can settle up
number of points to be taken (minimum 13, maximum 20) and the proposed trump in money or chips after each hand.
suit or "no-trump". One would say, for example, 13 with hearts, 14 with no-trump, 16
with spades, full score(20) with clubs, etc. At the end of the play, the scoring cards won by the declarer's opponents are
counted, and the total is subtracted from 20 to find out how many scoring cards the
Each bid must be higher than the one preceding it. A bid for a greater number of declarer's team won. If this is equal to or more than the bid, then the declarer's team
points is higher than a bid for a lesser number, and a no-trump bid is higher than a has succeeded. Each defender loses one unit for each point bid above 12. Two units
bid of an equal number of points with a trump suit. There is no priority order per point above 12 are collected by the declarer and one by the partner. For example
between the suits, so if the previous bid was 14 with diamonds your options are to for a bid of 15, each defender loses 3 points (15 - 12), the declarer wins 6 and the
bid 14 with no-trump, or 15 or more with any suit or no-trump, or to pass. partner wins 3.

If you bid and another player bids higher, you can bid again when the turn comes If the declarer's team was unsuccessful these payments are reversed. Each defender
back to you, provided that your new bid is the highest so far. A player who has wins one unit for each point bid above 12, the declarer has to pay two thirds of these
passed cannot bid again during the auction. If a bid is made then the auction units and the partner one third.
continues until all the players except one have passed. That one player who has not
passed is the declarer and the final bid is the contract. If the declarer played alone, all four defenders pay the declarer one unit per point bid
above 12 if the contract succeeds, and the declarer pays them each the same amount
It is unusual for all five players to pass. If it happens, there is a second round of if it fails.
bidding in which players have another chance to bid. If everyone passes again the
cards are thrown in and there is a redeal by the same dealer. If the declarer's team takes all 20 scoring cards, this is known as a run, and the
payments are doubled. For example if the bid was 16 the basic payment would have
Exchanging cards and calling a partner been 4, so is the declarer's team take 20 points each opponent pays 8, the declarer
wins 16 and the partner wins 8.
The declarer (the last and highest bidder) now exposes the three cards of the blind
and then adds them to his hand and discards any three of his cards face down, If the defenders' team takes at least 11 scoring cards, this is a back run, and the
bringing his hand back to 10 cards. If the cards discarded by the declarer include any payments from the declarer and partner to the defenders are doubled.
scoring cards, these points count for the declarer's team.
Other numbers of players
At this point the declarer can change the trump suit or change from trumps to no-
trump or vice versa, but in order to do so must increase the level of the bid. If Mighty has been adapted to be played by any number from three to eight. There are
changing from one suit to another or from no-trumps to a suit the bid level must be a number of ways of doing this. They involve adjusting the number of cards in the
increased by two. If changing from a suit to no-trump it must be increased by one. pack, (sometimes) the number of cards dealt, the partnership arrangements, and the
The declarer cannot change the bid level by any other amount, nor can the level be scoring. Here are the details.
raised without changing trumps.
Three players (Jun, Chulmin's version)
The declarer may then name a card, and whoever holds this card becomes the
declarer's partner or friend. Any card can be called, including the mighty or the joker.
The holder of the called card must not reveal who they are at this stage. The identity The 2 - 6 of each suit are removed, leaving 33 cards - 10 for each player and three in
of the partner will only become clear during the play of the hand - when the called the blind. The Joker Hunter is the 7, or the 7 if clubs are trumps. The holder of
card is played or when the partner wins a trick containing scoring cards. It is also the joker in each hand deals the next.
possible for the declarer to play alone by declaring "no friend" or by calling a card
that is in the declarer's hand or has been discarded. The declarer does not call a partner but always plays alone against the other two. The
minimum bid is 11 and the declarer receives from or pays to each opponent one unit
If the final bid was '20 with no-trump', when calling a partner, the declarer is also per point bid above 10.
permitted to say which suit he would like his partner to lead after winning a trick, so
as to pass control back to the declarer. The declarer would say, for example, "full-20 Four players (Jun, Chulmin's version)
with no-trump and I need hearts from my friend".
All the twos and fours and the two red threes are removed from the pack, leaving 43
The Play cards - 10 for each player and three in the blind. The minimum bid is 12. Declarer

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calls a partner as in the five-player game. The defenders pay or receive one unit for The declarer calls two partners by naming two distinct cards. The players (other than
each point bid over 11. If the contract is successful the declarer and partner divide the declarer) who play the first copies of each of these cards join the declarer's team,
the winnings equally; if they lose they divide the loss - or (by prior agreement) some which therefore normally consists of three players. Either partner can announce
play that the declarer pays the whole loss and the called partner pays nothing. themselves when they win a trick containing point cards. If the other partner is not
yet known, the player making such an announcement must say which of the two
Four players (Chicago version) called cards it is based on. It can sometimes happen that the declarer only has one
partner - for example if a single player has both copies of both called cards.
Remove the 2 and 2 leaving 51 cards - 12 for each player and three in the When two identical cards are played to the same trick, the first played beats the
blind. The gain or loss is divided between declarer and partner in a ratio of 2:1. This second.
results in some fractional scores; to avoid these the following table may be used:
The defenders win or lose one unit for each point bid in excess of 24. The gain or loss
Contract 13 14 1 16 17 18 19 20 is divided among the declarer's team in such a way that the declarer wins or loses
5 twice as much as the each of declarer's partners. Fractional scores can be avoided by
using the scoring tables on John Pannell's Mighty page
Declarer 1 3 4 5 7 8 9 11
Variations
Partner 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 Some play that the bidding is begun by the partner (holder of the called card) from
the previous hand - or the first of the two partners in the double deck game.
Defenders 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Some play that if all the other players pass in the first round of bidding the dealer
must bid at least the minimum.
Six players: first version
Some play with a higher or lower minimum opening bid: 12 or 14 instead of the usual
In each deal there will be five active players and one sitting out. Initially 8 cards are 13.
dealt to each player and 5 cards are placed face down on the table. Each of the
players puts five of their cards face down on the table keeping the remaining three in Some play that when picking up the blind, the declarer does not show it to the other
hand. The bidding then takes place as usual, but with a minimum bid of 14. After the players.
bidding the players other than the winner of the bidding take back the 5 cards they
discarded and add them to their hands. The winner of the bidding then names a card
that he does not have (any card - even a magic card - may be named at this point) Some play that when changing the trump suit, the bid level is only increased by one.
and whoever holds that card must drop out. If no one has the named card the If the bid is 20 the trump suit can simply be changed without increasing the bid.
declarer names another. The 8 cards of the player who dropped out are shuffled
together with the 5 cards set aside by the declarer and the 5 undealt cards. From Some play that the declarer is not allowed to call a card that is in his own hand or
these 18 cards, two cards are dealt to each of the other four active players and the that he has discarded in order to play without a friend. If he wants to play alone he
declarer takes the remaining 10 cards. So at this point the declarer has 13 cards - the can only do so by announcing "no friend". Others do not allow the declarer ever to
three he kept plus 10 new ones - and each of the other players has 10 cards - the 8 play alone.
originally dealt plus 2 new ones. The declarer discards 3 cards and the game
continues exactly like the normal 5-player game: the dealer selects a partner by Some play that the holder of the called card is not allowed to announce his identity
calling a card and may raise the bid. when winning a trick containing points. The partnerships only become known
formally when the called card is played.
Six players: second version
Some play that in the following cases the score for the hand is doubled (everyone
A simpler method is for the players to sit out in rotation. The dealer deals cards to the wins or loses twice as much):
other five players and takes no further part in the hand. Another method is to decide
who will sit out according to the result of the previous hand. If the declarer's side
wins the declarer's partner deals next and sits out: if the declarer's side loses the
 declarer plays with no trump suit;
declarer deals and sits out.
 declarer buries the Mighty in the blind;
Seven players
 declarer buries the Joker in the blind;
Two players can sit out, using a similar process to the first six-player version
described above. 7 cards are dealt to each player leaving 4 undealt cards. Each player  declarer plays without a partner;
puts 4 cards face down keeping 3 in hand. After the bidding the players other than
the declarer take their 4 discards back into their hands. The declarer names two cards
and the holders of those two cards must sit out. If the two cards are held by the same  declarer bids a 'grand-slam' (all 20 points).
player or one or both are undealt, further cards must be named until two sitting out
players have been determined. Now the 7-card hands of the two players who will sit If several of these things happen, the doubles are cumulative. For example if you bid
out are shuffled with the 4 cards set aside by the declarer and the 4 undealt cards. no-trump and bury the Mighty and the Joker, the score is multiplied by 8.
From these 22 cards, three cards are dealt to each of the other four players, so that
they have 10 cards each, and the declarer gets the remaining 10 cards. The dealer Some play that the defenders need only 10 or more points for a back run.
discards 3 of his 13 cards and play continues as in the 5-player game.
In John Pannell's version, if the contract is 17 or higher (in a game with 4 or 5 player),
Six, seven or eight players (Chicago version) the declarer can on one occasion during the hand instruct partner to win the trick.
Partner does not have to obey. In the 6 to 8 player double deck game, if the contract
In Chicago, a two deck version of Mighty was developed to allow six or more people is 34 or higher the declarer may issue two such instructions during a hand.
to play as active players. Two jokers are included, for a total of 106 cards. A few cards
may be removed from the pack to make the deal even as follows: It is not quite clear, but it may be that some players score a successful contract
according to the number of points actually taken by the declarer's team, rather than
 six players - use all the cards; deal 17 cards each; according to the number that was bid.

It seems that some people play that the joker may be played to the first or last trick,
 seven players - remove both 2's and both 2's; deal 14 cards each; but in that case it loses all its power and becomes the lowest card of the pack.

 eight players - remove both 2's, both 2's, one 2 and one Some play that the Mighty does not acquire its special power as a trump until the
2; deal 12 cards each. second trick. In the first trick it is just the highest spade.

There are always four cards in the blind. The minimum bid is 25 and the maximum is Tactics, and other sources of information
40. If the declarer changes to a new trump suit after looking at the blind, the bid must
be increased by three; if changing to no-trump it must be increased by two. As in any strategic trick-taking game it is important to keep track of which cards have
been played, especially the trump suit cards and magic cards. It is also important to
use the Mighty and Joker to maximum effect, and to avoid having the Mighty forced
out by a spade lead when you have no spades or the Joker by the Joker hunter.

117
Barbu 4

Introduction After the contract has been chosen (including announcement of the trump suit in
Barbu is a skilful card game for four players. It uses a standard 52-card pack as for Trumps and the starting rank in Dominoes / Fantan), each player in turn, starting on
bridge or poker, ranking as usual from highest to lowest A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 in declarer's left, has one opportunity to double. A player may double all, some, or none
each of the four suits. In the course of a session, each player will play each of the of the other players. Declarer, however, is restricted in that she may only double
seven contracts once, so that there are 28 hands played in all. players who have doubled her.

The initial declarer is chosen at random. For the first seven hands, this player will be In each series of seven hands, each player is obliged to double declarer at least twice.
declarer. The cards will be dealt by the player on declarer's right, and cut by the
player opposite to declarer. After this declarer has done her seven contracts, the In the two positive contracts, the other players may only double declarer, not each
player on the original declarer's left will be declarer for seven contracts, and so on, other. Declarer may double those who have doubled her, as usual.
until everyone has done her seven contracts. In each of these contracts, each player
is playing for herself. Declarer chooses the contract, but there is no reason for the When doubling a player who has already doubled you, it is conventional to use the
other players to cooperate against her. The rules about doubling, however, are word "redouble". When making every possible double and redouble, it is
asymmetrical with respect to declarer (see below). conventional to use the word "maximum".

The word "barbu" is French for "bearded". In some packs, the king of hearts is shown A double is, in effect, a side-bet between the two players involved about which of
with a beard, and the contract in which the object is to avoid taking this card is also them will do better than the other. When you are deciding whether to double
sometimes known as "barbu". The game Barbu has existed in France for some time in another player, the only issue is whether you expect to score better than her.
a simple form where the different games are just played in a fixed sequence (no
choice of contract and no doubling). The more elaborate modern version described Scoring
here was developed by bridge players and was a favourite of the Italian "Blue Club" The doubles are recorded on the score sheet as they are made. Doubles of declarer
bridge team. are ringed, to make it easier to ensure that each player makes her compulsory two
doubles of declarer.
The Seven Contracts
There are five "negative" and two "positive" contracts. At the end of a hand, it is scored. First of all, the points won or lost by the players are
written down. Then the effects of the doubles are calculated pair by pair, for each of
In negative contracts, there are no trumps. The declarer leads to the first trick. the six pairs of players:
Players must follow suit if possible - a player who cannot follow suit may
discard any card. The winner of a trick leads to the next. In certain contracts there are 1. If neither of two players has doubled the other, there is no side-
restrictions on what card may be led to a trick. The negative contracts are: payment.
 No Tricks (Losing). Each trick scores -2 points to the player winning it. The total
score for the contract is therefore -26. 2. If only one of a pair of players has doubled the other, the difference
 No Queens. Each queen scores -6 points to the player winning it in a trick. The between their raw scores is calculated, and this difference is added on to
total score for the contract is therefore -24. After a queen is played, it is kept the score of the one who did better and subtracted from the score of the
face up in front of the player who won the trick, so that everyone can see one who did worse.
which queens have been taken by whom. When the fourth queen is played, the
play ends at the end of that trick, as there are no more points at stake on that 3. If each of a pair of players has doubled the other, the difference
hand. between their raw scores is calculated and doubled, and this difference
is added on to the score of the one who did better and subtracted from
 No Last Two. The last-but-one trick scores -10 to the player winning it, and the the score of the one who did worse.
last trick scores -20 to the player winning it. The total score for the contract is
therefore -30.
For example, here is a score-sheet, with two hands already played and scored.
 No Hearts. Each heart scores -2 points to the player winning it in a trick, except
for the ace of hearts, which scores -6. The total score for the contract is
therefore -30. It is forbidden for a player to lead hearts unless she has nothing
but hearts in her hand. Hearts won in tricks are kept face up in front of the
winner of the trick until the end of the play, so that everyone can see who has
taken which hearts.
 No King of Hearts (Barbu). The king of hearts scores -20 to the player winning
it in a trick. The total score for the contract is therefore -20. It is forbidden for a
player to lead hearts unless she has nothing but hearts in her hand.

The positive contracts are:

 Trumps. Declarer chooses a trump suit. The declarer leads to the first trick.
Players must follow suit if possible. A trick is won by the highest trump in it, or
if it contains no trump, by the highest card of the suit led. Any card may be led
to a trick, but any other player who can legally head the trick by playing a
trump is obliged to do so. (This means that if trumps are led, players are
obliged not only to follow suit with a trump, but to play a higher trump than
any so far in the trick if this is possible. It also means that if a side-suit is led, a
player who is void in that side-suit is obliged to head the trick with a trump
unless it already contains a trump higher than any in her hand, in which case
she can play anything.) The winner of a trick leads to the next. Each trick scores
+5 points to the player winning it. The total score for the contract is therefore
+65.
 Dominoes (Fantan). Declarer chooses a starting rank. For example if the
starting rank is to be 5, she says "dominoes from the five". The object is to get
rid of all one's cards before the other players. Each player in turn, starting as
usual with declarer, must, if possible, play an acceptable card face upwards to
the table. Acceptable cards are those of the chosen rank, also cards of the
same suit and adjacent rank to one already played. Note that every suit must
be started with the rank chosen by the declarer - for example in dominoes
from the 5, the holder of 7 cannot play it until 5 and 6 are in place,
even if 4- 5 6- 7 have already been played. A player who cannot
play, having no acceptable card, indicates this (perhaps by rapping on the On the first hand, Anne was declarer and chose No Queens. Her choice of contract
table) and the turn to play passes on. In particular, declarer may have no cards was written "Q" in the left column.
of the rank she chooses, in which case she begins the play by passing. The
played cards form a layout with the four cards of the starting rank in a column Beth (with a good hand for No Queens) began the doubling by saying "maximum" to
in the centre, and the other cards of their suits built up in sequence on either double everyone else. This was recorded in Beth's column as a letter "X"; and was
side. Play continues until all four players have played all their cards. As usual, ringed to indicate that it includes a double of declarer. Then Cath doubled Anne and
aces are high and twos low, so the last card played will be either an ace or a no-one else (she believes that the outcome of No Queens is unpredictable, so she
two. might as well make a double of declarer). This was recorded as a letter "A" for Anne,
Example: A chooses dominoes from the nine and plays the 9 of hearts, B plays with a ring round it as Anne is declarer. Then Diana passed (having a poor hand).
the 9 of spades, C plays the 10 of spades. Playable cards for D are now H8, H10, Then Anne redoubled Cath (but not Beth, who seems from her behaviour to have a
S8, SJ, D9, C9. If D has none of these she must pass. strong hand). This was recorded as a letter "C" for Cath.
The first player to go out scores +45. Play continues between the other three
players, and the second scores +20. The last two players continue playing and In the play, Diana captured two queens among her tricks, and Anne and Cath
the third to go out scores +5 and the last scores -5. The total score for the captured one each. This was recorded as -6 to Anne, -6 to Cath, and -12 to Diana.
contract is therefore +65. This contract is sometimes known as Fantan.
Then the side-payments were calculated. These are shown here in color, for the sake
The scores are cunningly chosen so that the total over seven hands is 0. of this explanation (normally, of course, they would all be written with the same
pencil).

Doubling

118
  A/B. Beth has doubled Anne, but Anne has not doubled Beth. So there is will double you. But if you bid No Hearts, you will likely get a double from an
one double between them. Anne scored -6 while Beth scored 0, So Anne opponent: at least one of them must hold at least five hearts, which is normally a
pays 6 to Beth. This is shown in red. strong holding in this contract.
 A/C. Anne and Cath have doubled each other, so there is a double side-
Variations
payment between them. However they both made the same score of -6,
so there is no side-payment.
Deal, Declaration and Lead
 A/D. Neither Anne nor Diana has doubled the other, so there is no side- Some play that it is the dealer that chooses the contract. The first lead is still made by
payment. the player to the left of the dealer (so that the dealer plays last to the first trick),
 B/C. There is one double between them, and the score difference is 6, so except in dominoes, in which the dealer starts.
Cath pays 6 to Beth. This is shown in green.
 B/D. There is one double between them, and the score difference is 12, Doubles and Redoubles
so Diana pays 12 to Beth. This is shown in blue. Some people only allow players to double declarer, not each other, and if the
 C/D. There are no doubles between them, so there is no side-payment. declarer redoubles, she must redouble everyone who doubled, not just some of
them.
Then the totals were calculated, and written into the totals column for each player.
Some play that if a negative contract is chosen and no one doubles, the cards are not
Finally, the total value of the contract was written into the check-sum column at the played. Instead, each opponent of the declarer scores one third of the total
right, and a check made that the total of the four players and the rightmost column (negative) points rounded to the nearest integer, and declarer receives any rounding
added up to 0. error. Specifically:

On the second hand, Anne chose No Hearts. Beth and Cath passed, Diana said Declarer Each opponent
Maximum, and Anne redoubled Diana. Anne took no hearts, Beth took 6 points No last two 0 -10
worth, Cath took 20 points worth, and Diana took 4 points worth. The side-payments No tricks +1 -9
were calculated and added up as described, and the check-sum was checked. Note No hearts 0 -10
that the five figures in the right column for each player and for the check-sum are
No K of hearts +1 -7
running totals.

Andy Christensen has provided a preprinted score sheet. No King of Hearts (Barbu) and No Queens
Some do not prohibit heart leads in Barbu.
Advice on Skilful Play
No Hearts and No King of Hearts are generally best bid on hands with many hearts. Some require players to play the King of Hearts and Queens in these contracts at the
This is because the rules forbid the leading of hearts. A hand with long hearts will be earliest safe opportunity. Thus you are not allowed to save your penalty card to give
short in the other suits, and will thus get more opportunities to discard. to a particular opponent, which protects players from being victimised but also
reduces the tactical possibilities.
In No King of Hearts, a player who holds the King, and is confident of not taking it
herself, will be influenced by the doubling on where she dumps it. It can therefore be Trumps
possible for a player with a very poor hand, who did not double, to cooperate with Some do not require players void of the suit led to trump (or overtrump) in this
declarer in dumping the King on a player who did double. (This assumes that declarer game. A player who has no card of the suit led can play any card.
holds the King.) One way of cooperating with declarer is by returning the suits which
she leads. Fantan (Dominoes)
Many people play Fantan with the Ace low, so that each suit ends with the King at
To bid No Last Two, aces can be as valuable as twos. A very poor holding is 9 8 7 6: one end and the Ace at the other.
you can be confident that the other players will not lead this suit for you.
Some play that the first card played by the declarer determines the starting rank. This
The total score for No Tricks is 30, but this is in effect the smallest contract, as the means that doubles are announced before the start rank is known, and that the
tricks tend to be spread around. It is therefore a suitable hand to keep to last, as declarer cannot choose a rank that she does not have.
playing it with an unsuitable hand is rarely a total disaster. In playing No Tricks,
ingenious sacrifice plays (such as are skilful in ramsch and other negative games) are Donald B. Lagosz-Sinclair suggests reducing the Fantan scores to 30 / 20 / 10 / 0 (with
not appropriate. It is better to keep your head down and avoid each trick as it comes barbu valued at -15) since otherwise they have a disproportionate effect on the
round. result.

No King of Hearts only scores 20, but is really a big hand. This is because the penalty Extra contract - Ravage City
of 20 all comes in one lump. No trumps. Rules of play as for other negative contracts. Whichever player takes the
most cards in any one suit scores -36. If there is a tie between two players (probably
Trumps can sensibly be left to the last hand, as you can be sure of being dealt a hand each has most cards in a different suit), each scores -18; if three players tie each
with at least four trumps in it. Do not bid Trumps for the first hand of your seven scores -12; if all four tie, all get -9. Some play Ravage City with a lower score -24 (-12
unless you expect to win at least seven tricks. From a trump holding of e.g. A J 10 9 6 for a two-way tie, -8 for a three-way tie, -6 for a four-way ties).
5 3 the lead of the jack can be effective: there is a good chance that this will force the
play of both the queen and the king, because of the trump-overtaking rule. If you play with Ravage City there will obviously be 32 deals - 8 for each declarer -
rather than 28. The scoring schedule for the other contracts will need adjusting to
In dominoes, aces and twos are liabilities. A "block" like 765 can be powerful, in a suit preserve the zero sum feature.
in which the 4 3 and 2 are not held. Holding the specified rank is not necessarily a
good thing: with an ideal hand such as 568, 5689, 689, 689 the best choice of rank is Scoring
the 7. There are a number of different scoring schemes possible. One common one is to
score -15 for taking the King of Hearts in "No King of Hearts" and +40/+20/+10/-10
Over seven hands, declarer can expect the best score, closely followed by the player for dominoes.
on her right. The player on declarer's left can expect the poorest score, as she must
make her doubles before hearing those of the other players. Some schemes lose the zero sum of the scores, which is a pity as a zero sum is very
useful for checking, and makes it easier to convert the result to money won or lost.
It is bad to leave a compulsory double to the last hand of a seven, unless this hand For example Mark Brader contributed the following scoring system: Barbu: -25 for
will be something small (No Tricks, or maybe No Queens). It is particularly bad to be the heart king; Fantan: first out +40, second out +20, third out 0, fourth out -20; No
obliged to double a positive contract. Hearts: -12 for the ace, -4 each other heart; No last two: -10, -20; Losing tricks: -5 per
trick; No Queens: -15 per queen; Ravage city: -36 divided between losers, Trumps: +5
In view of the advice in the previous paragraph... Suppose it is the sixth hand of the per trick. The total is -684.
seven. Declarer chooses No Tricks, leaving Trumps for last. A player doubles declarer
only. Declarer should recognise that this is a desperation double, and redouble it (if it Any scheme can easily be made zero sum without affecting the balance of the game
really came from a good hand, the doubler would have doubled the other players as by adjusting all four scores in Dominoes (Fantan) by the same amount (in fact you
well). might have to change some by 1 more than others due to rounding effects).

If you have a hand which is very good for several contracts, it is best to choose one Here is a description of Barbu [zipped MSWord file] contributed by David Smith of
which will induce some doubles. For example, consider a hand which can guarantee Cambridge, MA, USA - it has slightly different scoring from the description on this
taking no tricks, and has a heart void. If you bid No Last Two, say, probably no-one page, and includes further material on strateg

119
King 4

King is a 4-player trick-taking game. The game uses a standard 52 card deck. There Round 6 – Avoid the last two tricks! Taking either of the last two tricks will give you
are no teams. It is every man for him or herself. The game is quick and can be played negative 100 points each. Rounds 6-12 (optional) – Tricks give you points! Each trick
in about an hour. King resembles Hearts but is much more fun due to the unique of four cards gives you positive 20 points. These rounds are optional. I recommend
scoring mechanics. It is very similar to Barbu, most likely related. There are many only one or two rounds of positive points.
variants of King.
The End - Whoever has the least negative points wins the game!
COMPONENTS
It's a public domain game: it's played with one (preferably two) standard poker decks, Alternative scoring
with Jokers removed. You also need to have a sheet pad and a pen handy.
first round : -1 per trick
GAMEPLAY second round : -1 per hearts
King is based on Bridge, and as such, is a similar trick-taking game. It can even be third round : -1 per jack or King
played in pairs, but for the sake of simplicity, I will only explain the basic game. fourth round : -2 per queen
fifth round : -5 for the king of hearts
King is divided in two phases: on the first phase you try to avoid making negative sixth round : -2 for the 7th trick, -3 for the thirteenth.
points (granted to players who take certain tricks), and on the second phase you rounds 7-10 : 1 point per trick.
score positive points by making all tricks possible (as in Bridge). The first phase is
divided in 6 rounds, each with slightly different rules, and the second phase is divided Alternative scoring 2
in 4 rounds, each with one different player stating the trump suit.
The basics of any trick-taking card game consists on a starting player placing a card of o First round - (2 penalty points per fold).
his/her choice, and the rest of the players, in clockwise order, playing a card of the o Second round - (2 penalty points per heart).
same suit, if possible, or any other card if they don't have a card of the suit initially
requested. The player who places the highest ranked card in the suit requested takes o Third round - (6 penalty points per King or Jack).
the trick, and starts the next trick (placing the card of his/her choice). o Fourth round - (10 penalty points per lady).
Every game round starts dealing out all cards in the deck. The game may only be
o Fifth round -(40 penalty points for the king of hearts).
played with 4, so each player takes 13 cards. The player to the left of the dealing o Sixth round -must not pick up the last fold (20 penalty points).
player starts, the one in front of him/her shuffles the other deck (if available) so that o Seventh to Tenth innings - The last four innings are played for trumps (clubs,
it's ready for next round, and the one on his/her right cuts the current deck. On next diamonds, hearts and finally spades). The goal is then to make a maximum of
round, all roles are shifted clockwise. tricks (4 bonus points per trick)
PHASE ONE: NEGATIVE POINTS There are obviously many variations on the scoring.
Phase one is divided in the following rounds (each has it's unique rules detailed, as
well):
Rıfkı (Turkish King)
1. No Tricks: Players must avoid taking any tricks. Each trick they take scores -20
points. (All tricks score -260 points) Introduction
2. No Hearts: Players must avoid taking tricks with any hearts. Each heart they take Rıfkı (no dots on the ı's) is a skillful card game for four players. It uses a Turkish 52-
scores -20 points, but other cards in the tricks they take don't count. Hearts may only card pack as for bridge or poker, but for this document we will use a standard
start a trick if the active player has no other option (i.e. he/she is out of any suit save American deck, ranking as usual from highest to lowest A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 in
for hearts). (All hearts score -260 points) each of the four suits. In the course of a session, each player will get the chance to
3. No Jacks or Kings: Players must avoid taking tricks with any J's or K'. Each J or K declare five contracts, so that there are 20 hands played in all.
scores -35 points. (All J's and K's score -280 points)
4. No Queens: Players must avoid taking tricks with any Q's. Each Q scores -50 points. As is Turkish custom, the turn sequence goes counter-clockwise, as opposed to the
(All Q's score -200 points) standard clockwise order seen in the West. Not only does the deal rotate counter-
5. No King of Hearts: Players must avoid taking the trick with the King of Hearts. clockwise, but the play of the tricks also proceeds counter-clockwise.
Whoever takes this card in a trick scores -150 points. Hearts may only start a trick if
the active player has no other option (i.e. he/she is out of any suit save for hearts). The dealer shuffles, the player opposite the dealer cuts, and the dealer deals out all
6. No Last Two Tricks: Players must avoid taking any of the two last tricks in the round the cards, counter-clockwise to the four players. For the first hand anyone may deal
(number 12 and number 13). Each of these tricks they take scores -75 points. (Both and the first declarer is the holder of the Two of diamonds. For the next hand,
tricks score -150 points) positions rotate counter-clockwise; the player on declarer's right becomes the new
declarer, the old declarer becomes the new dealer, and the old dealer becomes the
At the end of this phase, negative scores should be totalized so that player know how new cutter. This continues for 20 hands until each player has had the chance to
much points they must recover at phase two. All negative scores should add -1300 become declarer five times.
points, the exact complement of phase two total positive points.
PHASE TWO: POSITIVE POINTS Over the course of 20 hands, each player must declare a trump contract two times
During phase two, four rounds are played in which players must try to take as much and a negative contract three times. Each of the six negative contracts can only be
tricks as they can. Each trick they take scores +25 points. declared twice per game, so if a negative contract has been played twice, the
declarer cannot choose that contract.
The player who deals the cards is also the one who states the trump suit. A trump
suit is a suit that can surpass any other suit when a player has no cards on the In each of these contracts, each player is playing for herself. Declarer chooses the
requested suit. For instance, if the trump suit is diamonds, and a player has no contract, but there is no reason for the other players to cooperate against her.
clovers when the initial card for the trick is a clover, he/she may play one of his/her
diamonds. If no other player plays diamonds, or if his/her diamond is the highest There are six "negative" contracts but just one type of "positive" (trump) contract.
ranked of all diamonds, he/she takes the trick.
Trump Contracts [Kozlar]
An additional rule applies to the trump suit: if the starting card for the trick is from Declarer chooses a trump suit (notrump is not an option). [For reference, the Turkish
the trump suit, all players must play a higher card than the previous player, if at all names of the suits are Maça (Spades), Sinek (Clubs), Karo (Diamonds), and Kupa
possible. For instance, if the startin card is a 10 of spades (and spades is the trump), (Hearts).] The declarer leads to the first trick. A trick is won by the highest trump in it,
and the next player only has a 6 and a J in that suit, h/she is forced to play the J even or if it contains no trump, by the highest card of the suit led. Players must follow suit
if the probability of a Q, K or Ace following his/her J are very high, and it's very if possible -- if they cannot, they must play a trump if they have any (even if this
probable he/she will lose that card! This is part of a tactic called "de-trumping", forces them to underruff). The winner of a trick leads to the next. Each trick scores
usually done by the player with the largest amount of trump-suited cards. +50 points to the player winning it. The total score for the contract is therefore +650.
If the dealing player doesn't have a clear candidate for the trump suit, he/she may The Six Negative Contracts [Cezalar]
listen to offers the other players make in order to have the privilege of chosing the In negative contracts, there are no trumps. The declarer leads to the first trick. There
trump suit. Starting with the player on the left, players state the number of tricks are two types of negative contracts; trick-based, where certain tricks give a penalty to
they're willing to pay for that privilege. The dealing player then choses if the privilege the player who won them, and card-based, where certain cards, called penalty cards,
is sold, and to whom, who thn choses the trump suit. give a penalty to the player who won them in a trick. After a penalty card is played, it
is kept face up in front of the player who won the trick, so that everyone can see
The starting player is the one at the left of the one who chose the trump suit. After all which penalty cards have been taken by whom. When all penalty cards have been
13 tricks have been played, the round is over, and the player on the left of the one played, the play ends at the end of that trick, as there are no more points at stake on
who dealt the cards (no matter who chose the trump) is the next dealing player. that hand.
After all 4 rounds, all positive points are totalized, and negative points are
substracted to get the final scores. All final scores should add up to 0. Players must follow suit if possible. A player who holds a penalty card in the
suit must play it if a higher card in the suit has been played that trick (in other words,
one cannot deliberately withhold a penalty card). A player who cannot follow suit
French/Belgium Version must discard a penalty card if they have any, but may discard any other card if they
do not. The winner of a trick leads to the next. In certain contracts there are
How to Win restrictions on what card may be led to a trick. The negative contracts are:
There are no positive rounds. You win by having the most positive points (or least
negative points) at the end of the game. Since the majority of the points given out are
negative, the person who wins is often whoever has the least negative points. Like  Card-based Negative Contracts
most games, Ace is the highest valued card, and 2 is the lowest. o Rıfkı. The King of Hearts is the only penalty card, scoring -320 to the player
winning it in a trick. Hearts may not be led unless they have already been
Set-up discarded on a previous trick, or the player on lead has nothing but hearts in her
Decide who will deal first in any way you'd like. Deal out all 52 cards so that each hand.
player has a 13 card hand. The player to the left of the dealer starts the first trick. o Kız [Girls]. The four queens are penalty cards, each one scoring -100 points to
the player winning it in a trick. The total score for the contract is therefore -400.
Rounds and Points o Erkek [Boys]. The four kings and four jacks are penalty cards, each one scoring -
Round 1 – Avoid all tricks! Each trick of four cards you take will give you negative 20 60 points to the player winning it in a trick. The total score for the contract is
points. therefore -480.
Round 2 – Avoid hearts! Each heart card you take will give you negative 20 points. o Kupa [Hearts]. The thirteen hearts are penalty cards, each one scoring -30
Players cannot start a trick with a hearts-suited card until a hearts-suited card has points to the player winning it in a trick. The total score for the contract is
been played (due to a player running out of another suit and deciding to play a therefore -390. Hearts may not be led unless they have already been discarded
hearts-suited card). on a previous trick, or the player on lead has nothing but hearts in her hand.
Round 3 – Avoid men! Each king or jack you take will give you negative 30 points.
Round 4 – Avoid women! Each queen you take will give you negative 50 points.  Trick-based Negative Contracts
Round 5 – Avoid the king of hearts! Taking the king of hearts will give you negative o Son İki [Last Two]. The last two tricks each score -180 to the player(s) that wins
200 points! Players cannot start a trick with a hearts-suited card until a hearts-suited them. The total score for the contract is therefore -360.
card has been played. o El Almaz [No Tricks]. Each trick scores -50 points to the player winning it. The
total score for the contract is therefore -650.

120
The scores are cunningly chosen so that the total over twenty hands is 0.

Schieber Jass 4, 6

General rules for Jass Games The trick-taking rules

Many of the most popular card games in Switzerland, especially in the German
speaking cantons, belong to the Jass group, and are played with characteristic Swiss All Swiss Jass games are played counter-clockwise. The cards are played in tricks. As
cards, which have come to be known as Jass cards. Swiss Jass games have a number usual each trick is won by the highest trump in it, or if no trump is played, by the
of features in common, which will be described on this page, to save repetition highest card of the suit led. The winner of each trick leads to the next. In many games
elsewhere. These are: the player to the right of the dealer leads to the first trick, but in some games with
bidding the declarer leads first.
 The rank and values of the cards
 The trick-taking rules Any card may be led to a trick. The rules about which cards the other players may
 The Weis play to the trick are unique to Swiss Jass. Please read the following carefully! If a non
 The Stöck trump suit is led, and you have a card of the suit led, you must either follow suit (play
any card of the suit led) or play a trump, subject to the undertrumping rule. If trumps
The rank and values of the cards are led, you must follow suit with a trump if you can, except when the only trump in
A standard Jass pack has 36 cards. In the west and south of Switzerland French suited your hand is the Under (Puur), in which case you may play anything. If you have no
cards are used: the four suits are hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs, and the cards card of the suit led you may play anything, subject to the undertrumping rule.
in each suit are ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6.
Undertrumping rule
In some of the more recently developed Jass games there is a hierarchy of suits, but
there are several inconsistent ideas of what the correspondence should be between There are two versions of this, depending what kind of Jass you are playing.
the Swiss German suits, the French suits and the suits used in Vorarlberg. The Jass
If it is a pure positive game, such as Schieber Jass, Handjass or Steiger Jass (where the
literature mostly agrees on the following correspondence and ranking of suits from
object is to win card points) then the stricter undertrumping rule applies:
highest to lowest.
 If a non-trump has been led and another player has already trumped it, you
are not allowed to play a lower trump, unless you have nothing but trumps
Swiss German French Austrian left in your hand, in which case you may play any trump.

bells hearts hearts If it is a negative or mixed game, such as Hindersi, Mittlere or Differenzler in which the
object is not to take as many card points as possible, but maybe to avoid taking
shields diamond bells points or to get close to a specific value, then the weaker undertrumping rule
s applies:

acorns spades leaves  If a non-trump has been led and another player has already trumped it, you
are not allowed to play a lower trump, unless you have no cards of the suit
roses clubs acorns led, in which case you may play any card.

In North America, Jass cards and equipment can be obtained from TaroBear's Lair. The Weis

Jass games are point-trick games. When there are trumps, the card ranks and values The word Weis denotes sets of cards which, held in a player's hand at the start of
are different in the trump suit from the other suits. The rank of the cards in each suit, play, may be announced for points. There are two ways of counting Weis: the large
from highest to lowest, and their values in card points are given in the following Weis and the small Weis.
table:
The small Weis are:
Non trump suit Trump suit
sequence of three cards in suit 20 points
Ace 11 Under / Jack 20 sequence of four cards in suit 50 points
four tens (banners) 100 points
King 4 Nine 14 four obers / queens 100 points
four kings 100 points
Ober / 3 Ace 11
Queen four aces 100 points
sequence of five or more cards in suit 100 points
Under / Jack 2 King 4 four nines (if allowed) 150 points
four unders / jacks 200 points
Banner / Ten 10 Ober / 3
With the small Weis, the same card may not be used in two different combinations.
Queen
E.g. a player holding all four kings and the ober under ten of bells might choose to
Nine 0 Banner / Ten 10 treat this as four kings and a sequence of three, or as a sequence of four. A sequence
of seven cards scores no more than a sequence of five (though it beats it). A
Eight 0 Eight 0 sequence of eight (or nine) cards may be regarded as a sequence of five and a
sequence of three (or four).
Seven 0 Seven 0
In the small Weis, a set of four nines is valid only if agreed by the players in advance.
Six 0 Six 0
The large Weis are:
In addition the whoever wins the last trick gets an extra 5 card points. Thus the total sequence of three cards in suit 20 points
number of card points available is 157. sequence of four cards in suit 50 points

A player or side that wins all the tricks is said to have made match. For this they four tens (banners) 100 points
normally score an extra 100 card points, making 257 altogether. four obers /queens 100 points
four kings 100 points
The Under of trumps is called the Puur (Swiss version of the word Bauer, meaning
four aces 100 points
peasant, which in the form Bower also appears in Euchre). The nine of trumps is
sequence of five cards in suit 100 points
called Näll.
four nines 150 points
Several Jass games have options to play with no trumps, in which case to make up for sequence of six cards in suit 150 points
the lack of Puur and Näll the eights are worth 8 points each instead of zero, so that four unders / jacks 200 points
the total points available are still 157. When no trump options are included, there is
sequence of seven in suit 200 points
usually the choice of playing Obenabe ('von oben hinab' = 'top down' ) in which all
suits rank from high to low A-K-Q/O-J/U-10/B-9-8-7-6 or Undenuffe ('von unten sequence of eight in suit 250 points
hinauf' = 'bottom up') (usually pronounced Un'enu'e) in which the ranking is reversed sequence of nine in suit 300 points
- from high to low 6-7-8-9-10/B-J/U-Q/O-K-A. Some games have more exotic options
such as Slalom (alternate tricks played as Obenabe and Undenuffe).

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With the large Weis, the same card may be used in both a set of four and a sequence. Introduction
E.g. a player holding all four kings and the ober under ten of bells could treat this as Schieber Jass is a partnership game for four players, played with a Jass pack. The
four kings and a sequence of four. players sit opposite to their partners. Please refer to the Swiss Jass page for general
rules of Jass.
Each Weis on a list is better than those above it on the list. A longer sequence is
better than a shorter one. In comparing sequences of the same length, the one with The pack has 36 cards. There are four suits: acorns, shields, flowers, and bells. In each
the higher card is better. In comparing identical sequences in different suits, one in suit, there are nine cards: ace, king, ober, under, banner, 9, 8, 7, 6. If you cannot
the trump suit is better. If two players have identical sequences in non-trump suits, obtain such a pack, you can play it with a bridge or poker pack, using queens for
the one wins whose turn to play to the first trick is earlier. obers, jacks for unders, 10s for banners, and discarding cards smaller than 6s.

For the purposes of Weis, suits are always in the order A, K, O/Q, U/J, B/10, 9, 8, 7, 6. The rank of the cards (followed by their normal point values in brackets) within each
So for example U-B-9 of trumps is a valid sequence of three and U-9-A of trumps is suit is: Ace(11), King(4), Ober(3), Under(2), Banner(10), 9(0), 8(0), 7(0), 6(0). However,
not. when there is a trump suit, the rank within the it is: Under(20), 9(14), ace(11),
King(4), Ober(3), Banner(10), 8(0), 7(0), 6(0). If there is no trump suit the Eights count
Announcing Weis 8 points each instead of zero, so that the total value of all the cards in the pack is
always the same. These card points count for the team winning the trick containing
The details vary from game to game, but the general way in which Weis are the card. There is also a bonus of 5 points for the team which wins the last trick. Thus
announced is as follows. there is a total of 157 points in the pack.

As each player plays a card to the first trick of a hand, she may announce one Weis (a The deal and the play are anticlockwise. The dealer deals all the cards out, in threes,
scoring set or sequence of cards, as listed) that she holds if it is at least as great as starting with the player on her right. Any player can deal the first hand, and the
any which has so far been announced. She may hold a Weis but choose not to player who holds the seven of flowers is forehand and begins the bidding, leads to
announce it. She might choose to announce a Weis that was not her best, though it is the first trick, and deals the second hand. On the second and subsequent hands the
hard to imagine why anyone should do so deliberately. player to dealer's right is forehand, and the deal rotates to the right after each hand.
A session continues until one side has scored at least 3000 points: typically this will
When the trick is complete, if Weis has been announced by opposing players, a
take about twelve hands.
discussion takes place between them about which one was best. In this discussion
players reveal only sufficient information to establish which Weis is highest. For The Slate
example if there are two four card sequences in contention, the players first each say To score, a slate marked as shown is traditionally used. In
what is the highest card of their sequence, and if these are equal, whether they are Switzerland, where Schieber Jass is usually played, it is possible to
trumps. Once this has been resolved, the holder of the winning Weis scores for it, and buy slates painted like this. If you cannot obtain such a slate, you
for any others which she holds and chooses to announce. In a partnership game, the can draw your own Zs, either on a slate or on a piece of paper, or
partner(s) of the player with the best Weis may also announce and score for any Weis manage without the Zs altogether.
they hold. The opponents score nothing for Weis, even though some of theirs may be
better than some of the Weis scored by the other side. Each partnership appoints a scorer. The slate is placed between
the two scorers, and each uses the Z nearer to herself to record
Once an item of Weis has been scored for, before the lead to the second trick any her team's score.
player other than the one holding it may ask to see it. Its holder then displays it for
everyone to see. The purpose of doing this is not to check if it is genuine (competent Hundreds are marked on the top line of the Z. They are grouped into fives. Fifties are
card players would know in any case by the end of the hand); it is to help the asker, marked on the sloping line of the Z, and grouped in pairs. Twenties are marked on
and possibly her partner, in planning the play of the hand. the lower line of the Z, and grouped in fives. Smaller numbers are simply written on
the slate. The details of how to record a score are left to the individual scorer's
Variations discretion. For example, a score of 257 might be recorded by marking two 100s on
the top line and a 50 on the middle line, and writing down "7"; or by marking two
Four 9s, worth 150 points, are allowed as Weis in some Jass variants but not in
100s on the top line, three 20s on the lower line, and erasing a "3" previously written;
others. In case of doubt, the players should agree in advance whether they will be
or by marking two 100s on the top line, three 20s on the lower line, and writing down
allowed.
"-3".
Some Jass games include the option of Undenuffe in which the cards rank in reverse
This shows a slate in use. The team which is scoring on the near end
order - 6 highest. When playing Undenuffe the reverse ranking also applies when
has 19 100s, 5 50s, 18 20s, and 8 in odd digits, for a total of 2518.
comparing sequences of equal length, or equal scoring fours of a kind. For example 6-
The other team has 8 100s, 6 50s, 12 20s, and an odd 7, for a total
7-8 is the highest 20-point sequence.
of 1347. Note that as the slate is between the two scorers, they are
writing opposite ways up.
In the late 20th century, in Undenuffe some players began to value the 6 rather than
the ace as 11 points and to allow a Weis of four Sixes worth 100 points in place of
The same method of scoring can be used on a blank slate, without
four Aces. In our view this makes the game less interesting.
Zs. The 100s, 50s and 20s are marked in three rows, in roughly the same relative
positions as if the Zs were there.
Some Swiss Jass rulebooks, notably the recent editions of Puur Näll As by Göpf Egg
and Albert Hagenbucher, have promoted a change to the Weis rules, saying that the
If you don't want to bother with all this, you can instead score by adding up the
small Weis is now obsolete, and that the large Weis should be used in all Jass variants
numbers on a piece of paper. In doing so, you will lose nothing but authenticity.
where Weis is allowed. They further extend it to allow all fours of a kind to score:
four Eights, four Sevens and four Sixes are each worth 100 points. They also support Bidding
the changed values of 11 for Sixes and zero for Aces in Undenuffe.
After the deal, forehand (normally the player on dealer's right, but in the first deal
Note the holder of the seven of flowers) chooses a contract, or "shoves" - the
word schieben means to shove. If she shoves, her partner must then choose a
Jass games involving announcements of card combinations are played throughout
contract. Possible contracts are:
Switzerland. The German word for these announcements is "Weis", but as there is no
single correct way to spell Swiss German, various other forms are also found, such Acorns scores single
as Wis and Wys. It is pronounced "veez". In French the announcements are known Flowers scores single
as "annonces". Shields scores double
Bells scores double
The Stöck
Obenabe scores treble
Undenufe scores quadruple
A combination of king and ober of trumps, held by the same player in her hand,
generally scores 20 points and is known as Stöck. This is not a kind of Weis and
cannot be invalidated by another player's Weis. Stöck can be announced and scored  Acorns, Shields, Bells, Flowers: play with the specified suit as trumps. If
when both the cards have been shown: either when the second of the two cards is your cards have Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades instead of the Swiss
been played, or when the cards are exposed as part of a Weis. Alternatively it can be suits then the black suits score single and the red suits score double.
claimed at any later time, up until the counting of points won in tricks at the end of  Obenabe: Play with no trumps. So that the pack will add up to the usual
the play of that hand. Stöck can be claimed and scored before the two cards have 157 points, the 8s also count eight points each.
have appeared in play or as part of an exposed announcement only if the player or  Undenufe: Play with no trumps, and the suits inverted. The suit order is
team thereby gets enough points to win the game. thus 6 (highest), 7, 8, 9, Banner, Under, Ober, King, Ace (lowest). As in
Obenabe, the 8s count eight points each. Undenufe is pronounced with
Schieber Jass the d and the f silent.

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The single, double, treble, and quadruple apply to all scores made on the hand: tricks, Some do not allow Obenabe and Undenufe.
Weis, and Stöck.
The object of the game is to be the first to achieve 3000 points. Some players regard
Rules of Play being the first to achieve 1500 points as a subsidiary object. This is known as
the Bergpreis: the partnership that first gets to 1500 is first to the summit of the
The play is in tricks. Forehand leads to the first trick (on the first hand this is the mountain (Berg, in German), while the primary object is to get down the other side of
holder of the seven of flowers; on subsequent hands it is the player to dealer's right). the mountain again. This is thought to have something to do with bicycle races.
The winner of each trick leads to the next.
Schieber Jass can be played by six players, in two partnerships of three, sitting
If there is no trump suit, the other players are obliged to follow suit when they can do alternately. Forehand can shove to the partner sitting two places to her right, who
so; those who cannot follow suit may play any card. A trick is won by the highest card can shove to the third partner. Using a normal Jass pack everyone gets 6 cards, but it
of the suit led. is also possible to play with a double pack from which the cards below 9 are
removed, so that there are 48 cards and everyone gets 8. When playing with a double
If there is a trump suit, a player who is able to follow suit must either do so or play a pack the second played of two equal cards beats the first.
trump; a player who cannot follow suit may play any card subject to the restrictions
on undertrumping explained below. A trick is won by the highest trump in it; or if Most people nowadays play that in Undenufe, the Aces are worth 0 points and the 6s
there were no trumps, by the highest card of the suit led. are worth 11 points. In our opinion this is a pity, as it makes the play less interesting.
Some people (usually the same ones) allow four 6s as a Weis when playing undenufe.
If a non-trump is led, and someone has already played a trump on it, subsequent This then replaces four aces.
players are not allowed to undertrump unless they have nothing but trumps in their
hand. If you hold cards other than trumps and can follow suit, you must either follow Some allow four 9s as a Weis, worth 150. Most do not.
suit or play a trump which is larger than the highest trump played to the trick so far; if
you hold cards other than trumps but cannot follow suit, you may play any card Some players now allow a Weis of four of any rank, scoring 100 (except for four
except a trump which does not beat the highest so far played to the trick. unders which are worth 200, and four nines which may by agreement score 150).

A player is never compelled to play the Under of trumps (known as the Puur). If Some people now play the "large weis", in which sequences of more than five cards
trumps are led, and a player holds no trump other than the Puur, she need not play it score extra (20 or 50 more per card), and a card can be used simultaneously as part
but may play any other card. of a four of a kind and a sequence.

Weis and Stöck Some people allow zurückschieben (shoving back), whereby after forehand has
shoved, her partner can shove back, forcing forehand to choose the contract after all.
As the first trick is being played, players announce their Weis. For an explanation of
Weis, see the General Rules of Jass. The partnership with the best single instance of There are many variations on the multiples applied to the various suits, obenabe and
Weis scores points for all their Weis; the other partnership do not score for any Weis undenuffe. Some people play all contracts scoring single, in which case the total
they may hold. Weis are scored on the slate immediately, remembering to multiply needed for game is reduced to 1000, and the target for the Bergpreis, and the
by the factor for the contract. E.G. the contract is obenabe, a player announces four amount the losers need to score to avoid Schneider, is 500.
obers, and her partner announces a sequence of three. Obenabe is worth treble, so 3
times (100 plus 20) is 360. This might be scored as three strokes on the top line of the Coiffeur Schieber is a modern variation in which each contract must be played by
slate and three on the lower line. each team (or player) once during the session - see the Coiffeur Schieber page. The
additional contracts Slalom, Gusti and TUO found in Coiffeur Schieber can also be
A player who holds both the king and ober of trumps may announce "stöck" as she introduced into normal Schieber.
plays the second of them, for 20 points. This 20 is multiplied by the factor for the
contract, and scored on the slate when it is announced. Advice on Skilful Play

Scoring Forehand should not make a "vegetable" suit (acorns or flowers) trumps unless there
is a hope of being able to make match. By choosing to play in a low-valued contract,
At the end of each hand, each side adds up the trick points they have taken, she might be preventing her partner from nominating a very profitable contract.
remembering to include 5 points for the last trick. The two totals should add up to
157. If either side took all nine tricks, they add a bonus of 100 for "match" to their If your partner shoves to you, and your hand is no use for anything, choose a low-
score of 157, making 257. Each side then multiplies its total card points for tricks by valued contract so that you will not lose too badly.
the factor for the hand, and scores it on the slate.
If you shove, and your partner calls a trump suit, lead a trump.
Winning the Game
If you have five cards in the same suit, or four cards including the Under in the same
The first team to achieve a total of 3000 points wins the game. This may happen in suit, it may be good to play a contract with that suit as trumps.
the middle of a hand. If the losing partnership have not by then reached 1500 points,
they are said to be Schneider, and the winners win two games. If you have a chance of making match, play in a way which might let you do so, even
if it is more likely to result in the unnecessary loss of one trick.
Because of the scoring method, and because players may count the values of tricks
already made in the course of a hand (without being able to turn them over and look Try never to choose a contract in which you cannot guarantee a single trick: your
at them), it may not be obvious when this total has been achieved. So any player may opponents might make match against you.
at any time claim to have won the game. When such a claim is made, play ceases, a
In choosing a contract, remember the weis. E.G. if you are dealt:
player who held the king and ober of trumps at the start of the hand may announce
stöck and score it, and the tricks made by the claiming partnership are counted and
acorns U 6
scored. Then the total recorded on the slate for that partnership is added up. If it is
shields U 9 7
then at least 3000, the claiming partnership has won. Otherwise they have lost.
flowers A U
bells U 8
If one partnership claims to have won in the first trick of a hand, the other
partnership may itself claim to have won. The question is then, who won first? In
consider bidding undenufe. You probably won't do very well in the play (shields
cases in which both partnerships claim, the question is resolved by using the
would play better). But you are guaranteed one trick so you won't have match made
rule Stöck-Weis-Stich. First of all, Stöck is scored (the hand has ended, so it may be
against you, and the 200 Weis for four unders will be multiplied by four. So you will
announced by anyone who held it). If this takes the partnership scoring it to 3000 or
score at least 800 points. Of course, you should consider how many points each
over, then they win. Then Weis is scored. Again, if this takes the partnership scoring it
partnership needs before deciding whether to do this.
to 3000 or over, then they win. Finally, Stich is scored, by adding up the points in the
trick that has been played, and seeing if the partnership winning it has achieved In choosing a contract, consider the score. If you are well behind, you should be more
3000. inclined to take risks and choose high-valued contracts, in the hope of catching up.

Variations The score may also affect the way that you play. The validity of any of the above
items of advice may be affected by the score.
The Stöck-Weis-Stich rule is variable. Sometimes the house rule is Stöck-Stich-Weis,
or another permutation. In some Swiss cafés, you will see a notice saying "Stöck- If you are playing a suit contract, and an opponent leads the Ace of a side suit in
Weis-Stich" or whatever: this is the local house rule, hung up by the management to which you hold the King, you can trump the Ace and then lead the King to win
avoid disputes among customers. another trick. This is possible in Jass games because of the trumping rule, which is
different from that in whist or bridge.

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124
Klaverjassen 4

Introduction 1. If you cannot follow suit, you must always play a trump if you can;
Klaverjassen is one of the most popular card games in the Netherlands, traditionally 2. When playing a trump, you must beat any trumps already played to
played in cafes and social clubs, as well as at home. The game is for 4 players who the trick if you can (this applies when trumps are led, and also when a
play in pairs, sitting opposite each other. The game has a number of variants, named non-trump card was led which another player has already trumped);
after the cities where they originated: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. This 3. If you have no card of the suit led and no trumps you may play any
description is of the Amsterdam version, with some notes describing the variations. card.
Another variation of Klaverjas is known as Kraken or Wilde Boom; this is
described near the end of this page. Bonus Points
The Pack The bonus points for taking a combination of cards in a trick are called roem. The
commonest type of roem is a run, or unbroken sequence of cards in a suit. For
A 32 card pack is used, consisting of the cards A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 in each of the usual sequences, the order of cards in each suit is ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight,
four suits - spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds. Note that on Dutch cards the corner seven. Note that this applies equally to trumps and to other suits, and is different
indices are usually A (Aas) for the ace, H (Heer) for the king, V (Vrouw) for the queen from the ranking order of the cards for trick taking purposes. The possible roem are
and B (Boer) for the jack. as follows:
The Object of the Game
 Run of three cards of the same suit - 20 bonus points
The object of the game is to score as many points as possible in 16 hands. In
competition games the players on one table will rotate so as to have had each of the  Run of four cards of the same suit - 50 bonus points
other three as a partner, so playing 3 sets of 16 hands.  Run of three cards of the same suit, including the king and queen of trumps - 40
In each hand the object of the game is for the player (and partner) who chooses bonus points
trumps to collect more than half of the available points. If they fail to do this then
they score nothing at all and the opposing pair receives all of the points.  Run of four cards of the same suit, including the king and queen of trumps - 70
bonus points
Points are collected by taking tricks containing valuable cards, and also as bonus
points during the play.  Four kings, queens aces or tens - 100 bonus points
Deal and play are clockwise and the turn to deal passes to the left fo the previous  Four jacks - 200 bonus points
dealer after each hand.
The Deal
 King and queen of trumps (stuk) - 20 bonus points
There is also a bonus of 10 points for the team who took the last trick and an
The cards are shuffled and dealt, not as single cards, but in 3 groups, first three cards additional 100 bonus points if one team takes all the tricks.
to each player, then two cards, then three cards. Sometimes the cards are dealt in
two groups of four cards. The player to the left of the dealer chooses trumps. Bonus points are noted on the score sheet as follows:
The Ranking and Values of the Cards I - 20 points
II - 40 points
In each hand one suit will be trumps. The ranking of the cards and their values are V - 50 points
different in the suit chosen as trumps from the other suits. The ranking, from high to VI - 70 points
low, and the card values are as follows: O - 100 points
OO - 200 points
high ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... low Players use their skill to collect bonus points in the tricks that they or their partners
take, and avoid giving bonus points to the opposing pair. When bonus points are
Trump Jack Nine Ace Ten King Quee Eight Seven made they must be claimed by the pair who win the trick in order for them to be
suit n counted. It is sometimes correct deliberately not to claim bonus points; this happens
if your team chose trumps, but you expect to lose the hand (in which case the bonus
card 20 14 11 10 4 3 0 0 would go to the opposing team).
values Scoring
Other Ace Ten King Queen Jack Nine Eight Seven At the end of each hand the points in the tricks of both teams are counted. Each
suits team then adds the bonus points collected. If the team of the player who made
trumps has more points than their opponents, then each team is credited with the
card 11 10 4 3 2 0 0 0 points they obtained. If the team of the player who made trumps fail to take more
values points than their opponents, then the team which made trumps score no points at
all, and all the points for the hand, including bonus points collected by both sides, are
This gives 152 card points in the pack in total. There are 10 extra points for the last credited to the opposing team.
trick, bringing the total to 162, in addition to which bonus points may be scored.
If no extra bonus points are obtained then the points in one hand add up to 162 (152
Choosing Trumps: There are a number of ways of deciding trumps. The players must for the cards and 10 for the last trick). The team which chooses trumps must
agree before beginning to play which system will be used: therefore obtain at least 82 points in order to score.
Free choice. Signalling
The player to dealer's left, having looked at his hand, can choose any suit Signalling to your partner is an accepted part of the game, and is necessary to skilful
as trumps or pass. If he passes, the next player has the same options, play. The most important signals are discards to indicate to partner which is your own
and so on clockwise around the table. If all four players pass, the player strong suit, and leads to indicate the strength of your trumps. There are many ways
to dealer's left must choose trumps. of doing this, the most common being:
Variation. Some play that the dealer has first chance to play, followed by
the other players in clockwise order. If all pass the dealer must play.
Utrecht (compulsory play)
Same suit signals.
The player to the left of the dealer must play. He chooses a trump suit
after seeing his hand. Here you discard a low card (7, 8 or 9) of a particular suit to indicate that
you have the ace (the highest card) of the same suit. Discarding a picture
Random trump. card of a suit warns your partner not to lead that suit.
A second pack of cards is shuffled and the top card turned over to Opposite suit signals.
determine trumps. The player to the left of the dealer has the choice of
playing with the given trump or passing. If he passes then the player to Here you play any card of a red or black suit to indicate that you are
his left is given the same choice. If all four players pass then another strong in the other suit of the same colour. For example, playing the
trump is chosen according to one of the following methods (to be agreed queen of hearts indicates to your partner that you have a strong
in advance): diamonds. This method of signalling allows you to preserve a long suit
and discard unwanted single cards.
1. Another card from the second pack is turned over; the player to the
left of the dealer must play using this trump.
2. The player to the left of the dealer elects trump. This must not be Lead signal.
the same suit as has already been passed by everyone. The player who chooses trumps and leads the first card can indicate that
The Play he has a weak trump hand. If he has the jack of trumps (the highest
trump) but little else, he leads a low card of another suit. If he does not
Irrespective of who chose trumps, the player to the left of the dealer leads to the first have the jack, then he should lead the ace of another suit. His partner
trick. The other three players must follow suit if possible. If no trumps are played, the then knows if it is safe to lead trumps or not.
highest card of the suit led, according to the ranking order listed above, takes the
trick. If the trick contains trumps, the highest trump wins. The player taking the trick The signalling systems to be used between partners should be discussed (and
leads the next trick and so on. announced to the opponents) before commencing play, to avoid confusion.
There are two versions of the rules governing the playing of trumps: Three Player Variation
Amsterdam Rules If there are only three players then each player receives 10 cards, in batches of 4, 3
and 3. After the first batch of 3 cards to each player, two cards are placed face down
1. If you cannot follow suit and the card which is winning the trick so far in the middle of the table.
has been played by the opposing team then you must beat this card with
a trump if you can. If they are winning with a trump, you must play a The player to the left of the dealer can elect to play with a trump suit of his choice or
higher trump if you can. If you have no higher trump you must throw pass. If he passes then the player to his left can play or pass. If he passes too then the
away a card of another (non-trump) suit. You are not allowed to dealer can play or pass. If all 3 players pass then the dealer shuffles and deals again.
undertrump (play a lower trump) unless your hand consists entirely of Once a player has elected to play he adds the two spare cards to his hand without
lower trumps; showing them, and then discards two cards face down to one side. Normal play now
takes place, except that there are 10 tricks. The player who takes the last trick also
2. If you cannot follow suit and the card which is winning the trick so far takes the two spare cards.
is your partner's, then you may play any card of any suit, except that if
your partner's winning card is a trump, you are not allowed to Each player plays for his own points, but tries also to prevent the player who made
undertrump unless your hand consists entirely of lower trumps; trumps from obtaining more than half the points. If the trump maker succeeds in
taking more than half the points, each of the three players scores the points he has
3. If trumps are led then subsequent players must beat the highest taken. If the trump maker takes half the points or less, he scores nothing, and both of
trump so far played to the trick if they can, even if this highest trump his opponents score the total points in the hand, including any bonus points.
was played by their partner. If they cannot beat the highest trump so far
played, they must play a lower trump. If they have no trumps at all, they Other Variations
can play any card. Rather than playing 16 deals, some play up to an agreed target score, for example
Rotterdam Rules 1500.
Kraken

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This version is also known as Wilde Boom (wild tree). After the trump maker has  Kraak, rekraak, etc. and the double when spades are trumps only affect the 162
chosen trumps, each of his opponents in turn (first the player to the left of the trump points for cards and the last trick, not the points for roem.
maker and then the player to the right) has the opportunity to challenge this,
saying "ik kraak" or "contra". An opponent will challenge if they think that the player  If the trump making team (without kraak) or the team that announced the final
choosing trumps will not get more than half the points. This challenge automatically kraak fails to get more than half the points, then their opponents score the
doubles the final scores. If there is a challenge, the trump maker or his partner can whole 162 for cards and last trick, but each side scores its own roem.
challenge back (herkraken or rekraken or ré), again doubling the points (so they are  When scoring the hand, each team's card point score is divided by 10 and
multiplied by 4 altogether). The opponents can then challenge again (superkraken) rounded to the nearest whole number (it is not clear, but 0.5 is probably
so that the points are multiplied by eight. rounded down) before applying any doubles.
As well as scoring for card combinations (roem) in tricks, the players can also claim
before playing to the first trick for any scoring combinations they have in their hands.  Each team must say kraak to the opponents' trump choice at least four times
As in normal Klaverjas four jacks are worth 200, four aces, kings, queens or tens are during the 16 deals.
worth 100, a run of three is worth 20, and a run of four is worth 50. In addition, a run  Crosses are scored as follows.
of five or more cards of a suit in hand scores 100 points. The team with the highest
scoring single combination scores all its combinations and the other team scores o The team with the lower total point score after 16 hands gets 4 crosses.
nothing for theirs. Between two equal valued combinations the one containing the
highest card wins. A player who holds the king and queen of trumps (stuk) can always o If a team wins all the tricks (pit) in any deal their opponents get 1 cross, or
score for them irrespective of which team has the best instance of roem in hand. Stuk 2 if spades are trumps.
is not claimed at the start: the 20 points for stuk can be claimed during the play when o If there is a kraak the losing team gets 2 crosses for a simple kraak, or 4
playing either card, irrespective of which team had the highest combination. crosses for a rekraak, or 8 crosses for a superkraak: if spades are trumps
The play follows the rules of normal Klaverjassen. If there has been one or the number of crosses is doubled: 4 for kraak, 8 for rekraak, 16 for
more kraak, the side which announced the last kraak needs more points than their superkraak.
opponents to win, and whichever team wins scores all the points in the game, the  At the end of the 16 deals the crosses scored by the two teams are compared
other team scoring nothing. These points are doubled, redoubled etc according to the and the team with more crosses has to pay according to the difference, an
kraaks before the beginning of play. agreed amount per cross.
If spades are trumps then an extra double is automatically applied to the final scores. Dutch Terminology
The web page Leuke kaartspelen describes a version of Kraken where the final score Nel - the nine of trumps
is in kruizen (crosses). 16 deals are played (each player deals four times) and object is Roem - bonus points for sets and sequences
to avoid getting crosses. In this version: Stuk - the king and queen of trumps
 The first player, to the left of the dealer, must choose trumps (Utrecht rules). Nat or beet - not getting more that half of the points
Pit or mars - when one team wins all the tricks
 The play of the cards is according to Amsterdam rules. Boom (tree) - the set of 16 deals which make up a game (or however many deals it
 If one side wins all the tricks (pit) they score an extra 100 roem. takes before the winning team reaches 1500, if you play that way)
Kleur seinen - same suit signalling
Tegenkleur seinen - opposite suit signalling

Klaberjass 2

Klaberjass or Bela is a trick-taking Ace-Ten card game that is most popular Players continue to play tricks until all cards have been played. The player that wins
in German communities. In its basic form it is a 9-card trick-and-draw game for two the last trick is awarded ten points.
players using a 32-card piquet pack.
The game originates from the Low Countries. An early form was first described in an Scoring
1821 Dutch book under a name that translates as klaver Jas, Jas being Dutch for Jack. At the end of the round, players will count the point cards from the tricks won.
Klaberjass has spawned the Jack–Nine family of card games, which consists mostly of
four-player elaborations of the original game. In addition to the Dutch and Swiss Card Point Values
national card games Klaverjas and Jass, the group contains Belote, which is the most
popular game in countries such as France, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Saudi Arabia. The  Jack (trump): 20 points
related game of Frantsfuus or Tatteln is recorded as early as 1802 in Denmark.  9 (trump): 14points
 Ace: 11 points
Needed  10: 10 points
32 card deck (aces down to the 7s); two players, pen and paper for scorekeeping  King: 4 points
Deal
 Queen: 3 points
Six cards are dealt to each player in sets of three cards. The top card of the remaining  Jack (non-trump): 2 points
deck is flipped up and partially placed under the deck. The suit of the flipped up card
is the trump suit for the round. Other Scoring
Objective
 4 or more sequence: 50 points
The object of the game is to be the first player to score 500 points. Points are scored  3 sequence: 20 points
through winning tricks that include cards with point values. Points are also scored for  Bella (explained in rules): 20 points
having the best sequence, having a bella, and winning the last trick.  Last trick: 10 points
Card Rank If the player that determines trump ties the non-trump maker in points, the
(Highest to lowest) determiner does not score any points. If the player that determines the trump suit
scores less points than the non-trump maker, the non-trump maker scores his/her
 Trump suit: Jack, 9, Ace, 10, King, Queen, 8, 7 points plus the determiners points from the round.
 Non-trump suits: Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7
Rules
 Sequences: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7
 A player must follow suit by playing a card in the same suit that was led when
possible. If a player cannot follow suit, the player must play a trump card to
Game Play win the trick if possible. If a player cannot follow suit or trump, any card can be
The player that determines the trump suit must score more points than the opponent played.
during the round. The non-dealer has the first option to make the flipped up card suit
the trump suit for the round, or the non-dealer can pass, which gives the option to  If a trump suited card is led, an opponent must beat the trump card played if
the dealer. If both players pass on the flipped up card suit for trump, the option to possible.
call any other suit as the trump suit is given to the non-dealer. If the non-dealer  Only one sequence can be scored for during a round. A sequence must be at
passes again, the option moves to the dealer. least three cards in a row of the same suit. The sequence with higher ranking
cards wins when both players have an equal length sequence. A sequence with
Once a trump suit is established, the dealer will deal three more cards to each player. more cards in it beats any sequence with fewer cards in it.
The bottom card is also flipped up for each player to see. This card has no impact on  If you have the king and queen of the trump suit in your hand, it is known as
the game play. It just allows the players to know one more card. bella. You can score 20 points by announcing bella as you are playing the
second of the two cards into a trick.
Before the tricks are played, any player with a sequence of three or more cards in the  If you hold the 7 of trumps, you can exchange it for the flipped up card from
same suit can score points for it. Only the player with the best sequence will score for the deal. This must be done before playing a card into the first trick.
it. A sequence of four or more cards is worth 50 points. A sequence of three cards is
worth 20 points.
 If both players pass on making the flipped up card trump, and both pass again
to determine any trump suit, the hand is folded, and the deal moves to the
next player.
The non-dealer is the first to play a card into the middle. A player must follow suit by
playing a card in the same suit that was led whenever possible. The player with the
 If both players go over 500 points in the same round, the player with the
higher overall score wins the game.
higher ranking trump card will win the trick. If no trump cards are played, the player
with the higher ranking card in the lead suit will win the trick. The player that wins
the trick will lead the next trick.

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Schnapsen 2

Schnapsen (or Schnapser) is a popular Austrian two-hander. It is essentially a scores 20 points (for a plain marriage) or 40 points (for a royal marriage, i.e., a
tightened-up version of the classic German game Sechsundsechzig. Other closely marriage in trumps). The player declares "20" or "40" and must lead one of the two
related games include Tausendeins (Austria), Tute (Spain), Tyziacha (Russia, Ukraine cards to the trick and show the other card. Although a marriage can be melded any
and Poland) and Snapszli (Hungary), but anyone familiar with any member of the Ace- time that a player has the lead, the score does not count until the melder has taken a
Ten family (such as Pinochle) will grasp the essentials quickly. Schnapsen is an trick. So for example, a player may declare 40 for the King-Queen of trumps on the
inherently tense game that requires a lot of concentration and so isn't good for opening lead, but if she doesn't take a trick by the end of the hand her score is zero.
socializing, but it's a challenging game whose interest never wavers.
Exhausting the Talon
The Idea of the Game
If no one closes, eventually the last two cards of the talon are drawn - the last face-
Schnapsen is a point-trick game of the Marriage group, and so the basic idea is to win down card goes to the winner of this trick and the face-up trump to the loser. After
points by capturing valuable cards in tricks, and to make bonuses by melding this the rules of play change and become more strict. Players must follow suit; also,
marriages (matched pairs of kings and queens). However, there are a few ideas that subject to the requirement to follow suit the second player must beat the led card if
set Schnapsen apart. The first is that the game is played at trick-and-draw with no possible. This means that if your opponent leads a non-trump:
requirement to follow suit until the talon of undealt cards is exhausted or closed, at
which point the tricks remaining in hand are played out strictly, F,t,r. The second is 1. you must play a higher card of the same suit if you can;
that to win a hand you need 66 card points, and the players are required to keep 2. failing this you must play a lower card of the same suit;
track of their score in their heads -- the use of a scoresheet is not allowed. If your
score reaches 66 and you neglect to announce the fact, then your opponent can 3. if you have no card of the suit that was led you must play a trump;
claim a win when they reach 66, irrespective of your score; also, if a player claims 66
when they have not in fact made it, they pay a penalty. A game is seven game points, 4. if you have no trumps either you may play anything.
and can be reached pretty quickly when penalties and bonuses come into play.
Finally, the pack is so short that there's no dead wood: virtually every card counts and If your opponent leads a trump:
it can be agony trying to decide how to play each one. The short pack also allows a 1. you must play a higher trump if possible;
pretty complete understanding of the lay of the cards to build up quickly, and closing
turns out to be the key element of strategy. Very few games are played out to the 2. if you have no higher trump you must play a lower trump;
end of the pack, and the decision of when to close can be used as a blow to crush
your opponent or as a gamble to prevent her from presenting you with the same 3. if you have no trumps at all you may play anything.
fate. Closing
A typical game proceeds as follows. The hands are dealt and one of the undealt cards At any point, when it is her turn to lead, either player may close the talon, by flipping
is turned up as trump. The hands are played out at trick-and-draw as the players vie over the trump turn-up and placing it face-down on the top of the talon. This is an
to build up strength (usually in trumps) to allow them to close the talon. They also undertaking to reach at least 66 card points using only the cards in one's hand. After
watch for valuable melds (marriages and the trump Jack, which can be swapped for the talon is closed, no more cards can be drawn from it, and the remaining cards are
the valuable turn-up trump) that can swing the hand to a rapid close. All the while played according to the same rules as when the talon is exhausted: follow suit and
the players are keeping track of their own scores and their opponent's. At some point head the trick if possible, otherwise trump.
one of the players may flip over the turn-up, signalling that the deck is closed and the
cards remaining in hand are played out, with no replacement from the talon, The talon can only be closed after drawing a replacement card, when the players
following suit strictly, trumping and heading the trick when required. Usually one have hands of five cards each. It is possible to exchange the trump Jack for the trump
player draws trumps and announces 66 before the hand is played out. But if she calls indicator card and then also close the talon before leading to the next trick.
it incorrectly, her opponent wins a big bonus.
Note that in Schnapsen, unlike the German game 66, it is still possible to meld a
The Cards marriage when leading to a trick, even after the talon has been closed. Therefore a
non-dealer who is dealt the Ace, King and Queen of trumps can do the following:
Schnapsen is played with a 20-card French- or German-suited pack. Austrian close the talon, lead the Ace, then declare 40 and lead the King followed by the
Schnapsen packs come with 24 cards, as for Sechsundsechzig; you should strip out Queen. The opponent cannot have more than one trump (one is in the talon), so this
the Nines before playing. To play with a standard 52-card international pack, remove will win unless the opponent is able to put fewer than 8 card points on these three
the cards from Two to Nine inclusive. tricks, and then win the remaining two tricks.
The ranks and values of the cards, from high to low, follow the usual Central Going Out
European model:
A player who believes she has 66 or more points can declare this fact, claiming to
French suited German suited card Point value have won the hand. Play ceases immediately. A claim may be made just after winning
card a trick or just after declaring a marriage, but not at any other time.
At this point there are two possibilities: the player claiming to be out is right, or she is
Ace (Ass) Deuce / Sow (Daus / Sau) 11 wrong. If she is right, she scores points toward game as follows:
Ten (Zehner) Ten (Zehner) 10  one game point, if the opponent has made at least 33 points;

King (König) King (König) 4  two game points, if the opponent has made fewer than 33 points, but has won
at least one trick (opponent is said to be Schneider);
Queen (Dame) Over (Ober) 3  three game points, if the opponent has won no tricks (opponent is said to
be Schwarz).
Jack (Bube) Under (Unter) 2
If she is wrong, the opponent scores 2 game points, or 3 game points if the false claim
With German cards, the highest card is in fact the two (Daus), although it is is made before the opponent has taken a trick.
sometimes called the ace (Ass), and often the Sow (Sau), since it is a fat card, worth
many points. Note also that, in the absence of a queen, same-sex marriages are When a player closes the talon, reaches 66 points and goes out, the score is based on
between the König and Ober. In fact Obers are sometimes referred to as Queens the tricks and points that the opponent had at the moment when the talon was
(Damen) and Unters as Jacks (Buben). closed: 1 game point if the opponent had 33 or more card points, 2 if the opponent
had at least one trick but fewer than 33 points, and 3 if the talon was closed before
The Deal the opponent won a trick. (This method of scoring is called Viennese closing
(Wienerisch Zudrehen) or dark closing (Zudrehen finster).)
Determine the dealer by any acceptable means; thereafter, the deal alternates
between the players. After the shuffle and cut, deal a batch of three cards to each If a player closes and subsequently fails to reach 66 and go out, the penalty is 2 points
player. The next card is placed face up on the table to determine the trump suit. Then to the opponent, or 3 if the opponent had no tricks when the talon was closed. These
another batch of two cards is dealt to each player, so that the players have five cards scores apply however few card points the opponent has taken. Note that it is not
each. Finally the remaining undealt cards are stacked face down crosswise on top of possible to go out after losing a trick. Therefore, if a player closes and plays on to the
the trump, so that the value of the trump card can still be seen. These ten cards form last card, but loses the last trick, his opponent automatically wins because the closing
the talon, from which the players draw after each trick. player cannot go out at this point, even if it turns out that he actually had 66 or more
points.
The Play
The same scores of 2 or 3 game points apply in the unusual case where
Non-dealer leads to the first trick. In the first part of the hand, a trick is taken by the the opponent of the player who closed reaches 66 and wins by claiming first, before
highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump if any is played. There is no the closing player has gone out.
obligation to follow suit or to trump. The trick is taken by the winner, who will count
the point value of the two cards in the trick, as per the table above, towards the total If neither player closed the talon and neither went out, i.e., play continued to the
of 66 needed to win the hand. After the trick is played, the winner of the trick takes very last trick with the talon exhausted, the player who takes the last trick wins the
the top card of the talon to replenish her hand, after which the loser does the same. hand, scoring one game point, irrespective of the number of card points the players
The winner of the trick leads to the next. have taken.
In informal ("soft") games, it is legal for a player to look through the cards in the To determine the correctness of a claim, both players' points are counted up by going
tricks that she has taken. However, when a trick is won by an opponent, you are only through the cards won in tricks and adding 20's and 40's for declared marriages,
allowed to see it until the first card is played to the next trick. though if both players agree on each other's scores this step can be skipped. (It's no
insult to ask for the points to be counted.)
The Trump Jack
When settling a claim, it may sometimes turn out that the player who did not claim
As in many Central European Ace-Ten games, the holder of the lowest trump card (in actually had 66 or more points. This does not affect the score - so long as the claim
this case the Jack) may exchange it for the trump turn-up. This can only be done by was correct, the claiming player wins, however many points the opponent had. The
the player whose turn it is to lead, just before he leads to the trick. The exchange opponent should have kept better track of the score and claimed earlier.
does not have to be made at the first possible opportunity - the holder of the trump
jack can wait and exchange after any trick that he wins, as long as cards still remain in Scoring
the talon, and the talon has not been closed. Once the talon has been closed or
exhausted, the trump jack cannot be exchanged. Both players start with 7 game points, and subtract the game points they win. The
overall winner is the first player whose score reaches or passes zero.
Marriages / Pairs
Comments on Strategy
A "marriage" or "pair" (the matched King and Queen, or King and Ober, of any suit)
may be melded at the start of any trick by the player whose turn it is to lead. This

127
Nearly every card in Schnapsen counts. There's almost no deadwood, so you have to In some tournaments, when a player closes the talon and wins, the score is based on
think carefully about what you want to do with each card. Aces and Tens are worth a the opponent's total card points and tricks, including tricks taken after the talon was
lot of points, but you can't safely lead them in the first half because your opponent is closed. It is only when the player who closes the talon loses that the score is based on
likely to trump them. You want to hold on to Kings and Queens because of the the state of the game at the moment when the talon was closed.
potential for marriages, but of course your opponent is probably holding the mates Many sources state that if a player makes a false claim to have reached 66, the
so you will need to discard them eventually. This leaves only three Jacks that you can opponent scores as many game points as the player who went out would have scored,
throw off to tricks without pain (the trump Jack you probably want to keep for the had the claim been correct: 3 if the opponent of the player who claimed had no tricks,
exchange). Of course you'll be forced to break these rules on occasion. You might pull 2 points if the opponent had at least one trick but less than 33 card points, or just 1 if
trump with Aces or Tens when holding a long non-trump suit. It can be advantageous the opponent had more than 33 card points. This rule has the defect that a player can
to not have the lead in the first half, so that you can win tricks with Tens and Aces to avoid Schneider by deliberately making a false claim. Suppose your opponent has
gain points, but you need to be able to get the lead back in order to meld marriages. about 50-60 card points when you win your first trick, and you do not expect to reach
But there are so few cards in your hand, and the talon runs out so quickly, that you 33 before your opponent wins, you can limit your opponent's score to 1 point by
usually can't manage to make plans like these work. claiming to have won yourself: since your claim if correct would score you only 1 point.
the incorrect claim gives only 1 point to your opponent. This tactic is not in the spirit of
Closing at the right time is the key tactic of the game. You need to count your points, the game, and to avoid it it is better to give at least 2 points for any incorrect claim as
and always keep a count of the sure points that you could win if you closed, along in the main account.
with the average points you'd gain from your opponent. The minute you have a sure Bauernschnapsen (Farmer's Schnapsen) - an elaborated four-handed partnership
(or likely) 66, you should close and rake in your game points. You also need to count version of Schnapsen - and Talon-Schnapsen - a version of Schnapsen for three players
your opponent's points, so that you can change your strategy when you think she's - are described on a separate page.
about to close (quickly using your trump to be sure to cross the Rubicon of 33 points, Sechsundsechzig
for example). A risky close might be indicated if your opponent can be made The German progenitor of Schnapsen, Sechsundsechzig ("Sixty-Six"), is similar, but
Schneider or Schwarz. differs in several important details, and is described on a separate page. Here is a
Don't be put off your stride by a few bad hands; Schnapsen allows exciting come- summary of the differences.
from-behind wins. There's nothing like winning the game after your opponent is  66 is played with 24 cards, including the nines. 6 cards are dealt to each
ahead 1-7! player. The 9 can be exchanged for the face up trump card. (Schnapsen is
played with only 20 cards and the Jack/Unter can be exchanged for the
Martin Tompa has published two Schnapsen strategy pages: the Schnapsen face up trump.)
Log and Winning Strategy for Schnapsen or Sixty-Six and a book Winning Schnapsen.  In 66, from the moment that the talon is exhausted or the trump is
Variants turned down, no further 20's or 40's can be declared. (In Schnapsen 20's
and 40's can be declared in any trick.)
The game described above is sometimes known as "soft Schnapsen" (weiches  In 66, if the talon is not closed and no one goes out, the last trick is
Schnapsen). There is a stricter version, known as "sharp Schnapsen" (scharfes worth 10 card points if the talon is exhausted, and the player with the
Schnapsen) in which the rules differ as follows: higher card point total scores 1, 2 or 3 game points. It is possible for a
deal to be drawn. (In Schnapsen the winner of the last trick always wins
 The winner of each trick turns it face down and it cannot be looked at again until just 1 game point in this situation.)
the end of the play. It is therefore important for players to remember how many
card points they have taken: these scores may not be written down or otherwise  In 66, when the talon is closed, all the opponent's tricks, including those
recorded. taken after the talon is closed, are counted when determining the score.
(In Schnapsen the score is normally determined by the tricks the
 The talon cannot be closed when only two cards remain in it (the face up trump opponent had at the moment of closing.)
and one face down card).  In 66 the talon can be closed either before or after drawing from the
 When declaring 20 or 40, the player must lead the King, not the Queen talon. (In Schnapsen it can only be closed after drawing.)
(Ober).  In 66, the opponent of a player who closes may at the moment of closing
 The Jack (Unter) of trumps cannot be exchanged by a player who has not exchange the 9 for the face up trump, even having won no tricks. (In
yet won a trick, not can it be exchanged when only two cards remain in Schnapsen this is not allowed.)
the talon. With this strict rule, the trump can only be exchanged just
before leading to the second, third or fourth trick.  In 66 the winner of each hand deals the next. (In Schnapsen the players
deal alternately.)
 A marriage or pair cannnot be declared until the player has won a trick.  The game of 66 is scored from zero upwards. The first player to 7 wins.
Therefore the non-dealer cannot declare one when leading to the first (Schnapsen is scored downwards from 7 to zero.)
trick.

Briscola 2-6

Introduction reverse the role of the Queen and Jack. The card order is then Ace (11), Three (10),
Briscola is a trick taking game - that is, the object of the game is to take cards which King (4), Jack (3), Queen (2), 7, 6, 5, 4, 2.
gives you (or your team) a high score. It is popular in Italy and it uses the Italian 40 Two player Briscola
card deck. It is often played with Italian cards, which have suits of coins, cups, batons This is the easiest version of the game, and will serve as a basis for the multiplayer
and swords, but you may play using a standard international 52-card deck, just by versions.
removing the Jokers, eights, nines and tens. The same game is played in the coastal
One of the two players shuffles the deck and deals three cards to each player. He
regions of Slovenia and Croatia under the name Briškula.
then takes a card (the seventh, in this case) and puts it face up near the pile of
Briscola may be played by two, three, four or six players. There is a special undealt cards, which are placed face down. The face-up card suit defines which will
version Briscola Chiamata for five players, which is strongly recommended. be the Briscola suit for the game. The Briscola suit is the trump suit, i.e. the suit which
Rank and value of cards always takes all other cards, card ranking notwithstanding.
In order to define which card wins a particular trick, we must first define a card The game starts. The first to play is the player to the right of the dealer. In the two
ranking, given from highest to lowest: player version, this means that the non-dealer (A) will start.
ace, three, king, queen, jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2. A leads one of his three cards, face up.
Also, the cards have a point value: B plays one of his cards, and wins or loses the trick according to these three simple
Ace 11 points rules:
1. If B plays a card of the same suit as the card led by A, then the trick is
Three 10 points won by whoever played the higher card - the winner takes both cards
King 4 points away, and puts them, face down, in a pile near him.
2. If B plays a card which has a different suit from the card which A led, but
Quee 3 points neither card is a Briscola (trump), A wins the trick, and the cards will go
n to A, even if B's card was of higher rank.
Jack 2 points 3. If B plays a card of a different suit from A's, and one of the cards is a
Briscola (trump), then the player of the Briscola wins the trick.
The remaining cards have no point value.
Example (Briscola is the four of spades):
Briscola is often played with Italian cards with suits of swords (spade), clubs (bastoni),
cups (coppe) and coins (danari). In this case the picture cards rank in the order  Player A leads the 5 of clubs.
King (re) (4 points), Horse (cavallo) (3 points), Jack (fante) (2 points). In North  Player B plays the ace of clubs. B takes the trick (Rule 1).
America, Italian cards in various regional patterns can be obtained from TaroBear's  Player A leads the 5 of hearts.
Lair.  Player B plays the King of clubs. Player A takes the trick (Rule 2)
As you see, the total value of cards in the deck adds up to 120 points. The player (or  Player A leads the ace of diamonds.
team) which scores at least 61 points in a game wins. Games can end in a draw when
both reach the same point total (60), and usually Briscola is played to the best of  Player B plays 6 of spades (briscola). He wins the round (Rule 3).
three or five games. Note that Briscola is unlike many card games, in that there is no obligation for the
Note on card order second player to play a card of the same suit as the first card or to trump it, just
because he can. The second player is free to play any of his cards.
Most books, when describing how to play Briscola with French suited cards (hearts,
clubs, diamonds and spades) use the above card order King (4), Queen (3), Jack (2), Note that if both players play a briscola, rule 1 dictates that the higher ranking card
which is normal in northern Italy. However, many players, especially in the south, wins.

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After each trick, each player draws a card from the pile of undealt cards. The winner o The leader cannot ask specifically about the Ace or 3
of the trick draws first, followed by the loser. The player who won the trick then leads 3. Whether partner can head a trick without playing trump.
to the next one. 4. Whether partner has Carichi - that is A or 3 of any non-trump suits.
Eventually the undealt cards will be used up, and at this point the loser of the trick The orders the leader may give to partner are very similar:
just played will draw the face up Briscola card. The game then continues, without
drawing cards, until all the cards have been played.  to play a Liscio
At the end, each player takes the pile of cards he won in tricks during the game, and  to play trump (high or low)
counts up the points according to the point scale shown above. The player with more  to head the trick without playing a trump
points wins, or if each has 60, it is a draw.  to play a Carico.
Variations Six player Briscola
Some people play that if the turned-up card, the one that indicates the trump suit, is This works in the same way as the four player version. The two teams are made up of
an ace or a three (the two strongest cards), the card is put back in the middle of the three players each:
deck and another card is turned up.
Some play that the winner is the first player to reach 120 points: unless one player A B
wins all the tricks this will take two deals, one by each player.
Four player Briscola D C
The game remains more or less the same, but the two pairs of players sit face to face,
and each pair plays as a team. Playing proceeds counter-clockwise. E F
When playing the 4 or 6 players partnership versions of Briscola, most groups allow A, C and E play against D, B, F. The deck is reduced to 36 cards by taking away the
some communication between partners either by conversation or by visual signals. two's.
See below.
The signals or conversation are the same as in four-player Briscola. If verbal
The player to the right of the dealer leads first. The other players may play any card communication is allowed, from the second trick onwards the leader to the trick may
(there is no requirement to follow suit). If no one plays a Briscola the trick is won by ask for information from or give instructions to either partner.
the highest card of the suit led. If one or more players plays a Briscola, the highest
Schembil
Briscola wins.
This variant of six-player Briscola is played in Northern Africa and also in Southern
Each player in turn, starting with the winner of the trick, then draws a card from the
Italy especially Sicily. Only 36 cards are used - the twos are omitted from the normal
undealt pile. The winner of the trick then leads to the next one.
40-card pack.
When the undealt cards are used up, the next player draws the Briscola card, and the
The six players are divided in two teams of three. Each team chooses a captain,
game continues without drawing until all the cards have been played.
known as the “rais” - normally they will choose the most skilful member of their
Example: team.
The players are A, B, C, D, placed around a table like this: As usual three cards each are dealt, and players replenish their hands by drawing a
card from the stock at the end of each trick.
A
The rais of each team can ask certain questions of his partners and direct their play.
The possible questions and orders are the same as in four- and six-player Briscola -
D B
see above, but asked or given by the rais of either team, not the leader to the trick.
The other players are not allowed to speak except to answer questions asked by
C their rais.
A and C play together against B and D. A deals the cards. Briscola (the thirteenth When the stock is exhausted, the rais is allowed to look at the cards of just one of his
card) comes up as a three of hearts. partners (generally he chooses the partner to his right).
Three player Briscola
 D, who sits counter-clockwise from A, plays first, and leads the 4 of
spades. It's played the same as the two player version, and the deck is reduced to 39 cards by
taking away a 2. All three players try to gain the highest number of points.
 C plays the Jack of spades.
 B plays the two of hearts. Briscola Scoperta
 If A does not play a higher Briscola, all four the cards will go to the D & B This is two-player Briscola with face up cards. Each player's hand of three cards is laid
team. out face up on the table, and the top card of the drawing stock (which will be taken
by the winner of the trick) is face up as well as the trump (briscola) at the bottom of
 A thinks that for this meagre booty (the Jack is only two points, after all)
the stock. The card values and rules of play are exactly the same as in normal two-
it is not worth using a Briscola, or perhaps he does not have one; player Briscola, but now both players have access to the same information at all
anyway, he plays the 5 of clubs. times. The only unknown cards are the cards buried in the stock between the top and
 The trick is taken by the B & D team. bottom card.
 B leads to the next trick. Briscolone
Signals 'Briscolone' means 'large briscola' and some people use this name to refer to five-
If visual signals are used, players should avoid talking about the cards they have in player Briscola (Briscola Chiamata).
hand, but signals can be used to indicate the possession of certain high cards of the Briscolone is also the name of a two-player variant of Briscola in which each player is
Briscola suit. One possible system is as follows: dealt five cards rather than three. There is no trump suit in this game so a trick is
Ace stretch the lips over the teeth simply won by the higher card of the suit that was led. The card values are the same
as in normal Briscola so there are 120 points available in each deal, but the game is
Three distort the mouth to one side continued over several deals until a player wins by reaching the agreed cumulative
target, which may be 151 points or 121 points.
King glance upwards
Briscolone is often played with the additional rule that players must follow suit. That
Queen/Knight show the tip of the tongue is, the second player to a trick must play a card of the same suit as the first player
whenever possible.
Jack shrug one shoulder Briškula in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Conversation Veselko Kelava reports that in Bosnia and Herzegovina Briškula is played with a 32-
Paolo Ronzoni reports that around Rome, many groups do not use visual signals but card pack, each suit ranking: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7. The card values are A=11, 10=10,
instead allow a limited amount of conversation. There is no talking during the first K=4, Q=3, J=2. Any number can play without partnerships, or four can play as
trick, but from the second trick onwards the player whose turn it is to lead to the partners, two against two. When the talon comes close to an end and some players
trick may ask partner for certain information: draw and some don't get a chance. Only those who drew play to the following trick,
so that all again have the same number of cards in hand.
1. Whether partner has useless cards (Lisci) in hand
2. What trumps partner has: Four-card or double Briškula
o The leader may ask about Briscoline - low trumps, from 2 to In both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, a variation is played in which four cards
6. (instead of three) are dealt to each player, and everyone plays twice to each trick:
o Or he can ask about Vestite - high trumps, K Q J, after everyone has played one card, the play continues around the table and all play a
second card. Whoever plays the highest trump or if there are none, the highest card
called vestite (dressed) because they depict human beings
of the suit that was led takes all the cards of the double trick. Everyone in turn draws
wearing clothes.
a card from the talon and then everyone draws a second card so that all have four
o Note that the 7 of trumps is neither a Briscolina nor cards again, and the winner of the previous trick leads to a new double trick.
a Vestita.

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 The trick is won by the highest trump in it, or if it contains no trumps, by the highest
Briscola Chiamata 5, 6 card of the suit that was led. The winner of each trick leads to the next.

Introduction Unlike some other forms of Briscola, in this game there are no signals and players are
not allowed to inform each other what cards they hold or advise their partners what
This popular five-player version of the Italian game Briscola differs from the parent to play. This does not necessarily mean that the game is played in stony silence. In
game in that all 40 cards are dealt at the start, and that the partnerships vary from fact it is often quite a noisy game during which which players trade jokes, insults and
deal to deal and are initially unknown. There is an auction after which the highest speculation. However, none of this conversation should give away any genuine
bidder chooses a partner by calling a card (briscola chiamata = "called briscola"). The information about cards held, and especially should not reveal who is or is not the
holder of this card is the bidder's partner and the other three players form the bidder's partner.
opposing team. There are many regional variants, the differences being mainly in the
bidding process, and the game also goes by several other names including Briscola Scoring
Bastarda, Briscolone, Briscola Assassina and Briscola Pazza.
At the end of the play the bidder and the holder of the called card combine their
A basic form of the game will be described first, followed by a number of variants. tricks and count the number of points in them. If they are successful, taking at least
61 points or at least the amount of the bid if more than 61 was bid, then the bidder
Players and Cards scores +2 points, the called partner scores +1 point and the other three players score
-1 point each. If the bidding team fails these scores are reversed: the bidder scores -2,
The game is basically for five players, but it is possible for six to take part, in which the called partner -1 and their opponents +1 each.
case the players take turns to sit out, dealing cards to the other five players and
taking no further part until the next deal. If the bid was for 71 or more points the scores are higher:

A standard Italian 40-card pack is used. This can have either Italian suits (swords,  71-80: ±4 for the bidder and ±2 for the other players
batons, cups and coins) or French suits (spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds). The  81-90: ±6 for the bidder and ±3 for the other players
Horse in the Italian suited pack corresponds to the Queen in the French suited pack.
The cards have point values, and the rank of the cards in each suit from high to low
 91-100: ±8 for the bidder and ±4 for the other players
and their values are as follows.  101+: ±10 for the bidder and ±5 for the other players

Ace 11 points Seven 0 points If the called card is in the bidder's hand the bidder counts only his or her own tricks
and scores +4 points if successful while the team of four score -1 each. If unsuccessful
the bidder score -4 and the others +1 each. For a bid of 71-80 playing alone the
Three 10 points Six 0 points
bidder scores ±8 and the others ±2, for 81-90 ±12 / ±3, for 91-100 ±16 / ±4 and for
101+ ±20 / ±5.
King 4 points Five 0 points
If one team wins all eight tricks, the scores are doubled.
Queen / Horse 3 points Four 0 points
At the start of the game, the players should agree how long they will play: the
Jack 2 points Two 0 points number of deals or the time to end. Since the scores of the players always add up to
zero, the result can be converted to money, chocolates or whatever stakes are being
The total number of points in the pack is 120. played for. Alternatively the game could go on until some target score is reached by
the highest scoring player, with agreed prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, etc. In this case
The game could be played with an international 52-card pack by removing all 10's, 9's
the players would also need to agree how to deal with ties.
and 8's.

Deal and play are counter-clockwise. Variations

The Deal Briscola Chiamata Subito al Due

The dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's left cuts. The dealer then deals out the "Called Briscola, straight to the Two". This is the same as the above game except that
whole pack to the five players, in batches of four cards at a time, so that each the bidding is for the number of points to be taken (the lowest bid being 61) and the
receives a hand of eight cards. The turn to deal passes to the right after each hand. bidder must always call a two. If the bidder names a trump suit in which he or she
holds the two, the bidder must play alone - there is no possibility to call a card other
Bidding and Calling than a two.

Players bid for the right to choose the trump suit (briscola) and to call a partner, who In this game it may sometimes happen that all five players pass. In this case the
will be the player who holds the trump card called by the bidder. These two players dealer asks each player in turn whether there should be a new deal or whether they
form one team and undertake to win more than half of the card points - i.e. at least will reopen the bidding for 61 points calling a 2. If any player reopens, the bidding
61 - in their tricks. The other three players form the opposing team and try to prevent resumes, starting with this player and continuing anticlockwise, and everyone is
them doing this by taking at least 60 points. allowed to take part. If no one wants to reopen the bidding but all agree to a redeal,
the cards are thrown in, shuffled, cut and dealt again by the same dealer.
In the bidding, players initially state only the rank of the card they wish to call. No suit
is mentioned. The lower the rank, the higher the bid. The player to dealer's right Prima Mano al Buio
speaks first and the bidding continues counter-clockwise. Each player in turn must
either pass or bid a lower rank than the previous bidder. A player who has passed is "First Trick in the Dark". In this variant of Subito al Due the trump suit and the called
out of the bidding, which continues for as many circuits as necessary until only one card are announced by the bidder after the first trick has been played. The first trick
bidder remains, the other four having passed. So the bidding is won by whoever is is won as usual by the player of the highest trump, or the highest card of the suit led
prepared to call the lowest card. if no trumps were played.

The final bidder now names the suit of the briscola (trump) and the holder of the card In the first trick no one is allowed to play a two, with just one exception. If the bidder
of the bid rank in this suit is the bidder's partner, but must not say anything to reveal is the last person to play to the first trick, in that case the bidder is allowed to play a
his or her identity. It will only become apparent during the play of the cards who is two to the trick. This rule prevents the bidder from selecting a partner on the basis of
on which team. seeing who won the first trick.

If a player bids "two", the bidding can continue, and in this case subsequent bidders Bidding for Points Only
must also bid two but contract to win a greater number of points (i.e. a target of
Some play that the players bid the number of points that they will take with the help
more than 61). The bid now states the number of points and each bid must be higher
of a partner. The lowest bid is 61. The highest bidder names trumps and is allowed to
than the previous one.
call any card of the trumps suit - usually this will be the highest trump that the bidder
A player is allowed to call a card that they hold themselves, and in this case the does not hold, for example the Ace.
bidder will be playing alone against a team of four, though the other players will not
Briscola col Monte
initially realise that this is the case.
In this Sicilian variant only seven cards each are dealt to each player and there are
Alternatively, a player who bids "two" but holds the two of the desired trump suit is
five cards (the monte) face down on the table. The rank of the card to be called is not
allowed to call the lowest trump that he or she does not hold. For example a player
mentioned in the bidding. Each bid is simply a number of points, 61 or more. The
who won the bidding at "two" and named a trump suit holding the 2 and 4 but not
highest bidder then names the trump suit, takes the five cards of the monte without
the 5 could call the 2 (to play alone) or the 5 (to select a partner) but not any other
showing them and discards five cards face down. The bidder then states the rank of
card of the suit.
the trump card whose holder will be his or her partner. Normally this will be the
Play highest trump that the bidder does not hold.

The player to dealer's right leads to the first trick, and as in other forms of Briscola The five discarded cards count for the team of the player who wins the last of the
each player in turn is free to play any card they wish. There is absolutely no seven trick.
requirement to follow suit or to try to beat any of the other cards.

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 Belote 4

Introduction 4. A player of the other team may ask to see the cards of the declaration(s) which
Belote is one of the most popular card games in France, although it has been known were scored. These must then be shown. Of course if a card involved in the
there only for about 70 years. It is a close relative of Clobyosh (also known as Bela), declaration has been played in the first trick the opponents will remember.
which is played in Jewish communities in many parts of the world, and of the Dutch If the highest sequence announced by each side is equal, the first announcer in
game Klaverjassen. rotation specifies the highest card of the sequence, and the next announcer either
Belote is a point-trick taking game for 2, 3, or 4 players. Its most interesting form is specifies his highest card if it beats the opponent's, or says "good!" if it does not. If
the 4 player version, which is described first. the heights are the same, the player who holds a trump sequence specifies it.
A 32 card deck is needed ( A K Q J 10 9 8 7). When to declare Belote-Rebelote:
Card point values A player who holds the king and queen of trumps declares "Belote" when playing the
first of these card and "Rebelote" when playing the second.
Cards in the trump suit both rank and score differently from those in other suits.
Notice the promotion of the trump 9 and J. The Play
The next player in rotation after the dealer (the player to dealer's right) leads a card.
Trump Other The subsequent players must follow suit if they can. If the card led is trump,
suit suits subsequent players must not only follow suit, but also play a trump card that beats all
J 20 A 11 previous cards if they can, whoever holds the trick at this stage.
Trumping: If a player is unable to follow to a non-trump suit, and an opponent is
9 14 10 10 currently winning the trick, he must trump if he can, otherwise he may discard any
A 11 K 4 card. If his partner is currently winning the trick he is free to either trump, or discard
any card.
10 10 Q 3 Overtrumping and undertrumping: If a player is the third or the fourth to play, and is
unable to follow a non-trump suit, and the opponent just before him has trumped, he
K 4 J 2
must overtrump if he can. If he has trumps but is unable to overtrump, he must still
Q 3 9 0 play a trump, although he does not benefit from doing so. This is termed
"undertrumping", or "pisser" in French Belote jargon.
8 0 8 0 If the fourth player is unable to follow suit to a plain suit lead which his partner has
7 0 7 0 already trumped, and his partner is winning the trick (because the third player either
discarded or undertrumped), the fourth player may either discard (even if he holds
Belote for four players trump) or overtrump. If he is unable to overtrump, having no sufficiently high trumps,
Players form two teams of two partners. Partners sit at opposite seats. The direction he may either discard or undertrump.
of deal, bidding and play is anti-clockwise. To summarize these rules, you must always follow suit, if unable to follow you must
The deal and the bidding trump unless your partner is winning the trick (in French: le partenaire est maître),
and whenever playing a trump you must beat the highest trump in the trick if
The pack is never shuffled at Belote. The player before the dealer in rotation (i.e. the
possible.
player to dealer's left) cuts the pack. The dealer gives a set of three cards to each
player, then another set of two cards, and turns the next card face up. As in most trick-taking games, the player who won the trick has the lead to the next
one.
The player after the dealer in rotation (the player to dealer's right) can now
"take", i.e. choose the turn-up card suit as a trump, or pass. If this player passes, the The last trick counts 10 points for the team who wins it. This is called "Dix de Der" in
next player can take or pass, and so on around the table. If all 4 players pass, each in French; "Der" is a shortening of Dernier, the last. The point total including these 10 is
turn has a second chance to take, choosing a trump suit other than that of the face 162 points.
up card. If all players pass a second time, the cards are collected together and the Scoring
next player in rotation deals. The tricks taken by each team are added to the team's scoring declarations.
As soon as a player takes (in the first or second round of bidding), the bidding ends. (Remember that, apart from Belote-Rebelote, only one team can score for
The taker is given the turn-up card (whether it is a trump or not) and the deal declarations).
resumes. Each player except the taker is dealt a further packet of three cards, and the If the team who "took" wins at least as many points as the other team, the taking
taker is dealt only two cards. These cards are dealt in rotation, beginning to dealer's team has made its contract, and both teams add their scores into their column. If the
right and ending with the dealer. taker's team's points are less than those of the opponents, the takers
Declarations are "dedans" (inside), and the opponents score 162 points plus the losing team's
Declarations are particular sets of cards held in players' hands, which give players declarations, if any, plus their own declarations.
extra points. There are three sorts of declarations: If the team who took wins all the tricks, that team scores 100 points instead of
4 cards of the same rank, called "carré" in French, or "square" the Dix de Der, giving a total of 252 points plus declarations. This situation is
called "Capot" in French ( "être capot" for the victims, "mettre capot" for the
 4 jacks: 200 points winners). The team which took no tricks forfeit their own declarations other than
 4 nines: 150 points Belote-Rebelote, if any. In some exceptional cases it turns out that the team who
took wins no tricks at all. Despite the likely derision in this case the other team wins
 4 Aces, tens, Ks, Qs: 100 points only the regular 252 points, plus all the declarations of both teams.
4 eights and 4 sevens are not counted. The winning team is the first to reach a total of 1000 points. If both sides reach 1000
Sequences from 3 to 5 cards of the same suit. There is yet another ranking of cards points on the same hand, the game is drawn.
for sequences, by descending order: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 Variations
 3 cards: 20 points Direction of play
 4 cards: 50 points People often play the whole game clockwise, rather than anticlockwise.
Deal
 5 cards: 100 points
Some play that the dealer is free to either follow the dealing scheme
Sequences longer than 5 cards are declared and counted as any of the 5-card described above, or deal the sets of 2 cards first.
sequences which they include.
Declarations
Belote and Rebelote are the trump King and Queen held together in one player's
hand, and are counted 20 points. Etiquette: nowadays most players will make their declarations and show
them as soon as they notice them in their hand.
Ranking of the declarations:
Players can agree to play without declarations. This reduces the luck
Belote-Rebelote always scores 20 points, irrespective of other declarations. element of the game. In tournaments, declarations other than Belote-
Apart from Belote-Rebelote, only the team holding the highest declaration is entitled Rebelote are not counted.
to count its declarations. The other team scores nothing even if it holds several
Some play that when playing the King and Queen which form a Belote-
inferior declarations giving a point total higher than the highest declaration. Rebelote, the King must be played first.
A square is higher than a 5 card sequence. Between equally long sequences, the one Criteria for winning the contract
containing the higher ranked cards wins. If there are two sequences of equal rank,
and one is trumps, the trump sequence wins. If none is trump, the one held by the Some do not include the declarations in the point total when
player who is earliest in rotation wins (playing anticlockwise, the player to dealer's determining whether the takers made their contract. In this case, making
right is first in rotation and the dealer is last). A particular card may not be involved in one's contract means obtaining at least 81 points, without regard to the
two declarations (except in Belote-Rebelote). declarations.
When to declare, apart from Belote-Rebelote: Some demand that in order to make the contract, the taker's team must
have more points than the opponents. In case of equality, the taker's
The traditional method, now increasingly ignored (see variations below) is the team loses and the opponents get all the points.
following:
When both teams get the same amount of points, some play that the
1. Each player makes his declaration(s) at the moment he plays his card during the result is undecided, and the points from this deal are held in abeyance.
first trick, saying "4 kings", "sequence of 4", etc. On the next deal, if the previous taker's team makes a contract or causes
2. The first trick is collected. the other team's contract to fail its contract, then each team gets the
3. If necessary there is a contention to find out the winning declaration. All equal number of points from the tied deal added to its score. If the
declarations made by the side with the winning declaration are scored. previous taker's team loses its contract, or their opponents make a

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 contract, the whole 162 points + declarations held in abeyance are given
the opponents of the taker from the tied deal.
Some play that when the points are equal, only the bidders' opponents
score their points. The bidders' points are held in abeyance and added to
the winning team's score in the next deal. This process is sometimes The Deal
known as "litige". A 32-card deck is used.
Rules of play The dealer mentally draws a border-line at the middle of the table between himself
Some players (probably influenced by Tarot) use a different rule for and his opponent, and deals:
undertrumping. The fourth to play after a non-trump card has been
trumped by his partner, when unable to either follow suit or overtrump,
 4 face-down cards in a row, close to this line, in the opponent's camp.
must undertrump even if his partner holds the trick. So in this variation,  4 face-down cards close to the line in his own camp
if the trick has already been trumped by your partner and you also have
no cards of the suit led, then:  4 face-down cards adjacent to the first series in the opponent's camp.
1. if you are able to overtrump, you may either do so or you may  4 face-down cards adjacent to the second series in his own camp.
throw away from another suit, but you are not allowed to He then repeats exactly the same scheme covering each face-down card with a face-
undertrump; up card.
2. if you have trumps but are unable to overtrump,
you must undertrump if you can - you cannot throw away another
suit;
3. if have no trumps, then of course you must throw away another
suit.
In French, this curious variation is is described by the phrase: "On est
toujours obligé de pisser". The regular rule is: "On ne pisse pas sur le The Bidding
partenaire".
Scoring
Another probable influence of Tarot is rounding up scores to the closest The last card that was dealt in the dealer's camp indicates the trump suit at the first
multiple of 5 or 10, to make point adding faster. round of bidding. If necessary there is second round of bidding, exactly as in Belote.
The taker does not, however, take the card indicating the trump suit. It continues to
Some people play that a defending team which is capot (takes no tricks) belong to the dealer.
still scores their declarations. If this variation is played, it is possible that
the defending team scores more than the takers, even without making a The Play
trick. It is generally agreed that in this case the takers are not dedans; The non-dealer chooses one of his face-up cards, puts it on the side of the table to
both teams score their points. The defenders have to take at least one initiate the first trick. The dealer chooses one of his face-up cards, according to
trick to put the takers dedans. regular Belote rules regarding following suit, trumping, beating a trump card, and
Ending the game: L'Arrêt discarding. The trick is taken by either player according to Belote rules. Then both
players turn the face-down cards which were underneath the played cards face-up. In
If you have just won just won a trick and you think that your team the following tricks, players may play either a face-up card that still covers a face-
already has the necessary 1000 points to win the game, including any
down card, or an isolated face-up card from the previous tricks. At the end of each
declarations and the tricks you have won so far, you can stop the game.
trick, any face-down card which is no longer covered by a face-up card is turned face-
The points in the tricks played so far are counted and if you really do
up. As in Belote, the winner of each trick has the lead to the next one. The play
have at least 1000 you win, no matter how many points the other team
continues until the 16 tricks have been played.
has. If you are wrong and you have less than 1000 points, the other team
wins - even if they had no chance of getting to 1000 had play continued. The Score
If you stop the game when you are on the taker's side, you also have to Card point values are the same as in Belote, but declarations and Belote-Rebelote do
continue playing the hand to demonstrate that you can take at least as not count. The cards taken by each player are scored as in Belote. (You are reminded
many points as the opponents on that hand, otherwise you will not be that the point total including the 10 for the last trick is 162, so you need count only
allowed to count any points from the current hand towards your 1000 the smaller heap.) As in Belote, the taker loses if he gets 81 points or fewer.
and your side loses the game. Variations
Note: It is not permitted to look back into previous tricks to count their Some play that the player who leads to a trick turns his corresponding face-down
points when deciding whether to stop the game - you have to remember card up immediately. This often affects the other player's choice.
the points you have taken. It must be agreed whether to count the Belote-Rebelote, and the other declarations.
Belote Découverte Some Belote variations like No-Trumps, All-Trumps, or even La Coinche can be
Most regular Belote players are reluctant to play it with a number of players other adapted. Games similar to Belote lend themselves to this variation.
than four, but here is an interesting variation for 2 players: "Belote with exposed
cards" (Belote Découverte).

132
Coinche 4

La Coinche, also known as La Coinchée or La Belote Coinchée or La Belote aux The team that won the bidding now try to make their contract. The cards are played
Enchères, or sometimes La Belote Contrée is a version of the French game Belote for out in eight tricks, and the object is to win tricks containing valuable cards.
four players in fixed partnerships with an auction, in which the team that undertakes
to win the higher number of card points chooses the trump suit. There is a huge The player to dealer’s right leads any card of his choice to the first trick. The suit of
number of variations of this game, differing between regions of France and between the first card played to a trick card fixes the suit to be followed. The other players, in
groups of players. These variations affect every part of the game: the deal, the anticlockwise, order must each play a card in turn.
bidding, the play and the scoring. On this page a basic form of the La Coinche will be
described first, followed by a selection of common variations, and some references to  Players must follow suit if they can. If the card led is not a trump, they
sources where further variations can be found. may play any card of the suit led, without any obligation to beat the
previous cards. However, if a trump is led each player must if possible
Belote belongs to the Jass family of games, which originated in the Netherlands in the beat the highest trump in the trick, even if that card was played by their
early 18th century or earlier. They spread across Europe, reaching Switzerland by the partner.
late 18th century, but surprisingly did not reach France until the First World War. In
Jass games and other games where the King and Queen of trumps is a scoring
combination, the King-Queen pair was often known as "belle", "bela" or a similar
 If a player is unable to follow suit, and if the highest card in the trick
was played by an opponent, he must play a trump. If an opponent is
term, and this is probably the origin of the French name Belote. The name "La
already winning the trick with a trump, he must play a higher trump if
Coinche" comes from "coincher", which is a form of "contrer", meaning to contra or
possible; if he does not have a higher trump he must play a lower trump.
double, an action open to player who believes that the opponents' latest bid will fail,
However, if the highest card in the trick so far was played by his partner,
and therefore decides to double the score. The basic game of Belote in which a card
he is allowed to discard even if he has a trump. A player who has no
is turned during the deal to propose a trump suit is still popular, especially in some
card of the suit led and no trumps may discard any card.
rural areas of France. It is sometimes known as "La Tourne", to distinguish it from La
Coinche, in which trumps are chosen by bidding. Since the Second World War,
versions of La Coinche have become increasingly popular and have supplanted the Whoever played the highest trump, or, if no trumps were played, the highest card of
original game in many places. the suit that was led wins the trick, and leads a card of his choice to the next trick.
Each team stores the tricks it has won in a pile face down in front of one of the
players.
Players and Cards
La Coinche is played between two teams of two players (North/South versus
East/West) using a 32-card pack. Deal and play are anticlockwise. The first team that Dix de Der
reaches a score of 2000 points or more wins the match.
The last trick is worth 10 points to the team that wins it, known as “dix de der” (“ten
The suits are cœur (hearts), carreau (diamonds), trèfle (clubs) and pique (spades). In a for last”).
French pack the aces and picture have indices: 1 = As (Ace), R = Roi (King), D
= Dame (Queen), V = Valet (Jack). The ranks and point values of the cards are Belote
different in the trump suit from the other suits. In descending order, they are:
If a player in the team that won the bidding holds the king and queen of trumps, he
may declare them for 20 points by saying “belote” as he plays the first of the two
TRUMPS Point value OTHER SUITS Point value
cards and “rebelote” as he plays the second card. The 20 points for Belote count
Valet 20 As 11 towards making the contract and are scored by the bidding team, even if the contract
9 14 10 10 fails.
As 11 Roi 4
10 10 Dame 3 The Scoring
Roi 4 Valet 2
When all eight tricks have been played, each team counts the points it has won: the
Dame 3 9 0 cards in its tricks, the last trick and the Belote if declared.
8 0 8 0
7 0 7 0 In order to succeed, the team that bid the contract must take at least as many
The objective is to win tricks containing valuable cards. Additional points are available points as they bid (at least 82 if they bid 80). (They do not need to take more points
for winning the last trick (10 points for dix de der) and for holding the king and queen than their opponents.)
of trumps together in hand (20 points for belote). In each deal there is a total of 152
for the cards, plus 10 for the last trick, plus a possible 20 if a Belote is declared, for a Successful contract
grand total of 162 or 182 points.
If the contract succeeds, the bidding team scores the number of points they took plus
The Deal the number they bid, and their opponents score the points they took. Scores are
rounded to the nearest 10, with scores ending in 5 rounded upwards. If the bidding
At the start of a match the dealer is chosen by lot: thereafter the turn to deal passes team wins all the tricks (capot) they score 250 points plus the amount of the bid. If
to the right after each hand. The dealer may shuffle the cards (they must be shuffled they bid and make capot they score 500, plus 20 for Belote if declared.
before the first deal) and the player to dealer’s left cuts. The dealer deals all the
cards: a batch of 3 cards to each player beginning with the player to his right, then Failed contract
two cards each, then three again (or the cards can be dealt 3-3-2 or 2-3-3).
If the contract fails, the bidding team scores nothing (except 20 points for Belote if
The Bidding they declared it). Their opponents score 160 plus the amount of the bid. If a bid of
capot is lost, the opponents score 500.
The players speak in turn, beginning with the player to dealer’s right. Each player
may: Coinche and surcoinche

 Pass, which does not prevent the player from bidding in future if some A coinche doubles the score for the bid only, and a surcoinche doubles it again. For
other player has bid meanwhile. If all four players pass, the cards are example if we bid 100, they say coinche, we declare a Belote, and the contract fails,
thrown in and the next dealer deals a new hand. we score 20 and our opponents score 160 + (100 × 2) = 360.

 Bid, by announcing the number of points his team will try to take in The game ends when one or both teams achieve a score of 2000 points or more, and
tricks, and the suit he would like as trumps. The bid must be for at least the team with the higher score wins. In case of a tie, the winners of the latest deal
82 points (by convention, 82 is bid by saying “80”), must be a multiple of win the game.
10 and must be higher than the previous bid. (Example of a bid: “90
pique” = “90 spades”). Notes on Bidding

As a rough guide one can reckon on about 20 points for each trick won, plus an extra
 Double the opponent’s bid if he thinks the contract will fail: the word for 20 if holding a Belote, so for example one can bid 100 if confident of winning at least
this is “coincher”. In reply, the opponents can redouble (“surcoincher”) if 5 tricks. As a refinement, a trick taken with the valet (jack) of trumps is clearly more
confident of succeeding. It is not necessary to wait for your turn to valuable on average, since the valet is worth 20 points in itself, while tricks in non-
say coinche, but you can only double if the most recent bid was by an trump suits are on average worth less.
opponent. A coinche ends the bidding, except that either the bidder or
his partner can surcoincher. Regular players develop bidding systems, through which they can convey more
precise information to their partner. For example an opening bid of 80 may show the
 Bid a “capot” (slam), that is, undertake to win all the tricks, which earns jack or nine of trumps, 90 may show both, and 100 the top three trumps V-9-A. There
a bonus. A capot bid ends the bidding and cannot be doubled. are many possible systems, but note that the opponents can end the auction at any
time with a coinche, so in contrast to Bridge, it is unwise to bid a contract that one is
End of the Bidding not prepared to play.

The bidding ends if all four players pass, or if the other three players pass after a bid, Variations
or if there is a capot bid or a coinche.
Deal
The bidding is won by the team that bid last and highest, and their contract is to take
at least as many points in tricks as they bid (exception: at least 82 if they bid 80), with Practice varies as to whether the cards are shuffled before each deal. Some require
the named suit as trumps. the dealer to shuffle; in other groups it is optional or even discouraged. In any case it
is obligatory for the dealer's left-hand opponent to cut the cards. If the cards are not
The Play

133
shuffled, players may use their observation of the order in which cards were played in  Sequences from 3 to 5 consecutive cards of the same suit. For this
the previous deal and the way the cards were gathered to estimate the likely purpose the cards of all suits rank in the order: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7
distribution of cards in the current deal.

Some allow or require the cards to be dealt in batches of four, instead of in threes
o 5 cards: 100 points
and twos.
o 4 cards: 50 points
Some use a two-stage deal, as in Belote without bidding. Initially just six cards are
dealt to each player, in batches of three; then the bidding takes place. After the o 3 cards: 20 points
bidding the dealer deals the last batch of two cards to each player.
Combinations of 4 eights or 4 sevens have no value, and sequences longer than 5
Bidding cards are declared and counted as any of the 5-card sequences which they include.
Some play that a player may only say "coinche" in turn. In this version, if for example Any player who holds any of these combinations in hand may announce them just
South bids "110 Diamonds" and West believes this will fail, West is not allowed to say before playing to the first trick. However, only one team can score for
anything or give any indication that he or she wishes to coincher until East and North announcements: the team that announced the highest single combination scores for
have had their turns to speak. If East decides, for example, to compete with 120 all its announcements, and the other team scores none of theirs. The highest
Clubs, then it is no longer possible for West to double South's bid. announcement is determined as follows:
Some play that a coinche can only be said in turn and does not end the bidding. So if 1. Any carré beats any sequence
South bids 100 Hearts and East says "coinche", North can escape by bidding a
different suit - say 110 Spades, or West may bid, or South may try a different bid, for 2. A higher scoring combination beats a lower scoring one
example 110 Clubs, at his next turn. The bidding will only end after three consecutive
passes. This makes the game more Bridge-like, and opens up the possibility of 3. Among equal scoring combinations of the same type, one with higher
artificial bids whose purpose is just to convey information. cards beats one with lower cards
Some allow a capot bid to be doubled and redoubled. 4. Among equal sequences consisting of the same cards in different suits, a
trump sequence is better than a non-trump one
Another Bridge-like modification is the no trump (sans atout) bid, which proposes a
contract in which there is no trump suit and all suits rank from high to low A-10-K-Q- 5. Among equal non-trump sequences, some play that the first to be
J-9-8-7. When this is used, there is also usually an "all trump" (tout atout) bid in announced is best; others play that they annul each other and neither
which every suit ranks like the trumps is a normal game: J-9-A-10-K-Q-8-7. Bids still team scores.
name a number of points, and each must be higher than the last: for example if the
previous player said 90 Hearts, this can be outbid by 100 of anything, for example Note that sequences longer than 5 cards have no special significance. So for example
100 Tout Atout. Usually some adjustments are made to ensure that the number of K-Q-J-10-9 is better than Q-J-10-9-8-7, since both count as 5-card sequences and the
points in the pack remains 162 including the dix de der. There are various systems, king is higher than the queen.
none of them particularly elegant. For example in sans atout the value of an ace may
be increased to 19, while in tout atout the card values are reduced to J=14, 9=9, A=6, Some allow players to announce combinations even if it is clear that they cannot be
10=5, K=3, Q=1. In sans atout there is no belote and no obligation to overtake in the scored because the opponents have the best announcement. Others allow
play. In tout atout a belote can be declared in any suit, and players must always beat announcements only of combinations that are potentially the best, in which case the
the highest card in the trick when able to. In both sans atout and tout atout, a player team with the best announcement can announce and score additional combinations
who is unable to follow suit is free to play any card. at the end of the first trick.
Some introduce a ranking order of suits (and sans atout and tout atout if played) - The declaration of belote is separate from this process. It is declared by
from lowest to highest: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, sans atout, tout atout. A bid saying "belote" and "rebelote" as the two cards are played, and is always scored if
can be overcalled by an equal bid in a higher denomination, or a higher number in declared, irrespective of any other announcements by either team.
any denomination. For example 100 clubs is higher than 90 sans atout, which is
higher than 90 hearts. This variant leads to lengthier auctions and potentially more Playing with announcements makes it possible to bid much higher than in the game
elaborate bidding systems by which partners can exchange information. without announcements. For example a player who has four jacks can clearly make at
least 220 with any suit as trumps.
Some allow an additional (highest) bid of générale, in which the bidder has to win all
eight tricks alone, without help from partner. The bidder of a générale may have the Some players, on the other hand, do not allow any announcements at all, not
right to lead to the first trick. even belote, so that there are always just 162 points in the game. Since the late 20th
century, versions without announcements have become more popular, as this is
Play of the cards thought to reduce the element of luck. Some reserve the name Belote Contrée for
variants with few or no announcements, in which a coinche (or contre) is only
In the rules given above, if a non-trump is led and trumped, a subsequent player who annouced in turn and does not end the auction.
is an opponent of the player whose trump is currently winning the trick, and who also
has no card of the suit led, is obliged to trump, even if unable to beat the winning Scoring
trump. For example, if hearts are trumps, my partner leads the 10, the next
player plays the 9, and I have no clubs and my only trump is the 10, I am Some play the game without announcements to a target of 1000 or 1500 rather than
forced to play it, even though the opponents are certain to win the trick. 2000. When playing with announcements, it is usual to set a higher target score for
Undertrumping like this is called "pisser". However, some players, especially in the winning the game, for example 3000.
south of France, do not require this. If a non-trump lead is trumped, then a
subsequent player who cannot follow suit is obliged to overtrump if an opponent is Some play that for a contract to be successful, the bidding team must not only take at
currently winning the trick, but is not obliged to play a trump if unable to beat the least the number of points that they bid: they must also take more points than the
opponents. (It is a vestige of this rule that requres a score of at least 82 to win a bid
winning trump. So in the example, if I have no clubs and do not have the V to of 80, since at least 82 points are needed to have more than the opponents.) On the
beat the 9, I am not obliged to play a trump at all, but may discard any card I wish. other hand, some play that it is only necessary to take as many points as were bid,
even in the case of a bid of 80. A few groups require an extra 2 points for every bid -
Some also relax the rules when a trump is led, and allow a player whose partner is for example at least 112 poionts to win a bid of 110.
winning the trick to follow suit with any trump. So under this rule, if I lead the nine of
trumps and my partner has the jack (valet), he is not obliged to play it, but can follow When a contract fails, the opponents score not only the bid and the card points, but
with a low trump instead if he has one. also the points for announcements if any. Many also award the points for belote to
the opponents in this case, even if it was declared by the bidding team. In this case it
Announcements can be in the bidding team's interest to suppress the belote announcement when
their contract is likely to fail. They can do this by not saying "rebelote" when playing
Many allow belote to be announced by any player, not only by a member of the team the second card, in which case the 20 points are not scored.
that won the bidding.
There are various different ways to score capot. Some score it only if it is bid. Some
Traditionally, further announcements are allowed, as in ordinary Belote. These are as give only 410 points (160+250) to the opponents if it is bid and fails. If a bid
follows. of générale is allowed, the score for it must be agreed - for example 1000.

 4 cards of the same rank ("carré") Some score only the points for the bid, not for the cards taken in play. For example if
the bid is 100, then either the bidders or their opponents score just 100 (or 200 in
o 4 jacks: 200 points case of a coinche) depending only on whether the bidders succeeded in their
contract.
o 4 nines: 150 points When coinche is said, some apply the double not just to the bid but to the entire
score, so that for example whena team loses a 100 bid with coinche and there are no
o 4 Aces, 4 tens, 4 Ks, 4 Qs: 100 points announcements, the opponent score 520 = 2 × (100 + 160).

Some play that a surcoinche does not double the score again, but only increases the
multiplier from 2× to 3×.

134
 Be flexible in the melds you chase. A good memory for what cards have been played
Marjolet / Bezique 2 is essential.

More Information
Marjolet The only book in English that covers Marjolet is Oxford A-Z of Card Games by David
Parlett. This is the first write-up of this game on the web in English and it conforms to
Marjolet is a quick, elegant game for two played in southwest France. After this we Parlett.
provide the rules for Bezique, the parent to Pinochle and one of the most enduringly
popular card games. Bezique is like a two-deck Marjolet. Then we present Bezique
variants: Polish, Rubicon, and Chinese Bezique. Bezique
Bezique is an expanded version of Marjolet (above). It can be played with two, four,
Goal of the Game six, or even eight decks. Each variant features an expanded and ever more complex
To win a hand by scoring the most points. You score by taking Aces and Tens in tricks set of melds. Here we describe the classic -- Bezique for two, played with two 32-card
(called brisques), and by declaring melds (sets of matched cards). French decks.

To win a game across hands by being the first to make 500 or more points. To keep things simple (and reward your patience for reading the above Marjolet
rules), we list only the differences between Bezique and Marjolet rules here.
The Deck and the Deal
The game uses the 32-card “French deck.” Create it by removing all cards below the 7 The Deck and Deal
from a standard 52-card deck. The remaining 32 cards rank-- A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7. Use two 32-card French decks. So you will have a duplicate set of cards, Ace down to
Note that the 10 is the second-highest card, ranking right below the Ace. 7. Deal eight cards to each of the players (instead of the six each dealt in Marjolet).

Deal each player 6 cards. Turn one card up and lay it next to the remaining part of the A game across hands in two-deck Bezique is 1000 points (not 500 as in Marjolet).
deck (the stock). The turned-up card dictates the Trump suit for the hand.
The Play
The Play The rules of trick-taking are the same as in Marjolet. One new situation may come up.
The non-dealer leads a card to the first trick. His opponent can play any card (you are If two identical cards are played to a trick, the first card played wins the trick.
not required to follow suit). The trick is won by the higher card of the suit led, or by a
trump to any non-trump lead. Scoring Summary
This chart summarizes Bezique scoring. The main differences from Marjolet are:
The winner of the trick may declare one or more melds if he cares to. He then takes
the top card of the stock into his hand, and his opponent takes the next card. The
trick winner then leads any card to the next trick. In this manner, the two opponents
 You score 250 points for a Sequence (A-10-K-Q-J) in the trump suit.
play cards to tricks, declare melds, and draw through the entire deck.  There is no Marjolet. Instead, the Bezique is the unique combination of
the Queen of Spades and the Jack of Diamonds. This scores 40 points.
The Double Bezique (both Queens of Spades and both Jacks of
Honor Melds Diamonds) scores 500 points.
Winning a trick allows a player to declare any of these melds  There is no special bonus for winning the eight tricks after closing the
deck, nor do you score 10 points for winning the 10th trick in the hand.
---Meld--- - --Points---
Four Aces 100  You can declare only one meld after winning a trick. No declarations are
Four Kings 80 allowed after the Close.
Four Queens 60
Four Jacks 40 A card can participate in different melds in different turns. However, you can only
King & Queen of Trump suit (Trump Marriage) 40 score a second time for a card when you place it into a different kind of meld.
King & Queen of same non-trump suit (Common Marriage) 20 Example- if diamonds are the trump suit, you could score a Queen of Diamonds
Trump Jack & Trump Queen 40 together with a King of Diamonds in one turn for a Trump Marriage. After winning
Trump Jack and any non-Trump Queen 20 another trick, you could add the Ace, 10, and Jack of Diamonds to score the lot for
a Trump Sequence. But you could not just add a different King of Diamonds to the
Melds are placed face-up in front of the player who declares them. These face-up Queen to score a second time for another Marriage.
cards may later be used by that player just like the cards in his hand (played to tricks
when desired).
---Meld or Scoring Event--- ---Called--- ---Points---
A melded card can be used in other melds as well. For example, a Queen might be
melded with a King of the same suit in a Marriage, then melded a second time later Any 4 Aces 100
as part of a Trump-Jack-plus-Queen combination.
Any 4 Kings 80
The trump Jack (called the Marjolet) may be re-melded to different Queens.
Any 4 Queens 60
The Seven of Trump (the Dix)
The seven of trump, or the dix, is special. If the dealer turns it up as the trump card Any 4 Jacks 40
when dealing, he scores 10 points. If a player has the dix in his hand, after winning a
trick, he may exchange it for the turn-up trump. The player scores 10 points for the King & Queen of Trump suit Trump Marriage 40
exchange. Or if he does not exchange, he scores 10 points when playing the dix to a
trick (it does not matter whether or not he wins the trick). King & Queen of same non-trump suit Common Marriage 20
The “Close” -- and More on Scoring-- Queen of Spades and Jack of Diamonds Bezique 40
Eventually, one player draws the last face-down card from the stock, and his
opponent takes the turn-up trump. The deck from which to draw is now exhausted
or closed. Both players now take any of their melded cards on the table up into their Both Spade Queens & Diamond Jacks Double Bezique 500
hands
A-10-K-Q-J of Trumps Trump Sequence 250
Now the rules of trick-play change. For these last six tricks, you must follow the suit
led, if possible, and win the trick if possible. If you can not follow suit, you must Seven of trumps played --or--- The Dix 10
trump if possible (if you can not trump, you may play any card). Players may not
make declarations after closing. Seven of trumps declared The Dix 10

The winner of the last trick scores 10 points. Should either player win all six tricks Each Ace or 10 taken in tricks Brisques 10
after closing, he wins 50 points. Also, the winner of the 10th trick in the hand scores
10 points. Some play that the person who draws the final card from stock (the turn- Winning the last trick 10
up card), scores 10 points.

After the hand ends, both players count their Aces and 10’s. They score 10 points for
each. Strategy
As with Marjolet, there is tension between winning Brisques and scoring melds. The
Scoring Summary player who wins in one category tends to lose in the other. There is no question that
Here is a scoring summary for all points outside of the honor melds melds offer the greatest rewards.

---Event--- ---Points--- Flexibility in the melds you pursue and a good memory count for much in Bezique. No
Dealer turns up a seven for the trump card 10 mistake is worse than seeking a card for a meld that is no longer available. You’ll have
Seven of trumps (dix) played to trick or exchanged for the turn-up 10 to keep track of more cards than in Marjolet -- there are eight of each rank.
Winning the 10th trick in the hand 10
Winning the last trick 10 It's always shrewd to use a scoring card in more than a single meld, if possible. For
Winning all six final tricks 50 example, use an ace in a set of 4 Aces, then later reuse the trump ace in a Trump
Each Ace taken in tricks (Brisque) 10 Sequence.
Each 10 taken in tricks (Brisque) 10
Rule Variations
Strategy Rules about the Dix vary in different sources. Some allow declaring more than one
Win tricks for two purposes in this game-- meld per turn while still scoring but one per turn.
1. To score by taking Aces and 10’s in tricks
2. To enable you to declare melds More Information
All comprehensive rule books for card games include Bezique. Our favorite is the
Part of the tension in the game is the balance between the cards you play to tricks, book Oxford A-Z of Card Games by David Parlett.
versus those you keep in hand in hopes of making melds. Ideally you assemble
meldable cards in hand while playing low cards to tricks, yet keeping a “trick winner”
in hand for when needed. Polish Bezique
Here’s a wild twist on Bezique that only changes a single rule. All rules are the same
as for Bezique above, except that melds are created solely from cards you capture in
Another tension is between winning Aces and 10’s in tricks, versus casting them off tricks.
on occasion to develop melds. In many hands, one player scores more in melds while
his opponent scores more in brisques (Aces and 10’s).
Leave tricks face-up on the table as you win them. After every trick, you may score
either one or two melds. You create these melds by using the two new cards you

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have won, added to the other cards you’ve previously won in tricks. Each of the two 10. Each deal is a complete game. Players total their points and round down
new cards you have won can participate in only one meld... this is why you can to the nearest 100. Winner gains 500 points plus the difference between
declare two melds after winning a trick. players’ scores. A player is “rubiconed” if fails to score 1000 points. In
this case the winner scores 1000 points plus the sum of both scores.
You can continue to meld after the Close (unlike standard Bezique rules). Some books Brisiques (Aces and 10’s taken in tricks) are only counted in case of ties
state that each card can only be used in one meld in Polish Bezique. or to prevent a rubicon.

Rubicon Bezique Chinese Bezique

Rubicon (or Japanese Bezique) is like standard Bezique described above except that 6-pack or Chinese Bezique is played the same way as Rubicon Bezique (above) except
you play with 128 cards (4 packs of 32 cards). The only rule differences are-- for these rules changes--
1. Deal each player 9 cards (instead of 8) 1. Use 6 decks of cards (A -> 7), 192 cards total. Each player is dealt 12
2. The trump suit is dictated by the suit of the first marriage or sequence cards (instead of 9).
scored 2. Carte blanche scores 250 points each occurrence. The last trick scores
3. The seven of trumps (dix) has no special value. 250 points as well.
4. The last trick is worth 50 points (rather than 10) 3. Additional declarations are: 4 trump Aces = 1,000 4 trump 10’s = 900
5. Non-trump sequence scores 150 points (A-10-K-Q-J). 4 trump Kings = 800 4 trump Queens = 600 4 trump Jacks = 400
6. You score 50 points for carte blanche if you are dealt no court cards. You 4. A player is rubiconed if he fails to score 3,000 points. The rubicon bonus
can re-score this each time you draw without fetching a court card. is 1,000 points.
7. After melding to the table, you can move a card out of that meld (to a Strategy
trick or another meld), then re-create that meld with a replacement This game is much longer than standard or Rubicon Bezique (you’re drawing through
card. Example-- declare a trump sequence in hearts, next turn move the a much bigger deck). Since you can “re-declare” a meld multiple times simply be
king from that sequence to another meld or play it to a trick, then play replacing a single card within it, there is a premium on obtaining high-scoring melds
another king into the meld and score again for the trump sequence early in the game and re-scoring them multiple times. Trump sequences work well,
8. Two marriages of the same suit can be considered rearranged to form especially if you can overlap their suit with beziques or a 4-of-a-kind. Another
two more marriages. strategy is to obtain a 4-of-a-kind (preferably in Aces), re-score it many times, and
9. Standard rules score one bezique at 40 points, two beziques at 500 hope to convert it to 4-of-a-kind in trumps (scored extra). Note that 10’s have a new-
points, three beziques at 1,500 points, and four beziques at 4,500 points. found value (4-of-a-kind in trump 10’s scores 900 points), and that while there is
scoring for triple and quadruple beziques, there is no score specifically for quintuple
or sextuple beziques.

Tarneeb 4 Variations
Some play the whole game clockwise, in which case the player to the left of the
Introduction dealer begins the bidding.
Tarneeb is a plain trick-taking game for four players with trumps and bidding. It is Some allow the cards to be dealt in a single batch of 13 to each player.
popular in various versions in several Middle Eastern countries, possibly having In some parts of Lebanon, each player is allowed only one bid. After everyone has
originated in Lebanon. Tarneeb is the Arabic word for "trump" in this game. spoken, the auction is at an end. Players cannot increase their bids. In this version the
dealer, who bids last, need only equal the highest bid made by another player to take
over the role of bidder.
There are two main versions. In the original and simpler form of the game, which is Some play that if the first three players pass, the dealer is forced to bid seven.
described first, players bid only the number of tricks their team will take. In the more
elaborate version, which is popular in Egypt, the bid includes the proposed trump suit Some play that the bidder must lead a trump to the first trick.
as well. If the players agree at the start, the score required to win the game may be set at 41,
51 or 61 rather than 31.
Some play that the cards may be thrown in immediately after the deal by any player
Players and Cards who has
There are four players in fixed partnerships, partners facing each other.  no ace, and
A standard international 52-card pack is used, the cards in each suit ranking from high
to low: A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2.  no king in a suit of two cards or more, and
The game is normally played counter-clockwise.  no queen in a suit of three cards or more, and
 no jack in a suit of four cards or more.
Deal In other words, the player has no card that could take a trick if an opponent led the
The first dealer is chosen and random. After each hand the turn to deal passes to the suit from the top down: A, K, Q, ... In this case, the cards are shuffled and dealt by the
right. The cards are shuffled and cut, and are all dealt out, one at a time so that next dealer.
everyone has 13 cards. Some require a player who holds 10 or more cards of any one suit either
a. to pass, or
Bidding b. to bid kaboot, an undertaking to win all 13 tricks with partner's help, or
The bidding begins with the player to dealer's right and continues counterclockwise. c. to throw in the hand: the cards are shuffled and redealt by the same dealer.
The bids are numbers, representing the number of tricks that the bidder's team
undertakes to win. The lowest bid is seven and the highest is thirteen. Each bid must Egyptian Tarneeb
be higher than the last. There is a popular variation played mostly in Egypt in which each bid specifies the
A player who does not wish to bid at their turn can pass. Once you have passed you proposed trump suit as well as the number of tricks. The suits are ranked from high
drop out of the bidding - you cannot bid again on a later turn. to low: No Trump, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. To overcall the previous bidder,
If all four players pass on their first turn to speak, the hand is thrown in, and the cards you must bid the same number of tricks in a higher suit, or a greater number of tricks
are shuffled and redealt by the same dealer. in any suit. So the lowest bid is 7 clubs, the highest is 13 No Trump.
Otherwise the bidding continues around the table as many times as necessary until Starting with the player to dealer's right, each player in turn may either:
all players but one have passed. The final bidder then announces the trump suit 1. Pass
(tarneeb) and leads to the first trick. 2. Bid higher than the highest bid so far
There is also the option to announce that the hand will be played without trumps. 3. Double, if the last bid was by an opponent

Example of bidding: In this version of Tarneeb, passing (or doubling) does not prevent you from bidding
North Wes South East on a future turn.
(dealer) t The bidding continues until there is a complete round in which none of the four
players bids. Then the play begins. The declarer leads and the trump suit (or no
--- pass 7 8 trump) is as specified in the final bid.
10 --- pass 11 This bidding process may look similar to bidding in Bridge, but there are two
pass important differences.
Here West began the bidding, since North dealt. West could not say anything over 1. Three consecutive passes do not end the bidding. If you bid 8 hearts and the
North's bid of 10, since he has already passed at his first turn. The bidding ends when other three players pass, you still have the chance to change to a higher bid -
North passes, and East must now choose trumps. for example 8 spades or 9 diamonds - and if you do that everyone else gets
another chance to bid as well.
Play 2. A double does not count as a bid. If you bid 9 spades, your right-hand
The player who won the bidding leads to the first trick, and thereafter the winner of opponent and your partner pass, your left-hand opponent doubles and you
each trick leads to the next. pass, that is the end of the bidding. The contract is 9 spades doubled.
Play is counterclockwise. Players must follow suit if able to. Those unable to follow If the final bid is not doubled, the scoring is the same as in the version where the bids
suit may play any card - either trump (tarneeb) or discard a card of another suit are just numbers. The bidders score the number of tricks they took if sufficient.
(sakret). Otherwise they lose the amount of their bid and the opponents score for their own
Each trick is won by the highest trump in it, or by the highest card of the suit led if it tricks.
contains no trumps. If the final bid is doubled, this doubles the amount won or lost by the bidding side,
but does not affect the amount scored by the opponents if the bidding side loses.
For example, if the contract is 10 hearts doubled:
Scoring
The bidder's team tries to take at least as many tricks as they bid. If their bid is less  if the bidders win 11 tricks, they score 22 points;
than 13 and succeed, they score the number of tricks they won, and the other team  if the bidder win 8 tricks, they score -20 points and the opponents score 5;
scores nothing. If the bidding team takes fewer tricks than they bid, they lose the  if the bidders win 13 tricks they score 32 points (twice the usual 16).
amount of their bid, and the other team scores the number of tricks they won.
Winning all 13 tricks is called kaboot. If the bid was less than 13, kaboot brings a The target score to win the game is usually set at 41 in this Egyptian variant.
bonus of 3 points, so 16 points in total instead of 13.
If a team bids 13 tricks and wins them all, they score 26 points. If they lose any tricks, Variations of Egyptian Tarneeb
they score minus 16 and the other team scores double the number the tricks that If the final bid is doubled, some players allow the bidder or his partner to redouble,
they win. multiplying their score for the hand by 4 instead of 2.
Further hands are played until one team achieves a cumulative score of 31 points or Some play that a double or redouble also multiplies the opponent's score for tricks by
more, and wins the game. 2 or 4, in the event that the bidder fails.

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Kaiser 4

Introduction If the first three players pass, the dealer is forced to bid at least the minimum.

Kaiser is a Canadian trick-taking game normally played by four people - two against Play of the cards
two as partners sitting across from each other. A 32-card pack is used. Each trick is
worth a point and there are two special cards: the lowest heart is worth +5 points to The highest bidder names trumps (unless the bid was no trumps) and leads a card to
the player taking it in a trick and the lowest spade is worth -3. the first trick. Play is clockwise. Each subsequent player must play a card of the same
suit as the led card, if able to; if unable to, they may play any other card they wish. If
This game goes by several alternative names. The name Kaiser, by which it is usually any trumps are played, the player of the highest trump wins the trick; if no trumps
known nowadays, may have been introduced during World War I at which time the are in the trick, it is won by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of the trick
penalty spade card was seen as representing Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the bonus heart leads to the next trick. When all the cards have been played, the tricks are counted
card was the French general Joffre. In Québec some players still call the game Joffre, and scores written down.
and there are special cards for the game in which the suits represent countries and
the cards in the suits various military ranks. Another version using special cards was Scoring
published as early as 1893 under the name Lost Heir. It is even possible that Lost Heir
was the original game, and that Joffre and the games played with standard cards
were adaptations and improvements of it. Before World War I in Québec it was usual The score depends on the bid, the number of tricks taken, and who took the
to play with a pack in which the sevens were the highest card and kings lowest, and 5 and the 3 in their tricks. The first team to reach a cumulative score of 52 or
the game was called Les Rois (kings). In Saskatchewan, some players of Ukrainian more points wins the game.
descent call the game Three-Spot or Troika, since they use the three of spades as the
penalty card. I am told that in Saskatchewan the game is also popular with Native
Americans. Each team counts how many points they have taken as follows:

The origins of this game are somewhat of a mystery. It has been played for several  one point for each trick won
generations in Canadian communities of French, German and Ukrainian descent, and
some members of all three groups vigorously claim that the game was brought to
Canada by their ancestors. However, so far I have found no direct evidence of this
 plus five points for winning a trick containing the 5
game's origin in Europe: neither in France nor Germany nor Ukraine. So far, the
earliest evidence of the game is from Québec, where it has certainly been played in  minus three points for winning a trick containing the 3
logging camps since before 1900. For example Ray Benoit reports that his
grandfather learned the game Les Rois in Québec and brought it with him to the USA: The bidding team's score
his immigration date is recorded as 1900. It is possible that it spread to other
provinces as a result of contact between soldiers from different parts of Canada
during World War I. One Saskatchewan correspondent claimed to have relatives in If the team which chose trumps took at least as many points as they bid, they add to
Kiev who play, but I have no direct confirmation of that, nor of whether the Canadian their score the number of points they took. If they took fewer points than their bid
branch of the family learned it from the Ukrainians or vice versa. I would be they subtract their bid from their score.
interested to hear from anyone who has further information on the history of this
game - especially any further evidence of its being played in Canada before 1900 or in If the team which won the bidding played with no trumps, and took at least as many
Europe at any time. points as they bid, the add double the number of points they took to their score. If
they do not make their bid then they subtract double their bid from their score.
I should also mention that the Canadian game Kaiser has absolutely no connection
with the ancient Swiss card game called Kaiserspiel or Kaiserjass, and in the guise The opponents' score
of Les Rois it has no apparent connection with the compendium game King, known in
France as Le Jeu du Roi. If the opponents of the team which won the bidding have a cumulative score of less
than 45, they simply score the points they took, irrespective of whether the bid was
Pack won or lost, and irrespective of whether it was played with or without trumps. It is
possible for this team to score less than zero (if they took the 3 with fewer than 3
This game is played with 32 cards - 7 through ace in each suit, but with the tricks); in this case their cumulative score will go down.
7 replaced by the 3 and the 7 replaced by the 5. The cards in each suit If the opponents of the bidding team have a cumulative score of 45 or more, they
rank from high to low: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 or 5 or 3. cannot add any points taken to their score, but they still lose points if they took less
than zero in tricks.
Idea of the Game
Variations
This is a trick taking game, in which each trick is worth one point. In addition the
5 is worth plus 5 points and the 3 is worth minus 3 points to the side which takes 34-card Game with Low bids
them in their tricks. The team which bids higher chooses the trump suit and tries to
take at least as many points as they bid. In Saskatchewan it is common to play Kaiser with a 34-card pack consisting of A-K-Q-
J-10-9-8-7 in each suit plus the 5 and 3. Eight cards are dealt to each player,
Deal and a kitty of two cards is dealt face down to the table. The winning bidder names the
trump suit (unless the bid was no trump) and then picks up the kitty without showing
Deal and play are clockwise. The first dealer is chosen at random - one way is to deal the cards to the other players and then discards any two cards face down except the
the cards around to the players singly until someone receives a Jack. After each hand 5 & 3.
the turn to deal passes to the left. The dealer deals out all the cards to the players,
clockwise one at a time, so that everyone has eight. Since the bidder has the advantage of using the kitty, the minimum bid is normally
set at 7.
Any player who is dealt no aces, no picture cards and no 3 or 5 can throw in the hand
as a "misdeal", and the cards are shuffled and dealt again by the same dealer. This game is usually played with Low No Trump bids as an option. In Low No Trump,
the rank of the cards other than the 5 and 3 is reversed, so that the 7 is the highest
Bidding card of each suit, followed by 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A. The ace is the lowest card in clubs
and diamonds: in hearts and spades the 5 and 3 respectively rank below the ace. A
Each player in turn, beginning with the player at the dealer's left has one opportunity bid of Low No Trumps ranks just above the corresponding normal No Trump bid, so
to bid. He may pass or bid a number; the possible bids are from six to twelve, either the sequence of bids in ascending order is 7, 7 no, 7, no low, 8, and so on.
with a trump suit or in "no trumps". The trump suit is not specified in the bid, but a
player who wants to play no trumps must say so in the bid - for example "eight no". A Low No Trump bids are scored in the same way as High No Trump bids - the bidding
bid in no trumps outranks an equal bid in a suit, so the possible bids in ascending side scores double the number of points they took if successful and loses double their
order are: 6, 6 no, 7, 7 no, 8, 8 no, etc. The maximum possible bid is 12 no. bid if not. The other team scores what they took, without doubling, as usual.

If a player bids, his bid must be higher that the previous bid, except that the dealer Many groups who play with Low bids do not recognise a hand with "no ace, no face,
has the special privilege that he only needs to equal the previous bid in order to win no 5, no 3" as a misdeal.
the bidding.
Some play that High and Low no trump bids rank equally in the bidding - neither can
Example: outbid the other (unless of course one of the players is the dealer, who can always
outbid another player by making an equal bid).
Player A passes (isn't sure how many points his team can make)
Some play that the intention to play "low" is not mentioned in the bidding. A
Player B bids 7 no (believes his team can make at least 7 points without a trump) successful no trump bidder announces whether the game will be high or low before
picking up the kitty. Some play that any bid, with or without trumps, can be played
high or low: this is announced before picking up the kitty.
Player C bids 8 (believes he can make 8 with a trump)
Québec version with sevens high
Player D bids 8 no (8 points without a trump)
In Québec, Kaiser is sometimes played with a 32-card pack consisting of 7-6-5-4-3-2-
Player D wins the bidding. Player D could also bid 8, equal to C's bid, and would then A-K in each suit. The sevens are highest in each suit and the kings are lowest. As usual
choose a trump suit.
each trick is worth 1 point, the K is worth +5 points and the K is -3 points. This

137
version of the game is also known as Les Rois (the kings), the K being the good Five players
king and the K the bad king. Ray Benoit reports that his grandfather played this Dennis Bell reports that at Simon Fraser University, a 5-player individual version was
game in Sainte Marie-Madeleine, Québec in the 1890's sometimes played using a 40-card pack including all cards down to the 5, except that
the 3 of spades replaces the 5.
As usual 8 cards each are dealt. Bidding starts to dealer's left: each player gets just
one chance to bid. The minimum bid is 4 and the maximum is 12. There are no no- Six players
trump bids. If the first three players pass, the dealer must bid 4. The final bidder
declares trump and leads to the first trick.
It is possible for six people to play, either in three teams of two or two teams of
The bidding team scores what they make provided it's at least as much as their bid, three, using a 48-card deck without twos. The 5 and 3 remain as scoring cards
otherwise they lose the amount of their bid. The non-bidding team always score what even when they are not the lowest cards of their suits.
they make. The target score is 40 points. If both teams reach 40 or more points on
the same deal, the bidding team wins. Other Variations
J. Hétu describes another version in which in diamonds and clubs the 8's are used as Target Score
the lowest cards instead of the kings. A trick containing the K is worth +6 points
and a trick containing the K is -3 points. The minimum bid is 5, the maximum is 12 Many play that if any successful no-trump contract is played during the game, the
number of points required to win the game is increased from 52 to 62. This seems to
and the card led by the high bidder determines the trump suit. This game is also be the normal rule in Saskatchewan.
played to 40 points.
Some play with a target score of 56, increased to 62 if a no trump bid succeeds.
Joffre
Some play with a target score of 52, increased to 64 if a no trump bid succeeds.
In some parts of Québec a version of Kaiser known as Joffre is played with special
cards. The 32-card deck has suits representing England (blue), Russia (green),
Germany (brown) and France (red), each with cards from 7 (high) down to zero (low). Some play with a target score of 69.
The cards from 7 to 1 represent military ranks: General (7), Colonel (6), Major (5),
Captain (4), Lieutenant (3), Sergeant (2) and Corporal (1). The English zero is a coat of Minus 52 Loses the Game
arms, the Russian zero is a clown, the German zero is Kaiser Wilhelm II and the
French zero is Joseph Joffre. When playing to 52, some play that if a team has a cumulative score of minus 52 or
worse, they lose the game and the other team wins.
The game is played in a similar way to Kaiser, the Kaiser being worth -3 points and
Joffre +5. The main differences are: With a different target, the losing score is adjusted accordingly. For example if the
target score to win is 69, then the game is lost if a team reaches -69 or worse.
 The target score to win the game is 40 or 41, or in some places 42.
Bid to Win
 There are no "no trump" bids.
Some play that the limit for scoring points for tricks without bidding is 47 points
rather than 45. In this case if your score is 47 or more, you cannot score for tricks
 The minimum bid is 5 and the maximum 12.
unless you are the bidding team, or unless you capture the 5 from the bidders,
which wins the game for you.
 The first card played by the high bidder determines the trump suit.
When the target score is increased to 62 by a no trump bid, the amount that can be
 If the Kaiser wins a trick that contains the Joffre card, the person who scored without bidding is also increased, for example to 56.
played Joffre loses 5 points for the insult.
Some allow a team to score without bidding, however high their score, but a team
Joffre is played with these cards in the county of Bellechasse, for example in Sainte- can only win by means of a successful bid. The non-bidding side cannot win the game,
Anselme, but also in Sainte-Germaine de Boulé in western Québec. Since these places even if their score is well above the target.
are quite far apart, it seems likely that it may also be known in other parts of Québec.
Minimum Bid
Descriptions of Joffre and illustrations of the cards can be found on the Joffre page of
the St-Anselme web site (archive copy), and attached to the Many play with a minimum bid of seven rather than six. On the other hand, some
BoardGameGeek Joffre page. allow a minimum bid of five, but this is regarded by serious players as making the
game too easy.
Lost Heir
No Score for Overtricks
A rather similar game, using a pack of the same structure, was published by
McLoughlin Brothers in 1893 under the name Lost Heir and subsequently by various Some play that a successful bid scores only the amount of the bid (or double that
other makers. The suits represent American, Canadian or British cities, and the cards amount for no trump bids). The bidding side scores nothing extra for points made in
in each suit are Mayor (7), Chief of Police (6); Commissioner (5), Detective (4), play in excess of the bid.
Captain (3), Sergeant (2), Policeman (1). There are two blank cards, a Lost Heir card
worth +5 points and a Wrong Boy card worth -3 points. Three of Spades
There must have been several versions of the game, because the rules published by
McLoughlin, as reproduced in the AGPC archives, specify a 48-card pack with 11 Some play that a team which takes the 3 require three tricks to erase the 3 point
rather than 7 cards in each suit. These rules are rather different from those of the penalty. If the team with the 3 take just one or two tricks, their score for the
later games. The suit led by the highest bidder is trump, but the Lost Heir always whole hand is minus 3 points. With three tricks their score would be zero, and
counts as the highest trump and the Wrong Boy counts as the lowest trump. The two
blank cards belong to no suit, so can only be played as discards when the holder is additional tricks count one further point each as normal. The 5 can also be
unable to follow suit. If a blank card is played to the same trick as the Lost Heir or counted for plus 5 points provided that the team has at least three tricks.
Wrong Boy it cancels the value of those cards. There were individual and partnership
versions of the game. Misdeal

The bidding process was strange. The players other than the dealer bid for the right Some play that if the first three players pass, the dealer can also pass, in which case
to lead first and make trumps. The dealer could either accept the highest bid and the cards are thrown in as a "misdeal", and shuffled and dealt again by the same
score the amount bid, or reject it, score nothing for the bid, and make trumps dealer.
himself. At the end of the play each player or team scored the points they made,
except that if the bidder made fewer points than the bid, his score for the hand was Some allow a player who holds all four 10s, 9s, or 8s to throw in the hand as a
zero. When playing in teams, the partners simply added their scores together. The "misdeal". The same dealer shuffles and deals again.
first player or team to 25 points was the winner.
Kaiser Bid
It's clear that this game would be rather less interesting to play than Joffre or Kaiser.
There is no possibility to capture the Lost Heir from the lucky player who is dealt it: Some allow a bid of Kaiser, which means that the bidder alone will take 12 points in
the best the others can do is to annul its trick with a blank card. So it may be that Lost no trump - i.e. seven tricks including the five of hearts but not the three of spades.
Heir was the original game, and that Joffre and Kaiser were developed later as a The bidder's partner must take no tricks, and the opponents must take a trick
result of various improvements to its rules. containing the 3 of spades. This wins the game if successful and loses the game if
unsuccessful.
Kaiser for 2, 3, 5 or 6 Players
Some groups play with a Kaiser bid in which the bidding team has to take 12 points in
Two Players no trump. If they succeed they win the game: if they fail they lose it.

John Suchan describes a 2-player version in which each player is dealt a hand of 8 Some play with a bid of Kaiser 40, by which the bidder undertakes to win all eight
cards plus four 2-card piles face down on the table. After the bidding, the top card on tricks alone (partner does not take part in the play). This scores 40 points if successful
each pile is turned over and both players can see these cards. In the play, you may and loses 40 otherwise.
play from the hand or a face up card from the table. After the top card of a pile is
played, the card under it is turned face up and becomes available for play. Card Passing
Three Players Some play that each player simultaneously passes one card face down to partner
before the bidding takes place. Others play that each player passes two cards across
Ken Garinger recommends this 3-player version of Kaiser played by his family in the table. Note that a misdeal can only be called on the basis of cards held before the
Saskatchewan. A 26-card deck is used consisting of the A-K-Q-J-10-9 of each suit plus pass.
the 5 and 3. Eight cards are dealt to each player and at any time during the
deal the dealer places two cards face down in the kitty or 'Missy'. The minimum bid is Some play with a card passing scheme similar to Hearts. In the first deal each player
7. The dealer can take over the contract by equalling the highest bid so far as must passes two cards face down to the left; in the second deal each player passes two
bid at least 7 if the other two players pass. If the winning bid was in trumps, the cards to the right; in the third deal each player passes two cards to partner; in
bidder must name the trump suit before picking up and looking at the Missy. The subsequent deals the pattern is repeated: 2 left, 2 right, 2 across, 2 left, and so on.
bidder picks up the two Missy cards without showing them to the other players and
then discards any two of their 10 cards face down - these may include 0, 1 or both of One correspondent describes a different variant in which two cards are passed
the cards picked up from the Missy, but the 5 and 3 cannot be discarded. Play between partners after the bidding.
and scoring are as usual, each opponent of the bidder scoring separately for the tricks
they took. The winner is the first to 52 or more and a player whose score is 45 or Kaiser with a Pot
more can score positive points only by means of a successful bid.

138
Some play that whenever a team loses a bid, they contribute an agreed amount of less attractive to sacrifice by bidding 9 of a suit to stop the other team making 8 no
money to a pot. The pot is collected by the team that wins the game. This makes it trump.

139
Court Piece 4
Some play that if the trump caller's first 5 cards are all lower than a Jack, the player
can demand that the cards be thrown in and redealt by the same dealer.

Introduction Instead of counting only courts, some players score points for each deal. The trump
This game, which is very popular in India and Pakistan, has several names. The calling team score 1 point for taking at least 7 tricks or 3 points for a court. The
name Court Piece is sometimes written as Coat Piece or Coat Pees, Pees being a opponents score 2 points if they take at least 7 tricks or 4 points for a court. The first
Hindi word meaning to deal. In Pakistan this game is often known as Rang or Rung, team to reach an agreed target score, for example 10 points, wins the game.
which means trump. In some places, for example in Goa, it is called Seven Hands: in
India the English word "hand" is sometimes used to mean a "trick" - i.e. one card Double Sir
played to the table by each player in turn, these cards being won by the player of the Double Sir or Double Sar is a variant of Court Piece: the word sir (sar) means trick
highest card. (hand).

The word Court, Coat, Kot or Kout occurs in many South Asian games and is also The deal, choice of trumps and rules of play are the same as in Court Piece, but in this
found as far away as Somalia and Malaysia. It usually means something like a slam, in variant, a player who wins a trick does not gather in the cards, but turns the cards of
which one team wins all the tricks or at least a number of consecutive tricks while the the trick face down in the centre of the table. Cards are only gathered in when the
other team wins none. The origin of the word Kot is unclear, but Thierry Depaulis same player wins two consecutive tricks. Until then the tricks pile up in the centre.
suggests that it may perhaps come from Tamil or some other Dravidian language.
When a player does win two consecutive tricks, that player takes all the cards from
Players and Cards the centre (the trick just won and the pile of previous tricks), adds them to his team's
There are four players in fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite. Deal and play face down trick pile, and leads to the next trick.
are anticlockwise.
After a player has won two consecutive tricks and gathered in the cards, the following
A standard international pack is used, the cards in each suit ranking from high to low trick is left in the centre to begin a new pile. So if a player who has just won two
A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2. consecutive tricks and taken the pile wins the next trick as well, he does not
automatically take in this third trick. He would be able to do so if he also won the
Deal and Making Trumps following trick.
The first dealer is chosen at random. Subsequently the dealer is always a member of
the team that lost the previous deal - see winning for details. The player who wins the 13th and last trick takes in this and any tricks that have
accumulated in the centre, even if he did not win the 12th trick.
The dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's right, known as the "trump-caller", cuts.
The dealer deals a batch of five cards to each player. The trump-caller player looks at Note that it is not possible to pick up the cards in the centre if two consecutive tricks
his or her five cards and (without communication with any other player) chooses and are won by two different players of a partnership. For example if AC and BD are two
announces the trump suit. Then the dealer deals out all the remaining cards in partnerships, 4 tricks are lying in the centre, "Player A" wins a trick and the next trick
batches of four, so that everyone has 13 cards. is won by "Player C", then they can't pick up the 6 tricks. But if the next trick is also
won by Player C, then he'll pick up all 7 tricks for AC.
Play
The player to dealer's right leads any card to the first trick. Players must follow suit if The team that wins seven or more tricks wins the deal, and a team that wins seven or
possible: if unable they may play any card. When all four players have contributed a more consecutive deals score a court.
card the player of the highest card of the suit that was led wins the trick unless one or
more cards of the trump suit were played, in which case the highest trump wins. The To score a court in one deal, a team needs to win all thirteen tricks, and the number
player who won the trick leads any card to the next trick. of deals won is reset to zero. If the dealer's team wins all thirteen tricks, this is a goon
court which counts as three courts.
Completed tricks (which are confusingly sometimes known in India as "hands") are
stacked neatly face down in front of one of the players of the team who won them, The next dealer is a member of the losing team, determined in the same way as in
so that everyone can see how many tricks each team has won. Court Piece.
A player who revokes by failing to follow suit when able to may apologise and correct Variants of Double Sir
the error without penalty, provided that this is done before the trick (hand) has been Some play that a player who wins the first two tricks cannot pick them up (but a
completed and turned face down. After the revoke is corrected, any players who player who wins the second and third tricks can pick up the three tricks as usual).
played after the incorrect play have the option, in turn, to take back the card they Also some play that a player who wins the 11th and 12th tricks cannot pick up the
played and play a different one. If a revoke is detected after the trick is complete (for tricks from the table. These rules makes it more difficult for a team to escape having
example a player plays a different suit on a heart lead and later plays a heart), then a court scored against them.
the play ends and the opposing team immediately scores a court.
Some play that a goon court, where the dealer's team wins every trick, counts as 10
Winning courts rather than just three.
The object of the game is to score courts (coats, kots) by winning the majority of the
tricks (hands). Some play that the trump caller, if unwilling to choose a suit on the basis of five
 The team that wins at least seven of the thirteen tricks (hands) wins the cards, can specify some later card such as the 7th or the 10th. The dealer then
deal, and a team that wins seven deals in succession scores a court. completes the deal, turning the specified card face up, and its suit is trumps.
 It is also possible to score a court in a single deal by winning the first
seven tricks, while the opposing team scores none. Some play that a player who wins two consecutive tricks with aces is not entitled to
 If a player revokes (fails to follow suit when able to) and the revoke is pick them up.
not corrected before the next trick, the opponents score a court.
Be-ranga Double Sar
Whenever a court is scored, the number of consecutive deals won is reset to zero. In this variant the dealer deals all thirteen cards and the play begins without trumps
until some player is unable to follow suit. As soon as a player cannot follow suit, the
The dealer is always a player from the team that lost the previous deal, so that the suit of the card they play instead becomes trump for the rest of the deal. No tricks
winners of the previous deal call trumps. The next dealer is determined as follows: can be collected until the trick after the one in which trumps are determined (but if
 If the dealer's team wins the deal, the player to the dealer's right deals the same player wins the trump determining trick and the following one, that player's
next. team collects all the tricks played up to this point).
 If the trump-caller's team wins the deal, but does not score a court, the Hidden Rung
same dealer deals again.
In this Double Sir variant the first player chooses trumps from the first five cards dealt
 If the trump-caller's team scores a court, the deal passes to the partner by placing a card of the trump suit face down without telling the other players what it
of the previous dealer. is. A player who is unable to follow suit may ask for the trump to be revealed and
must then play a trump to the trick if possible.
If the dealer's team wins the first seven tricks, this is sometimes known as a goon
court. This is a humiliating loss for the trump-caller's team. "Goon", with a silent n, If the player who chose trump is unable to follow suit, he or she may either reveal the
means horse manure. trump and play a trump card (not necessarily the revealed card) or may play a card of
another suit face down, so as not to give any clue about the suit chosen as trumps.
A team that scores a court by winning the first seven tricks can carry on and try to The trump maker may choose to reveal the trump when leading, and in that case a
win all 13 tricks. This extremely rare achievement is known as a 52-court or a bavney. trump must be led.
There is no penalty for carrying on after seven tricks and failing to win all thirteen,
but to save time, normally the play is ended when one team has won seven tricks. If a suit other than trumps was led, the chosen suit becomes trumps at the moment
when the trump card is revealed. That may sometimes result in a lower card beating
The overall winners of the session are the team that has scored most courts after an a higher card of the same suit. Example. Player 1 leads the A, player 2 follows suit
agreed length of time. If both teams have scored equally many courts (or no courts at
all were scored) there is no winner. Winning a 52-court or bavney counts as 52 with the 5 and player 3 discards the 6 having no hearts. Player 4 also has no
courts. hearts and asks for the trump to be revealed. Player 2 reveals a diamond and player 4
trumps with the 3. Player 4 wins the trick: the 3 of diamonds beats the 6 of
Variations diamonds, because the 6 was not a trump at the time when it was played.
Some play that the trump caller, instead of announcing the trump suit, chooses it by
selecting a card from the first five dealt and placing it on the table separately from his However, if the trump suit turns out to be the suit that was led, the highest card of
or her other cards. The trump-caller may decide not to choose a trump suit from the that suit wins even if the suit was revealed in the middle of the trick. For example
first five cards dealt. In this case, trumps are determined by turning over one card at
random from the second batch of cards dealt to the trump caller. player 1 leads the A, player 2 has no spades and asks the trump maker (player 4)
to reveal the trump. Player 4 shows the 7, and player 2 throws the 3. Player 3
Some play that the card indicating the trump suit is kept face down, so that the follows suit with the 5 and player 4 plays the 7. Player 1 wins the trick: since
players other than the trump caller do not know what the trump suit will be. In this the chosen suit was led, the Ace wins even though it was not known to be a trump at
version of the game, there are no trumps until the trump indicator card is revealed. A the time when it was played.
player who is unable to follow suit may ask for the trump to be shown: in this case
the trump indicator card is turned face up and then returned to the owner's hand,
and the player who asked must play a trump if possible. The trump caller may choose In order to claim the tricks from the centre of the table a player needs to win two
to reveal his own trump card if unable to follow suit or when on lead, in which case consecutive tricks after the trump suit has been revealed. No tricks can be claimed at
he must play a trump. From the moment that the trump indicator card is revealed its the end of the 1st, 2nd or 12th trick. From the 3rd to the 11th trick inclusive, if the
suit becomes trumps, but cards of that suit played before the indicator card was trick is won by the same player that won the previous trick, and the winning card of
revealed do not count as trumps unless the trump suit was led. This can result in a the previous trick was played after the trump had been revealed, the player's team
lower card beating a higher card of the same suit if the suit was revealed as trump collects all the tricks from the centre of the table.
after the higher card was played - see examples under Hidden Rung.
The winner of the 13th trick takes all remaining tricks from the table. If the trump has
Some play that the trump indicator card is selected at random from the first player's not been revealed by the time the trump maker plays to the 13th trick, the trump
first five cards without looking, so that even this player does not know what the maker naturally has to reveal it and play it to that trick.
trump suit will be until the card is revealed.
 as the winner is bound to do. A rubber consists of three games, each in turn dealing
Ninety-Nine 2, 3, 4, 5 first to a new game.
Ninety-Nine for four
Ninety-Nine for Three Players
Deal 13 cards each from a 52-card pack. Use three bid-cards to bid up to 10 tricks. A
bid of three diamonds represents either 0 or 10 tricks, and either number of tricks
Ninety-Nine was developed in 1968 in response to the need for a skilled but easily taken fulfills the contract. The contract score is 30 if one player succeeds, 20 if two,
learnt plain-trick game for three players. It was first published in 1975 and has since 10 each if three, zero if all four either succeed or fail their contract. If all four
appeared in card-game books in various countries including Germany, Hungary, succeeds, the following deal is played at No Trump, otherwise the trump suit is
Japan and Argentina. determined as the three-handed game. The premium score is 30 or 60 as before. A
David Parlett has contributed the following description of his game, the rules of which rubber consists of four games.
he revised in 1990. He says he now wishes he had originally called the game 'Sphinx'. A partnership version is possible, in which players show their bid cards. Rules can be
Note: There is another card game called Ninety-Nine, an adding game, sometimes found on David Parlett's 99 page.
played as a drinking game in which the object is to play cards without taking the total Ninety-Nine for five
value of the pile above 99. This has no connection with the game described here.
Five players receive 12 each from the Australian 'Five Hundred' pack including
Deal Elevens and Twelves (but ignoring the Thirteens) and lay aside three cards to bid up
Three players each receive 12 cards from a 36-pack ranking A K Q J T 9 8 7 6 in each to nine. The contract score is 10 if all five succeeds, 20 if four, 30 if three, 40 if two,
suit. The turn to deal and play passes always to the left. 50 if only one. No-one may reveal, but any number of players may declare for a
premium of 50 points if successful or minus 50 if not. If four or five players succeed,
Objective the next deal if played at No Trump. A rubber consists of five games. For a shorter
game, play up to an agreed target score, such as 500 or 250 points.
The players each lay aside three bid-cards and play the remaining nine cards to tricks.
Each player aims to win exactly as many tricks as indicated secretly and in code by Ninety-Nine for two
their bid-cards. For this purpose, the suits of the bid-cards represent numbers of
tricks bid as follows: This is played exactly like three-handed Ninety-Nine but with a dummy third player.
Deal three hands of 12 cards each face down. Separate the top three cards of the
= 3 tricks = 2 tricks = 1 trick = 0 tricks dummy hands as its 'bid'. These remains face down and unseen till end of play. Each
player bids in usual way. Either or both players may declare, but neither may reveal.
Example: Bid nine tricks by laying aside (3 + 3 + 3 = 9), none by laying
aside (0 + 0 + 0 = 0). Three may be bid (3 + 0 + 0), After the bids and any declaration have been made the dummy is turned face up and
sorted into suits. The first deal is played with clubs trump; thereafter, the trump suit
(2 + 1 + 0) or (1 + 1 + 1). And so on. is determined as in the three-handed game.
Premium Bids Non-dealer leads to the first trick, waits for the second to play, then plays any legal
card from dummy. If a live player wins the trick, he leads first from hand and third
Normally, bid-cards are left face down and remain unseen until exposed at the end of from dummy. If the dummy wins a trick, the person who played from it then leads
play to claim a win. For a premium, however, a player may offer to 'declare' by first from dummy and third from hand.
turning his or her bid-cards face up at the start of play, thus declaring their target and
revealing more information about the lie of cards. For a higher premium, a player At end of play, the dummy's bid-cards are turned up and all three players score as in
may offer to 'reveal' by not only turning their bid-cards up at start of play but also the three-handed games. If one player declares and fails the other two score the
then playing with their hand of cards exposed on the table before the opening lead. premium of 30. If both declare and fail, neither gains a premium but the dummy
Only one player may declare or reveal. If more than one wish to declare, priority goes scores 60 extra.
to the player nearest the dealer's left, dealer having least priority. An offer to reveal
overcalls an offer to declare regardless of position - but if two or more wish to reveal, If the dummy wins, the game is a tie as between the live players. If it beats or ties
the same priority applies. with one live player, the winner carries an extra 100 points forward, or, if playing for
hard score, wins double.
Note: For those who prefer a formal process for these announcements, David Parlett
has provided the following rule, which appeared in his book Original Card Other Variations
Games (1977): "Only one player may declare or reveal in any one round. Player left of Original 99
dealer has first option to declare or reveal; if he declines, the player on his left has
the option; and if he also declines, the option passes to dealer. If an earlier player The older version of three player 99, originally published in 1975 and probably still
offers to declare, a later player may overcall his bid by offering to reveal, in which played by many people, differs only slightly from the revised version described above:
case the latter is accepted unless the former then raises who his declaration to a
revelation, as he is entitled to do." In informal games, however, since there is rarely a  To the 36 card pack a joker is added. 12 cards each are dealt and the last card is
competiton to make these announcements, anyone wishing to declare or reveal turned up to designate the trump suit. If it is the joker or a nine, the hand is
simply says so, without waiting their turn. played at no trumps. If the joker is dealt to one of the players, then it represents
a duplicate of the turned up card for the purposes of bidding and play.
Trumps
 A rubber consists of exactly nine hands, the players' cumulative scores
The first deal is played at no trump. Each subsequent deal is played with a trump suit determining who has then won, and by how much.
determined by the number of players who fulfilled their previous contract. The trump
suit is clubs if all three succeeded, hearts if two, spades if one or diamonds if no-one Declarer chooses trumps
fulfilled their contract.
David Parlett recommends the following variation.
Play
In the first deal, there is no predetermined trump. Instead, each in turn, beginning
The player at the dealer's left leads first. Normal rules of trick-taking apply (Any suit with eldest, may offer to declare in return for nominating the trump suit. If someone
may be led. Players must follow suit if possible, otherwise may play any card. A trick offers to declare, a later player may overcall by offering to reveal, in which case the
is taken by the highest card of the suit led or by the highest trump if any are played. first may raise his call to a revelation. A revelation overcalls a declaration and, given
The winner of each trick leads to the next.) the same level, an earlier player has priority. As soon as a premium bidder is
established, he announces the trump suit, everyone discards, and eldest leads to the
Claims first trick after the declarer turned his bid-cards up (and exposed his hand if playing
Whoever claims to have fulfilled their contract must face their bid-cards to prove it, open). If no one bids in the first deal it is played at no trump. In subsequent deals, if
but no-one who fails need show them. The true bid is always the number no one bids the trump suit remains unchanged form the previous deal.
represented by the bid-cards. Nines as trump
Score Nicholas Tallyn reports a variation in which a player who declares or reveals is also
Each player's score for the deal consists of two or three components, namely allowed to choose the trump suit. This player can choose one of the four suits, or can
call nines as trumps. When nines are trumps, the four nines are a suit of their own
Trick score
containing just the four nines, ranking from high to low: 9, 9, 9, 9.
1 point per trick taken, regardless of bid.
Unbidden Ninety-Nine
Contract score
This variation for three players has been proposed by Charles Magri.
For fulfilling one's contract, 10 points if all three succeeded, 20 if only
Instead of putting aside their bid cards at the start of play, the players simply play
two players succeeded, 30 if only one player succeeds.
with hands of twelve cards. After nine tricks the play ends, and the three remaining
Premium score cards held by each player determine their bids.
A successful premium bidder scores an additional 30 for a declaration or The premium bids in this variant could be somewhat different from those of the
60 for a revelation. In the event of failure each opponent scores the standard game. Some possibilities are:
relevant premium, independently of their own success or failure.
 a player states a number of tricks and must arrange to bid and make that
Game number;
Game is 100 points - one more than the highest score achievable in a single deal. A  a player exposes all twelve cards and must arrange for the number of tricks won
premium of 100 is added to the score of any player who reaches 100 or more in play, to correspond to the bid;
a player exposes all twelve cards and states a number of tricks.

141
WYSIWYG 2

WYSIWYG (pronounced WIZ-ee-wig) is an acronym that stands for "What you see is play of the hand in order to win the hand. The scorekeeper should jot down both the
what you get". Since in this two player card game, the players get to see what cards declarer’s goal and her base score.
they are playing for before they play to a trick, it's an appropriate title. WYSIWYG
borrows some elements from a couple of old games called German Whist and Let's continue our example of the game between Amy and Ben. Amy makes a bid of
Honeymoon Bridge, while adding in some new ideas of its own. It's a blend of old and 11. Since she has a base score of 16, she is saying she thinks she can meet a goal of 27
new elements that's perfect for the computer age. (16 + 11). (The meaning of goals is explained in the section "Scoring the Hand".) If Ben
wants to continue bidding, he has to bid at least 12. He must consider whether he
Description: WYSIWYG is a trick taking card game for two players. After each player is thinks he can meet a goal of 16 (4 + 12); if he thinks it unlikely, he may want to pass.
dealt 13 cards, a hand proceeds in four separate phases. First, each player evaluates He must also decide if Amy has bid too high herself; if the answer is yes, he may
their hand and announces the total. Then, a bidding session takes place to establish choose to double her rather than pass.
the hand's trump suit and objective. Next, the players play to tricks, with the winner
of each trick replacing their card with their choice of one of two exposed cards and Play of the Hand: Once the trump suit has been named, the declarer exposes the top
the loser receiving the other card. Each trick is worth one mark. This continues until two cards of the deck. She then leads to the first trick.
the deck is depleted. Finally, the players play out the remainder of their cards to
tricks, each of which is worth two marks. If the player who set the trump suit has The player leading to a trick may play any card in her hand. Her opponent also plays a
earned marks at least equal to a goal based upon the two hand evaluations and his card. He must play a card of the same suit as the led card if he can. If he cannot, he
bid, he wins the hand. Play continues until one of the players scores 50 points. can play any card in his hand.
Equipment: WYSIWYG is played with a normal deck of 52 cards. The cards in each suit If the second player plays a card of the same suit as the led card, the higher of the
rank from Ace high down to Two low. Pencil and paper will also be needed to keep two cards wins the trick. If, instead, the second player plays a card of the trump suit
score. in response to a non-trump lead, then the second player wins the trick. Otherwise,
the first player wins the trick.
The Deal: One player is selected to be the dealer of the first hand. She deals 13 cards
to each player and places the remaining cards between the two players. During this phase of the game, the player who wins a trick takes one of the played
cards and places it face down in front of her. The cards placed in front of her form her
Hand Evaluation: Each player now independently evaluates their hand. This trick pile for the hand. She takes the other played card and places it face down, away
procedure will give a rough estimate of how good each player's hand is. Since a from both players, in a common discard pile. (It doesn't matter which card she keeps
player with a high hand evaluation must score more points in order to win the hand, and which she discards; the cards are only a counting device.) Finally, she takes one
this means the player who is dealt the better hand has to accomplish more in order of the two exposed cards (her choice) and adds it to her hand. The player who lost
to succeed. the trick takes the other exposed card and adds it to his hand. The winner of the trick
then exposes the next two cards from the deck and leads a card to the next trick. This
Here's how to evaluate a hand. Each Ace in the hand counts 4 points; each King, 3 process continues for 13 tricks, until the deck is exhausted.
points; each Queen, 2 points; and each Jack, 1 point. Add up all the points for high
cards in the hand. Then, add the length of the longest suit in the hand. This is the The second half of the hand then begins. This proceeds exactly as the first half,
evaluation of that hand. except that the players do not replenish their hands. Moreover, when a player wins a
trick, he takes both of the played cards and places them face down in front of him.
Here's an example of evaluating a hand:
 Two Aces = 8 points The reason for the different procedures when winning a trick in the two phases is
 One King = 3 points that tricks won in the second half of the hand are worth twice as much as tricks won
 One Queen = 2 points in the first half of the hand. The players are trying to maximize the total number of
 Two Jacks = 2 points cards in their trick pile. Consequently, it's a good idea for each player to gather up
 Five card suit (Hearts) = 5 points cards in their trick pile in groups of five and place them crosswise, so that it's easier
 Total = 20 points to see how many cards are in each pile.
(Incidentally, the method for determining high The second half of the hand ends after 13 more tricks, when the players have played
card points is the same one used by most the last cards from their hands. The player who wins the last trick takes the two
bridge players to determine how good their played cards as usual and then adds one of the cards from the discard pile to her trick
hand is, so hopefully it will be familiar to some players.) pile. Now that 26 tricks have been played, the hand is over. The players are now
ready to score the hand.
Each player must evaluate their own hand. They then announce their hand
evaluations. They should not state how the total was reached, just what the final Scoring the Hand: The players now see if the declarer has made her bid. Each trick
evaluation is. won by the declarer gives her a certain number of marks. Each trick won in the first
half of the hand is worth 1 mark. Each trick won in the second half of the hand is
A base score must then be determined for each player. This is done using the worth 2 marks. In addition, winning the last trick of the hand is worth an additional
following procedure: mark (making the last trick worth a total of 3 marks). The declarer adds all these up to
get her mark total for the hand. Note that the highest possible score for a hand is 40
Begin by subtracting the lower hand evaluation from the higher hand evaluation. marks (13 + (13 x 2) + 1). Note also that the declarer's mark total is equal to the
Then consult the table below and find the row that has the difference in evaluations number of cards in her trick pile.
in the first column. The figure in that row in the second column is the base score for
the player with the higher evaluation; the figure in that row in the third column is the The declarer's objective is to have a mark total Difference Higher Lower
base score for the player with the lower evaluation. For example, if Amy's evaluation at least equal to her goal. (Recall that the Between Base Base
is 20 and Ben's evaluation is 12, checking the row with 8 (20 - 12) in the first column declarer's goal is equal to the sum of her base Evaluations Score Score
gives a base score of 16 for Amy and 4 for Ben. score and her bid.) If the declarer's mark total 0 10 10
is at least equal to her goal, she wins the hand
and scores points. If her mark total is less than 1 11 9
(Incidentally, the procedure summarized in the table is to take 75% of the difference
between evaluations, add the result to 10 to get the higher base score, and subtract her goal, her opponent scores points. 2 11 8
the result from 10 to get the lower base score. Fractions in the base scores are 3 12 8
rounded to the nearest integer, with halves always being rounded down.) Here's an example. Suppose Amy, with a base 4 13 7
score of 16, makes a winning bid of 11 and
5 14 6
Bidding: Once the hand evaluations have been declared, the players bid to name the names Diamonds the trump suit. During the
trump suit. The player with the lower evaluation starts the bidding. If both hands hand, she wins eight tricks during the first half 6 14 5
have the same value, the dealer begins the bidding. and ten tricks during the second half, including 7 15 5
the last trick. Her mark total is therefore 8 + (2 8 16 4
Bids are whole numbers equal to or greater than zero. Players alternate bids. If a x 10) + 1 = 29. Since this is at least equal to her 9 17 3
player makes a numerical bid, it must be higher than his opponent's previous bid. goal of 27 (16 + 11), Amy wins the hand.
10 17 2
Here's the bidding procedure in detail. After the opening bidder makes a numerical If the declarer wins the hand, she subtracts her 11 18 2
bid, each player in his turn to bid has three options: base score from her mark total and scores that 12 19 1
1. He may make a higher numerical bid, which continues the auction. many points. In the example given above, the 13 20 0
2. He may pass, which ends the auction. declarer would score 13 points (29 - 16). Notice
3. Or he may double, if he doesn't believe his opponent will be able to win the hand that a winning declarer must score at least as 14 20 -1
with her last bid. many points as her bid. 15 21 -1
16 22 -2
After a player doubles, his opponent has two choices: If the declarer loses the hand, her opponent 17 23 -3
1. She may pass, which means she will play the hand for doubled stakes. scores 2 points if the declarer was one mark
short of her goal; 5 points if the declarer was 18 23 -4
2. Or, if she is certain she can win the hand, she can redouble, and play the hand for
quadrupled stakes. In either case, the bidding is over. two marks short; 10 points if the declarer was 19 24 -4
three marks short; and five additional points 20 25 -5
for each additional mark the declarer was short 21 26 -6
by. If the declarer is at least two marks short of
her goal, the formula for the points scored by 22 26 -7
The last player to make a numerical bid is the declarer for the hand. The declarer the declarer's opponent is 5 x (Goal - Marks -1). 23 27 -7
must name one of the suits to be the trump suit for that hand. Rather than name a
trump suit, the declarer can state that this will be a No Trump hand, and the hand will So if a declarer with a base of 13 bids 11 and 24 or more 28 -8
be played without a trump suit. only gets 18 marks, she is 6 marks short of her
goal and her opponent scores 25 points.
The player that opens the bidding may pass. In this case, her opponent automatically
becomes declarer and must make one bid. A bid of zero is permissible, but he may All these points are doubled if the hand was doubled and quadrupled if the hand was
not pass. The player that opened with a pass may respond by doubling the bid, in redoubled. This is true regardless of which player scores points.
which case the usual procedure is followed.
Winning the Game: After the hand is scored, another hand is played. The player who
did not deal the previous hand deals this hand. The game continues until one player’s
Finally, the declarer adds the last numerical bid she made during the auction to her total score reaches 50 points or more. That player wins the game.
base score. This sum is called her goal. The declarer must meet her goal during the
- Larry Levy

142
Ninety-Eight / Ninety-Nine / One-Hundred 2-6 / 2, 3–7 / 3-10
Introduction The pile value must not go above 98. If a player is unable to play without taking the
These are adding games, in which the values of the cards are added together as they total over 98, that player is eliminated from the game. The play does not end, but the
played in a single pile, the object being to avoid taking the total above the target turn passes to the next player after the one who was eliminated. Play continues until
score (98, 99, 100 respectively). These games presumably have a common origin, either all players but one are eliminated or the stock runs out. The last person who
since the details, including even the effects of the special cards are similar, and to managed to play a card is the winner.
judge from the correspondence I have received, they probably originated in North Values and effects of cards
America in the mid 20th century, even though they are not documented in the card 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 are ordinary cards. Playing one of these simply increases the
game manuals of that period. I have received two reports from families who played value of the pile by the face value of the card. All other cards have special effects
98 in the 1970's and and one who played 99 in the 1950's. when played, as follows.
Kantaphon Tongmee tells me that a similar adding game 99 (เก้าสิบเก้า) is
played in Thailand.
 Ace: the value of the pile increases by 1 or 11 at the player's choice.

Note that there are also other, entirely different card games called 99 and 100. There  Nine: the value of the pile is unchanged but the direction of play is reversed.
is Ninety-nine, the three-player trick taking game invented by David Parlett, and the  Jack: the value of the pile is reduced by 10.
Chinese partnership trick-taking game of Hundred.
 Queen or Four: zero value - the value of the pile is unchanged
Ninety-eight  King: the value of the pile becomes 98
There are many slightly different versions of 98, and the original Arizona game has  Joker: the value of the pile becomes 98 and the next player must play on 98
some complications which were dropped as it spread more widely. For clarity, we
twice or play the other joker - see below.
first describe one of the simpler, later versions. Rules for the more complex original
game are given below. Multiple Plays
As described by Chris Jepson, 98 is a fairly simple drinking game for 2 or more If a player has two, three or four cards of the same rank, they can be played together
players, using a standard 52 card deck. and the pile value is increased by the total value of the cards played. For example,
playing two 8's together increases the pile value by 16. When multiple aces are
Deal out four cards to each player and place the remainder face down to form
played, they must all be given the same value - for example three aces increase the
the stock. The player to the dealer's left begins and play continues in clockwise order.
pile value by 3 or 33 (not 13 or 23). After a multiple play the player draws the same
Players play their cards on the table to form a face-up pile alongside the stock.
number of cards that were played, so as to have four cards in hand again.
At your turn you play one of your four cards to the face up pile, call out the new value
Jokers
of the pile, and then draw the top card from the face down stock to replace the card
you played. A joker sets the value of the pile to 98 and there are three possibilities for next
player.
At the start of the game there are no cards in the pile and its value is zero. Played
cards affect the value of the pile as follows: 1. Play the other joker, which cancels the 'double play' effect of the first joker and
leaves the total at 98. So the following player just has to play once on 98, or
 ace to nine: increase the value of the pile by the pip count of the card
2. Play twice without drawing a card between the two plays. After the first play the
 ten: reduce the value by ten pile value is reset to 98.
 jack, queen: the value stays the same 3. If unable to play twice on 98 and not holding the other joker, the player is
eliminated from the game, leaving the following player the same three options.
 king: the value is set to 98
If your first play on the joker is a 4, 9, J, Q or K the pile value returns to 98 and you
The aim is to avoid taking the value above 98. The first person who makes the value must play again. If your second play is also a 4, 9, J, Q or K, that completes your turn
of the pile more than 98 loses, and has to take a drink. and the next player will only have to make one play as usual. If your second play was
Example. The first player plays an 8 and says 8; the next player plays a 6 and says 14; a Jack, the new pile value will be 88, otherwise it will be 98. If one of your plays was a
the next player plays a king and says 98; the next player plays a jack and says 98; the 9, the turn goes back to the player of the joker. If both your plays were nines the
next player plays a ten and says 88; the next player plays a 7 and says 95; the next direction is reversed twice and the turn goes on to the next player. If
player's four cards are 4, 5, 6, 9 - this player must lose. your second play is a joker, then the next player in turn must again play twice on 98,
Variation so by playing a 9 followed by a joker you can turn the tables on the person who
played the first joker, making then play twice on 98.
John Peterson reports a variant from UMass Amherst in which there are additional
special cards. It would theoretically be possible to play both jokers together, using the multiple play
rule, though in practice this never happened. If both jokers are played, the next
 Ace of Clubs or Diamonds: increases the value of the pile by one or eleven, at player is required to play four times on 98. In other words the next player's four cards
the player's choice. must all be special cards that do not increase the pile value (4, 9, J, Q, K). If unable to
 Ace of Spades: the value of the pile remains the same, and the player picks do this, the player is eliminated and the obligation to play four times on 98 passes to
another player to eliminate from the current round. the following player. Thus a play of two jokers is quite likely to eliminate all the other
players and thus win the game.
 Ace of Hearts: the value of the pile remains the same. It also prevents
End of the Play
elimination by the Ace of Spades (the player must discard the Ace of Hearts and
draw a new card immediately). It is traditional for the dealer to take a good card from the deck and place it face up at
the bottom of the stock as a reward for the last player who is able to replenish his
 Four: the value of the pile remains the same but the direction of play reverses. hand from the stock. When the stock is exhausted, play continues without hand
 Nine: counts as zero - the value of the pile remains the same and play passes to replenishment. If you have no card left to play on your turn you are eliminated from
next player in turn. the game. The play ends when all players but one are eliminated: this can happen
either before or after the stock is used up. The winner is the last player who played a
 Ten: increases or reduces the value of the pile by ten, at the player's choice.
card to the pile. The winner receives a "party favor"and has to shuffle the cards and
 King: the value of the pile is set to 98. deal the next round.
 Queen of Spades: the value of the pile remains the same, and you exchange Ninety-nine
hands with another player.
Note: This game should not be confused with David Parlett's Ninety-nine, which is a
 Other Queens and all Jacks: increase the value of the pile by 10. trick-taking game in which the cards discarded define the bid.
98: Arizona Version Each player begins the game with 5 pennies (or chips). Deal out 3 cards to each player
In 1993 Jay Feaster and his friends Sully and Dave at Arizona State University created from a standard 52 card deck (if more than 4 people are playing use 2 decks and give
a variant of 98 with some extra complications that are not found in other versions of each player just 3 pennies). The undealt cards are placed on the table to form a face-
the game. The players took this game back to their home towns and taught it to their down stock.
high school friends during vacations, and from there it spread to other colleges, The player to the left of the dealer starts and the turn initially passes clockwise. On
though in some cases with simplified and streamlined rules. The original Arizona each turn you play one of your three cards face-up to the centre of the table, call out
version is as follows. the total value of the face-up pile (as per the table below), then draw the top card
A standard 52-card pack with two jokers is used. Four cards are dealt to each player, from the stock. When the face-up pile is empty the count is zero. For each card
and the remainder are stacked face down to form the stock. The player to the played add the pip value of the card played to the total value of the pile. Jacks and
dealer's left begins and play continues clockwise. Players play their cards to the queens count as 10. The following cards cause special effects:
center of the table to form a face-up pile alongside the stock.  Ace - increases the value of the pile by one or eleven, at the player's choice.
Note. Originally the play pile began empty, but later the custom was introduced that
the dealer would turn up the top card of the stock to begin the play pile. If this first
 Four - the value of the pile remains the same but the direction of play reverses.
card was a special card its effects would apply immediately, which would be unlucky  Nine - counts as zero - the value of the pile remains the same and play passes to
for the first player if it was a king or joker. next player in turn.
An ordinary turn consists of playing one of your four cards on top of the face up pile,  Ten - increases or reduces the value of the pile by ten, at the player's choice.
adding its value to the current total, calling out the new value of the pile, and then
drawing the top card from the face down stock to replace the card you played.  King - the value of the pile is set to 99.

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If you cannot play without taking the value of the pile over 99, you lay down your  You lose a game point when you play a card which causes the value of the pile
hand. The play ends, and you toss one penny into the center; players who have no to cross any of the three borders 33:34, 66:67 and 99:100. When the score
pennies left drop out of the game. After each hand, the deal passes to next player to exceeds 99 the play ends and a new hand is dealt. Therefore a total of three
the left of the previous dealer who is still in. Hands continue till only one player has game points are normally lost on each hand, as the three borders are crossed,
any pennies left, and that player is the winner. but it is possible to lose extra points by using tens to go backwards - for example
When someone plays a nine or a four they repeat the value of the pile, calling out if the pile is 75 and you play a ten as -10 you will lose a game point as you take
"pass to you #" or "back on you #" respectively. For example here is part of a four- the total down to 65.
player game; play is currently running clockwise. Player 1 plays a King and says "99".
Player 2 plays a nine and says (looking at player 3) "pass to you 99". Player 3 plays a
 Each player starts each hand with three game points. Whatever game points
you have left at the end of the hand are added to your cumulative score. When
four and says (looking at player 2, since play order will now run counterclockwise
(over several hands) anyone achieves a score of 15 game points or more, the
until another four is played) "back on you 99". Player 2 plays a ten and says "89".
player with the highest score wins.
Player 1 plays a eight and says "97". Player 4 plays a four, looks at player 1 and says
"back on you 97" (now we're back to clockwise), and so on. Some play that making the total exactly 69 has some sort of effect. It might be a
bonus - for example scoring an extra point, or getting a penny from the pool, or
When there are only two players, there is no longer any difference between
everyone else having to take a drink if you play this as a drinking game, or some other
clockwise and counterclockwise play. the player to your left is also the player to your
result such as resetting the total to zero.
right. Therefore, playing a four has no effect on the turn order when there are two
players - the pile value remains the same and it is the other player's turn, just as In the version described by Ishihara, after the deal a card is turned up to start the
though you had played a nine. play. If it is a special card it is returned to the middle of the deck and the next card is
turned up. When an ordinary card is turned, this card gives the initial count from
If the stock pile runs out, the top card of the discard pile is set aside to begin a new
which play begins. In this version there are no coins and players who go over 99 are
discard pile (the count is unchanged) and the rest of the pile is shuffled to form a new
immediately eliminated. However, it is forbidden to set the total to 99 by playing a
stock, so that the game can continue.
King during your first five turns. Ishihara's group also have a variant where certain
This game should be played very rapidly. It is easy to forget to draw a replacement hands immediately end the game - a player who has three Kings immediately wins,
after you play a card. If that happens it cannot be corrected afterwards - you must get and a hand of three Sixes causes the game to end immediately with all players losing.
by with one fewer card for the rest of the hand.
99 Variations One Hundred
The number of coins players have at the start of the game can be varied, as can the This section is based on a description posted to rec.games.playing-cards by Nicholas
number of cards in each player's hand. For example Alan Orcutt reports a variation in Cheung.
which everyone starts with 4 nickels and five cards are dealt to each player. In Don Note: this game is not to be confused with the Chinese game of Hundred (Da Bai Fen)
Boyer's version players are dealt seven cards each, and effectively only one coin, in which the aim is to win kings, tens and fives in tricks.
since a player who goes over 99 is immediately eliminated from the game. However
One normal deck of 52 cards is used for 3 to 6 players. If there are 7 or more players
many cards are dealt, a turn consists of playing a card and then drawing a card, so
2 decks are used. Each player begins with three chips and the object of the game is to
that the number of cards in each player's hand remains the same for each turn.
be the last player to have any chips left.
Frankie Kolb describes a version in which that each player begins with a dollar bill and
Three cards are dealt to each player, one at a time, and the remaining cards are
folds over one corner each time they go over 99. A player who has folded all four
placed face-down on the table to form a stock. The cards put down by the players will
corners is out of the game and the last survivor gets all the dollars.
form a face-up pile beside the stock. At the start of the game there are no face-up
Some play that after a player goes over 99 and loses a coin, the pile is taken away and cards and the value of the (empty) pile is zero. The player to the left of dealer begins
the other players continue to play with the cards they have in their hands, starting a and the initial direction of play is clockwise. At your turn you put down one card face-
new pile from zero. If the stock runs out, the played cards are shuffled to form a new up on the pile, say the new value of the pile, and draw the top card of the stock to
stock pile, but the running total of the pile is preserved. replace the card you played.
As one might expect, there are variations in the special cards and their meaning. Most of the pip card are worth their face value, which is added to the value of the
Some interchange the Nine and the King, so that a King is worth zero (the player says pile. Queens other than hearts are worth ten. So for example the first player might
"pass me by") and a Nine sets the total to 99. Some interchange Four and Nine so play a nine, saying "9" and the next player might put a six on it saying "15", and so on.
that a Nine reverses direction and a Four leaves the count unchanged. Some play that
Certain cards have special effects as follows:
a Ten always reduces the count by 10 - it cannot be used to add 10. Some play that
an Ace may be counted as either 1 or 11. Black Aces The player can set the pile value to any number from 0 to 100.
Some people consider that the four, which normally reverses the direction of play, Two of Doubles the previous value (for example if the previous player
should have some effect on the turn order even when there are only two players. If Spades made the pile 36, adding the 2 will make the new value 72)
this is your opinion, you can agree to play the alternative rule that when there are
only two players, playing a four entitles the same player to play again. Fours The pile value is unchanged but the direction of play is reversed.
Daniel Stack describes a version played in the 1950's in which each player began with Red Fives Deduct 5 from the previous pile value (i.e. red fives are worth -5).
three pennies. A player who lost all their pennies was allowed to play 'on their honor'
and was eliminated if they lost again. The last survivor was the winner and collected Tens Set the pile value to 100.
all the pennies. There was no card that set the total to 99. The only special cards Jacks Deduct 10 from the previous pile value (i.e. jacks are worth -10).
were:
Queen of Set the pile value to zero.
 ace: counts 1 or 11 at the player's choice Hearts
 ten: counts +10 or -10 at the player's choice Kings The pile value is unchanged (i.e. kings are worth zero).
 nine: leaves the value of the pile the same (counts as 0) The aim of the game is not to be the player who takes the value of the pile over 100.
 seven: reverses the direction of play If you are unable to play a card keeps the value to 100 or less, you lose one chip. A
player who has lost all three chips is out of the game. The last player who has any
Brad Wilson describes a version with the following differences:
chips left is the winner.
 The card which reverses direction without changing the value of the pile is Example: if the player before you makes the pile value 100, the only cards you can
the 8, not the 4.
play are black aces, fours, red fives, tens, jacks, the Q and the kings.
 The king has no special property - it is just worth 10 card points. If the stock runs out, all the played cards except for the last one are reshuffled to
make a new stock and the game continues from the same count.

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Cribbage 2, 3

Introduction Play of the cards

Six Card Cribbage is basically a game for two players, but adapts easily for three Beginning with the non-dealer, the players take turns to play single cards. You play
players, and for four players in fixed partnerships - a very useful feature. It is now the your own cards to form a face-up pile in front of yourself, keeping them separate
standard form of Cribbage and widely played in English speaking parts of the world. from the other player's cards. In this stage of the game the total pip value of the
cards played by both players is counted, starting from zero and adding the value of
See also Five Card Cribbage, an older form of the game which has been largely each card as it is played. This total must not exceed 31. When no more cards can be
forgotten, though it is still played in parts of Britain.
played without going over 31, the count is restarted from zero. The pip values of the
Cribbage in England is primarily a pub game - indeed, it is one of the few games cards are:
allowed by Statute to be played in a public house for small stakes. A game of low
Ace = 1; 2 to 10 = face value; jack = 10; queen = 10; king = 10.
animal cunning where players must balance a number of different objectives, remain
quick witted enough to recognise combinations, and be able to add up, it is perhaps As each card is played, the player announces the running total - for example the non-
not the most obvious of games to be so firmly associated with the English pub. It is a dealer plays a king and says "10", the dealer plays an 8 and says "18", the dealer plays
game where experience counts for a great deal - though luck, of course, has a large a jack and says "28", and so on. If a card is played which brings the total exactly to 31,
part. the player pegs 2 claiming Thirty one for two as he does so.
It is also a game where etiquette is important. The rituals associated with cutting and A player who cannot play without exceeding 31 does not play a card but says Go,
dealing, playing and pegging, as well as the terminology, all serve the useful purpose leaving his opponent to continue if possible, pegging for any further combinations
of keeping things in order - and they help to give the game a flavour of its own. In made (see below). Bringing the total to exactly 31 pegs 2, but if the total is 30 or less
card playing, as with food, authenticity matters. and neither player can lay a card without going over 31, then the last player to lay a
card pegs one for the go or one for last.
Two-handed play
The cards that have been played are turned over and a fresh round of play starts with
Two players use a standard 52 card pack. Cards rank K(high) Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 the cards remaining in the players' hands in exactly the same way. The opponent of
A(low).
the player who played last in the previous round (scoring Thirty one for two or One
Object for last) plays first in the new round. This second round of play starts again from zero
and again continues until neither can play without going over 31. The last player
To be the first to score 121 points or over (twice round the usual British design of again scores "1 for last" or "31 for 2", and if either player has any cards left there is a
board) accumulated over several deals. Points are scored mainly for combinations of further round. Play continues for as many rounds as necessary until both players'
cards either occurring during the play or occurring in a player's hand or in the cards cards are exhausted. Towards the end, it may happen that one player has run out of
discarded before the play, which form the crib or box. cards but the other still has several cards. In that case the player who still has cards
Board and Pegs simply carries on playing and scoring for any combinations formed until all his cards
have been played.
The score is kept by means of a board and pegs. Starting at one end of the board -
usually to the left of the first dealer - players peg their scores as they occur using Example: Player A has king-king-2-2; player B has 9-8-7-6.
their two pegs alternately: the forward peg shows the player's latest score, and the First round: A plays king - "10"; B plays 6 - "16"; A plays king -
rear peg shows the previous score. "26"; B says "go"; A plays 2 - "28"; A plays 2 - "30 for 3". A pegs 3,
namely 2 for the pair of twos and 1 for playing the last card of this
round.
Second round: B plays 8 - "8"; A has no cards left so cannot do
anything; B plays 7 - "fifteen two" (B pegs 2 points); B plays 9 "24 for 3
and 1 for last" (B pegs 4 points: three for the run 7-8-9 and one for
playing the last card).
When a player scores, the rear peg is moved in front of the forward peg by the same
number of holes as the score to show the new total. This enables scores to be easily Please note: it is never possible to score "one for last" and "31 for 2" at the same
checked and acts as a visible statement of the progress of the game. Players peg up time. They are alternatives. If you make exactly 31 for two points just peg those two
on the outside of the board and back on the inside. The winner is the first to peg points - you do not get an additional "one for last" in this case.
out by exceeding 120. Tactical note: It is often worth keeping low cards in hand for this phase of the game,
The exact design of the board is not critical. The diagram shows the type of board especially when there is a strong possibility of being able to peg out before one's
most commonly used in Britain. In North America they come in a great variety of opponent.
shapes. The essential feature is a track for each player with holes representing the Scoring during the play
numbers from 1 to 120.
A player who makes any of the following scores during the play pegs them
Deal immediately.
The first deal is determined by cutting the cards. The player cutting the lower card 15:
deals and has the first box or crib. If the cards are equal - and that includes both
players cutting a ten card (10, J, Q or K) - there is another cut for first deal. The deal If you play a card which brings the total to 15 you peg 2 claiming Fifteen
then alternates from hand to hand until the game is over. two.

It is usual to play best of three games. The opponent of the first dealer in the first 31:
game deals first and gets the first box in the second game. For the third game - if a
As mentioned above, if you play a card which brings the total to exactly
decider is needed - there is a fresh cut to decide who deals first.
31 you peg 2.
The dealer shuffles, the non-dealer cuts the cards [but see variations], and dealer
Pair:
deals 6 cards face down to each player one at a time. The undealt part of the pack is
placed face down on the table. At the end of each hand, the played cards are If you play a card of the same rank as the previous card (e.g. a king after
gathered together and the whole pack is shuffled by the new dealer before the next a king) you peg 2 for a pair. Note that (for example) a 10 and a queen do
deal. NOT make a pair even though they are both worth 10 points.
Discard Pair Royal:
Each player chooses two cards to discard face down to form the crib. These four If immediately after a pair a third card of the same rank is played, the
cards are set aside until the end of the hand. The crib will count for the dealer - non- player of the third card scores 6 for pair royal.
dealer will try to throw cards that are unlikely to make valuable combinations, but
must balance this against keeping a good hand for himself. Dealer, on the other hand, Double Pair Royal:
may sometimes find it pays to place good cards in the box - especially if they cannot Four cards of the same rank, played in immediate succession. The player
be used to best advantage in hand. of the fourth card scores 12.
Start Card Run:
Non-dealer cuts the stack of undealt cards, lifting the upper part without showing its A run or sequence is a set of 3 or more cards of consecutive ranks
bottom card. The dealer takes out the top card of the lower part, turns it face up and, (irrespective of suit) - such as 9-10-jack or 2-3-4-5. Note that ace is low
after non-dealer replaces the upper part, places it face up on top of the pack. This so, for example, ace-king-queen is not a run. The player of a card which
turned up card is called the start card. It is not used during the play of the cards but completes a run scores for the run; the score is equal to the number of
in the show it will count for combinations as part of both players' hands as well as of cards in the run. The cards do not have to be played in order, but no
the dealer's box. other cards must intervene.
If the start card is a jack, the dealer immediately pegs 2 holes - this is called Two for Example: cards are played in the following order: 4-2-3-5-6. The player
his heels. of the 3 scores 3 for a run, then the player of the 5 scores 4, and the
player of the 6 scores 5.
Another example: 4-2-3-4-3. The player of the first 3 scores 3 for the run
4-2-3. Then the player of the second 4 score 3 for the run 2-3-4. The

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 player of the second 3 scores nothing because the 3 does not complete a Winning the game
run.
Another example: 4-2-6-5-3. The final 3 scores 5 points for a 5-card run. As soon as someone reaches or passes 121, that player wins the game. This can
happen at any stage - during the play or the show, or even by dealer scoring two for
Nothing is scored before then, because there is no run until the 3 is
his heels. It is not necessary to reach 121 exactly - you can peg out by scoring 2 more
played.
when you were on 120 and still win. All that matters is that your opponent's pegs are
Last Card: both still on the board.
If neither player manages to make the total exactly 31, whoever played
the last card pegs 1.
Four-handed play
Note that to score for pair, pair royal, double pair royal or run, the cards must have
been played consecutively during a single round of play. If one player had to say "go" All the scoring features are identical to the two-handed version. Partners sit opposite
while the combination was being formed, the combination is still valid, but each other. One member of the partnership is elected to peg and these two players
if both players are unable to play, causing a new round of play to be started from cut for first box. Dealer offers the pack to the opponent on his right for the first cut
zero, all combinations are started afresh. (or not, if you pay the rule that the cards are not cut). Cards are dealt clockwise one
at a time, five to each player. (So this is six card crib with five cards each - the logic of
Example 1: Player A has 10, 10, 9, 6; player B has 7, 6, 5, 4.
the game is the same since hand and box always contain the same number of cards.)
A plays 9, B plays 6 (scoring fifteen two), A plays 6 (scoring two for a
Each player puts one card in the dealer's box. Dealer then offers the undealt stack to
pair), B plays 5. The total is now 26; A has to say "go", so B plays 4,
the opponent on his left to cut for start. ('Cut back for box, forward for start.')
scoring three for a run, plus one for last. The A begins again with
Partners may help each other keep score and will try to assist each other with a good
10, B plays 7, and A plays the other 10, scoring one for last.
discard if possible (putting a 5 in partner's box on occasion, for example) and will co-
Example 2: Player A has 10, 8, 7, 5; player B has 7, 6, 5, 4. operate during play to trap their opponents or to improve each other's chances of
pegging. But they may not overtly advise on play or indicate the cards they hold.
A plays 8, B plays 7 (scoring fifteen two), A plays 7 (scoring two for a When three players are forced to say "go", the fourth player continues to play cards
pair), B plays 6. The total is now 28; neither can play, so B scores one for until unable to play without exceeding 31 and then earns the point for last card, or
last. If A now begins again with a 5, A does not score for a run, because two points if the total is exactly 31. Play then continues with the next player to the
the 7 and 6 were played in the previous round of play (before the total left. In the show, counting begins at the dealer's left and ends with the dealer.
was reset to zero).
The Show
Players now retrieve the cards that they put down during the play and score for Three-handed play
combinations of cards held in hand. First the non-dealer's hand is exposed, and
Again, all the main features of play are identical. Dealer deals five cards to each
scored. The start card also counts as part of the hand when scoring combinations. All
player and one into the box. Each player discards one card, so that everyone has a
valid scores from the following list are counted.
four card hand and there are four cards in the crib. The player to the dealer's left cuts
15: the deck to reveal the turn-up card. This player also begins the play, playing the first
card. When two players are forced to say "go", the third player continues to play
Any combination of cards adding up to 15 pips scores 2 points. For cards until unable to play without exceeding 31 and then earns the point for last card,
example king, jack, five, five would score 10 points altogether: 8 points or two points if the total is exactly 31. Play then continues with the next player to the
for four fifteens, since the king and the jack can each be paired with left. In the show, counting begins at the dealer's left and ends with the dealer. Each
either of the fives, plus 2 more points for the pair of fives. You would player acts completely independently, although the two trailing players may
say "Fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, fifteen eight and a pair makes temporarily conspire to do down the leader. This form of the game really requires a
ten". special board with either three sides or some other arrangement to accommodate
Pair: three sets of holes.

A pair of cards of the same rank score 2 points. Three cards of the same
rank contain 3 different pairs and thus score a total of 6 points for pair
royal. Four of a kind contain 6 pairs and so score 12 points. Variations

Run: Dealing Sequence

Three cards of consecutive rank (irrespective of suit), such as ace-2-3, According to the American Cribbage Congress rules, in a match consisting of a series
score 3 points for a run. A hand such as 6-7-7-8 contains two runs of 3 of games, the loser of each game deals first in the next game.
(as well as two fifteens and a pair) and so would score 12 altogether. A
No cutting
run of four cards, such as 9-10-J-Q scores 4 points (this is slightly illogical
- you might expect it to score 6 because it contains two runs of 3, but it In some circles, the non-dealer does not get the opportunity to cut the cards before
doesn't. The runs of 3 within it don't count - you just get 4), and a run of the deal. For example, David Dailey writes:
five cards scores 5.
Dealer shuffles the deck (and may cut it himself [though some disagree]) but
Flush: does not place it on the table to be cut. If he does, the opponent may pick up the
deck and deal, giving himself the "crib" and a slight advantage.
If all four cards of the hand are the same suit, 4 points are scored for
flush. If the start card is the same suit as well, the flush is worth 5 points. I think this version without a cut is played only in some informal circles in North
There is no score for having 3 hand cards and the start all the same suit. America. The American Cribbage Congress rules require the cards to be cut, as do the
Note also that there is no score for flush during the play - it only counts rules normally used in Britain. Those who omit the cut is sometimes justify this by
in the show. asserting that Cribbage is a gentleman's game in which cutting (seen as a device to
make it more difficult for the dealer to cheat by stacking the deck) is out of place.
One For His Nob:
Lurching or Skunking
If the hand contains the jack of the same suit as the start card, you
peg One for his nob (sometimes known, especially in North America, as When playing to 121 points, some play that if the loser scores 60 or fewer points he
"one for his nobs" or "one for his nibs").. is lurched and loses a double stake.
Nineteen: Some play that if the loser scores 61-90 points he is skunked and loses a double
stake; if he scores 60 or fewer he is double skunked and loses a triple (or quadruple)
It is impossible to score nineteen in hand or in box. If you think you have, stake.
then you should either stop playing or stop drinking. Nineteen is
proverbially used as a term to indicate a worthless hand. 91-Point Cribbage
Note that when scoring a hand, the same card may be counted and scored as part of Mike Tobias reports that in and around Manchester, England it is usual to play
several different combinations. For example if your hand is 7 8 8 K and the start card Cribbage to 91 points rather than 121 - that is up, down and up a standard 30-point
is a 9 you score Fifteen 2, fifteen 4, and a pair is 6, and a run is 9 and a run is 12 - 12 long cribbage board.
holes to peg, with each of your 8s forming part of a fifteen, a pair and a run.
Restrictions on pegging in the endgame
After non-dealer's hand has been shown and the score pegged, dealer's hand is
shown, scored and pegged in the same way. Finally the dealer exposes the four cards Jim Hinds reports the following variations. These are certainly not part of the usual
game; I do not know how widespread they are:
of the crib and scores them with the start card. The scoring is the same as for the
players' hands except that a flush in the crib only scores if all four crib cards and the 1. You cannot finish the game on a go. So if you have 120 points in a 121 point
start card are of the same suit. If that happens the flush scores 5. game, the point for playing the last card does not count.
Muggins (optional rule). If a player, when scoring his hand or the crib, overlooks 2. You cannot score "two for his heels" if you need five or fewer points to go out.
some points, then after the player has announced the total and scored it, his
opponent can call "muggins", and peg the points himself. Some people apply the Two into the Crib
same rule if a player fails to claim a combination scored during the play. Some This version is reported by Bruce Clouette of Connecticut, USA. The dealer deals out
Americans call this version of the game "cutthroat" cribbage, and play that you don't five cards to each player instead of six, and deals two cards into the crib. The players
have to say anything - you just wait until the opponent finishes pegging the points then discard one card each into the crib, and play proceeds as usual with six card
they have noticed and then silently peg the rest of their points yourself. play. This introduces an extra level of uncertainty into the game.

146
147
 Palace 2, 3–5, 6–8

Introduction player must deal the next hand, and must also make tea (or perform any other duty
This game is also sometimes known by other names, such as Karma, China Hand, the group require for general comfort and wellbeing).
Ten-Two Slide, and a name with a swear word. The first version of the page was Variations
based on a contribution from Michael Labranche, and Jim Curtis, Ciaran Gultnieks, A six-player game is possible by adding two Jokers to the pack. Jokers may be played
Sean Daly, William Putt, Jane Guarducci and Cristian Seres have added variations. at any time, singly or in a group, and serve only to reverse the direction of play (from
The game is probably of Scandinavian or Nordic origin: it may be descended from the clockwise to counter-clockwise or vice versa). Therefore, if the next player after you
very similar Swedish game Vändtia ("turn ten") and it is quite closely related to the plays a joker, the turn comes back to you and you must now beat your own previous
Finnish game Paskahousu . It is now known in many parts of the world, having been play, or take the pile. Jokers are not wild and cannot be played in combination with
spread during the last decades of the 20th century by young travellers (backpackers) other cards.
of all nationalities. A different method of dealing is commonly used: first deal a row of three cards face
Palace is a beating game in which the players try to avoid being the last to get rid of down to each player; then deal a hand of six cards face down to each player. The
all their cards. The loser typically suffers some forfeit such as having to make the tea, players look at their hands and select any three of their six cards to place face up on
or at least has the job of shuffling and dealing the next hand. top of their three face down cards. This has the same result as the method of dealing
Players and Cards given in the main description above, except that in this version the players will not
have seen any of the cards which end up in their opponents' three card hands.
From two to five may play. The game is best is with at least three.
The game is occasionally played to find a winner rather than a loser. In that case, the
The game requires one regular 52-card deck. The cards rank highest to lowest 2, A, K, winner is the first player who manages to get rid of all their hand and table cards.
Q, J, 10, . . . , 2 (twos are high and low - see below).
Some people play that a ten can be played at any time, clearing the discard pile. (In
Deal the main description a ten cannot be played on a jack, queen, king or ace).
The dealer is randomly selected for the first hand. The Some play that in the endgame, when a player has face up cards on the table but no
deal rotates clockwise after each hand. cards in hand, if the player cannot ot does not wish to play a face up table card, they
1. The dealer deals a row of three face-down cards to simply pick up the play pile, leaving all their face up table cards in place.
each player, one at a time. Ciaran Gultnieks gives the following extra rules for special cards:
2. The dealer deals three cards face-up to each player,
one at a time, covering the face-down cards.  When a seven is played, the next play must be lower than or equal to seven, or
an eight (see below), or a ten (tens can be played at any time).
3. The dealer deals a three card hand face-down to  When an eight is played, the direction of play is reversed (so its function is
each player, one at a time.
similar to that of the joker in the main description). In this variation an eight can
Any cards remaining undealt are placed face down to be played on any card. Eights are transparent - when playing on an eight, you
form a draw pile. The players pick up their three card must beat the first card under it that is not an eight. If an eight is played to the
hands and look at them. empty table, it reverses the direction of play as usual, and any card can beat it. If
Before play each player may exchange any number of an eight is played on a seven, it will be the person who played the seven who
cards from the hand with her face-up cards. A player may has play a lower or equal card (or another eight or a ten).
never look at the face-down cards until they are played. Sean Daly, describes a version of the game Karma, The differences are as follows:
(Players usually take lower ranking face-up cards into
their hands.)  When placing cards face up on top of your three face down cards at the start of
the game, if you have two or more cards of the same rank, you can put them
Play of the Cards face up on top of the same card. You still place face up cards on each of your
The first player is the person who receives the first 3 dealt face-up. If no 3 is face-up, three face down cards, so if you have placed two or more equal cards on top of
the first person to call a three in a hand is the first player. If there is no 3 dealt to a the same card, you will have fewer than three cards in your hand. You now
hand, then the same procedure is followed for the first 4, and so on, if need be. replenish your hand to three cards by drawing from the stock. If you draw
The first player begins a discard pile on the table, playing face-up from her hand any further cards equal in rank to your face up cards, you can put these face up too
number of cards of the same rank, and taking cards from the draw pile to replenish if you wish, on top of the matching cards, and replenish again to three cards;
her hand to three cards. Taking turns clockwise, each player must either play a card this process can be repeated as long as you continue putting out matching
or a set of equal cards face up on top of the discard pile, or pick up the pile. The card cards. At the end of the process you should have three cards in your hand. In
or cards played must be of equal to or of higher rank than previous play. This the endgame, sets of equal face up cards in the same pile are played together as
continues, possibly several times around the table, until eventually someone is a group.
unable or unwilling to equal or beat the previous play. If after playing you have fewer Example: Your six visible cards are A, K, K, J, J, 9. You place the ace one of your
than three cards in your hand, you must immediately replenish your hand by drawing face down cards, the two kings on another and the two jacks on the third. You
from the stock so that you have three cards again. If there are too few cards in the now just have one card in hand (the nine) and must draw two cards from the
stock, you draw as many as there are. When there are no cards left in the stock at all, stock - say a jack and a six. You put the jack on your jacks and draw again,
play continues as before, but without replenishment. getting another jack. You put this on your jacks too and draw again, getting a six.
At this point you must stop. Your hand is 9, 6, 6. Your four jacks will be useful for
If at your turn you cannot or do not wish to play a card, you must pick up all the cards clearing the table in the endgame.
in the discard pile and add them to your hand. If you pick up you do not play any
cards on that turn, but your left hand neighbour, who is next in turn to play, starts a  When a player picks up instead of beating the previous play, the next play is
new discard pile by playing any card or set of equal cards she wishes. Play then made by the previous player - i.e. the person who played the last card before
continues as before. the pickup - not by the next player in rotation.
As long as you begin your turn with cards in your hand, you are not allowed in that William J Putt describes a version known as Smeghead with the following differences:
turn to play from the cards you have on the table; you can only play from the cards in 1. They use several decks of cards shuffled together.
your hand on that turn.
2. At the start each player has four cards face down, four face up and a hand of
Twos, Tens and clearing the pile four (rather than three, three and three).
Twos may always be played on any card, and any card may be played on a two. 3. The first person to play a 10 or complete a four of a kind, clearing away the pile,
A ten may be played on any turn, whatever the top card of the discard pile is (or even is known as the "flush" person, and has to clear away the pile each time this
if the pile is empty). When a ten is played, the discard pile is removed from play and happens in future.
the same player who played the ten takes another turn, playing any card or set of 4. As players run out of cards they continue playing until only one player has cards
equal cards to start a new discard pile. left. This player is known as the "smeg head".
If someone completes a set of four cards of the same rank on top of the discard pile Chris Winter reports that at West Kent College (UK), Smeghead was played by 2 or 3
(either by playing all four cards at once or by equalling the previous play), the whole players with a single pack, 5 cards each face down, 5 face up and 5-card hands.
pile is removed from play, and the same player who completed the four of a kind
takes another turn, playing any card or set of equal cards to start a new discard pile. Jane Guarducci has contributed the following variation(s):
The Endgame 1. A seven can be played on anything and is "glass", meaning that the next player
must play a card which could legally have been played on the card before the
If you begin your turn with no cards in your hand (because you played them all last seven. For example, if a 7 is played on an Ace, the next player must beat an Ace.
time and the draw pile was empty), you may now play from her face-up cards. When If a 7 is played to the empty table (nothing under it) it has the value of 7.
you are playing your face-up cards and cannot (or do not wish to) play a card of equal
or higher rank than the card(s) played by previous player, you add one of your face- 2. When an eight is played the next card must be lower than 8, or another 8, or a
up cards to the pile before taking the whole pile into your hand. It is then the next joker.
player's turn to begin a new discard pile by playing any card or set of equal cards. 3. A ten can be played on anything except an eight and causes the pile to be
Having picked up the pile, you will have to play from your hand on subsequent turns cleared as usual. The player of the 10 plays again to the empty table.
until you have once more got rid of all your hand cards and can begin playing from 4. A joker can be played on anything and next player misses a turn. If there are just
your table cards again. two players in the game this means that the player of the joker immediately
When you have played all your face-up table cards, and have no cards in your hand, plays another card of any value. In games of more than two players the joker is
you play your face-down cards blindly, flipping one card onto the pile when your turn treated in one of three ways: as glass (like a 7) or with a value of 7, or with a
comes. If the flipped card is playable, it is played, and it is the next player's turn to value of 2. To avoid arguments decide before starting which of these variations
equal or beat it. If your flipped card is not playable (because it is lower than the is being played.
previous play), you take the whole pile into your hand including the flipped card. It is 5. At your turn you can play an ascending sequence of consecutive cards in a single
then the next player's turn to start a new discard pile. Having picked up the pile, you suit, provided that the first card beats the previous play. All the subsequent
will have to play from your hand on subsequent turns until you have once more got plays must also be legal, so the sequence would be terminated by an eight,
rid of all your hand cards and can flip your next table card. since after an eight the next card is required to be lower or equal. If the
When you completely get rid of all of your hand and table cards, you have sequence reached 10 the pile would be thrown away and the same player
successfully avoided being the loser and can drop out of the game. When you flip would start a new pile with any play.
your last table card, you can only drop out at that point if it beats the previous play 6. An optional rule for games with more than two players: when the pile is picked
(or if you are flipping it to an empty discard pile). If you flip your last card and it is not up, play reverts to the previous player, rather than passing on to the next
playable, you must pick it up along with the pile. As people drop out of the game, the player.
remaining players continue playing. The last player left holding cards is the loser. This
 More than two players
Spite & Malice 2, 3, 4 Spite and Malice can easily be adapted for any number of players. Turn to play passes
clockwise. Depending on the number of players and how many cards you deal to the
This is a kind of competitive patience (solitaire) game for two players. It is also known payoff piles, more decks may need to be added - for example some play with one
as Cat and Mouse. This is the game that the commercial game Skip-Bo was based off. deck per player. Some play that the number of centre stacks is limited to one more
Both players try to be the first to get rid of a pile of "pay-off cards" by playing them to than the number of players - i.e. four for three players, five for four players, etc.
centre stacks which are begun with an ace and continue in upward sequence to a Four people can play as partners; six people form three teams of two. Partners sit
king. This is not a physical race (as in Spit or Nertz where play is simultaneous) - in opposite each other. At your turn you can play from your partner's pay-off pile or
Spite and Malice the players take turns. side stacks to the centre stacks, but you can only discard to your own side stack. Play
There are quite a few different versions of Spite and Malice around. First I will give continues until one pair wins by playing all the cards from both of their pay-off piles.
what seems to be the most widely played version of the game. Then I will describe Variations
some of the more popular variations, and finally I will explain the rather different Number of Centre Stacks
version which appears in most of the card game books.
Some players allow an unlimited number of centre stacks (but never more than four
Players and equipment side stacks for each player). In this case it is not necessary to remove completed
Spite and Malice was originally a two player game, and it is easiest to describe this centre stacks immediately: intead you may agree to wait until the stock is depleted.
version first. Versions for larger numbers of players are described later. Two 52 card Some play other limits on the number of centre stacks - for example a maximum of
packs of cards are needed. The cards in each pack rank from low to high: A-2-3-4-5-6- four.
7-8-9-10-J-Q, with kings wild. Suits are irrelevant in this game.
Compulsory play of aces
Deal, layout and terminology
Some play that aces cannot be retained in your hand but must be played as soon as
The layout of the game is shown in the following diagram: drawn to start new centre stacks. Also an ace appearing on your pay-off pile must
immediately be played to the centre. In this version there is no limit on the number
of centre stacks.
Loading the Opponent's Pay-off Pile
In this variation, reported by Henry Lee, it is permissible to move the card from the
top of your pay-off pile or play a card from your hand onto the top of your
opponent's pay-off pile. The card must be the same suit and one rank higher or
lower than the card on which it is placed. For example if the top card of your
opponent's pay-off pile is a 8 you can load a 9 or a 7 onto it. It is
sometimes possible to give your opponent a series of cards in this way. Note that you
are not allowed to load cards from your discard piles onto your opponent's pay-off
pile - the card must come from the top of your own pay-off pile or out of your
hand. (Since this version is played with unlimited centre stacks and compulsory play
To begin the game both packs are shuffled together and 20 cards are dealt face down of aces, the question of whether aces can be loaded on kings or vice versa does not
to each pay-off pile, and a further 5 cards are dealt to each player as their hand. The arise.)
remainder of the cards are placed face down between the players to form the stock.
The top card of each pay-off pile is turned face up and placed on top. Whichever Size of pay-off piles
player has the higher card showing will play first. If they are equal, both players Some people play with a different number of cards in the initial pay-off piles - for
shuffle their pay-off piles and turn up a new top card. At this stage the centre example 21 or 25.
stacks and side stacks are all empty. Spread side stacks
The play Some people prefer to play with the cards in the side stacks overlapped rather than
The object of the game is to be the first get rid of all the cards in your pay-off pile by stacked squarely, so that players can see the cards buried in the stacks rather than
playing them to the centre stacks. Only the top card of your pay-off pile is available needing to remember them.
for play at any time; when you have managed to get rid of the top card, you turn the Resolving Stalemates
next pay-off card face up and try to get rid of that. Some people play that if the stock runs out the winner is the player with fewest cards
The first card in each centre stack must be an ace, then 2, 3, and so on in sequence remaining in their pay-off pile. Only if the pay-off piles have equal numbers of cards is
up to queen, each card played being one higher than the card it covers. There cannot the result a draw.
be more than three centre stacks at one time. Playing with jokers
The side stacks can contain cards in any order, and when playing to a side stack you Some people include jokers in the deck for Spite and Malice. The jokers are wild and
may put your card on whichever stack you choose. The only limitation is that you can represent any card. Some play that the kings remain wild as well; others play that
cannot have more than four side stacks. only the jokers are wild, and that 13 cards are needed top complete each centre
The player whose first pay-off card is higher plays first, and thereafter the players stack, ending with the king.
take alternate turns. If you have fewer than five cards in your hand you begin your Restriction on use of wild cards
turn by drawing cards from the stock to bring your hand up to five cards. You may
Some play that a wild card (King, or Joker if used) cannot be used to represent an ace.
then make a series of moves, the possible moves being:
Others play that a wild card cannot represent an ace or a seven.
1. To play an ace to an empty centre stack, or to play to a centre stack the next
Scoring
higher card than the card showing (for example a six on a five, or a jack on a ten,
irrespective of suit). The card played may come from your hand, from the top of Jeffrey Jacobs suggests that if a series of games is played, the same scoring system as
one of your side stacks, or from the top of your pay-off pile, and is played face- in the "book version" below can be used. (The proprietary game Skip-Bo also uses a
up on top of the centre stack. similar system.) The winner of a hand scores 5 points for winning the hand plus 1
point for each card left in the opponent's pay-off pile. For example, if you win and
2. To play a card from your hand face-up on top of one of your side stacks. This
catch your opponent with six cards, you score 11 points (5 for winning the hand plus
ends your turn. A player cannot have more than four separate side stacks at
6 for cards). In a stalemate the player with fewer cards scores the difference between
one time; if you have no empty side stacks then you must discard onto a side
the numbers of cards each player has left. The winner could be the first player to
stack that already contains cards, making the card you cover temporarily
reach a target score, such as 50.
unavailable for play.
Massachusetts Variation
You may play as many cards to the centre stacks as you want, but as soon as you play
a card to a side stack your turn ends, and your opponent may play. Benjamin Arnoldy has reported a rather different version of the game, played in
Massachusetts. The main differences are:
Note that you can never play a pay-off card to a side stack, or to move a card from
one side stack to another, or move a card from a centre stack to anywhere. 1. the payoff piles contain only 14 cards at the start;
Kings are wild and can represent any card. You can discard a king to a side stack 2. one card is dealt face up to each side-stack at the start of the game;
without committing yourself as to what it represents. When a king is placed on a 3. immediately before making the side stack discard that ends your turn you must
centre stack it represents the next higher value than the card it covers. play a card from your hand to each of your empty side-stacks; if you have
If during your turn you manage to play all five cards from your hand, without playing insufficient cards in your hand to complete your turn, you draw five new cards
to a side stack, you immediately draw five more cards from the stock and continue from the stock and begin a new turn.
playing. The Book Version of Spite and Malice
If you complete a centre stack by playing a queen (or a king representing a queen) When Spite and Malice is found in card game books, the versions described are
your opponent shuffles the completed stack into the stock, creating a space for a new normally rather different from the one described on this page. The main differences
centre stack, and you can continue playing. in the book version are as follows.
End of the game Players and cards
The game ends when someone wins by playing the last card of their pay-off pile to There are always two players. The two packs get mixed together during
the centre. The game can also end if the stock runs out of cards, in which case the the play, but need to be separated out for each new game. To make this
result is a draw. possible, the two packs should have different backs. Pack A is a standard

149
 52 card pack; Pack B has the usual 52 cards plus 4 jokers, making 56 Use of jokers
cards in all. Pack A is dealt out face down to form the two 26-card pay- A joker can represent any card except an ace. You can discard a joker to
off piles. Each player is dealt a five card hand from pack B, and the a side stack without committing yourself as to which of the possible
remainder of pack B is placed face down to form the stock. ranks it represents. For example, if a side stack has a nine followed by
Discarding to side stacks restricted two jokers on top, the next card placed on the side stack could be a six
Any card may be played to an empty side stack. If a side-stack already (counting the jokers as an eight and a seven), a seven, an eight or a nine
contains a card or cards, the card played on top of it must be equal to or (counting both jokers as nines). When a joker is played to a centre stack
one less than the card showing (for example on a seven you can play it must represent the next higher value than the card it covers. A joker
another seven or a six). When you play to a side stack this ends your cannot be used to start a centre stack, because a joker cannot represent
turn, but you may decide to end your turn without playing to a side stack an ace. A joker can change its value as necessary when it is played from a
if you wish. In fact you may be forced to end without discarding to a side side stack to a centre stack.
stack, because you may have no card that will fit.
Restrictions on aces and twos Some say that when a stalemate is reached, instead of ending the game,
If you have an ace or two visible on top of your pay-off pile or one of all of the cards in the players' hands and on the table, except the
your side stacks, it must be played to a centre stack as soon as this is remaining pay-off piles, are shuffled together, two new five-card hands
legal. If you have more than one such card you can choose which to play are dealt, and play continues.
first. Jokers are not affected by this restriction - you are never forced to Scoring
play a joker to the centre as a two, even if it is on top of a two on one of If you want to score, then you score 5 points for playing all your pay-off
your side stacks. cards, plus one point for each card remaining in your opponent's pay-off
Number of centre stacks pile. If the game ends in a stalemate then the player with the smaller
Some books allow an unlimited number of centre stacks to be formed. remaining pay-off pile scores the number of cards difference between
Others impose a limit of four. the piles.
Passing and stalemates
If you cannot or do not wish to play any cards at all in your turn you can
pass, and your opponent plays again. Occasionally it will happen that
your opponent is also unable or unwilling to move. There is then a
discussion. If neither player is prepared to break the stalemate the game
ends at this point. Some say that if either player has any aces and twos in
their concealed hand which can be played to the centre, they must play
one such card to break the stalemate.

Fan Tan 3, 4–6, 7, 8

Introduction
Fan Tan, also known as Sevens or Domino and in Britain sometimes as Parliament is  Any seven. A seven starts a new row for its suit.
a straightforward game in which the object is to get rid of all one's cards by playing
them to a layout.  Any card which is next in sequence up or down to a card of the same suit that is
Players and Cards already on the layout. Lower cards are added to one side of the seven; higher
cards to the other. If space allows the cards could be placed side by side so that
A standard international 52-card pack is used, the cards of each suit ranking A-K-Q-J- they eventually form a 13x4 grid, but a more compact layout in which the high
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2. From 3 to around 8 people can play, and it is probably best for 4-6 cards are piled on the 8's and the low cards on the 6's is often more practical.
players. Deal and play are clockwise.
A player who is unable to play a card must pass, which is sometimes indicated by
Deal knocking the table. It is illegal to pass if you hold a card that could be played to the
Any player may deal first, and the turn to deal passes to the left. The dealer shuffles layout.
thoroughly and the player to dealer's right may cut. The dealer deals all the cards, The first player who succeeds in playing all his or her cards is the winner.
clockwise one at a time, starting with the player to dealer's left. Unless there are four
players, some of the players will have one more card than otrhers at the end of the Variations
deal. This does not matter much - having an extra card is not necessarily a In some groups, everyone pays a chip to a common pool before the deal, and anyone
disadvantage, the players with more cards get to play first, and in any case as the who passes must add a chip to the pool. The winner collects the pool, and in addition
turn to deal rotates different players take turns to start with a larger hand. from each opponent one chip for each card remaining in his or her hand.
Play In some versions, play is begun not by the player to dealer's left but by the holder of
During the play the cards are added to a face up the seven of diamonds, who must play it as the first card.
layout on the table, which will ultimately consist Some play with the ace as the lowest card of each suit, below the 2, rather than the
one row for each suit, beginning with the seven in highest card, above the king.
the middle and building down towards the two on In an online version of sevens, formerly available at fwend.com, the seven of hearts
the left and up towards the ace on the right. must be played first, the eight must be played as the second card of each suit, before
The player to dealer's left begins, and the play the six, and as soon as one player runs out of cards, penalty points are scored by all
continues clockwise. At your turn you must if the other players, counting cards at face value (aces 1, pictures 10). I do not know
possible play one card of your choice to the layout. whether this version of the game is commonly played in some part of the world.
The cards that can played are:

Army Ants 2

Needed: 38 playing cards (aces up to the 9s in each suit, one black queen, and one
red queen); two players
Game Play: The game begins with each player making five moves on their side of the
Setup: One player will control the battlefield. The first five moves can only be a march move or a swap move. The red
red cards; the other player will player will go first. After each player makes five moves, the battle begins. Now,
control the black cards. Players players can make a move out or attack move, in addition to the march and swap
will shuffle their cards, and deal moves.
them face up in rows of five
cards. The last row will have an Win: The first player to capture the opponent’s queen wins the game. Any card rank
open space in the middle. can capture the queen.

Objective: The object of the Other rules:

game is to capture the opponent’s queen. A card is captured by a higher ranking
card, with any card being able to capture the queen. Cards can move around in four - An attack move can be made on a card of equal rank. When done, both cards are
ways. eliminated from the game.

- A swap move is made by swapping two adjacent cards. - The queen cannot make an attack move. Any card can attack the queen.
- A march move is made by moving one or more cards in a horizontal or vertical line.
- A move out move is made by moving one card horizontally or vertically or both - A card can never move diagonally, and a card can never jump another card.
through open spaces.
- An attack move is made by overtaking an opponent’s card with an equal or lesser
ranking. The attacked card is removed from the game.

150
- If a player’s queen is dealt into the first row, the player can choose to move the
queen to the open space in the back row, instead of making five beginning moves.

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Mao 2,object
Mao is half card game and half prank. Similar to Crazy Eights, the 3–8, 9–12
of the game - Players must refer to everyone, including themselves, in the third person.
is to get rid of all of the cards in your hand by playing one card per turn. The biggest - Saying “point of order” is not allowed during a point of order. A penalty card will be
twist in this game is that you are not allowed to teach the rules to new players. They given and explained by saying, “Saying P of O during a P of O.”
must figure it out by observing gameplay and making mistakes, hence the prank.
- The point of order is ended when any player says, “Point taken.”
Rules:
Step 6: Ending the Game
One person is designated to start play. It will be his turn at the start of the game, with
The game is won when a player plays his or her very last card and says, “Mao.” The
play oriented clockwise. When his turn is finished, it will be the next person's turn.
winner of the game gets to make up one new rule for the next time the game is
During your turn, there are a number of things you can do, generally including: played. This rule cannot contradict an already existing rule. This rule is not told to the
playing a card, drawing a card if you cannot play one. rest of the players. They must figure it out during gameplay.
Talking: Step 7: Definitions
There is no talking during play of Mao, except that dictated by gameplay. If someone Suit: The set of four different symbols (Pictured) that categorize a deck of playing
wishes to talk, he must say "Point of Order", at which point play stops, all players set cards. Those symbols are hearts (top left), spades (top right), clubs (bottom left), and
down their cards, and talking may commence. Talking ceases and play resumes when diamonds (bottom right).
a player calls "End Point".
Deck: The complete set of 52 playing cards.
FOLLOWING are the SECRET rules of Mao. DO NOT READ Hand: The cards that each individual player holds in his or her hand and plays out of.
ON UNLESS NOBODY IN YOUR GROUP KNOWS HOW TO Deal: The act of distributing a deck of cards into each players hand to start a card
PLAY, OR UNLESS YOU REALLY, REALLY WANT TO. game.

You have been warned

Variant rules
DO NOT TELL PEOPLE THESE FOLLOWING RULES OF MAO. Mao is learned through
trial and error, and only if nobody knows how to play should anyone look up the As might be expected in a game where the rules are unknown to many of the players,
rules. Discrepancies about rules should be resolved by the members of that particular a wide variety of rulesets have developed.
Mao session. The rules are typically changed between games, either at the beginning or with each
Step 1: Game Set-up successive game. Many times, this is simply that the winner of the last game is
allowed to construct their own rule. This new rule is made known to the dealer or
The Deck
not, depending on the game, though in many varieties it is required for the dealer to
The size of the deck is not important. Usually, you want about one 52 card deck for know the rule in order to confirm its use and to enforce it. Often the winner of the
every 2 – 3 players. Extra cards, missing cards and non-matching card backs are also last game is also made the new dealer.
okay.
In another variant, players abandon all normal rules and have each player make up a
The Deal rule of their own at the very beginning of the game. This variant is known as "Dutch
Each player is dealt 7 cards. Once the cards are dealt the dealer will place the Mao", or "The People's Democratic Dictatorship", and probably several other names.
remaining cards face down in the middle of the playing area as the draw pile and It has no restrictions on what cards to play (other than those made by the players)
place the top card face up next to the draw pile. and can get very confusing when rules conflict.
Starting the Game Speaking rules
Upon receiving their cards, players are not allowed to touch their cards until the Many of the rules of Mao involve speech. Mostly this means that the right thing must
dealer says, “The seven card game of Mao is now in session.” At this point game play be said at the right time. Saying the wrong thing, or speaking at the wrong time, will
will begin with the player to the left of the dealer and continue clockwise from there. usually incur a penalty.
Step 2: Gameplay No talking
The Basics In most variants of Mao, no unnecessary speech is allowed, and one may only speak
On each player’s turn they may play one card of the same value or suit of the face up when required to do so by the rules. For example, if one plays a 6 of spades (with the
card in the middle of the play area. If the player is unable to do so, they must draw declaring spades rule active), one is required to say "six of spades" and will be
one card and knock on the table. penalized for not doing so. But if one says, "six of spades, I didn't forget this time"
one will be penalized for the additional unnecessary speech. A different but common
Special Rules
way to say this is "excessive verbosity".
These are the rules that really give new players the hardest time.
Point of order
- Talking is not allowed during gameplay
Any player (or, in some variations, only the dealer) may at any time announce "point
- Playing an 8 reverses the order of play. of order", which is a signal for all players to put down their cards while discussion
- Playing an Ace skips the next players turn takes place.
- Jacks are wild cards. It can be played on any suit and the player calls out a new suit Thank you
of their choosing. Play will continue as if the chosen suit is on top of the play pile. It may be required to thank the dealer for each penalty card. Usually a player is given
- When playing a spade card, you must name the card just played. For example, Jack a reasonable amount of time to say "thank you" before being penalized. Failure to
plays the ace of spades, so he must say “Ace of spades.” say "thank you" after a penalty card will usually result in another penalty card. One
Step 3: Sevens "thank you" will usually cover for all occurrences where it was required.

If a seven is played, the player must say "Have a nice day," and the next player must Last card
either draw a card or play another seven and say "Have a very nice day." Some variants require the player to announce when they have only one card left in
If multiple sevens are played in a row, the player of each seven must add one "very" their hand. This can be with the statement of "last card", "zin", "one card left" or
to the phrase "Have a very nice day," and when a player is unable to play a seven, "Mao" itself (similar to Uno). If a player fails to announce their last card, they receive
they must draw one card for each seven played before their turn. This concludes the a penalty card. In some versions, they continue to receive penalty cards until they
players turn. announce their last card. At this point, because it is not their last card anymore, they
are given three additional penalty cards in quick succession for "lying, cheating, grand
Step 4: Penalties theft auto".
Giving Penalties End game
Whenever a rule is broken, the player is penalized by being given one card from the Upon playing their last card, a player must call out "Mao", "game over" or some other
draw pile. Any player can administer a penalty card, and upon giving the card, they similar phrase to win. Should a player forget to say "Mao", or call it incorrectly, they
must state what the penalized play has done to deserve the card. are penalized. Stacking penalties at this point can cause much grief to a player who
For example: has gleefully placed their last card down and proclaimed "Mao", only to discover that
1. Jim talks during the game. You give Jim one card and say, “Talking.” they have broken some rule.
2. Suzy plays a seven, but forgets to say "Have a nice day." You give her one card and Swearing
say, “Failure to say ‘have a nice day.’” Many variants prohibit swearing.
Bad Calls "Hail to the chairman"
If a player penalizes you improperly, you may give that player the penalty card they In some variants, playing a king requires the player to say "hail to the chairman"
just gave you and one additional penalty card and say, "bad call." (alluding to Chairman Mao) or "all hail the chief", and playing a queen requires the
Step 5: Point of Order player to say "hail to the chairwoman", "hail the chairman's wife", "all hail the chair
lady",[15] or "all hail her Mighty Majesty the Queen of Spades". Then the other players
Talking is not allowed in the game. This makes disputes on the rules not only difficult,
are sometimes required to say "all hail".
but impossible during normal game play.
"Have a nice day"
If a break in the game is needed for any reason, any player can declare a point of
order by saying “Point of Order.” Some versions of the game will require a player to tell the next player "have a nice
day" upon playing a seven. For instance, if the next person was John, the player
Point of order rules
would say "have a nice day John". Not doing so would result in a penalty card.
- Talking is allowed
Special card names

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In some variants, specific cards are given a name that is to be said instead of the real For each penalty, unless the rules have been changed appropriately, the penalty card
name of the card. For example, upon playing the nine of diamonds or a joker, a player is given with the declaration of the rule violated.
might say "that's the badger!" Failure to say this would result in a penalty card. In most cases, when a penalty is called, one card is given to the offender. If the call
Points of order was incorrect, the caller of a penalty can be given the card back with a reason of "bad
Any player (or, in some variations, only the dealer) may at any time announce "point call" or "frivolous card-giving".
of order" (could also be "court of law", "point of information", "point of interest", Adding rules
"pevis", or "coffee break"), which is a signal for all players to put down their cards, In many variants an additional rule is silently and secretly added to the game with
while discussion takes place. A common abbreviation is "P of O". This time period each round. It is customary for a player (often the winner of the previous round,
basically is an intermission to game play and often comes with its own set of rules. sometimes the next person to deal) to add one new rule to the game. In a game with
Some versions penalize for abbreviating "point of order" to "P of O", which often only one round, players who have gotten rid of all their cards may make a rule for
confuses new players into thinking only the dealer or chairman is permitted to call a those still in the game. Sometimes a new rule is explained to one other player
point of order. Most versions penalize players for touching their cards (including (sometimes the dealer, sometimes a runner-up winner of the round), both to ensure
failing to put them down in a timely manner) during a point of order. consistency of the rule and consistency of its enforcement. Any new rules are
The objective of a point of order is to clarify uncertain aspects of gameplay: allowed, but it must not be biased towards a player. It will be unfair for the other
particularly to allow disputes over penalties to be resolved. A point of order may also players and the game includes everyone.
be used to accommodate out-of-game necessities such as eating, shuffling the There may also be additional rules that are already in effect at the beginning of the
discard pile to form a new draw pile, etc. Some variants may impose restrictions or game, just to get things moving, and these rules may be known to all players, or
penalties on a player's activities during a point of order: perhaps only to the dealer. After many rounds, many new rules will accumulate.
 Players have to talk in the third person. Naturally, only the person who created the rule will initially know what it is. The rules
will vary from group to group, and from game to game, but most rules fall under one
 Players are not allowed to say the phrase "point of order" during a point of the following four categories.
of order (this can usually be circumvented by saying abbreviations such
as: "point of O", "P of order", "P of O", "point order", "POO", "P-Vo",  When an event occurs, a player must perform an action (such as
"Piffo", etc. and often has to be to actually call a penalty that would speaking a phrase or knocking on the table)
otherwise have the phrase "point of order" in it).  When an event occurs, something about the game changes
The point of order ends when any player (or, depending on local rules, only the
dealer, or only the player that called point of order) announces "end point of order",
 An action must always, or must never, be performed by players (such as
holding cards in the left hand, or straightening the pile)
"point taken", "point of disorder", or "pick your cards up", at which point the cards
are picked back up and play resumes.  Something fundamental about the gameplay changes (e.g. all kings are
Penalties treated as if they were jacks for all game purposes)
The normal penalty for any offence in Mao is one card per offence, though as The triggering events in the example above can be anything. They might include
previously stated, offences are consecutively applied, making some offences harsher playing a specific card (the ace of spades) or a specific type of card (any red three),
than others. but triggering conditions can become as complicated as their creator wishes, such as
when someone plays the fourth card of the same suit or playing an odd-numbered
There is usually a time limit of approximately 5 to 10 seconds for each turn. If
card on top of an even-numbered card.
exceeded, the player gets a penalty card for delay of game or late play and either
loses their turn or gets another penalty every five seconds thereafter to either To create a rule, one could pick a triggering condition, and then an action and/or
comply with any violated rules, or play a card. Ruthless players who are familiar with game effect. The spirit of the rule is generally something in good fun; while rules that
the rules sometimes exploit this rule to confuse new players who are unfamiliar with unfairly sway the game in favor of one player or to the detriment of one specific
game mechanics that change the order of play: for example, players might look player are quite easy to concoct ("Every time James plays a ten, he gets a penalty of
expectantly at a particular player other than the one whose turn it is as if waiting for ten cards"), they are also generally frowned upon as unsportsmanlike. Rarely do rules
him to play, then penalizing that player for playing out of turn if he plays, then have a penalty of more than one card, but certain rules have a large penalty attached
immediately penalizing the player whose turn it actually is for delay of game. to them, usually the result of a cumulative rule.

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Literature 6, 8

Introduction Example 1: You have the 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 of Hearts, and your teammate, Doug, asks
the question, "Christina, do you have the 3 of Hearts?" You know that Doug must
Literature is a partnership game for six, or sometimes eight players. Each team tries have a low heart in order to ask the question, but it is now Christina's turn, because
to collect sets of cards by asking for them in a manner similar to the children's game she did not have the 3 of Hearts. When you next get a turn, you say, "Claim. Doug has
known as Go Fish, Happy Families, Quartet, Authors, etc. The team dimension makes the 5 of Hearts, and I have the rest". Your team gets the half-suit.
the game considerably more challenging: to be successful it is necessary to pay
attention to questions asked by other players, remember them and make appropriate Example 2: You have the 9 and Jack of Diamonds, and you think that you've figured
deductions. It is possible that the name was chosen to reflect the relationship out who has which of the other high diamonds on your team. At your turn, you say,
between this game and Authors - a game with special cards in which players collect "Claim. I have the 9 and Jack of Diamonds, Helen has the King of Diamonds, and Ben
sets consisting of an author and his or her works. has the rest." However, it turns out that Helen also had the Queen of Diamonds, so
your claim fails. The high diamonds are thrown in and count for neither side.
It is uncertain where and when Literature was invented. It is 50 years old at least, and
the most likely place of origin on the basis of reports received so far is southern India Example 3: You are thoroughy convinced that your team has all the low clubs, so at
- there are players in Tamil Nadu and in Kerala. There are also some reports of the your turn you say, "Claim. I have the 3 of Clubs," whereupon Laura, on the opposing
game from North America, where some players know it as Fish, Canadian team, interrupts you and shows everyone that she has the 5 of Clubs. Thus, you
Fish or Russian Fish, presumably because of its relationship to the game Go Fish. automatically lose the low clubs to Laura's team.

Vinodh Rajaraman tells me that Literature is played in Madurai and Erode in Tamil A player may make a claim at any turn, even without holding any cards in the half-suit
Nadu, south India and Shandas C. and Vinod Poyilath report that it is played in several he or she is claiming. After the claim is resolved, the player's turn continues.
engineering college hostels in Kerala. Vinod Poyilath learned it from a professor
named Manjith Kumar, who played it while studying at the Government Engineering Public information
College in Thrissur in the years 1986-1990. Brett Stevens learned the game from Ali
Salahuddin, who was a masters student in math and MBA student at the University of Any player may ask at any time what the last question was, who asked it, and what
Toronto from 1993-1995. Ali and his brother Umar learned it from their father who the answer was. Any question prior to that is called "History," and may not be
played while at Columbia University in the 1950's. He spent his formative years discussed.
(1930-1940) in Kerala, India and may well have picked up the game there. If anyone
has more information about the history of this game, places where it is played, or
why it has the name "literature", please contact and [email protected]. Any player may ask at any time how many cards another player, including a
teammate, has in his or her hand and the player must answer truthfully.
Players and Cards Paper, writing implements, or other devices used to record information about the
state of the game aside from one's own brain and memory skills are not allowed.
The best game is for six players in two teams of three. It is also possible for eight to
play, four against four.
Endgame
The four 8's are removed from a standard 52-card deck, leaving 48 cards, which form As the game progresses players will run out of cards, either because an opponent
eight half-suits, also known as sets or books. Each suit is divided into a half-suit successfully asks for their last card or because all their remaining cards belong to a
of low or minor cards: 2-3-4-5-6-7 and a half-suit of high or major cards: 9-10-J-Q-K- half-suit that is claimed. A player who has no cards cannot be asked for a card, so the
A. The objective is, as a team, to collect and claim as many as possible of these half- turn cannot be given to them.
suits.
It is possible to lose all your remaining cards while it is your turn as a result of a claim.
Teams can be chosen by drawing cards from the shuffled deck, or by any other In this case you pass the turn to another member of your team who still has cards. In
method that the players prefer. Members of the two teams sit alternately, each the event that more than one player in your team has cards, you choose which of
player sitteng between two opponents. your teammates gets the turn.
Deal When one team runs out of cards entirely, no more questions may be asked. The
team with all the remaining cards must then try to claim out all remaining half-suits.
A dealer is chosen at random, for example by drawing cards. This player thoroughly If the turn is with the team that has cards, the player whose turn it is must claim all
shuffles the deck and deals out all the cards one at a time face down, so that in a six- the remaining sets, without consulting his partners. If the turn is with the team that
player game each player has 8 cards, and in an eight player game 6 cards. If any card has run out of cards, the player whose turn it is chooses which member of the other
is exposed, it is a misdeal, and the dealer re-shuffles and re-deals. team must make the final claims; the player chosen must have at least one card.
Once all the cards have been dealt, players may look at their cards, but they are not Irregularities and Procedure
allowed to show any of their cards to anyone else (especially not to their
teammates).
If a player discovers that he or she has asked an invalid question or failed to hand
over a card he or she was asked for, he or she should alert all players, who, as a
Play group, will determine how best to resolve the situation (either by throwing in that
half-suit, giving the card to someone on the other team, etc.).
Questions
The penalty for claiming when it is not your turn is that the half-suit is cancelled if the
The dealer takes the first turn. claimer's team has it all, or awarded to the opponents if they have any of the cards.

When it is your turn, you must ask any one specific player from the other team a Similarly, if you see a card in a teammate's hand, try to play as if you did not, but, if
valid question. A question is valid if and only if it meets the following criteria: the information you inadvertantly gained cannot help but affect your play, alert the
other players to come to a fair solution.
a. You must ask for a specific card (by value and suit).
If a player needs time to process information or to work out a potential claim, he or
b. You must have another card in that half-suit in your hand. she may call "Wait" or "Stop" at any time. Play should pause until that player
indicates that he or she is ready to continue. However, this courtesy should not be
c. The player you ask must hold at least one card. abused or used solely to break the pace of play or as an attempt to make others
forget information.
d. You must not ask for a card that is in your own hand
Scoring
Example: If the only spade in your hand is the Queen of Spades, you may ask for the
9, 10, Jack, King or Ace of Spades. You may not ask for the Queen of Spades, nor may The game is over when all half-suits are claimed, and the team that won more half-
you ask for a low spade. suits are the winners. Ties, in which each team has 4 half-suits, are fairly frequent.
Some of the variations described below reduce the likelihood of a tie.
If the player you ask has the card in question, he or she must pass it to you face-up,
and you take the card into your hand. You then keep the turn and must ask another Tactics
question (though you do not have to ask the same player).
If you are sure that the cards of a set are all held by your team, they cannot be stolen
If the player you ask for a card does not have the card requested, it becomes that back by the other team since they have no card of the set as a base to ask from. Don't
player's turn and he or she must ask the next question. rush to claim this set if you're not 100% sure where all the cards are. On the other
hand, once you are absolutely positive of a claim, it's often best to make it quickly so
You may never ask a teammate if he or she has a certain card. that your teammates don't waste turns and brainpower trying to find the location of
the cards.
Claiming
Sometimes it is correct to ask questions to which you already know that the answer is
no in order to give your teammates more information.
If, at your turn, you have all six cards of a half-suit in your hand, you may claim the
half-suit by laying the cards down face-up to show everyone. Your team gets that
half-suit. Sometimes, a player on the other team might have a dangerous mix of cards and
knowledge that will allow him or her to clean your team out of a half-suit and make
an easy claim. In that case, it's best not to ask that person any questions, because
In addition, if you believe that, between you and your teammates, your team then he or she may get control of the turn. This technique is known as locking
possesses an entire half-suit, you may claim it in your turn by saying "Claim" and then
naming exactly who has which cards in the half-suit. If you do so correctly, your team someone out.
gets the half-suit. If your team has the half suit, but you state the location of one or
more cards wrongly, the half-suit is cancelled and neither team gets it. If any member If you aren't dealt any cards in a certain half-suit (or all your cards from a half-suit are
of the opposing team has a card in the half-suit you try to claim, the opposing team taken from your hand), you're never going to get another card from that half-suit, so
gets the half-suit. save your brain cells for information about half-suits that you do have cards in.

After any half-suit has been claimed, the players holding cards of that half-suit show If you are searching for minor hearts, for example, and you fail to get the 2 from
them, to prove whether the claim was correct or not. The six cards are stacked in player D, when you next get a turn if you ask player D for the 3 you are giving
front of a member of the winning team, and the game continues with the remaining everyone (teammates AND opponents) a lot of information: they know that you have
cards. neither the 2 nor the 3, but you do have a minor heart. Player D may know more
about the location of the minor hearts than you. It might be better to exhaust calling

154
for the 2 from all opponents before seeking another card in the set. On the other Some play with a 54-card deck incuding two Jokers. In this case the players are dealt
hand if you do get the 2 of hearts it may be advantageous to ask the same opponent nine cards each and the four 8's together with the two Jokers form a ninth set (book)
for other minor hearts in the hope of making that opponent void in minor hearts and of 6 cards.
unable to take them back.
Some play that a high (major) half-suit scores 2 points while a low (minor) half-suit
Suppose player A gets the 9 from D and asks for the Jack, but D does not have it. scores only 1 point. This also helps to avoid ties, and affects strategy in that players
will obviously prefer to collect high half-suits. Some who use this scoring play with 52
If D still has a major heart she now can recover the 9, and knows that A does not cards, major half-suits having 7 cards intsead of 6 to justify their greater value. In this
have the J but does have some other major heart. Suppose D he now asks A for case presumably some players receive an extra card in the initial deal.
the Q and A does have it. Trying to void A of major hearts, D now asks A for
Some play that if it is your turn and you have no cards, you do not choose which
the K, but A does not have it. If A still does have one major heart (either the 10 or member of your team will play next. Instead, the last person on the opposing team
the Ace) and D has the other, A can now recover three major hearts: the 9, Q and Ace who asked you a question chooses which of your teammates gets the turn.
or 10 and D is now void. At this point in time is is very likely that one of her other
opponents is "dangerous" since so much information has been revealed by this "back Some play that the penalty for asking for a card that is in your hand is simply to
and forth" between A and D. Who will win a "back and forth" is not certain at the surrender the card you asked for to the player you asked, and it then becomes that
outset and it broadcasts a lot of information. Think carefully before starting or player's turn. There is then scope for the following play. It is your turn and you have
continuing a "back and forth". the last card held by your team. You do not know where the cards of this set are, but
you are fairly sure that the opponents do not know either. So you select the
Ali Salahuddin's convention: There is an advantage in being able to signal what cards opponent who you judge has least information and ask this player for the card you
you have to your team mates (although this also gives information to the opponents). hold yourself. You then surrender your card to this player, forcing him or her to guess
Suupose that the teams are A,B and C versus D, E and F. Suppose A calls the location of all the remaining sets. This play would of course not be legal under
unsuccessfully for the 2 (which means she must hold a minor heart but not standard rules.
the 2). If A's partner B has the 2, he can signal this on his next turn by calling Some allow players to "bluff" by asking for a card they hold themselves, without
for a different minor heart. If he has minor hearts, but not the two, he should penalty. Of course this makes it much harder to deduce the locations of cards.
continue the call for the 2 of Hearts. If he does not have minor Hearts he will call
for some other set in which he is interested. Some play that players must reveal if asked whether they have cards or not, but do
not have to reveal how many cards they have.
Variations
Guy Srinivasan recommends the following additional rules to improve the game:
Some play that the player to dealer's left (or right), rather than the dealer, takes the
first turn to ask for a card. Again this makes no practical difference to the game, other 1. Forced Claims: Whenever a team is forced to declare a suit, such as at
than that the team that asks the first question has a very slight advantage. the end of the game, play proceeds as follows. Starting with the member
of that team whose turn it last was, either declare a suit or pass. Moving
Six or eight are the usual numbers of players. It is possible for 12 to play (two teams to the left, each player on that team has the same chance. If no one
of 6, each player starting with 4 cards) or even 16 (teams of 8, three cards each), but declares a suit after each person has had a number of chances equal to
these games are clearly much more difficult. On the other hand a four-player game twice the number of forced suits, then they are all forfeit to the other
(two against two with 12 cards each) would be too easy - as soon as your team team. Once a suit is declared, if there are still forced suits, repeat this
collected a set it would be easy to make a claim, knowing that your one partner must process.
have all the missing cards.
2. No Probabilistic Information: During a forced claim, players are not
Some play that you may claim at any time, whether it is your turn or not. Once a allowed to communicate information about what they think their
player says the word "Claim," he or she must attempt to claim some half-suit. The chances are of correctly declaring a suit except by declaring or passing.
game is considered paused while the claim is being made, and, after it is resolved, it
is still the same player's turn as it was before the claim. In the endgame, a player 3. Challenge: At any time, a player may challenge the opposing team on a
without cards may still make claims on behalf of his or her team, so long as he or she suit. The opposing team now acts as if that suit is a forced claim, except
does not look at any teammate's hand. When one team runs out of cards, the if everyone passes twice, the challenging player must attempt to name
remaining sets may be claimed by any player(s) on the other team, but of course they the locations of all cards in that suit, in the opposing team's hands. If he
are not allowed to consult. is successful, his team scores the suit, otherwise the opposing team
scores the suit. Note that if not all cards are in the opposing team's
Some play that if your claim of a half-suit is incorrect in any way, the half-suit counts hands, the challenger will fail provided that the opposing team calls the
for your opponents, even if the half-suit is in fact entirely held by your team, and the bluff by passing twice.
only mistake is in stating wrongly which member of your team has which cards.
The challenge was introduced to a) give incentive to keep some track of cards solely
Some prefer to remove the 7's from the deck rather than the 8's and play with A-2-3- in the other team's hands, and b) introduce the possibility of stealing suits through
4-5-6 as low cards and 8-9-10-J-Q-K as high cards. Whatever system you prefer to use bluffing or brazen probability. The forced claims rule came up because players were
to divide each suit into a high and low half of six cards, this clearly makes no giving each other information by talking about who
difference to the operation of the game.

should declare what suit, and the no information was the natural extension.

Rolling Stones / Enflé 4-6

Enflé, Rolling Stone, Farbenjagd or Schweller is an early nineteenth-century Enflé is played with 32 French playing cards, or 52 if there are more than four players.
French card game for three or more players that has been described as a "simple but The aim is to be the first to completely shed all one's cards. The card ranking is Aces
maddening game” having "a lot of similarity to Rams and no less entertaining.” It has high i.e. A K Q J 10 9 8 7 (6 5 4 3 2).
also been called "one of the best children's games."
Play
Enflé is known to be an inflation game. The games of this group use a mechanism
similar to trick-taking games, in which each player plays a card in turn, often with the The player left of the dealer begins by playing any card. Going clockwise, players must
requirement to follow suit. But unlike normal trick-taking games, in inflation games follow suit. If a player cannot follow suit, they must pick up the cards played, add
players add cards to their hands during the game, either from a drawing stock of them to their hand, and begin a new round.
undealt cards or by picking up cards that have been played, and this causes the
players' hands to become unequal in size. Getaway is a popular inflation game from If play gets back to the original player and everybody follows suit, then the
India. Enflé here is a far simpler game. person who played the highest card takes the pile and begins a new round.
Setup As soon as a player empties their hand, the game ends and that player is the winner.
In early rules, there is no scoring system; however Parlett (2008) states that the
winner scores the total of the cards in the other players hands with Ace to 10 at face
value and court cards counting 10.

155
Getaway 3-8

Introduction  In the first trick, everyone plays one card, even if some player has no
spades and therefore throws a card of another suit, and this first trick
Getaway is played in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan and also in Bangladesh. is always thrown on the waste pile.
The aim of the game is to "get away" by playing all of one's cards. The last remaining
player who fails to get away and is left holding cards is the loser.  In the second and subsequent tricks, play must stop if there is a tochoo.
If anyone else makes the mistake of playing to the trick after the tochoo,
Unfortunately, this game is also known by many players as Bhabhi, which in Hindi then as a penalty they have to pick up all the cards in the trick and lead
means "brother's wife". This name, which is applied to the loser of the game as a next. The same penalty is applied for other mistakes, such as playing out
mocking insult, is extremely offensive in the context of Punjabi culture. It belongs to a of turn or wrongly playing a tochoo when in fact holding a card of the
tradition, sadly not yet extinct, in which women were regarded as property and suit that was led (played first).
treated with disrespect and cruelty. The game is sometimes known as Bhabhi Thulla,
"thulla" being a Hindi slang word for police, applied to a card of a different suit that
interrupts the play of a trick. Getting away
As the game continues, since not everyone plays to every trick and players
sometimes have to pick up cards, the players will run out of cards at different times.
Players and Cards Players who run out of cards have "got away": they take no more part in the play and
Getaway is played with a standard 52-card pack without jokers. In each suit the cards are therefore safe from losing. However, it is not possible to get away if you "have
rank from high to low A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. the power". If your last card is the highest in a trick in which everyone is able to
follow suit, then it is your turn to lead to the next trick but you have no card. In this
At least 3 players are needed for the game to be interesting, and up to around 8 case you must draw a card at random from the (shuffled) face down waste pile,
people can play. With more than eight, the hands become too small unless one before the cards from the trick just played are thrown onto the pile. You must lead
adapts the game by adding a second pack of cards - see variants. the card that you drew to continue the game. If you are lucky, and a higher card of
that suit is played to the trick, then you will be out of the game and safe. If no one
Deal and play are clockwise. plays higher in that suit then you will have to lead again, either from the cards you
pick up if there is a tochoo, or otherwise by drawing from the waste pile again.
Deal
Any player may deal. The cards are shuffled and dealt out as equally as possible to Taking cards
the players - some players may have one more card than others. The players each Before any trick, any player is allowed to take all the cards from the player to their
pick up their cards and look at them, without showing them to any other player. immediate left - or if that player has no cards, the next player in clockwise order who
still has cards - and add these cards to their hand. The player whose cards were taken
To even out any advantage or disadvantage of starting with more or fewer cards, I has got away and cannot lose.
recommend that the players take turns to deal.
At first sight it may seem surprising that anyone would wish to do this given that the
Play aim is to get rid of cards. In fact it is often the best move if the player to your left
does not have the suits that you have, or has some low cards that you need.
First trick
The player who holds the Ace of Spades begins by playing it face up on the table, and End of Play
each of the other players must also play a card face up. For convenience, this may be As players run out of cards they get away and drop out of the game, and the last
done in clockwise order, but in this first trick it is not strictly necessary for players to player left holding cards is the loser. There is no formal scoring system, but if playing
wait for their turn before playing. Those players who have a spade must play a spade a series of games, players may like to keep track of how often each player has lost.
of their choice; those who have no spades may play any card they wish. When
everyone has played one card, these cards are gathered and set aside face down, Two players
beginning a waste pile. The player who had the Ace of Spades now begins the second When only two players remain, the play continues as normal. If one of the players
trick by playing any one of his her remaining cards face up on the table. plays his or her last card as a tochoo, or the player's last card is the same suit and
lower than the card played by the other player, then the player who still has cards is
Second and subsequent tricks the loser. The game descriptions below treat as a special case the situation where
Each trick is begun by the player of the highest card in the suit that was led to the player A leads his or her last card, and the opponent B plays a lower card of the same
previous trick: this player is said to "have the power". The player leads any card, suit. If that was also B's last card then A is the loser, but if B still has cards, then A as
placing it face up on the table. Then the other players, in clockwise order, must if usual has to draw a card at random from the waste pile (excluding the two cards from
possible play a card of the same suit as the card that was led. If they have several the trick just played) and lead it. There are now three possible outcomes:
cards of the suit they have a free choice which of them to play. A player who has no
card of the suit led may play any card. This card of a different suit, sometimes known 1. Player B responds with a higher card of the same suit. In this case player
as a 'tochoo' or a 'thulla', and it ends the play to that trick. Subsequent players, to A has got away and player B has lost (even if this was also player B's last
the left of the one who played the tochoo, do not get to play a card. card).

 If everyone plays a card of the same suit as the card led by the first 2. Player B responds with a lower card of the same suit. If that was player
player, then when all have played one card, these cards are gathered B's last card, B has got away and player A loses. If B still has at least one
and added face down to the waste pile. more card, the game continues. A has to draw again from the waste pile
(excluding the two cards just played) and lead the drawn card.
 If someone was unable to follow suit and played a tochoo, then whoever
3. If B has no card of the suit that A drew, and therefore plays a tochoo, A
played the highest card of the suit that was led picks up all the cards
played to the trick and adds them to their hand. loses immediately. This is just to save time, because if play were to
continue, B would have a sure way to avoid losing. All B has to do is
always to play the highest legal card available. In that case A will never
In either case, the player who played the highest card of the suit that was led now be able to give B the lead, and will never be able to get rid of the card on
"has the power" and begins the next trick by leading any card from hand. which B played the tochoo, since B will never have a card of this suit.
Example of the beginning of a game between North, East, South and West. Variants
In some places, instead of dealing the cards to the players, the dealer shuffles the
 First trick: West has the Ace of Spades and plays it, North plays J, cards and divides them face down piles of roughly equal height, one per player. The
dealer is not allowed to count the number of cards in each pile, but can transfer cards
East, having no spades, plays A , South plays 10. These four cards between piles until they look about equal. Traditionally, the youngest person (usually
are placed face down on the waste pile and since West played the the child of the family) gets to pick what pile she wants first, which will probably be
highest spade it is West's turn to start the next trick. Note that the cards the pile that looks as though it might contain the fewest cards.
from the first trick are always thrown on the waste, even if someone is
unable to follow suit.
In some places the whole game is played anticlockwise. In this case, before any trick
you can take the cards from the player to your right, who is the next to play after
 Second trick: West plays 5, North 9, East Q, South J. you.
These four cards are thrown on the waste, and East, who played the
highest heart, starts the next trick. In the descriptions I have seen, there are several different versions of the procedure
when a player's last card is the highest played to a trick and everyone follows suit to
 Third trick: East plays 3, South 7, West K, North 8. These the trick.
four cards are thrown away and West plays next.
1. As in the description above, the player draws a card from the waste pile
(excluding the most recent trick) and leads it.
 Fourth trick: West plays 2, North plays 6, East, who has no more
hearts, plays K. This tochoo ends the trick - South does not get a turn 2. Instead of drawing a card from the waste pile, the player who is due to
to play. The first card was a heart, and the highest heart was played by lead may draw one card at random from the hand of the next player to
North, so the three cards of this trick are added to North's hand and the left who has cards (or alternatively from any other player).
North plays next. North now has 12 cards, East 9, South 10 and West 9.
3. When there are more than two players, then playing your last card
 Fifth trick: North plays Q, East J, South A, West K, these allows you to get away, even if you should have been next to lead. The
lead passes to the next player to the left who still has card. However, if
cards are thrown away and South plays next.
there is only one other player in the game, you do not get away. You
must draw from the waste pile and lead as in the main description
 Sixth trick: South plays 5, West, having no more diamonds, plays above.
K. North and East do not get a turn. Since no other player played a card
of the suit that South led, South's 5 remains the highest card of that With a large number of players the game can be played with a double pack of cards,
suit in the trick, and South must pick up the two cards and lead again. and some rules will then be needed to deal with duplicates. I suggest that one of the
South now has 10 cards, West 7, North 11 and East 8. Aces of Spades should be marked, and the holder of the marked Ace of Spades played
first. If there is a tie between two players for the highest card of the suit that was led,
I suggest that the first played card should count as higher. It is the player of this first
of equally high cards who has to pick up the cards if there is a tochoo, and in any case
lead to the next trick.
Notes:

156
 Zetema 2
The second marriage in the duplicated suit scores an extra 10 points, or if both
duplicated suit marriages are declared at once an extra 20 points are scored. These
20 points are already included in the 150 points for 5 marriages in the table above.
Zetema was invented about 1871, published in an 1881 games book, then quietly
You can score for one combination in a turn. To do so, display the meld to your
forgotten. While based on a novel concept, Zetema has minor defects that likely led
opponent, write down the score for the combination, then end your turn by
to its demise.
discarding one card from the combination to the tableau. The tableau consists of 13
In 1969, game expert Sid Sackson rediscovered Zetema and recognized the game's piles of face-up cards, one pile for each rank.
potential. He corrected its rules and modernized it. Then he published it in his
If the combination is a marriage, special rules apply. A marriage consists of a King and
book, A Gamut of Games. This led to renewed interest in this novel game among the
Queen in the same suit. You can declare any number of marriages in one turn (the
cognoscenti.
more you declare at once, the more points you score). Of these one or more
Like Bezique, Zetema features a game lifecyle. The game feels like a cross between marriages, only one card need be from your hand. Any other cards required may be
Bezique and Rummy. It's flexible -- from 2 to 6 can play. 3 works especially well. 4 or taken from the tableau. So marriages consist of one or more pairs of same-suit Kings
6 play best in partnerships. The partnerships for 6 may be either 2 partnerships of 3 and Queens, any number of which may be from the tableau, as long as at least one
each or 3 partnerships of 2 each. card is from your hand.
Zetema is not one of the world's great games, so perhaps it doesn't really earn its Declare marriages by showing them to your opponent. Score them, then place all the
place on this web site. But Sackson’s modern corrections make it quite enjoyable. cards used for them face-up in their own marriage discard pile. This face-up discard
(Our rules here follow Sackson’s). Try Zetema and step back into the minds of the pile is for marriages only (it is not part of the tableau).
Victorians through a game that reflects their love of the ornate. The game also offers
Scoring Zetemas
strategic interest.
After a player declares his combination for a turn (if any), he discards one card, face-
Goal
up, to the proper pile in the tableau. If this card is the fifth one for that rank, the
For two or three players, the goal is to be the first to score at least 300 points across player scores points for a zetema. Zetemas score these points--
as many hands as necessary. If four or more play, the winning total is 200 points.
The Deck and Deal ---Zetema--- ---
Score---
Zetema uses a 65 card deck. This is a regular deck of 52 cards, plus one "duplicated
suit" from another deck. Make the Zetema deck by taking the 13 Spades from a
second deck and shuffling them into a regular 52 card deck. The duplicate suit is Kings or Queens 50
called the imperial suit. Use Spades as the imperial suit for consistency and
convenience. Jacks 20
For two to five players, deal 6 cards each. For six players, deal 5 cards each. (In the
game description that follows, we assume a 6-card hand). Aces or 5’s 15
Play
In each turn, a player performs these three steps-- All other ranks 5
1. Draws as many cards as necessary to bring his hand up to six cards After a player scores a zetema, he places those cards face-down in a
2. Plays one meld or combination (if possible and if desired) special zetema discard pile. These cards no longer participate in the hand.
3. Discards one card to the tableau Ending a Hand
The Tableau Once the stock is exhausted, players can no longer draw cards at the start of their
A player ends his turn by discarding one card to the tableau. The tableau is rather like hands. They continue to play by discarding cards to the tableau and scoring zetemas.
the layout of a solitaire game. There are 13 different piles of cards, one for each rank. Any player who can not continue simply drops out while the other players finish.
Discards are placed face-up in skewed stacks so that every card is visible. In a two-player game, any player completing a zetema after the stock is exhausted is
Scoring Combinations required to continue by discarding another card. If this completes another zetema he
must discard again, continuing until his discard does not complete a zetema, which
A player can score for one combination in each turn. The combinations that may be
ends his turn.
scored are--
Play stops immediately in standard Zetema once a player attains the game score of
Combinations
either 200 or 300 points. This happens even if players are in the middle of a hand.
---Type--- ---Description--- ---Score--- Strategy
First, note a couple of elements of play. If a single marriage is declared, no one will
Sequence 6 cards in numerical order 10 ever score a zetema for Kings or Queens because scoring even one marriage makes it
impossible to ever accumulate 5 Kings or Queens in the tableau.
Flush 6 cards of the same suit 30 Assemblies are statistically difficult to attain. They tend to tie up your hand while you
seek the necessary cards. Their high scores may not counterbalance these downsides.
Flush Sequence 6 cards of the same suit in numerical order 50 If you seek marriages, you must decide whether to accumulate a large number of
them for one large score, or to score for them piecemeal. The scoring chart shows
Assembly 5 cards of the same rank See chart below that declaring a larger number of marriages increases the points awarded per
marriage. The downside is that the larger number of marriages is harder to achieve
Marriage King and Queen of the same suit See chart below and ties up your hand while you chase them. Kings and Queens in the tableau you
might want to use are exposed to your opponent while you try for the larger number
Assemblies of marriages.
An very effective Zetema strategy is to try for flushes, sequences, and flush
---Assembly--- --- sequences in the imperial suit. Since the suit is duplicated, your chances of getting
Score--- cards in this suit are higher. After a score, you discard one card from the combination
you just declared. This opens up the flush or sequence for you to reconstitute and
Kings or Queens 130 score for again, just by adding a single card. The likelihood of getting such a card is
high in the duplicated suit.
Jacks 120 An important decision is whether to go for assemblies, marriages, or flushes,
sequences, and flush sequences. Assemblies are tough to get, since you must draw all
Aces or 5’s 110 five cards of one rank from the deck. Marriages are much easier, but your strategy
may be exposed to disruption by your opponent if he marries any Kings or Queens on
All other ranks 100 the tableau before you meld them.
The flushes-sequences-flush sequences strategy offers multiple scores using the same
Marriages cards. It is especially statistically inviting when you work with the imperial suit.
---Number of Marriages--- ---Score--- Whatever combinations you try for, watch your opponent's discards to the tableau.
This information tells you what cards you'll never draw and gives strong clues as to
what cards your opponent has. It even discloses the combinations he may be striving
1 10
for.
More Information
2 30
These rules are those published in Sid Sackson's A Gamut of Games and David
3 60 Parlett's Oxford A-Z of Card Games. Their rules differ in minor but vital respects from
those of the original game as published in the late 1800's. Other sources for Zetema
rules exist but are rare.
4 100

5 150

157
 Durak 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Introduction ii. the total number of cards played by the attackers during a bout must never
Durak is undoubtedly the most popular card game in Russia. It would hardly be an exceed six;
exaggeration to say that every Russian who plays cards knows this game. "Durak" iii. if the defender had fewer than six cards before the bout, the number of cards
means fool, the fool in this game being the loser - the player who is left with cards played by the attackers must not be more than the number of cards in the
after everyone else has run out. The game described on this page is properly called defender's hand.
"Podkidnoy Durak" (Подкидной Дурак), which means "fool with throwing in". This The attack cards are placed separately face up in front of the defender, and each card
name refers to the fact that after an attack is begun, it can be continued by "throwing played by the defender is placed face up on top of the card it is beating, slightly offset
in" further cards whose ranks match those already played. It is probably the best- so that the values of all cards can be seen.
known form of Durak in Russia. The same game is played in Poland under the
The defender succeeds in beating off the whole attack if either:
name Dureń (fool) and in several other East European countries.
a. the defender has beaten all the attack cards played so far, and none of the
The introductory Durak page lists some other forms of Durak and other related
defender's opponents is able and willing to continue the attack;
games can be found in the Beating Games index. The variant Perevodnoy
Durak (Переводной Дурак), which is similar to this game but with the possibility of b. the defender succeeds in beating six attacking cards;
transferring an attack to the next player, is described on a separate page. c. the defender (having begun the defence holding fewer than six cards) has no
Players cards left in hand, all the defender's cards having been used to beat attack
cards.
Podkidnoy Durak is best for four people playing in teams, two against two, with
partners sitting opposite each other. It can, however, be played by any number of When an attack is beaten off, all the cards played during the bout (the attacking cards
people from two to six, playing as individuals, or by six players in two teams of three, and the defender's cards) are thrown face down on a discard heap and are not used
sitting alternately. again during the play of this deal. The defender becomes the attacker for the next
bout, and the player to the new attacker's left is the new defender.
Cards
The player who begins the attack is the principal attacker, but other opponents of the
A 36 card pack, the cards in each suit ranking from high to low: ace, king, queen, jack,
defender can join in the attack if they have suitable cards to attack with. The principal
10, 9, 8, 7, 6.
attacker always has priority - the others can only join in with permission. For
Objective instance, the principal attacker can say "Wait, I am playing" or "Go ahead", or even
This game has no winner - only a loser, or a losing team if played with partnerships. ask the others questions such as whether they have a trump to attack with, and if not
At the start, each player is dealt six cards, which are played in a series of bouts of continue the attack himself. In the individual game with four players, the second
attack and defence. When a player's hand is reduced to fewer than six cards it is attacker is the player to the left of the defender, and this player also has priority over
replenished from the talon of undealt cards. After the talon is exhausted, there is no the third attacker, who is the player opposite the defender. However, scope for
more replenishment and the aim is to get rid of all the cards from your hand. The last dialogue here is limited in that the second attacker can stop the third attacker from
player left holding cards is the loser. This player is the fool (durak) and is ridiculed by playing, but is not allowed to ask him about what cards he has or what card he should
the other players. In the partnership game, when one team has played all of their play.
cards, the team which is left holding cards loses. When 5 or 6 people play as individuals, it is usual to agree that only the players sitting
Durak is almost never played for money. Sometimes matchsticks are used to keep next to the defender on either side are allowed to take part in an attack. Without this
track of how many times each player or team has lost. It can be agreed that the rule, there would be so many attackers that the first defender would be placed at a
player or team that loses most games has to pay a forfeit, such as crawling under the great disadvantage.
table and crowing like a cockerel. The defender always defends alone. When playing in teams you can do nothing while
Deal your partner is defending. You cannot help to beat off the attack, nor can you attack
Any player may deal the first hand. Subsequently each hand is dealt by the loser of your partner, nor can you give cards to your partner when an attack succeeds. You
the previous hand. The dealer shuffles and deals out the cards face down to the can only sit and watch.
players one at a time, clockwise, until everyone has a hand of six cards. The next card If at any stage, the defender is unable to or does not wish to beat one of the attack
is placed face up in the centre of the table; its suit determines trumps. The remaining cards, the defender must pick up all the cards played during the bout - both the
undealt cards are placed in a stack face down on top of the trump card, but crosswise attacking cards and the cards used to beat them. All these cards become part of the
so that the rank and value of the trump remain visible. These central cards are called defender's hand. In addition, the players who were entitled to take part in the attack
the prikup (talon). can give to the defender (face up) any further cards which they could legally have
Note that dealing is traditionally regarded as menial work, undertaken as a played if the attack had continued. These extra cards must also be added to the
punishment by the loser of the previous hand. Only the dealer handles the cards - defender's hand. The bout is then over. Since the attack has succeeded, the defender
they are not usually cut, as in other card games. If any other player touches the cards does not get a turn to attack. The next attacker is the player to the left of the
they become the fool and take over the job of dealing. Sometimes the dealer may unsuccessful defender, and the new defender is the player to the left of the new
offer the cards to be cut after shuffling; if the player to whom they are offered falls attacker as usual.
into the trap of cutting the cards, that player becomes the dealer and takes over the According to conditions (ii) and (iii) mentioned above, the total number of cards
role of the fool. Hence the expression: "Shapku s duraka ne snimayut" ("One should played by the attackers is limited to six, or to the number of cards in the defender's
not take the hat away from a fool"). hand, whichever is less. The principal attacker has priority, followed by the other
With six players and 36 cards there will be no talon. All the cards are dealt to the attackers in clockwise order. If the attackers play too many cards, the defender can
players and the dealer's last card is turned face up to determine the trump suit. This choose which cards to beat or pick up, giving the remainder back to the attackers.
trump is part of the dealer's hand and is picked up along with the dealer's other five The same applies if after the defender picks up, the attackers give too many
cards when everyone has had a chance to look at it. additional cards: the defender only accepts six attack cards in total (including any
beaten cards); the remainder are given back to the attackers.
The players pick up their cards and look at them. In the first hand of a session, the
holder of the lowest trump plays first. If anyone has the trump 6 they show it to In practice an attacker may play several cards at once, provided that all are legal. For
prove they are entitled to begin. If no one has the trump 6, then the holder of the example an attacker might begin by playing two sixes, rather than playing one six,
trump 7 will start; if no one has that, the trump 8 and so on. The first play does not waiting for it to be beaten or picked up, and then producing the other six. There is no
have to include the lowest trump - the holder of the lowest trump can begin with any real point in doing playing more than one card at a time, except to speed up the
card. In the second and subsequent hands of a session, the player to the left of the game; the same cards could equally well be played singly. In fact, attacking with more
dealer begins the play. than one card gives the defender the advantage of seeing more of the attack before
deciding whether and how to try to beat the cards.
The Play
Drawing from the Talon
Attack and Defence
After a bout is complete, all players who have fewer than six cards must if possible
The play consists of a series of bouts. During each bout there is an attacker (who may
replenish their hands to six by drawing sufficient cards from the top of the talon. The
be helped by other players) and a defender (who defends alone).
attacker replenishes first, then the other players who joined in the attack, in
The attacker begins by playing any card from hand face up on the table in front of the clockwise order, and finally the defender.
defender. To beat off the attack the defender will have to beat this and all
If there are not enough cards in the talon to go around, cards are drawn as usual until
subsequent attacking cards. A card which is not a trump can be beaten by playing a
it is exhausted. It may be that some of the later players do not draw any cards. The
higher card of the same suit, or by any trump. A trump card can only be beaten by
face up trump is drawn as the last card of the talon. After the talon is exhausted, the
playing a higher trump. Note that a non-trump attack can always be beaten by a
play continues without drawing.
trump, even if the defender also holds cards in the suit of the attack card - there is no
requirement to "follow suit". If you are dealt the lowest trump (the six) or if you draw it from the talon, you are
allowed to exchange it for the face up trump, placing your six of trumps under the
Alternatively, if the defender cannot or does not wish to beat off the attack, the
talon and adding the turned up trump to your hand, at any time before the talon is
defender simply picks up the attack card, which then becomes part of the defender's
exhausted. The six of trumps can only be exchanged by its original holder; if you
hand; in this case the attack has succeeded.
acquire it from another player (as one of the cards you pick up when attacked) you
If the defender beats the first attack card, the attacker can continue the attack by cannot exchange it for the turned up trump.
playing another card. If the defender beats this second attack card too, the attack can
If a player draws the trump 6 while replenishing, it can be swapped for the turned up
be continued with further cards, subject to the following conditions:
trump even if that would be drawn by another player before the next bout. Even if
i. each new attack card must be of the same rank as some card already played another player has already drawn the turned up trump, the player who drew the six
during the current bout - either an attack card or a card played by the defender;

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 can still demand to exchange it provided that the bout after the one which exhausted J (beaten by Q) and J (trumped with 9). At this point East could play
the talon has not yet begun.
the K, K or 7 and West could play the 9 or 9, but they have
Sequence of Play already attacked 5 times so they are only allowed to play one more card. In fact
The general direction of play is clockwise, and for the first bout, the attacker is the
the 9 is the best choice, since North has already trumped a diamond and
player to the dealer's left. The defender is the next player in turn after the attacker -
leading another is likely to put North under most pressure. As it happens,
normally the player to the attacker's left. If an attack is beaten off, the defender
becomes the next attacker, and the next player in turn is the new defender. If an whichever card East and West play, North can play the J, beating off the
attack succeeds, the defender does not get a turn to attack. The new attacker is the attack. The twelve played cards are discarded. West draws from the talon first,
next player in turn after the defender, and the new defender is the player after that. then East, and finally North takes 6 new cards from the talon. North now attacks
East.
Examples: In the following examples there are four players: North and South are
partners against East and West. Hearts are trumps and it is West's turn to attack 4. West holds A, Q, J, K, K, A; North holds K, 9,
North.
8, 7, 10, 9; East holds 7, 6, 7, J, 8, 7. West
1. West holds K, J, 7, 9, 8, Q; North holds 10, attacks with the J, which North beats with the K. West continues with
10, 8, 6, A, 10; East holds Q, 8, Q, K, 7, 6. the K and North decides to pick up (North could legally trump with the
West attacks with the 7 and North beats it with the 10. East can now 7, but in this case East's sevens would be played next, and North would
eventually have to pick up these low cards). When North picks up the jack and
continue the attack with the 7, which North beats with the 10. East and
West have no more sevens or tens to play, so North has beaten off the attack. two kings, West could give North the K and East the J in addition, but in
The four played cards are discarded from the game. West draws the top card fact East and West choose to keep these good cards. West draws two cards
from the talon, East draws the next one, and then North draws two. Now it is from the talon and then East attacks South.
North's turn to attack East. The Endgame
2. West holds K, J, 7, 9, 8, Q; North holds A, As players run out of cards they drop out of the play, and the other players continue.
The effect of this on the sequence of play is slightly different depending on whether
10, 8, 6, A, 9; East holds Q, 8, Q, K, 7, 6.
the game is being played individually or with partnerships:
West attacks with the 7 and North cannot beat it, so has to pick it up. East
 In the individual game, when a player has no cards the turn simply passes over
has the 7 so gives this to North as well. West takes the top card from the that player to the next person in clockwise rotation who still has cards.
talon and East takes the next one. The attack succeeded, so it is now East's turn
to attack South.  In the four player partnership game, when someone has no cards, their turn is
taken by their partner.
3. West holds K, J, 7, K, 7, J; North holds Q, 10,
 In the six player partnership game, as the players run out of cards, the
J, J, 9, K; East holds 9, 7, 6, A, 9, 7. West remaining players of each partnership continue to play in order, skipping any
attacks with 7 which North beats with 10; East continues with member of the team who has no cards.
7 (beaten by J) and 7 (beaten by K); now West can play the

Example from an individual game between four players.

1. West attacks North; North beats off the attack, running out of cards in the process. 2. As North now has no cards, the turn passes to East, who attacks South.
Suppose this attack is successful.

3. After South picks up the cards it will be West's turn to attack East. Suppose this attack also 4. After East picks up it is South's turn to attack East, since North and West
succeeds and West's cards are all used. have no cards.

Example from a partnership game between four players.

1. As above, West attacks North who runs 2. Since North succeeded it is now North's team's 3. South attacks West next; West beats off the attack.
out of cards while beating off the attack. turn to attack, and as North has no cards South
takes North's turn and successfully attacks East.

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 4. West must next attack South (who is 5. South picks up the attack card and now East 6. Notice that East and West continue to play alternately as usual, while
taking North's place). attacks South. South gets twice as many turns, since South is standing in for North as well.
The order of play is essentially E-S-W-S-E-S-W-S etc. If either East or West
runs out of cards next the remaining player will continue playing against
South.

Example from a partnership game between six players.

The principle is the same as with four players, but the effect can seem confusing at first. Suppose the teams are West, North and South-East (red) against North-West, East and
South (blue).

1. W attacks NW and NW picks up, W having run out of cards. 2. N attacks E and E picks up.

3. SE attacks S and S beats off this attack. 4. It is South's turn to attack, and as West has no cards, South attacks the next opponent in
rotation, who is North.

5. North beats off this attack, and North must next attack North-West. NW 6. Now SE (the next player of the W-N-SE team) attacks E (the next player of the NW-E-S team).
picks up. East picks up.

7. It is North's turn to attack South. The order of play, after West runs out of cards is NW-N-E-SE-S-N-NW-SE-E-N-S-SE-NW-N-E and so
on.

Fortunately, this play of three against two rarely lasts for many turns. In the example When playing as individuals, the game continues after the talon is exhausted until at
above, if a second player of the W-N-SE team runs out of cards next, the remaining the end of a bout, only one player has any cards left. This player is the loser (the fool)
player will take the turns of all three team members, the other team continuing to and must deal the next hand.
play in rotation. If on the other hand, one of the NW-E-S players runs out of cards, When playing with teams, the game ends when at the end of a bout, all the players of
the play reduces to two against two. The sequence of play among the four players one team have run out of cards. The team which still have cards are the losers. The
will depend on which player runs out of cards and when. The principle remains the losing team is free to decide which of them should be given the job of dealing the
same: that the remaining players take turns to play for their team. next hand, even if only one of them was actually left with cards. If the players are of
In the example above, if at stage 7, South beats off North's attack, running out of unequal skill, it will be advantageous for the weaker player to deal, so that the
cards, it will next be North-West's turn to attack South-East, and the game will stronger player is the first defender.
continue in the sequence NW-SE-E-N-NW-..., which looks similar to a normal four- Note that the game can only end at the end of an bout. If after the final attack has
player game, but played anticlockwise. If at stage 6, East had beaten off South-East's been beaten off, no one has any cards left, the game is a draw. This can happen when
attack, running out of cards, it would next be South's turn to attack North and the one team attacks with all their remaining cards, and all of the defender's cards are
continuing sequence of play would be S-N-NW-SE-S-... Notice that in this case the used to beat off the attack. If at this point no one has any more cards and the talon is
four surviving players happen to be arranged with partners sitting next to each other, exhausted, the game is a draw, and the loser of the previous hand deals again - hence
rather than opposite. the saying: "Staryy durak khuzhe novykh dvukh" ("An old fool is worse than two new
When a third player drops out, the situation becomes straightforward. Either one ones").
team has lost, or the game has become two against one, with the two players playing
alternately for their team.
Variations
The Result

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An older rule was that the player to dealer's left begins, even in the first hand of the The popular variant Perevodnoy Durak ('transfer fool') in which the defender can
session. Probably some people still play this way, though it is now unusual. For the transfer the attack to the next player by matching the rank of the attack card, is
second and subsequent hands there are two alternative rules - players should agree described on a separate page.
at the start which to use: Norbert Steinkellner reports that Podkidnoy Durak works well as a 2-player game
 "Duraka uchat" (the fool is taught). Obviously the fool is taught to defend using just 24 cards A-K-Q-J-10-9. In this case it is the trump 9, rather than the 6,
himself, and the person to the right attacks him for the first bout. which can be exchanged for the turned up trump.
Durak Severnyi
 "Is pod duraka hodiat" (we go from under the fool) - the person to the left of the
fool attacks first, as in the description above. This modern variant of Podkidnoy Durak with two trump suits is described by
Rozaliev (Розалиев Н.Ю. «Правила архаичных игр. Правила простых игр.»
Some players do not allow the trump six to be exchanged for the face up trump.
Мoscow, 1995) who says that it originated in the Komi republic from where it spread
Some allow it to be exchanged for the ace, but not for any other trump.
to other parts of Russia and beyond. Chris Gillespie reports that he was taught it in
When five or six people play Durak, it is possible to use a full 52 card pack rather than Kiev, Ukraine in 2005. The name Durak Severnyi means "northern fool".
just 36 cards. This variation is very rare - normally 36 cards are used. The rules of play
After the dealing of hands to the players a card is dealt to the table face down and
with 52 cards are the same (except that it is the two of trumps rather than the six
then the trump card is placed face up on top of it. The remainder of the deck is
that can be exchanged for the face up trump) and there will always be a talon.
stacked crosswise on top of the trump as usual.
In an individual game with more than three players, a rule is frequently played that
The game is then played according to the normal rules of Podkidnoy Durak up to the
the first defender cannot be attacked with more than five cards (instead of six). This
point when the last cards are drawn from the stock. The face-up trump is drawn as
is a way of reducing the severe disadvantage suffered by the first defender in a game
the second to last stock card. The player who takes the final face-down stock card
with many players. Without such a rule the first defender would frequently lose.
shows it to the other players, and at this point the trump suit changes. The suit of this
Some players allow (or even require) the player to dealer's right to cut the cards last stock card shows the new trump suit for the rest of the game, and the former
before the deal, without penalty. trump suit becomes an ordinary suit.

Golf 2-8

Introduction  If you draw a card, you may use it to replace one of the four cards of your
Golf is a card game for two or more players, in which the object is to score as little as layout, but you are not allowed to look at any of your layout cards before
possible, as in the sport of Golf. In front of each player is a layout of cards arranged in deciding which to replace. You place the drawn card face-down in your layout,
a square or rectangle, and players improve their scores by drawing new cards to being careful to remember what it is, and discard the card that previously
replace unwanted cards, which they discard. Each deal is seen as the equivalent of a occupied that position, putting it face-up on top of the discard pile. It is then the
hole of Golf, and in many versions a complete game consists of 9 or 18 deals, next player's turn.
corresponding to the length of a Golf course.  If you draw a card from the stock and decide that you do not want to use it in
your layout, you may simply discard the drawn card face up on the discard pile,
Although the card game Golf is quite widespread in North America, Britain, and and it is then the next player's turn. However, if you choose to take the discard,
perhaps other English speaking countries, it is seldom found in card game books. Golf you must use it to replace one of your layout cards - you cannot simply put it
is also sometimes known as Polish Polka or Polish Poker; the 4-card game is known back on the discard pile, leaving the situation as it was.
by some players as Turtle, the 6-card game as Hara Kiri, and the 9-card game
as Crazy Nines. The game of Golf described on this page has no connection with
 If you knock, you do nothing else in your turn. Each of the other players in order
the Solitaire (Patience) game of the same name. has one more normal turn (in which they draw a card from the stock or discard
pile but cannot knock) and then the play ends.
Each player has a layout of cards, initially face down, which can be successively
replaced by new cards drawn from the stock or discard pile. The aim is to make a Note that if you look at any face down card in your layout, that card must be
layout scoring as little as possible. The scores at the end of the play are sometimes discarded replaced with the card you drew. There is no way to check the value of a
considered as representing the number of strokes taken to play a hole of golf. It is face down card and leave it in place.
common to play a series of nine deals or 'holes', at the end of which the player with Scoring
the lowest total score wins.
At the end of the play, each player's square of four cards is turned face-up and scored
There are two main forms of the game, which I shall call 4-card Golf and 6-card Golf, as follows.
according to the number of cards in each player's layout. 4-card Golf is sometimes
played with power cards that enable a player perform an action such as peeking at a  Each numeral card scores face value (Ace=1, Two=2, etc.)
card, swapping a card with another player, and so on. There are also 8-card, 9-  Each Jack or Queen scores 10 points.
card and 10-card forms of Golf, but these seem to be less widespread.  Each King scores zero points.
A major difference between versions of Golf is in the method of ending the play.
The player who has the lowest cumulative score after nine deals wins.
 The first method, used most often in 4-card Golf, is that if you think you have Variations of Four-Card Golf
the lowest score you can use your turn to knock instead of drawing to replace
one of your cards. This causes the play to end after each of the other players has Looking at cards
taken one more turn. Some play that you may choose any two of your cards to look at before play begins -
 The second method, most often used with the 6-card and larger layouts, is that not necessarily the two cards nearest to you. Some play that you may only look at
whenever a layout card is replaced, the new card is placed face up. The play one of your four cards at the start.
ends as soon as any player's entire layout is face up.
Some play that you may look at any of your four cards during the play, at a cost of 1
Four-Card Golf point for each occasion when you look at a card, added to your score at the end of
the hand.
Players, Cards and Deal
Some play that you may look at the two cards you saw at the beginning, or their
A standard 52-card pack is used, and the number of players could in theory be from replacements in your layout, as often as you like during the game. Some play that you
two to around eight or more, though the game is said to be best for about four. With hold these two cards in your hand, so that you (but not the other players) can see
a large number of players, say eight or more, two packs may be shuffled together. them at any time. Some even play that you hold all four cards in your hand, so
The deal and play are clockwise. eliminating both the need to remember any cards, and removing the uncertainty
The dealer deals four cards to each player, one at a time. Each player's cards are to about your two unseen cards.
be arranged face down in a square. The remaining undealt cards are placed face- Replacing cards
down in the centre of the table to form a drawing stock. The top card of the stock is
turned face up and placed beside the stock to start the discard pile. Before play Some play that the two cards that you did not look at to begin with can be replaced
begins, each player may look once at the two nearest cards of his or her square only once. The two cards that you see at the start can be replaced as often as you
layout, without showing them to anyone else. After this, the layout cards may not be wish.
looked at again until they are discarded during play or scored at the end of the play. Turning cards face up; ending the play
The Play This variation is characteristic of Golf with six or more cards, but is sometimes played
The player to the dealer's left begins, and the turn to play passes clockwise. At your in four-card Golf. Whenever a card is replaced, the new card is placed face up in the
turn you must either draw the top card of the face-down stock, or draw the top layout. When all the cards belonging to one player are face up, the play will end after
discard, or knock to cause the play to end. each of the other players has had one more turn.

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Some play that all four cards begin face down and a card that is face up cannot be  Queen: look privately at one card belonging to an opponent
replaced. If you replace a face down card, the replacement card is placed face up. If
you draw a card from the stock and discard it, you must turn one of the cards of your
 King: swap one of your cards with one card belonging to an opponent without
looking at either card
layout face up, and this card cannot subsequently be replaced. The result is that on
every turn, one more card of your layout is exposed. The game ends when all players  Joker: require one opponent to shuffle his or her cards, so that they no longer
have exposed all of their cards. know which is which
 There is no knocking. Play continues until the stock pile is exhausted. The player
Alternative methods of scoring the cards with the lowest score wins.
Some play that if your layout contains a pair of equal cards (such as two nines), the John Roberts describes a version called Pablo, also played with a 52-card pack plus
score for that pair of cards is zero. If there are three equal cards, only two of them two jokers. Sevens and eights are power cards.
are cancelled in this way; if all four cards are equal the whole layout scores zero.
Some play that pairs score zero only if the cards are together in a row or column;  Card values: Ace to 10 face value, picture cards (JQK) 10, jokers -5.
equal cards that are in diagonally opposite corners do not cancel.  A player may use a draw card to replace two or more equal ranked cards in his
In some variations, queens are given a higher score of 12, 13 or even 20 points or her layout. If this is successful the equal cards are all discarded and the
instead of 10; in one variation the spade queen scores 40 points while the others player's layout has fewer cards than before. If the cards the player tries to
score 10; in this same variation eights score zero. replace turn out not to be equal they remain in the layout along with the card
that was supposed to replace them. The player does not discard in that turn and
Some play that one-eyed jacks are wild - they can be paired with any card, making the player's layout now has one more card than before.
the pair score zero.
 A player who draws a seven from the stock may perform a swap. The player
Some play that jacks score zero, like kings. Others play that jacks score zero, queens exchanges one card in an opponent's for one card in his or her own layout. The
12 and kings 13. player chooses the opponent's card, then looks at it privately, then performs the
swap without look at the card that is given to the opponent in exchange. The
Some play that jacks score 20 points, and that when a jack is discarded the next
seven is then discarded.
player misses a turn - the turn to play skips to the following player.
 A player who draws an eight may look privately at any one card - either in the
Some add two jokers to the deck; the score for a joker is minus 5, so the total score player's own layout or in an opponent's layout. The eight is then discarded.
for a layout can be negative.  To end the play a player says 'Pablo' at the end of their turn. Each of the other
Special score for the knocker players has one more turn and then the layouts are scored. The player who said
'Pablo' scores -10 points if he or she has the lowest score. If not, the Pablo
Some play that a player who knocks but turns out not to have the lowest score is player scores the value of his or her layout plus the the value of the highest
penalised. There are several alternative versions of this, played by different groups: scoring opponent's layout. Either way, all other players score the values of their
layouts. If Pablo ties for lowest score with another player everyone scores the
 The knocker adds a penalty of 10 points.
value of their layout.
 The knocker's score for the hand is doubled and 5 points added.
 Further deals are played until a player's score reaches 100 points or more at
 The knocker takes a score equal to the highest scoring player for that hand. which time the player with the lowest score wins.
If the knocker's score is lowest, some players give the knocker the benefit of a Andrew Soule describes a version called 'Cumbia' played with a 52-card pack without
reduced score. jokers.
 Some play that the knocker scores zero if lowest.  Card values: 2 of diamonds -10, red kings -5, black kings 0, queens 12, jacks 11,
 According to others the knocker's score is reduced by the number of players if other cards face value.
lowest and doubled otherwise - for example in a four-player game a player  Power cards: 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, J. These cannot be placed in a player's layout: the
knocks with 3 points, and scores -1 point (3 - 4) if this is lowest, but 6 points (2 x player must either perform the action or just discard the card.
3) otherwise.  4 or 5: The player looks privately at one of their own cards
Some play with a pot to which all contribute equally at the start. The knocker collects  6 or 7: The player looks privately at an opponent's card
this pot if his score is lowest and doubles it otherwise. To prevent such payments  10: The player switches any two cards belonging to any players without looking
becoming too large, it may be wise to agree a maximum amount that can be won at them.
from or paid to the pot.
 Jack: The player looks at one of their own cards and one card belonging to an
End of the game opponent and may switch them if they wish.
If you want a longer game you can play 18 holes (deals) instead of 9.  Whenever a card is discarded, any player may take one matching card
from any layout and discard it on top of the discard. The player may not look at
Instead of playing a fixed number of holes, you can agree to play until one player's the card first. If it does match and it was taken from an opponent's layout, the
score reaches or exceeds 100 (or other target agreed in advance). The player with the player who discarded it then moves one card, without looking at it, from his or
lowest score then wins. her own layout to the opponent's layout. So the successful player's layout is
always reduced by one card. If the second discarded card did not match, the
Golf with Power Cards
player who moved it replaces the card in the layout it came from and if it was
In this group of Four-Card Golf variants, several cards are designated as power cards taken from an opponent's layout receives a 10-point penalty. Note: a red king
which can have special effects when drawn from the stock. They go by various names dopes not match a black king and the 2 does not match another 2: the
such as Cambio or Pablo or Cabo or Cactus. At least two proprietary versions have card values must be equal. Note: only one extra card can be discarded as a
been published using specially designed cards: Cabo appeared in 2010 and Kombio in match on top of a regular discard.
2019.
 To end the play a player calls 'Cumbia' at any time during their turn. Each player
The basic rules are the same as in Four-Card Golf. Each player begins with four cards gets one more turn and then everyone scores the value of their layout. There is
face down - in a row or in a square formation - and privately looks at two of them. A no special bonus for having the lowest score in a deal. After an agreed number
turn beings by drawing the top card from the stock or from the discard pile and ends of deals - for example 7 - the player with the lowest total score wins.
by discarding a card face up on top of the discard pile. The drawn card can be used to
replace a card in the player's layout without first looking at the card to be replaced. Chris Smyth describes a version called 'Cabo' played with a 52-card pack without
As usual the aim is to achieve a low scoring layout. jokers.

Some cards are designated as power cards. If one of these is drawn from the face  Card values: king of diamonds 0, other kings 13, queens 12, jacks 11, 10 down to
down stock it can either be used as though it were a normal card, or its special power ace face value. 7, 8, 9, 10, J and Q are power cards whose abilities are
can be used after which it must be discarded. A discarded power card cannot be used remembered using rhymes as follows:
as a power card again - if it is drawn from the discard pile by the next player it can  Seven or eight, know your fate: look at one of your own cards and then put it
only be used as a normal card. Some powers may cause a player's layout to gain or back (only you get to see it)
lose cards, so in some versions players may end the game with more or fewer than  Nine or ten, know a friend: look at one card from someone else and then put it
four face down cards. back (only you get to see it)
I have received descriptions of several versions of this power card variant, and from  Jack or Queen, switch between: trade the places of any two cards on the table
the sources of those accounts it seems likely that it originated in Spain or Latin (excluding draw piles)
America. The Spanish word cambio means exchange, which is one of the possible  On any turn, instead of adding the drawn card to the layout or using its power if
powers, so this could have been the original name of this variant. The main any, you may match it with an equal card or cards from any layout(s). All kings
differences between the versions are in the properties of the special cards, the point match each other, including diamonds. All the matched cards are discarded,
values of the cards and the way the game is ended. followed by the card that initiated the matching. Any matched cards from
Ashbir Dhillon describes a simple form of this game played in Malaysia using a opponents' layouts are replaced by cards from your own layout, without looking
standard pack of 52 cards plus two jokers. at the replacement cards. If you attempt to match a card that turns out not to
be equal to the matching card, the card remains in place and as a penalty, for
 Card values: Ace to 10 face value, all picture cards and jokers are power cards each such failure you draw an extra card from the stock and add it to your
and count 10 each. layout without looking at it.
 Jack: look privately at one of your own cards

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 To end the play a player calls 'Cabo' at any time during their turn. Each player situation unchanged: if you choose to take the discard, you must use it to replace one
gets one more turn and then everyone scores the value of their layout. The play of your layout cards.
also ends if a player gets rid of all the cards from their layout, or if the draw pile The play ends as soon as the last of a player's six cards is face up. The hand is then
runs out. scored.
Connor Chew describes a version from Vancouver, Canada known as 'Cactus'. It is Scoring
played with a 52-card pack without jokers and is said to be best for two players,
though three or more can play. At the end of the play, each player's layout of six cards is turned face-up and scored
as follows.
 No card is turned face up at the end of the deal: the first player must draw from
the stock and their discard starts the discard pile.  Each ace counts 1 point.
 Card values: Ace: 1 King: 0 Queen: 10 Jack: 10, other cards face value.  Each two counts minus two points.
 Power cards are 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen.  Each numeral card from 3 to 10 scores face value.
 6, 7, or 8: the player looks privately at one of their own cards.  Each Jack or Queen scores 10 points.
 9, 10 or Jack: the player looks privately at an opponent's card.  Each King scores zero points.
 Queen: the player exchanges any one of their own cards with one of their  A pair of equal cards in the same column scores zero points for the column
opponent’s cards, without looking at either. (even if the equal cards are twos).
 Ace, King, 2, 3, 4, and 5 have no power and no unique ability is granted when The player who has the lowest cumulative score after nine deals wins.
they are discarded.
Gary Glover has contributed blank score sheets for up to 8 players, up to 11
 A player can use their turn to employ the power of the card face up in the
players and up to 12 players as MS Word files. Dan Wagner has contributed a PDF
discard pile if the previous player hasn’t used its power already. Effectively their
scoresheet for up to 8 players.
turn consists of picking up the card using its power and discarding the same card
again. For example if player A draws a 2 from the deck and exchanges it for a Variations of Six-Card Golf
Jack in his layout, then player B can use her turn to apply the power of the
discarded Jack to look at one of player A's cards. Cards
 At any point in the game, regardless of whose turn it is, a player can discard a Some players use two decks with four, three or even only two players. This makes
card that matches the top card in the discard pile. The quickest player to discard little difference to the game and reduces the chance of running out of cards.
their card can do so without it counting as a turn. If a player is mistaken and
Some players include jokers - two per deck. In this case twos are worth 2 points and
attempts to discard a card that doesn't match the discard pile, they take back
jokers are -2.
their card and draw an additional two cards.
 A round concludes when one player calls 'Cactus' at the end of their turn. Their Turning up cards at the start
opponents then have one more turn each.
Some play that the two cards turned up must be in the same column of the layout;
 If you call 'Cactus' and after everyone has taken their last turn your layout has others play the opposite, rule that the two cards turned up must not be in the same
the lowest point value, you score nothing. If any opponent has a point value column. Some require one card to be turned up from the central column and one
equal to or lower than yours you add the value of your layout plus an extra 10 from one of the outer columns.
penalty points to your score.
Some play that after turning up two cards, you may rearrange the cards of your
 If your opponent calls 'Cactus' and after your last turn your layout has a higher
layout (without looking at any of the face-down cards) so as to place your face-up
point value than the caller's, you add the value of your layout to your score. If
cards in any desired positions.
your point value is equal to or lower than the caller's, you score nothing.
 The 'winner' of each round plays first in the next round. The winner is the player Some play that no cards are turned up at the start; instead each of the players may
with the lowest value layout. The caller loses ties. In case of a tie for lowest look once at the row of three cards nearest to them, replacing them face down.
between two opponents of the caller, they draw cards to decide who will start Turning up cards during the play
the next round.
 Multiple rounds are played until a player reaches 100 points. At this point the Some play that you may use your turn simply to turn one of your face-down cards
player with the lowest score wins the game. In a game with more than two face up.
players there could be a tie for lowest: in that case further rounds can be played Some play that if you draw a card from the stock and decide to discard it rather than
until there is a single winner. placing it in your layout, you must also turn one of your face-down cards face up,
unless you have only one face-down card remaining, in which case you may leave it
face-down.
Six Card Golf Ending the play
In this version, a pair of equal cards in a column scores zero. Therefore the main
Some play that you may use your turn to bring the play to an end by turning all your
object of the game is to make pairs, while keeping unpaired cards as low as possible.
remaining face-down cards face up.
Players, Cards and Deal
Many play that after a player's last card is exposed, each of the other players plays
Two, three or four players use a standard 52-card pack. With more than four players, one more turn before the hand is scored.
a second pack is added, and a third pack if there are more than eight. The deal and
Scoring
play are clockwise.
Some players award a negative score, for example -10 points, for four equal cards
The dealer deals six cards to each player, one at a time, arranging them face down in
arranged in two columns (for example two columns each containing two sevens).
a rectangle in front of each player like this:
When two or more decks are used, some award a higher negative score, for example
-20 points, for a layout of six equal cards.
Some award minus 20 points for four equal cards together in a square block. In this
variant, if playing with a double deck, a block of 6 equal cards should score minus 40
points since it contains two (overlapping) squares.
Some play that a pair of equal cards anywhere in the layout score zero - they do not
The remaining undealt cards are placed face-down in the centre of the table to form have to be in the same column.
a drawing stock. The top card of the stock is turned face up and placed beside the Some players include two jokers in the deck, which according to different players may
stock to start the discard pile. Before play begins, each player turns any two of the be worth -5, -3, -2 or zero points. In this case the twos are worth +2 points, not -2.
cards in his layout face up. The other layout cards may not be looked at until they are Some also play that one-eyed jacks are worth zero.
discarded or turned up in the course of the play, or scored at the end of the play.
When two twos (or jokers if used) appear together in a column, some players allow
The Play them to keep their negative value (-4 for the column if each card is -2). Some award a
The player to the dealer's left begins, and the turn to play passes clockwise. At your higher negative value when four such cards are arranged in two columns - for
turn you must either draw the top card of the face-down stock, or draw the top example when playing with two decks, four jokers in two columns count -20.
discard. You may use the card you draw to replace any one of the six cards of your End of the game
layout, but if you choose to replace a face-down card you are not allowed to look at it
before deciding to replace it. You place the new card face-up in your layout, and the As in Four-card Golf, the game can continue for 18 holes instead of nine
card that previously occupied that position is placed face-up on top of the discard
pile. It is then the next player's turn. Eight Card Golf
If you draw a card from the face-down card from the stock, you may decide that you This game is very similar to Six-Card Golf, but each player's layout has four columns of
do not want it anywhere in your layout. In that case you simply discard the drawn two cards rather than three.
card face-up on the discard pile, and it is the next player's turn. It is, however, illegal Bill Whitnack's former Card Games web site described a version using a double 52-
to draw the top card of the discard pile and discard the same card again, leaving the card deck with four jokers (108 cards). More decks and jokers can be added if there

163
 are more than four players. The dealer deals eight cards face down to each player,
arranged in grid four cards wide and two high, and places the next card face up on
the table to start the discard pile, with the remainder of the deck stacked face down
next to it to form a drawing stock. The player to dealer's left begins and the turn to
play passes clockwise.
Each player begins his or her first turn by turning one column of two cards face up, as
in the following diagram.

The player continues by drawing either the unknown top card of the stock or the face
up top card of the discard pile. The player then has three options:
1. Use the drawn card to replace one of the face up cards in the player's layout,
and discard the replaced card face up on the discard pile.
2. Use the drawn card to replace one of the face down cards in the player's layout.
The card to be replaced must be chosen without first looking at, and must be
discarded face up on the discard pile, even if it is a card the player would have
liked to keep.
3. If the card was drawn from the face down stock, discard it face up on top of the
discard pile and turn one of the face down cards in the player's layout face up.
After each player has had one turn everyone will have two or three cards face up.
Play continues clockwise. Now each turn consists of drawing the top card of the stock
pile or the discard pile and using it according to any one of the three options above.
A player whose layout has only one face down card remaining has an additional
option: to draw a card from the stock and discard it without turning over the last
card of the layout.
When a player turns the last card of his or her layout face up, each of the other
players has one more turn. Then all remaining face down cards in all players' layouts
are turned face up and the layouts are scored as follows:

164
 Jokers Minus 5 points each

Kings 0 points

Queens, Jacks 10 points each

Aces 1 point each

Numeral cards 2-10 Face value

Pair in a column 0 points

Two equal pairs in any two Minus 10 points
columns

A negative total score is possible. Nine deals are played (corresponding to nine holes
of a golf course), and the player with the lowest total score is the winner.
Examples of scoring: Players need to agree what happens if you have two intersecting rows of equal cards
or a row intersecting a square block, if you score a bonus for a block. Some solve this
by immediately removing from the layout any line or block of equal cards. Play
continues using only the remaining part of the layout, keeping the positions from
which cards were removed empty.
If you prefer to leave all nine cards in place, you need to agree how to score layouts
such as these:
example (a): intersecting lines
First column 8 (6+2), second column 0 (pair), third column 1 (0+1), fourth column 0
(pair), total 9.

First column 1 (1+0), second column 0 (pair), third column 10 (6+4), fourth column -
10 (pair equal to the pair in column 2), total 1.
Variant example (b): block overlapping line
Some allow a player to turn any two cards face up at their first turn, and play that
once both cards of a column are face up, those cards can no longer be exchanged.

Nine Card Golf

This game, also known as Crazy Nines or simply Nines, is played with two or more
decks of cards. Each player is dealt nine cards in a three by three square, and
turns three cards face up to begin the play. The playing mechanism and scoring are
essentially the same as in Six-Card Golf, except that a pair of equal cards does not
score zero. Instead, a column of three equal cards scores zero.
As with the other versions, there are many variations.

 Some play that only two cards are turned face up at the start.
 Some play that twos score +2 rather than -2 and include jokers that score -2. Stephen Moraco has described a version of 9-card golf in which every pair of equal
 Some play that queens score 12 rather than 10. cards that are horizontally or vertically adjacent scores zero. The same card can be
 Some play that not only a vertical row of three equal cards scores zero, but also used as part of more than one pair, so equal rows and columns will also score zero
a horizontal row, or a diagonal line of three equal cards. since they consist of two pairs.
 Some also play that a block of four equal cards together in a square give a On his Nines page (archive copy), Jesse Fuchs described a version with no cards
negative score, such as -25. turned up at the start. Queens count zero, kings ten and jokers -2. Rows and columns
 Some play that the player with the lowest score for a hole scores zero, and that of three equal cards are removed when formed.
if the player who first exposed all their cards (known as the caller) does not
have the lowest score, this player adds the score of the lowest scoring player to
Ten Card Golf
their own. I don't know how ties are resolved in this method. At least two decks are needed for this game. Each player is dealt ten cards, arranged
into five columns of two, and turns any two cards face up. The play is the same as
in Six-Card Golf.

165
King’s Corners 2, 3-5, 6

Introduction Variations

This game, also known as Kings in the Corners, is quite popular in North America, There are several alternative methods of scoring:
though it rarely features in American card game books. Players try to get rid of their
cards by playing them to a solitaire-like layout of eight piles, built of alternate red and With chips and a pot
black cards in descending sequence. There are four piles at the start and four more in
the corners can be begun with a king - hence the name of the game. Everyone begins by putting a chip into the pot. Anyone who does not play any cards
on their turn, but just draws one from the stock, pays another chip to the pot. The
Players and Cards first player who runs out of cards wins the pot, plus a chip from each other player for
each card they have left in their hand (10 chips for a king).
There can be two or more players. The game is said to be good for four players. A
standard 52 card pack is used. The cards rank K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-A (ace low). Cards score pip value

Deal Some people play that aces in your hand count 25 points against you at the end,
pictures count 10, and pip cards count face value. In that case the target score needs
The first dealer is chosen at random and the turn to deal passes clockwise after each to be higher - say 100 or 250. Alternatively you can play a fixed number of hands after
hand. Deal seven cards to each player. Put the rest of the cards face down in the which the player with the lowest score will be the winner.
centre of table to form the stock. Flip four cards face-up from the stock, and place
them North, East, South, and West from the stock pile, to start four foundation piles. Cards score 50, 10, 5

Play Ed Stofka of Fort Myers, Florida describes a similar version in which aces score 50,
picture cards and tens score 10 and pip cards from 2 to 9 score 5 each.
Players take turns clockwise, starting with the player to dealer's left. At your turn, you
may make any number of moves of the following types in any order: Cards score 10, 5, 1

1. Play a card from your hand on one of the foundation piles. The card you In Henry Kleplek's version face cards score 10 points each, cards 6-10 score 5 points
play must be the next lower in rank and opposite in colour - for example each and cards A-5 score 1 point each. A player who goes out on the very first turn of
you can play a red ten on a black jack. The cards on the foundation piles the game scores 5. The target score to end the game is 50.
are overlapped slightly so that all can be seen. Since aces are the lowest
cards, nothing can be played on a foundation pile that has an ace on top. Some people play that it is compulsory to play kings at your first opportunity. There is
a penalty of three points (or three chips paid to the pot) for holding a king and not
2. Place a king from your hand to start a new foundation pile in an empty playing it when you could. A problem with this rule is that it seems to be
space in one of the four diagonal corners of the tableau (NE, SE, NW, unenforceable. If you have a king in your hand you might claim that you had just
SW). It will then be possible to build on this king in the same way as on picked it up, and no one could contradict you unless they had been peeking at your
the original foundations, adding a queen of the opposite colour, then a cards, which is also illegal. It seems better to have a 10 point penalty for kings left in
jack of the same colour as the king, and so on. hand at the end of the play, as in the main description; this should be enough to
encourage players to get rid of kings as soon as they can.
3. Move an entire foundation pile onto another foundation pile if the
bottom card of the moving pile is one rank lower and opposite in colour Some play with a pool, which is collected by the winner. Anyone who plays no cards
to the top card of the pile you are moving it onto. Example: a pile on their turn pays one unit to the pool, and at the end players pay one unit to the
consisting of red 4 - black 3 may be moved on top of a pile consisting of pool for each card remaining in their hand.
black 7 - red 6 - black 5.
Some players award a score for completing a corner pile by playing the ace.
4. Play any card from your hand to any of the original (N, E, S, W)
foundation piles that has become empty (because the card(s) that were Some people play that a card must be drawn from the stock at the start of each turn
originally in it have been moved to another pile). rather than at the end. This can create a practical problem that it is difficult to know
when a player has finished his or her turn: this may be indicated by each player
If you manage to play all the cards in your hand, you have won, and play ceases. knocking or saying "pass" at the end of their turn to allow the next player to draw
Otherwise, after you have played any cards you can or wish to, you must draw one and begin play. Some play that two cards must be drawn from the stock on each turn,
card from the stock. This ends your turn. If you are unable to or do not wish to play rather than just one.
any cards, you simply draw one card.
Mike Ellison, Chris Robinson, Jim Crestanello and Geri Monsen describe versions in
If in the original layout, a king is dealt any of the original foundation piles (N, E, S, W), which the king piles in the corners are built downwards in suit rather than in
it can be moved to a corner position. The player to the left of dealer will have the alternating colours.
benefit of making this move and playing a card from hand to replace the moved king.
 In Chris Robinson's version the original four piles (N, E, S, W) are
It may also happen that one of the dealt foundation cards will immediately fit on built upwards rather than downwards in alternating colours. In the
another, being one rank lower and of opposite colour. In this case the player to the scoring, cards A-10 are face value, Jack 11, Queen 12 and King 13.
left of dealer will be able to move this card and replace it with a card from hand.

If the centre stock runs out, play continues without drawing.

 In Jim Crestanello's version all the piles are built downwards in suit. It
may happen that two or more of the original piles are the same suit. In
this case there will be no place for the missing suit(s) until the same suit
The play ends when someone manages to get rid of all the cards from their hand, or piles can be combined or a king of a missing suit is played in a corner.
when an impasse is reached where the stock has run out and everyone is unable or
unwilling to play any further cards.
Beverly Becker describes a version in which only four cards are dealt to each player.
The game cannot end until the stock has run out. If a player plays their last card while
Scoring there are still cards in the stock they must draw a card from the stock. If this card can
be played in an empty space on the layout they must play it there and draw another
Each player receives penalty points for the cards left in their hand at the end of play. card. If there is no space the player keeps the card they drew and the next person
A king costs 10 points and the other cards cost 1 point each. plays.
These points are accumulated from deal to deal until some player reaches or exceeds
a target score agreed in advance (say 25 or 50). The winner is the player who has the Kevin Freeman describes a variant in which two jokers are included in the deck. A
lowest number of penalty points at this time. joker can be played on the layout as a substitute for any desired card. If a joker is
played on one of the corner piles, then the real card it represents can of course no
longer be played on or moved to a corner pile. By playing a joker to start a corner pile
you can make it difficult for the holder to play the real king of that suit. This play can
misfire if you subsequently have to draw a card and pick up the king that you
blocked.

166
 Blitz / Scat / 31 2, 3–9, 10–12

Introduction Draw pile exhausted

This is a simple draw and discard game, suitable for players of all ages. Players have a If the stock runs out the play can continue as long as each player wishes to take the
three card hand and the aim is to collect cards in a single suit worth 31 points or as previous player's diuscard. If the player whose turn it is does not wish to draw the top
near as possible to that total. It is played in the USA, the UK and perhaps other discard, the play ends and all players show their cards and the hand is scored. If no
places. In the USA it has various names one has knocked then the player who has the lowest score loses one life, or if there is
including Scat, 31, Blitz, Cabbage, Cadillac, Kitty, High Hat and Geronimo. Some of a tie all the players with the lowest score lose a life.
these names can cause confusion with other games: Scoring
 This Scat has no connection whatever with the German national card The normal way of scoring in Scat is that each player begins the game with three
game Skat; pennies. When you lose a life, you have to put one of your pennies into the kitty in
 There are at least two other games called 31: the centre of the table. If you knock and lose, having the sole lowest hand, you pay
two pennies (if you have that many).
o the German game 31, also known as Schwimmen, Schnauz or Hosen
'runter, which is like the game on this page, except that cards are swapped If someone declares 31, all the other players have to put a penny in the kitty. If
with a central pool of three cards, rather than using a draw and discard someone declares 31 after another player has knocked, the knocker just pays one
mechanism; penny, like everyone else.
o the Greek banking game 31, which is similar to 21 except that the object is If you have no money left, having lost all three of your pennies, you are said to be "on
to draw cards adding as near as possible to 31 without exceeding it. the county" (meaning receiving charity from the county, etc.), or "on poverty", "on
your face", "on your honour", "on welfare" or "floating". If you lose while on the
 This Blitz is not to be confused with Dutch Blitz, which is a version of Racing county, you are out of the game. If you lose two lives when you only have one penny
Demon/Nertz, sometimes played with special cards. you are also out of the game. The game continues until only one player has not been
Eric Kent learned the game in the late 70's from older siblings, who had in turn eliminated, and that player is the winner.
learned it from friends visiting from the UK, and they called it Ride the Bus, and used There is a theoretical possibility of a draw if all the remaining players are on the
a somewhat different method of keeping score. county, the draw pile runs out before anyone knocks or makes 31, and all remaining
Players players have equal scores. If this unlikely situation were to arise and it was necessary
From 2 to 9 or more people can play. Eric Kent suggests that the game is perhaps best to determine a winner, the hand would have to be replayed.
when played with 3 players, but it should also work well with a larger group. Variations
Cards and their value Some play that in case of a tie for lowest score between a knocker and one or more
A standard 52 card deck is used. For scoring hands, the Ace is worth 11 points, the other players, the knocker loses two lives while the other players in the tie lose one
Kings, Queens, and Jacks are worth 10, and all other cards are worth their pip value. life. If a player declares 31 after a knock, the player with 31 is safe, knocker
The value of a three card hand is calculated by adding up the value of the cards held loses two lives and the other players each lose one life. In this variant it is possible for
in any one suit. So if you have three cards of the same suit, you can add up all three. all the remaining players to lose their last life simultaneously, in which case those
If only two cards are in the same suit you can add those, or use the value of the odd players play another hand (in which they will all be on their honour / on the county)
card if it is higher than the sum of the other two. If you have three different suits the to break the tie.
value of your hand is the value of the highest card in it. The maximum hand value is Some play that in a tie involving the knocker, only the knocker loses.
31, consisting of the ace and two ten-point cards in the same suit. Some play that a knocker who has the lowest score only loses one life, not two.
Examples: Some play that 3-of-a-kind of any rank counts as 30 (or 30.5) points. When it counts
30, it ties with three ten-point cards of the same suit. If it counts 30.5, it beats all
K- 8- 5: value 23 (sum of all 3 cards) hands except a 31.
Q- 9- 8: value 17 (9 + 8) Rarely, people play that any straight-flush (three cards of the same suit in sequence)
is worth 30 (except for A-K-Q, which is 31).
A- 6- 4: value 11 (the ace is worth more than the spades)
Some play that there is a minimum score with which you are allowed to knock - for
J- 7- 4: value 10 (the jack) example 17, 19 or 21. Some play that a knock is only allowed by a player who has
Deal three cards of the same suit.
Determine the first dealer in any manner you desire. The turn to deal passes on Some players have recommended a variant in which instead of drawing, the very first
clockwise after each hand. The cards are shuffled and are dealt out one at a time, player, to the left of the dealer, has the option to call a "hammer". This is also known
starting with the player to dealer's left and continuing clockwise until everyone has a as "knocking under the gun". Everyone must show their cards - no one gets to draw a
hand of three cards. card - and the hand is scored exactly like a knock. If the first player, the one who
The next card is turned face up on the table to start the discard pile, and the called for the cards to be exposed, has the lowest hand value, they lose two lives -
remaining undealt cards are placed face down next to it to form the draw pile or otherwise the player with the lowest score loses a life. If anyone was lucky enough to
stock. During play, the discard pile is always kept "squared up" so that only the top be dealt 31 all the other players lose a life. Obviously, this round of the game takes
card is visible and available to be taken. very little time, thus speeding up the game. Some play a version of this known as
"throw-down" or "shotgun" where the first player must decide before looking at
Play their cards whether or not to call for an immediate showdown in which everyone
The player to dealer's left begins and the turn to play passes clockwise around the reveals their cards and the worst hand loses as above.
table. A normal turn consists of: Kent Hamilton describes a variant Cadillac in which each player begins with four
1. drawing the top card either from the stock pile (without showing it to the other nickels. A player losing a life pays a nickel to the pot, a player who has no nickels is on
players) or from the discard pile; poverty and a player who loses a life when on poverty is out of the game. If the
2. discarding one card face up on top of the discard pile. knocker ties with one or more other players for lowest hand the knocker loses two
Note that if you choose to take the top card from the discard pile, it is illegal to lives and the others lose nothing. A hand worth 31 is declared by calling "Cadillac"
discard the same card, leaving the position unchanged. You must keep the card you and every other player loses a life. Three Aces make a "Grand Cadillac" worth 33
took and discard one of the cards that was previously in your hand. However, if you points - this is declared in the same way as a Cadillac and each other player loses a
draw the top card of the stock, you are free to discard the card that you drew onto life. Three-of-a-kind of a rank other than Aces is worth 30 points.
the discard pile, leaving your hand unchanged. Angie Barry described a variant called GIN is which a knock is a promise to have
Knocking the highest score. The three lives are represented by the letters of the word "gin"
and a player who has all three letters is out of the game. After a knock each of the
If at the start of your turn, you believe that your hand is not the lowest and that at other players takes a turn and if after this the knocker's hand is highest or equal
least one other player will be unable to beat your hand even if they are allowed one highest, everyone except the knocker gets a letter. If another player beats the
more turn, you can knock instead of drawing a card. Knocking ends your turn. You knocker, the knocker gets a letter. A player who has 31 declares it and everyone else
must keep the hand you had at the start of that turn, but each other player gets one gets a letter. In this variant a three-of-a-kind is worth 30.5 points.
final turn to draw and discard. After the player to the knocker's right has discarded,
all players reveal their cards. Each player decides which suit is their point suit, and Ride the Bus has a different way of keeping track of wins and losses. All players start
totals up their cards in that suit. out "seated" at the back of the bus. Players who lose a hand move toward the front
in a sequence. The sequence is usually: first, you stand at the back of the bus, then
The player with the lowest hand value loses a life. If there is a tie involving the you are in the middle of the bus, then at the front of the bus, then you are on the
knocker, the other player(s) lose a life, but the knocker is safe. If the knocker's score stairs, then you are off the bus. Players who are no longer "riding the bus" are out of
is lower than that of every other player, the knocker loses two lives. If there is a tie play. Winning a hand simply keeps your position; you do not move back a step if you
for lowest between two or more players other than the knocker, then both (all) of win a hand.
those players lose a life.
The scoring system of Ride the Bus can be changed to suit how many hands people
There is just one case where it is possible to pick up your own discard. This happens want to play. Because this game is very casual, this often happens in the middle of
when there are only two players left in the game and your opponent knocks. The card the game by mutual agreement of all players; for example, a player who is "on the
you discarded just before the knock is still on top of the pile, so it is now available for stairs" loses another hand and would normally be out of play, but since everyone is
you to take back if you want it - for example if you had just broken up a suit for having so much fun, it is declared that the player is "on the second step" or "asking
tactical reasons you can now restore it. the driver to stop" instead of out. If extra levels are introduced, they apply to all
Declaring 31 players.
If after drawing and discarding a player achieves hand value of 31, they show their On the site Cribbage.ca is a description of a French Canadian version of 31 in which
cards immediately and claim victory. In this case all the other players lose a life. A after a player has knocked and everyone else has taken a turn, the player with
player who makes 31 after another player has knocked still declares it and every the highest score is awarded one point. If there is a tie the player who did not knock
other player including the the knocker loses one life. wins it. Presumably if there is a tie between two players neither of whom knocked
A player who is dealt 31 in their original three cards declares it - there is no play and they get a point each. A player who makes 31 declares it and score a point
all the other players lose a life. If it happens that two or more players get 31 on the immediately. The game apparently goes on until someone reaches a score of 31 - a
initial deal then all the players other than those with 31 lose. long game. Jeffrey Jacobs describes a version of this game in which players are not
allowed to knock unless they have three cards of the same suit. If two players have
A player who has 31 in their hand and does not declare it as soon as they make it or
are dealt it cannot claim it later. An undeclared 31 in a player's hand effectively equally high scores the tie is broken if possible by looking at the ranks of the cards as
counts as 30 - if another player declares 31 the holder of the undeclared 31 will lose a in poker - for example A-10-9 beats K-Q-J, K-10-9 beats Q-J-9 and K-J-7 beats K-9
life along with the other players.

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Eleusis 3, 4-7

THE DEAL players then try to bring about the overthrow of the prophet by trying to find
1. Make up and write down a rule that tells which cards may be played experiments whose results cannot be predicted (thus gaining a chance to become
when. The rule must depend only on the cards already correctly played. prophet themselves).

2. Shuffle two decks and deal 14 cards to every player except yourself.
General:
3. If you like, give a hint about the rule.
4. Turn up one card for a starter.
 You need lots of room and at least two decks of cards. It helps if you can
find miniature cards.
5. Choose player to start (count clockwise the number of the starter card).
Dealer may, if required by the rule, choose another card to start the  The game doesn't work well for four or fewer people. More than eight
sequence. can play, but the game gets too long and individual players don't get
enough chances to experiment.
THE PLAY
Player (Scientist):
1. Play a card from your hand. (Usually it's best to play a card you think is
right.) If you feel confident, you may play a sequence of 2, 3, or 4 cards.
If you think you have no ``right'' card, you may declare ``no play'' and
show your hand to everyone.
2. Just after you play (any play, regardless of consequences), if you think
you know the rule, you may declare yourself Prophet, provided: (1) there
isn't already a prophet, (2) you haven't already been prophet this round, Hints for the dealer:
and (3) there are still two or more players besides yourself and the  Really write down the rule. It helps settle arguments.
dealer.
Dealer (God):  Unless you specify otherwise, a numeric rule uses Ace=1, Jack=11,
Queen=12, King=13; but you might specify, for example, that all face
1. If there is no prophet, call each play ``right'' or ``wrong,'' and give two cards are worth 10.
penalty cards for each ``wrong'' card. A sequence of 2 to 4 cards is right
only if each card played sequentially would be right. Give two penalty  If you give a hint, make sure it isn't misleading. For example, don't say
cards for each card in a wrong sequence. Don't tell which card or cards ``suits don't matter'' if your rule depends on the color of the card.
made the sequence wrong.
 For the best score, find a rule that is hard for some players and easy for
2. If there is a prophet, s/he makes the calls, and you ``approve'' or others.
``disapprove'' each call. If you disapprove a call, overthrow the prophet
and give him/her 5 penalty cards; the player (scientist) who just played  Remember that rules are always much harder than you expect them to
gets no penalty for a wrong play. be.
3. Put a white marker on each 10th card played, and call a ``sudden death''  If a rule makes almost all plays correct, or almost all plays incorrect, it's
period after 40 cards played. During sudden death, any player who too hard.
makes a wrong play is expelled. (When there is a prophet, sudden death
is based only on the black markers.)
 A good rule should make it easy for you to determine if a card is correct.
When God makes a mistake, there is no graceful way to recover.
Prophet:
Hints for players:
1. When you first become Prophet, put a black marker on the last card you
just played. Put the rest of your cards aside (you may need them again).  Generally, of course, you want to play ``correct'' cards. But if you have a
theory, often you can best test it by playing cards that you think are
2. Take over the job of calling plays ``right'' or ``wrong''--carefully!
incorrect.
3. Put a black marker on every 10th card played after you became prophet,
and call a ``sudden death'' period after 30 cards played.  If you have a theory, but there is already a Prophet, look for special cases
that you aren't quite sure about. If the Prophet has the same theory, you
4. If overthrown, pick up your cards and resume your role as a player. may be able to overthrow him/her.
Special Rule: A player who correctly claims ``no play'' puts his cards on the table and
is dealt a new hand with 4 fewer cards (this may put the player out and end the
 Your best ``think time'' is when it is someone else's turn, so you don't
feel hurried.
round). If the player is wrong, Prophet or Dealer plays a correct card from the hand
and deals the player a 5 card penalty. [But if prophet calls incorrectly, the card is  Don't spend too much time thinking when only a few cards have been
returned to the player's hand without penalty, and Prophet is overthrown.] played.
ENDING Rule Modifications:
A round ends when either (1) some player runs out of cards, or (2) all players have  You may announce at the end of someone else's turn that you wish to
been expelled for wrong plays during ``sudden death'' period. The game ends when become prophet. Then, beginning with the player who just played and
everyone has been dealer once (but you can end earlier). proceeding clockwise, each player in turn has the opportunity to become
SCORING Prophet. If no one else elects to do so, you become Prophet
1. Find the high count: the largest number of cards held by any player immediately.
(including the prophet). Everyone except the dealer gets points equal to  If you have just gone out and you think you know the rule, you may
the high count minus the number of cards in his/her hand. forego the bonus for going out and become Prophet instead. Play
2. Anyone (except the dealer) with no cards at all gets a 4 point bonus. proceeds. If you are overthrown, you will be dealt 8 penalty cards and
will again have a hand. If you are not, add your prophet bonus to high
3. A True Prophet also gets 1 point for each right card and 2 points for each
count for your score.
wrong card played after s/he became prophet.
4. Dealer's score is the smaller of (a) the highest player's score, or (b) twice
the number of cards played before the True Prophet started.
5. If you end the game early, anyone who has never been dealer gets 10
extra points.
6. The person with the largest number of points wins.

Tips for Eleusis (AKA “New Eleusis)

New Eleusis is a simulation of scientific research. The general idea is that the dealer
(in the role of ``God'' or ``Nature'') thinks up a rule that governs the correct play of
the cards. The other players (``Scientists'') take turns playing cards (``performing
experiments'') and race one another to see who can come up with a good theory
about the rule. The first player with a theory can declare himself/herself to be a
``prophet'' who can predict the results of the other player's experiments. Other

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169
Deduce or Die 3-6

If you're a fan of deduction games such as Code 777, Clue, Sleuth or Black Vienna, If instead the two Evidence cards were the Ace of Hearts and the 8 of Hearts, the
here's an original design you may want to check out. I actually find it more Murder card would be the 9 of Hearts (1 + 8 = 9, don't subtract anything because the
challenging than any of the games I've listed, a statement that will be greeted with sum isn't greater than nine, and the suit is Hearts because both Evidence cards are
delight by some and with horror by others. If you're still with me, be prepared to Hearts).
sharpen both your pencils and your little gray cells. The game is afoot!

Background: You're a successful trial lawyer and this year you've decided to take a
cruise for your vacation. Unfortunately, a terrible storm sinks the ship and you and a
few others find yourselves stranded on a conveniently located tropical island. The
good news is, there's enough food, fresh water, and shelter to keep everyone alive
indefinitely. The bad news is that the chances of you ever being rescued are slim and
none. The really bad news is that everyone else on the island is also a trial lawyer! Normally, the player who holds the Murder card is the murderer. However, if the
Murder card is one of the Evidence cards or is the exposed card, then the player
But the worst news is that you all woke up this morning to find one member of the holding the card which is one rank higher and the same suit as the Murder card is the
group dead, obviously murdered by one of you. Since no one relishes the thought of murderer. If this card is also one of the Evidence or exposed cards, then the player
spending the rest of their life with a murderer, and since, after all, you are lawyers, a holding the card two ranks higher than the Murder card is the murderer, and so on,
trial has been set up in which everyone takes turns interrogating the others. If a until a card which is held by a player is found. Ranks go around the corner, so the Ace
sufficiently good motive can be established for one of you, their execution can be of Clubs is one rank higher than the 9 of Clubs.
swiftly arranged. It would be nice if you could be the one who makes the accusation;
your little group will need a leader and nothing impresses lawyers more than a The objective for each player is to deduce the Murder card, determine who holds it
winning argument. Of course, if the true murderer can make a good enough case (or, in the cases outlined above, who holds the card one or two ranks higher than it),
against someone else, they will have successfully gotten away with murder. And the and accuse them of the murder. However, the murderer's objective is to accuse an
person they accuse could very well be you. Counselor, you are on trial for your life: innocent player. If a player figures out the Murder card and realizes it is in his hand,
call your first witness. he needs to find the player who holds the next higher card of that suit that isn't in his
own hand. Again, if this card is an Evidence or exposed card, the card of that suit of
Summary: Deduce or Die! is a deduction game in which the players are trying to find the next higher rank is used.
out who among them is a murderer. The actual murderer is as anxious as anyone else
to determine the facts of the case, as that will allow him or her to pin the blame on Here's an example to help clarify this. Suppose Sheryl has deduced that the two
someone else. The first player who can correctly accuse another player of the crime Evidence cards are the Ace of Hearts and the 8 of Hearts. Therefore, the Murder card
wins the game. is the 9 of Hearts. But Sheryl has the Nine of Hearts in her own hand, so she is the
real murderer. So who can she (falsely) accuse of the crime? It's the player who holds
Number of Players: 3 to 6. the next higher Heart, the Ace of Hearts. Since the Ace is one of the Evidence cards,
she needs to find the 2 of Hearts instead. Looking at her hand, Sheryl notices that she
Equipment: 3 decks of ordinary playing cards (two with identical backs and preferably has the 2 of Hearts as well, so that means she really needs the 3 of Hearts. If she can
the third with different colored backs), pencils, and a deduction sheet for each player deduce which player holds the 3 of Hearts, she can accuse him and win the game.
(see below)
Initial Revelations: Each of the lawyers begins the confrontation with a brief
Preparation: Take the deck of cards with a differently colored back. Form a deck statement. Their sharp-eyed fellow lawyers are able to use this to discern something
using the Ace through Nine of Spades, Hearts, and Clubs. These 27 cards make up the of their current mental state. To reflect this, immediately after the cards are dealt
Motive deck. Shuffle the deck well and place two cards face down to the side, making out, each player, beginning with the first player and continuing in clockwise order,
sure that no one sees what they are. These cards are called the Evidence cards. Then must truthfully reveal which suit has the fewest number of cards in their hand. If a
deal the following number of cards to each player face down: player's hand has more than one suit with the smallest number of cards, he can
reveal whichever one of these suits he wishes.
Three players - 8 cards
Four players - 6 cards Interrogating Opponents: After the players have made their initial revelations, the
Five players - 5 cards first player takes her turn. She draws the top three cards from the Interrogation deck
Six players - 4 cards and exposes them. She then selects two of them and uses them to question one of
her opponents. She picks one of the cards to be the lower one and one to be the
All the cards are dealt out in a five player game. Otherwise, there will be one card left higher one. Together, they define a range of cards. The range depends on the suit of
over. Expose this card, let everyone take note of it, and then place it aside, out of the the cards. If both cards are of the same suit, the cards being asked about are those of
game. The players can now secretly look at the cards dealt to them and make any that suit from the rank of the lower Interrogation card to the rank of the higher
notes they like on their deduction sheets. Interrogation card. The rank of the cards extends around the corner, so that Aces lie
above Nines. For example, if the lower card is the 3 of Clubs and the higher one is the
Now take the other two decks of cards and remove the same 27 cards from each 6 of Clubs, the range is the 3 through 6 of Clubs (the 3, 4, 5, 6 of Clubs). If instead, the
deck. Shuffle these 54 cards together and place them in the center of the table. This 6 was declared to be the lower card and the 3 the higher card, the range would be
is called the Interrogation deck. Randomly choose one player to go first. the 6 through 3 of Clubs (the 6, 7, 8, 9, A, 2, 3 of Clubs).

Determining the Murderer: The murderer is defined by the two Evidence cards. Once If the two chosen Interrogation cards are of different suits, the range consists of the
these cards are known, they identify a third card. This third card is called the Murder cards between the two ranks of all three suits. For example, if the lower Interrogation
card, which is used to determine who the murderer is and who can be accused of card is the 3 of Hearts and the higher one is the 5 of Spades, the cards in the range
being the murderer. are the 3 of Spades, 3 of Hearts, 3 of Clubs, 4 of Spades, 4 of Hearts, 4 of Clubs, 5 of
Spades, 5 of Hearts, and the 5 of Clubs. If the 5 was the lower card and the 3 the
higher card, the range would include every card in the deck except for the three
Fours.
Here's the procedure for using the two Evidence cards to generate the Murder card.
The rank of the Murder card is equal to the sum of the two Evidence cards. If this sum The one exception to this rule is if the two cards are identical. In this case, the player
is greater than nine, subtract nine from the total to determine the rank. If the two has the choice of making the range either all the cards of that rank or all the cards of
Evidence cards are of different suits, the suit of the Murder card is the third suit. If that suit. Thus, if the two Interrogation cards are both 2 of Spades, the player could
the two Evidence cards are of the same suit, the suit of the Murder card is the same make the range be either all three Twos or all nine Spades.
as the Evidence cards' suits.
The active player chooses a lower and higher Interrogation card, picks an opponent,
Here are some examples. If the two Evidence cards are the 5 of Spades and the 7 of and asks how many cards in the range that player has in his hand. The player must
Hearts, the Murder card would be the 3 of Clubs (5 + 7 = 12, 12 – 9 = 3, and Clubs is truthfully answer out loud. The players record this answer however they like, after
the third suit). which the three Interrogation cards are placed in the discard pile. The player to the
interrogator's left then becomes the next active player and turns over three new
Interrogation cards. This process continues until the game ends. When the
Interrogation deck runs out, reshuffle the discards and form a new deck.

After turning over the three Interrogation cards, a player has the option of not
making an interrogation on her turn. Usually this will occur late in the game, when a
player knows that no question can give her more information but might assist her

170
opponents. If a player chooses not to interrogate, the three cards are discarded as Evidence cards and the player he has accused holds the Murder card generated by
usual and the player to her left takes his turn. the Evidence cards, the accuser reveals these cards and his written prediction and
wins the game. Alternatively, if the accuser can produce the Murder card from his
Once a game, each player may make a Secret Interrogation. After exposing the three own hand and shows that the accused player has the next higher card in the same
Interrogation cards, the player declares that he will exercise this option. All three suit (skipping over any cards in the suit which are in his own hand, are Evidence
cards are discarded and instead, the player takes a slip of paper, writes down a range cards, or were exposed at the beginning of the game), he has successfully pinned the
of cards, and hands it to an opponent. The range must be one that could be normally crime on another player and wins. So for example, if the Murder card is the 5 of Clubs
generated—thus, for example, a single card could not be asked. The opponent takes and the accuser shows that he has the 5 and 6 of Clubs in his hand, he needs to find
the slip, writes down how many cards she has in the range, and passes it back to the the 7 of Clubs in the accused player's hand in order to win. If instead, the accuser's
interrogating player. Neither player should give any indication what either the prediction for the Evidence cards is incorrect or if the accused player does not have
request or the response was. After receiving the response, the player ends his turn. the card which will allow him to accuse her, the accuser announces he is wrong (he
doesn't say why) and drops out of the game. The game continues until someone
Winning the Game: At any time (not necessarily on his turn), a player can make an makes a correct accusation. Players can still interrogate the player who made the
accusation. The accuser states who he thinks the murderer is and then writes down incorrect accusation and he must answer their questions correctly, but he takes no
what he thinks the two Evidence cards are. To verify his prediction, the accuser first further turns himself and can make no further interrogations.
secretly looks at the Evidence cards. Whether or not his guess is correct, he asks the
accused player to pass her cards to him. If the accuser correctly deduced the - Larry Levy

Deduction Sheet

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Cuttle 2

Introduction 4 - Your opponent must discard two cards of his choice from his hand, showing them
The exact origin of this unusual two-player game is unknown. Dating from the 1970's to you before placing them on the scrap pile.
at the latest, it is the earliest example I have found of a combat card game. It has
many similarities to collectable card games like Magic the Gathering. The aim is to be 5 - Draw the top two cards from the draw pile and add them to your hand.
the first build a layout worth at least 21 points. Cards can be used for their point
value, or to attack your opponent's layout by destroying or capturing cards. 6 - Scrap all permanent effect cards on the table - both yours and your opponents'.
For some years a FAQ by Richard Sipie, first published in 2000, was the only generally 7 - Draw a card and play it immediately however you wish.
available documentation of the game. I am grateful to Michael Pearson for his help in If you draw a card that cannot be played immediately it is discarded, but if it can be
preparing the new description on this page and to Greg Pallis, an enthusiastic player played you must play it, even if it is to your disadvantage. For example a jack might
and winner of the Cuttle tournament in the 2009 Mind Sports Olympiad, for have to be used to give a point card to your opponent.
answering my various detailed questions about the rules.
9 - Return any one permanent effect card on the table to its controller’s hand.
Players and Cards: Cuttle is played by two players using a standard 52-card deck Note that if you use this to return a jack, the point card that it was stacked on
without jokers. changes sides.
Goal: The goal is to be the first to accumulate 21 or more points worth of point cards
on your side of the table. The first player to achieve this wins the game. Permanent Effects
Set-up 8 - While you have an 8 on the table as a permanent effect card, your opponent must
Each player has a hand of cards, normally held concealed from the opponent. The play with the cards in his hand exposed. The 8 is placed sideways on the table,
dealer deals six cards to himself and five to his opponent. These are the players' distinguishing it from point cards and making it look like a pair of glasses.
initial hands. The remaining deck is placed face-down and becomes the draw pile.
The dealer's opponent then takes the first turn. Jack - Transfer control of a point card. The jack is placed on top of a point card and
both cards are moved across the table, changing the owner. Multiple jacks can be
During the game, players play cards from their hands, placing them face up on the stacked on top of a single point card, and the ownership changes each time a jack is
table in front of them. This way each player forms a layout of cards on their own side added or removed.
of the table. Naturally you would normally play a jack on a point card controlled by your
opponent, moving it to your side of the table so that it becomes yours. However, if
Various actions cause cards to be discarded. Discarded cards are stacked face-up next you were to draw a jack as a result of the one-off effect of a 7 when your opponent
to the draw pile so that only the top card is visible. This pile of discards is called the had no point cards, you would be forced to play it on one of your own point cards
scrap pile. and pass it to your opponent.
If a point card is scrapped, either by an effect or by scuttling, any jacks upon it are
Play also scrapped.
On your turn you must perform exactly one of the following actions:
Queen - All your point cards and permanent effect cards on the table other than
 draw a card from the draw pile and add it to your hand queens are defended from effects that target single cards. Queens protect against 2,
 play a point card from your hand 9 and jack effects, but not against an ace or a 6, since these target multiple cards.
 play a one-off effect card from your hand Queens do not protect against scuttling (scuttling is not an effect).
 play a permanent effect card from your hand Since queens do not defend themselves or other queens, you can use a 2 to remove
 The turn then passes to your opponent. an opponent's queen.
If you play a 2, your queen on the table blocks your opponent from countering it with
If the draw pile runs out, then instead of drawing a card, a player is allowed to pass, his own 2.
i.e. do nothing at all on that turn. If there are three consecutive passes the game ends
and neither player wins. King - The number of points you require to win the game is reduced according to the
number of kings on your side of the table as follows:
Card types and how to use them  No kings: 21 or more points;
In Cuttle there are three categories of card: point cards, one-off effect cards and  One king: 14 or more points;
permanent effect cards.  Two kings: 10 or more points;
 Three kings: 7 or more points;
1. Point cards  All four kings: 5 or more points.
Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 can be played as point cards.
Aces are worth 1 point. Number cards are worth their face value. Variants
The following improvements to the game have been suggested.
There are two ways to play a point card:
Fours - Greg Pallis recommends that when a four is played as a one-off effect, the
a. A point card can be played face-up on your side of the table. These cards add up to two cards scrapped from the opponent's hand should be chosen at random. The
form your total points. The first player to accumulate 21 total points wins the game. opponent's hand is shuffled face down, two cards are drawn from it, exposed, and
discarded to the scrap pile.
b. Alternatively, a point card can be played as a ‘scuttle’ allowing you to remove an This rule change encourages aggressive play, makes the four stronger, and somewhat
opponent’s point card from the table. The point card you play must be higher in value weakens the power of twos, since if you keep them in your hand they are vulnerable
than the card you wish to scuttle, or equal in value with a higher suit. The rank of the to a four attack.
suits is clubs (lowest) < diamonds < hearts < spades (highest). So for example the
diamond7 can scuttle the club7 or the heart6 but the diamond7 cannot scuttle the Eights - Daniel Goers suggests that an 8 can be played as a one-off effect card to
heart7. To scuttle an opponent's point card, place your card on top of it and discard scrap a 8 that is on the table as a permanent effect card. Both 8's are discarded to the
both cards to the scrap pile. scrap pile.

2. One-off effect cards Nines - In the standard rules, nines are almost useless as one-off effect cards. You
might use one to remove a jack from a point card controlled by your opponent if that
Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 can be played as one-off effect cards. immediately won the game. In any other case, your opponent can immediately undo
the effect of the nine by simply putting the permanent effect card back on the table.
One-off effect cards are never placed on the table but are discarded into the scrap I suggest the following amended rule. When you play a nine as a one-off effect, you
pile immediately after use. See the list below for a description of each effect. return one permanent card of your choice to your opponent's hand, and your
opponent must wait at least one turn before playing that card again.
3. Permanent effect cards Reddit user gaylordqueen69 has suggested a more powerful use for the nine. When
you play a nine as a one-off effect you take one permanent card of your choice from
the table and place it face down on top of the draw pile. This card will therefore be
8, Jack, Queen, King can be played as permanent effect cards
acquired by the next player who draws a card.
Permanent effect cards are played face-up on the table like point cards, though note
that the 8 is turned sideways. A permanent effect lasts for as long as the card is on Tens - Daniel Goers suggests that a 10 can be used as a one-off effect card to block a
the table. See the list below for a description of each effect. scuttle. The 10 and the card played as a scuttle are discarded to the scrap pile and the
card that your opponment was trying to scuttle remains in place.
One-off Effects
Queens - Reddit user beamer159 has suggested a variant in which although a queen
does not protect itself, it does protect other queens. Therefore if you have two
Ace - Scrap all point cards on the table - both yours and your opponents'. queens they protect each other as well as your other permanent effect cards and can
only be removed by a six.
2 - There are two possible ways to use a two as a one-off effect card.
Play a two in your turn to scrap any permanent effect card on the table. Joker - Daniel Goers suggests that one Joker can be added to the deck. It is played as
Play a two to block a one-off effect card played by your opponent. This is the only a one-off effect and causes the players to exchange hands with each other.
case in which you can play a card during your opponent's turn. Your two and your
opponent's one-off effect card are both scrapped. Note that a two can be used to
block a two: if you play a one-off effect and your opponent tries to block it with a Other Cuttle Pages
two, you can use your own two to block your opponent's two. Both twos go to the
scrap pile and your original one-off effect card takes effect (unless of course your Jared Miller has published a revised and clarified set of Cuttle rules on github.
opponent then plays another two to block it again).
The Cuttle page by gaylordqueen69 on Reddit includes an amusing rewrite of the
3 - Rummage through the scrap pile and add a card of your choice to your hand. Since FAQ, some suggested rule changes, and carries comments including a completely
the 3 is not scrapped until after its effect has been carried out, you cannot use this revised schedule of one-off effects suggested by beamer159.
effect to take back the 3 you just played.
Cuttle Online
You can play Cuttle online against human opponents at Ryan Emberling's Cuttle site.

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Regicide 1, 2–4

“A sinister corruption has spread throughout the four great kingdoms, blackening the
hearts of once-loved Kings and Queens and those that protect them. As brave
adventurers you must work together using the special powers of your champions and
animal companions. Overthrow the corrupted monarchs, purge them of their
darkness and add them to your ranks so that life can be brought to the land once
more.”

Aim of the game

Regicide is a co-operative game where 2 to 4 players work together to defeat 12
powerful enemies. The players win when the last King is defeated. If any player dies,
all players lose the game.

Setup
Shuffle the 4 Kings (K) and put them faced own in a pile on the table. Shuffle the 4 Enemy Immunity
Queens (Q) and put them facedown on top of the Kings. Shuffle the 4 Juggernauts (J) Each enemy is immune to the suit powers of cards played against them which match
and put them facedown on top of the Queens. This is the Castle deck. their suit. For example, players will not draw cards when a diamond is played against
Place the Castle deck in the centre of the table and turn the top card face up to reveal the Juggernaut of diamonds (however the number is still added to the damage total).
a Juggernaut. This will become the current enemy. The Jester can be played to cancel an enemy's immunity.
Shuffle together all the cards numbered 2 - 10 with the 4 Animal Companions (A) and
a number of Jesters (Jokers) based on the number of players (see below) to form your Playing the Jester (Joker)
Tavern deck. The Tavern deck is where cards are dealt and drawn from. During the
game place any discarded cards into a shared discard pile beside the Tavern deck. In Step 1 when playing a card the Jester may be played (always on its own).
Deal cards to each player up to their maximum hand size. The Jester has an attack value of 0. The power of the Jester is that it negates the
immunity of the enemy meaning the suit powers of cards with the same suit as the
4 Players – 2 Jesters / max hand size = 5 cards enemy will now take effect when played. After playing the Jester, skip steps 3 and 4
3 Players – 1 Jesters / max hand size = 6 cards then, instead of play moving to the next player the player of the Jester chooses any
2 Players – 0 Jesters / max hand size = 7 cards player to go next.
The player to have most recently committed regicide goes first. Players may not discuss specific cards in their hand at any time during the game
however they can express their desire (or reluctance) to go next in a general way
after the Jester is played.
How to play
If the Jester is played against a spades enemy, spades played prior to the Jester will
On their turn a player will play cards from their hand to deal damage to the current
begin reducing the attack value of the enemy however clubs played prior to the
enemy in order to defeat it. The values on the cards determine damage, while the
Jester against a clubs enemy will not count for double.
suit provides a special power. Each turn has four steps:
Step 1: Play a card from hand to attack the enemy
Step 2: Activate the played card's suit power Animal Companions (A)
Step 3: Deal damage and check to see if the enemy is defeated In Step 1, Animal Companions can be played on their own, but may also be paired
Step 4: Suffer damage from the enemy by discarding cards with one other card (except the Jester). Animal Companions count as 1 towards the
attack total and their suit power is also applied. For example, when playing the 8 of
diamonds with the Animal Companion of clubs the attack value is 9 and the effects of
Step 1: Play a card from hand to attack the enemy (or yield)
both suit powers are applied for 9: 9 cards are drawn and 18 damage is dealt. Any
Play a card from your hand onto the table in front of you. The number of the card time where both a hearts power and diamonds power are resolved together, resolve
determines the attack value. So if a 7 of hearts is played, the attack value is 7. the hearts healing before drawing with diamonds. Animal Companions can also be
Step 2: Activate the played card's suit power paired with other Animal Companions.
Playing a card to damage the enemy also grants a power associated with the suit of
that card. Powers from red suits are resolved straight away, powers from black suits Combos
take effect in later steps.
In Step 1, instead of playing a single card, players can combine cards together in sets
♥ Hearts - Heal from the discard pile: Shuffle the discard pile then count out a of 2, 3 or 4 of the same number as long as the combined total of the cards played
number of cards facedown equal to the attack value played. Place them under the equals 10 or less. So players can play a pair of 2s, 3s, 4s, or 5s, triple 2s and 3s, or
Tavern deck (no peeking!) then return the discard pile to the table, faceup. quadruple 2s. When these cards are played together all suit powers are applied at the
♦ Diamonds - Draw cards: The current player draws a card. The other players follow total attack value. For example if a player plays the 3 of diamonds, spades and clubs
in clockwise order drawing one card at a time until a number of cards equal to the together, players will draw 9 cards, reduce the enemy's attack value by 9 and deal 18
attack value played have been drawn. Players that have reached their maximum hand damage.
size are skipped. Players may never draw cards over their maximum hand size.
♣ Clubs - Double damage: During Step 3, damage dealt by clubs counts for double. Drawing a defeated enemy
The 8 of clubs deals 16 damage for example.
Juggernauts (J) in hand count as a 10, Queens in hand count as a 15 and Kings in hand
♠ Spades - Shield against the enemy attack: During Step 4, reduce the attack value of count as a 20. These values are applied when either playing them as an attack card or
the current enemy by the attack value played. The shield effects of spades are discarding them from hand to satisfy damage. Their suit power is applied as normal
cumulative for all spades played against this enemy by any player, and remain in when played.
effect until the enemy is defeated.
Step 3: Deal damage and check to see if the enemy is defeated
Yielding
Juggernauts: 10 attack / 20 health
Queens: 15 attack / 30 health During step 1 it may be beneficial to yield instead of playing a card. To yield simply
Kings: 20 attack / 40 health say "Yield" and move directly to Step 4, skipping Steps 2 and 3. All players are not
allowed to yield consecutively.
Damage equal to the attack value of the played card is now dealt to the enemy.
Check to see if the total damage dealt by all players is equal to or greater than the
enemy's health. If so, do the following: Game End
- Discard the enemy (or place it facedown on top of the Tavern deck if the players The game ends when the players win by defeating the last King or when the players
have dealt damage exactly equal to the enemy's health). lose because a player is unable to satisfy the damage dealt by an enemy.
- Discard all cards played by players against the enemy.
- Turn the next card of the Castle deck face up.
- The player who has just defeated the enemy skips Step 4 and begins a new turn Solo Rules
against the enemy just revealed, starting at Step 1.
Set up the game as per usual but place the two Jesters to the side. You play with a
Step 4: Suffer damage from the enemy by discarding cards single hand limited to 8 cards. Play as normal, playing each turn one after the other.
However a Jester can be flipped to activate the following power: “Discard your hand
If not defeated, the enemy attacks the current player by dealing damage equal to and refill to 8 cards - this does not count as drawing for the purpose of enemy
that enemy's attack value. Remember to reduce the enemy's attack value by the total diamond immunity.” Since you have two Jesters this can be done twice per game.
value of spades that players have played against the enemy. Flipping the Jesters in this way does not cancel immunity. You are allowed to use the
The current player must now discard cards from their hand with a total value at least Jester power a) at the start of step 1 before you play a card or b) at the start of step 4
equal to the enemy's attack value. Discard cards one at a time, faceup to the discard before you have to take damage. Winning the game after using both Jesters achieves
pile. It's ok to have an empty hand. Then, the next player takes their turn, starting at you a Bronze Victory. Winning after flipping only 1 Jester is called a Silver Victory and
Step 1. Animal Companions (A) have a value of 1 and the Jester a value of O when winning the game while having both Jesters untouched grants you the ever-elusive
discarded to cover damage. If the player cannot discard enough cards to satisfy the Gold Victory!
damage, they die and all players lose the game.
Game designed by Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger and Andy Richdale 2020. Game
found at badgersfrommars.com

173
174
Solitaire (Klondike) 1

Many Solitaire games can be played on areas smaller than a card table. Others right, place one card face up on the third
require a larger playing area, and these games are often played on the floor or on a pile and deal one card face down on piles
bedspread. Alternatively, in order to play with large layouts on a card table, miniature four through seven. Continue this pattern
playing cards are available. These are usually half the size of standard playing cards. until pile seven has one card facing up on
THE PACK top of a pile of six cards facing down.
Virtually all Solitaire games are played with one or more standard 52-card packs. The remaining cards form the stock (or
Standard Solitaire uses one 52-card pack. “hand”) pile and are placed above the
tableau.
OBJECT OF THE GAME
When starting out, the foundations and
The first objective is to release and play into position certain cards to build up each waste pile do not have any cards.
foundation, in sequence and in suit, from the ace through the king. The ultimate
objective is to build the whole pack onto the foundations, and if that can be done, THE PLAY
the Solitaire game is won. The initial array may be changed by "building" - transferring cards among the face-up
RANK OF CARDS cards in the tableau. Certain cards of the tableau can be played at once, while others
may not be played until certain blocking cards are removed. For example, of the
The rank of cards in Solitaire games is: K (high), Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low). seven cards facing up in the tableau, if one is a nine and another is a ten, you may
THE DEAL transfer the nine to on top of the ten to begin building that pile in sequence. Since
There are four different types of piles in Solitaire: you have moved the nine from one of the seven piles, you have now unblocked a
1. The Tableau: Seven piles that make up the main table. face down card; this card can be turned over and now is in play.
2. The Foundations: Four piles on which a whole suit or sequence must be As you transfer cards in the tableau and begin building sequences, if you uncover an
built up. In most Solitaire games, the four aces are the bottom card or ace, the ace should be placed in one of the foundation piles. The foundations get
base of the foundations. The foundation piles are hearts, diamonds, built by suit and in sequence from ace to king.
spades, and clubs. Continue to transfer cards on top of each other in the tableau in sequence. If you
3. The Stock (or “Hand”) Pile: If the entire pack is not laid out in a tableau can’t move any more face up cards, you can utilize the stock pile by flipping over the
at the beginning of a game, the remaining cards form the stock pile from first card. This card can be played in the foundations or tableau. If you cannot play
which additional cards are brought into play according to the rules. the card in the tableau or the foundations piles, move the card to the waste pile and
turn over another card in the stock pile.
4. The Talon (or “Waste”) Pile: Cards from the stock pile that have no place
in the tableau or on foundations are laid face up in the waste pile. If a vacancy in the tableau is created by the removal of cards elsewhere it is called a
“space”, and it is of major importance in manipulating the tableau. If a space is
To form the tableau, seven piles need to be created. Starting from left to right, place created, it can only be filled in with a king. Filling a space with a king could potentially
the first card face up to make the first pile, deal one card face down for the next six unblock one of the face down cards in another pile in the tableau.
piles. Starting again from left to right, place one card face up on the second pile and Continue to transfer cards in the tableau and bring cards into play from the stock pile
deal one card face down on piles three through seven. Starting again from left to until all the cards are built in suit sequences in the foundation piles to win!

Spider Solitaire 1

THE PACK A sequence of available cards may be broken at any point by leaving some cards
Two standard 52-card packs are used. behind. Example: If a pile from top down shows 4, 5, 6, 7, either the first one, two, or
three cards may be moved as a unit, but the 7 may not be moved until the covering
OBJECT OF THE GAME three cards are removed. When all face-up cards on a pile are removed, the next card
The goal is to assemble 13 cards of a suit, in ascending sequence from ace through below is turned face up and becomes available.
king, on top of a pile. Whenever a full suit of 13 cards is so assembled, it is lifted off A movable unit of cards may be placed either in a space or on a card of the next-
and discarded from the game. The game is won if all eight suits are played out. higher rank to the bottom card of the unit, regardless of color or suit. Example: If the
THE DEAL bottom card of a unit is the J, it may be moved onto any one of the four queens.
Ten piles of five cards each are dealt by rows. The first four cards of each pile are A king can be moved only onto a space. Alternatively, the spaces may be filled with
dealt face down, the top cards face up. any movable unit.
THE PLAY When all possible or desired moves come to a standstill, the player deals another row
The top card of a pile may be moved, together with all face-up cards below it that of ten cards face up. However, before such a deal may be made, all spaces must be
follow in ascending suit and sequence. filled. The final deal consists of only four cards, which are placed on the first four
piles.

Yukon 1
How to play Yukon Solitaire The object of the game
1 deck. Average. No redeal. To build the foundations up in suit to kings.
Yukon Solitaire uses one The rules
deck (52 cards). You have 7 You may build tableau piles down in sequence and alternating color. Groups of cards
tableau piles with the can be moved regardless of any sequence.
number of cards per pile Any face up card in the tableau can be moved to make a build. All the cards covering
increasing from one to seven it are moved together as a unit. Empty tableaus may be filled with a King or group of
from left to right. The top cards headed by a King.
card is face up. Then 4 Strategy tips
additional cards are dealt
face up to the each of the six  Look for ways to uncover the face-down cards as soon as possible. Once
piles on the right. all cards are face up, you are almost guaranteed a win.
You have 4 foundations.  Never empty a tableau column until you are about to fill it with a King.
Aces are moved to the foundations as they become available.

Pyramid 1

1 deck. Average. 2 redeals. (for example: 7 and 6, 3 and 10, 2 and Jack, Queen and Ace). Kings are discarded as a
Set up single card rather than as a pair. To discards Kings, simply click on them.
Pyramid Solitaire uses one deck (52 Aces are worth 1. Jacks are worth 11. Queens are worth 12. Kings are worth 13.
cards). A pyramid of cards is dealt, When you have made all the moves initially available, click the Stock pile to begin
consisting of 28 cards in 7 overlapping turning over cards.
rows. You have two redeals.
The object of the game How to win
To pair up all the cards in the deck in  Take time planning your moves ahead. Don’t just combine the first pair
pairs of cards that total 13 and remove of cards you see.
them to the single discard pile.  Play from the waste pile, rather than from the stock.
The rules
Only uncovered cards in pyramid and  Remove Kings whenever you can.
top cards of the stock and the waste  It’s often better to pair pyramid cards with waste or stock cards, rather
pile are available for play. Select pairs of than with another pyramid card.
cards that total 13 by using the mouse  Look for cards “trapped” by other cards underneath.
Free Cell 1
Free Cell is fundamentally different from Only the next higher card of the same suit can be added to each foundation. Cards
most solitaire games in that very may be moved to the foundation from the tableau or a free cell.
few deals are unsolvable, and all cards Any card may be moved to an empty free cell or an empty tableau column.
are dealt face-up from the very
beginning of the game. Microsoft has A card may be added to a non-empty column in the tableau only if it is the next lower
included a FreeCell computer game with value than the current top card and of alternating color. For example, only the 9 of
every release of the Windows operating hearts or diamonds (red suits) may play on the 10 of spades (a black suit).
system since 1995, greatly contributing Scoring
to the game's popularity among users of If you select Casino Scoring in Settings, the game is scored according to the common
personal computers. wagering scheme: You “pay” $52 to begin play, and you “win” $5 for each card
The Layout played on the foundations.
When you start the game, you will see Regular scoring is more like a video game, including a penalty for slow play, as
the basic layout of FreeCell solitaire in the Game window: Four free cells at the upper follows:
left, four foundations at the upper right, and eight columns of the tableau below Plus
(unless your Preferences call for Reverse Layout). 10 POINTS - Playing a card to the foundations.
As the game begins, deal all the cards from the deck face up into the tableau. 5 POINTS - Moving a King to an empty column.
The Game Minus
The object of the game is to build all the cards face up on the foundations. Each -2 POINTS - Every 15 seconds of elapsed time, while the Game Window is active.
foundation builds upward, in sequence, starting with the Ace. Only aces may be
moved to an empty foundation, and only the next higher card of the same suit can be -1 POINT - Every time a card is moved EXCEPT moving a King to an empty column.
added to the foundation. Bonus
Only one card at a time may be moved in FreeCell, either the top card of a tableau In addition, a WINNING BONUS is calculated as follows:
column or the single card which was placed in a free cell. As a short cut, computer
softwares often allow you to move a legal sequence of cards from one column to  { ( End of Game score ) - ( 1 POINT per elapsed second ) } times 10.
another, provided there are enough empty cells to have made this move one card at The game is won when no lower-valued cards are covered by a higher-value card, or
a time. The move will be scored as if you had moved one card at a time. all cards have been moved to the foundations.

Streets and Alleys 1

OBJECT OF THE GAME already dealt. The entire pack is dealt out, so that each row on the left will contain
The goal is to get all cards built onto the foundations. seven cards and each row on the right, six cards.
THE DEAL FOUNDATIONS
A column of four cards is dealt to the center of the The four aces form the foundations. As each ace is released, it is moved into the
table, slightly to the left. A column of four cards is then center between the left and right rows that were dealt. The foundations are built up
dealt to the right of center, leaving room between in suit and sequence.
these two columns for another column. All cards are BUILDING
dealt face up. The player continues dealing the cards in Only the outermost card of each row is available for transfer. A card may be moved
columns of four alternately to the left and right, onto the outer end of a row, provided that it is in descending sequence with the card
overlapping outward from the center with the cards there, regardless of suit. Example: The 5 may be placed on 6♦, 6♥, 6♣, or 6♠. Any
available card may be placed on a space.

Accordion 1
THE OBJECTIVE THE PLAY
The goal is to get all the cards in one pile Any card may be placed on top of the next card at its left, or the third card at its left,
THE PACK if the cards are of the same suit or of the same rank.
The standard 52-card pack is used. Example: Four cards, from left to right, are: 6 hearts, J hearts, 9 clubs, 9 hearts. The 9
hearts may be placed either on the 9 clubs or on the 6 hearts. It may not be played
THE DEAL on the jack of the same suit because the jack is not to the immediate left, or third
The player deals out the cards one by one from the left.
face up, in a row from left to right, as When the movement of one or more cards has formed a pile, the entire pile is moved
many at a time as space allows. (Dealing with the top card.
may be interrupted at any time if the
player wishes to make a move. After In the example above, when the 9 hearts is put on the 9 clubs, the two may be put on
making a move, the deal is then the J hearts and then all of these cards on the 6 clubs. However, it is not obligatory to
resumed). make a particular move if the player prefers not to do so.

Forty Thieves 1
AKA Napoleon at St. Helena. All aces are placed in a Foundation row above the ten dealt piles as soon as the
Object of the Game player can release them from the piles.
The goal is to get all eight foundations built up from ace through king. Only the top card of a pile may be moved. The removal of a card releases the one
Two standard 52-card packs are used and they are shuffled together. below it. A card may be placed only on another of the same suit and next-higher in
rank.
THE DEAL
Example: A 7 of clubs may be placed only on 8 of clubs.
Ten piles of four cards each, dealt by rows, all face up. The cards should overlap so
that the player can see them all. A king may not be built on an ace, and aces must be placed as foundations as soon as
Remaining cards are placed in a pile to form the Stock. Cards are turned up one at a possible.
time from the top of the stock and may be placed on the piles or foundations. Cards Foundations are built up in suit and sequence from ace through king.
from the stock that cannot be used are placed face up in a pile below throws to form When any of the ten piles is entirely cleared away, any movable card may be placed
the waste pile. The top card of the waste pile is always available for building onto the in the space
piles or foundations. The player may overlap the waste pile cards so that all of them
Variant - Emperor:
can be seen. To play the more difficult game “emperor”, set up in the same way but have only the
top card of each pile revealed.

Clock Solitaire 1

Clock Patience is a purely pile of that hour is turned over. If a King is

mechanical process with no room revealed, it is placed face up under the central
for skill, and the chances of winning pile.
are exactly 1 in 13. Play continues in this fashion and the game is
Rules: One deck of cards won if all the cards (including four Kings) are
(minus jokers) is used. The deck is revealed; turning up the fourth king means
shuffled and twelve piles of four you will have completed the clock and won
cards each are laid out, face down, the game. The game is lost if the fourth King is
in a circle. The remaining four cards turned up while any cards remain face down.
are placed, also face down, in a pile in the center of the circle. Variations: A variation of Clock Patience
The twelve positions around the circle represent the 12-hour clock and the pile in the commonly called Watch is played like Clock
middle represents the hands. Patience, but players can continue the play
Play starts by turning over the top card of the central pile. When a card is revealed, it when the fourth king appears, by replacing it
is placed face up under the pile at the corresponding hour (i.e., Ace = 1 o'clock, 2 = 2 with a still face-down card The game ends when that fourth king reappears.
o'clock, etc. The Jack is 11 o'clock and the Queen is 12 o'clock) and the top card of the

176
Devil’s Grip 1

OBJECT OF THE GAME The order may seem random, but it makes sense visually on the grid: deuces in the
The goal is to place the entire deck into the piles on the grid, winding up with jacks on top row, threes in the middle, fours on the bottom row, then in the top row, fives,
top in the top row, queens on top in the middle row, and kings on top in the bottom middle row sixes, and so on.
row. SPACES
THE DECK When an empty space appears as a result of moving one card on top of another, the
Two standard 52-card packs are stripped of all the aces, leaving a deck of 96 cards. top card of the stock is drawn to replace it. This is the only way that the base cards
(deuces, threes and fours) can make it onto the grid. If there are no empty spaces,
THE DEAL cards are turned up in the traditional Solitaire manner - groups of three - and these
After the pack is shuffled, 24 cards are dealt face up in three rows of eight columns. cards are left face up in a pile to form the talon. Cards of the correct suit may be
At any time, cards may be moved within this three-by-eight grid by changing places taken and placed on top of appropriate cards already on the grid. Thus, the eight of
with one another. The remainder of the pack is placed face down to form the stock. spades may be placed on the five of spades. It is not necessary for the five to already
THE PLAY be on top of a two of spades.
Cards may be placed on top of one ENDING THE GAME
another if they are of the same suit and Play continues until no more cards can enter the grid. Usually, every pile will have a
adhere to one of the following bottom-to- picture card on top. The cards left in the talon are counted to become the player's
top orders: score - the lower the better. It is rare to play out the entire deck. A score of 10 or
2, 5, 8, J fewer cards left in the talon is "good"; a score of five cards or under is "excellent";
3, 6, 9, Q and 2 or fewer cards is "brilliant."
4, 7, 10, K

Canfield 1

1 deck. Average. Unlimited redeals. When you have made all the moves
Canfield Solitaire uses 52 cards (1 deck). 13 cards are counted out from the deck of initially available, begin turning over cards
52 cards. The top card is open. This is the reserve pile. The next four open cards are from the stock pile. 3 cards at a time are
tableau piles. The next card is placed above. It will be the starter card of the turned over from the stock. You can move
foundations. The three cards of the same rank in the deck will be placed next to it cards from the stock pile to tableaus or
during play as soon as they become available. foundations following the rule above.
The object of the game The stock pile can be turned over as many
To build the foundations up in suit until each pile contains thirteen cards. times as you wish.
The rules History of Canfield Solitaire
You can fill up foundations using the top card of the reserve or tableau piles. You can Canfield is named after the well known
move cards from one tableau pile to another, and from a reserve pile to a tableau nineteenth century gambler Richard A.
pile in descending sequence of alternating suit colors. You can move either a single Canfield, who created this game to play in
card or a set of cards. When one of the tableaus becomes empty it will be filled casino. Casino players could buy a deck of cards for $52 and get $5 for every card
immediately with a card from the reserve pile. played to the foundations.

Baker’s Dozen 1

Setup Game Play

The game is setup by creating 13 The game begins by making available moves. Cards can be moved from one stack to
stacks of four cards each. Start by another if the card being moved is one rank lower than the card it is being moved
laying out 13 face up cards. Then, to. The suits of the cards do not matter. Only the top card of a stack can be moved.
add a card on top of the previous
card, with the bottom card still Once an ace is open, it can be moved to start its foundation pile. Once a foundation
visible. pile is started, the next card in sequence can be added to the foundation pile when
Once each stack has four cards, available. The player will continue to make open moves with the goal of moving all
move all the kings to be the bottom cards to their foundation pile.
card in their stack. Rules
Objective Only the top card of a stack can be moved, even if the cards are in sequence within a
The object of the game is to get all stack. Once a stack is emptied, the open space remains empty. No cards can be
the cards into their foundation pile. moved to it. Once a card is put into a foundation pile, it cannot be returned to a
A foundation pile is started with an stack.
ace and is built up to the king. There Win/Lose
are four foundation piles, one for each suit. If a player can move all the cards to the foundation piles, the game is won! If a player
gets stuck with no available moves to make, the game is lost.

Seahaven Towers 1

1 deck. Average. No redeal. When any of reserve piles are

empty you can fill the space with
any card. Each reserve pile may
Seahaven Towers Solitaire uses 52 cards (1 deck). 50 cards are dealt into 10 tableau contain only one card.
piles. Four cells (reserves) are placed above the tableau piles. At the start of the game
one card is dealt to each of the left 2 cells. Four foundation piles are placed to the You can fill empty tableau piles
right of tableaus. with a King.
Aces are moved to the foundations as they become available. There is no redeal.
The object of the game Comment
To build the foundations up in suit to kings. The rules state that you can move only one card at a time. But as a shortcut, BVS
Solitaire will allow you to move a full or partial build if there are enough empty
The rules reserve piles, because you would have been able to get the same result by
The top cards of tableau piles and cards from reserve piles are available to play. You temporarily moving the extra cards into the empty tableaus.
may build tableau piles down in suit. Only one card at a time can be moved.

Aces Up 1

1 deck. Easy. No redeal. The rules

Set up Four cards are dealt from the stock to the tableau, one on each pile. The top card of
each pile is available for play. If two or more cards on different tableaus have the
Aces Up Solitaire uses one deck (52
same suit, then discard all cards of that suit but the highest-ranking to the
cards). You have one foundation pile,
foundation. Aces in this game are considered to be of the highest rank. Spaces may
and 4 tableau piles.
be filled by any top card from other tableau.
The object of the game
When you have made all the available plays on the board, click on the stock to deal
To discard all cards from tableau piles to
next four cards on tableau piles.
the foundation except for the four Aces,
having one Ace in each tableau. There is no redeal.
Wins are rare.

177
Beleaguered Castle 1

1 deck. Difficult. No redeal. Comment

Beleaguered Castle Solitaire uses one deck (52 cards). You have 8 tableau piles with The rules state that you can move
6 cards in each pile. only one card at a time. But as a
shortcut, BVS Solitaire will allow
Aces are removed from the deck to form the 4 foundation piles.
you to move a full or partial build if
The object of the game there are enough empty tableau
To build the foundations up in suit to kings. piles, because you would have been
The rules able to get the same result by
The top cards of tableau piles are available to play. You can build tableau piles down temporarily moving the extra cards
regardless of suit. You can move only one card at a time. When any tableaus are into the empty tableaus.
empty you can fill the space with any card.

Tri-Peaks 1

How to Play Tri-Peaks Solitaire descending sequence regardless

Tri-Peaks is a combination of Golf and Pyramid solitaire games. It's another fast of suit. So in the above example,
paced game like Golf but a little less mechanical with slightly more thought and vision either the 6 , the 6 or the 8
required in order to release the most productive cards.
Card Layout may be built on the 7 .
The game is played with a single pack of 52 playing cards. The cards are dealt to form Sequences may turn the corner
a tableau consisting of three overlapping peaks in the arrangement shown below. A with Kings building on Aces and
single card is then dealt face up from the remaining stock to start a waste pile that is Aces building on Kings. When no
built on during the game. more cards can be transferred
from the tableau to the waste
pile, a card from the stock is dealt
Objective to the waste pile and building
The object of Tri-Peaks is to transfer all the cards from the tableau to the waste pile, resumes. When the stock is
uncovering cards further up the peaks, making them available for play. You win the exhausted, and no more building can occur, then the game is over. You'll receive a
game when you've removed all the cards from the tableau to the waste pile, bonus every time you completely demolish one of the three peaks and you'll also
demolishing the three peaks. receive a bonus for each card that remains in the tableau when you win the game,
Tri-Peaks Rules along with another bonus depending on how fast you completed the game. Don't
All building is carried out on the single waste pile. Any completely uncovered card in forget, you can double click or right click on a card to send it flying to the waste pile.
the tableau may be moved to the waste pile if it follows either an ascending or

Calculation 1

Number of Decks: 1 Play: Cards are turned up from the deck one at a time, and can be played on the
foundations or on any of four wastepiles located just below the foundations. The top
Initial Layout: To begin the game the deck is shuffled, then any ace, two, three, and of the wastepiles are always available for play to a foundation, but once a card is
four are pulled from the deck and form played to a wastepile, it cannot be moved again, except to a foundation.
the start of four foundations.
Strategy: The game is won by building all four foundations up to king. The skill
Object: The object of the game is to build involved in playing Calculation, in addition to just keeping track of what card goes
the four foundations according to the next on each foundation, is in avoiding covering up a card you'll need soon with a
following sequence, regardless of suit or card that cannot be used for some time, if at all. Kings are especially troublesome,
color: since they cannot be moved until at least one foundation has been fully built up.

A - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - J - Q - K The general strategy is to build on the wastepiles in descending order, but the cards
2 - 4 - 6 - 8 - 10 - Q - A - 3 - 5 - 7 - 9 - J - K are seldom so kind as to allow this to any great degree
3 - 6 - 9 - Q - 2 - 5 - 8 - J - A - 4 - 7 - 10 - K
4 - 8 - Q - 3 - 7 - J - 2 - 6 - 10 - A - 5 - 9 - K

Bowling Solitaire 1
Bowling Solitaire is an odd variation on the standard version of the popular card right corner of each frame. The small box represents the number of pins knocked
game Solitaire, the game is scored the same way as regular bowling. The game was down in the frame, while the large box represents the total score up to that frame.
created by famous game designer Sid Sackson.
Requirements/statistics
Play
Space: Moderate
Attempt to remove (knock down) the pin cards using the ball cards in the first pile.
Level: Challenging Pins can be knocked down in three ways:
Cards: Ace through 10 of two suits in a standard deck of cards (no picture cards) 1) The pin card and the ball card have the same value.
Players: One 2) Two or more pin cards equal the value of the ball card.
Layout 3) The last digit of pin cards equal the value of the ball card (for example, the ball
Place the “pin” cards in four rows. card is a 4, and there are two pin cards equaling 16, such as two 8s).
For Row One, place one card (the Each card has a numerical value; the 10 card equals ten points, the 9 card equals
“head pin”) face up. For row Two, nine, and so forth. The Ace represents one point, not eleven.
place two cards side by side directly
above Row One, face up. For Row Certain pins cannot be knocked down if other pins are still standing. For example, the
Three, place three cards side by side middle pin (card) in Row Three cannot be knocked down unless other pins around it
directly above Row Two, face up. For are either knocked down first or are knocked down at the same time.
the final row, Row Four, place four If the ball card does not make a “strike” (knocking down all pins), proceed to the
cards side by side directly above second pile of ball cards. In the next frame, return to the first pile of ball cards.
Row Three, face up. Score the points accordingly on the scoresheet. If, for example, the ball card knocks
The completed setup will look like down five pins, score five points in the upper square on the scoresheet. Then roll a
the picture below: second ball from the second ball pile. If the second ball knocks down two pins, score
an additional two points for each pin, for a total of five points for the frame.
To set up the cards, representing the bowling balls, create three piles with the To win Bowling Solitaire
remaining ten cards. Pile one has five cards, pile two has three cards, and the final Complete the remaining ten frames.
ball pile has two cards. Place the top card of each ball pile to face upwards. Only the If a player knocks down all the pins with one ball (strike), mark an “X” in the top right
top card of each ball pile is visible. box, but do not score ten points yet. A strike gives you two bonus balls for the frame.
Create a bowling score sheet with ten frames on a piece of paper, this will be used for For example, if in the third frame a player gets a strike, their points from the fourth
the scoring. Draw a horizontal grid with ten boxes. Draw a smaller box in the top

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frame are added to both the third and fourth frames, doubling the player’s points, for If a player gets a “spare” (all pins are knocked down using two balls in a frame), the
a potential score of 30 points for the third frame. player is awarded only one bonus ball. For example, in the third frame, a player
scores a spare. The first ball rolled in frame four will be added to both frames, for a
potential score of 20 for the third frame.

Gridcannon 1

Setup  Kings: 13 health. The cards Attacking must match the suit of the king to
1. Start with a shuffled deck, including jokers. count.
2. With the deck face-down, draw cards from the top and lay them out face-up in a If you killed the royal, turn it face down but don’t remove it – new royals you draw
3×3 grid. If you draw any royals, aces or jokers during this, put them on a separate still can’t be placed in that spot. Once every spot around the grid has a dead royal in
pile and keep drawing til you’ve made the grid of just number cards. it (12 total) you’ve won.
3. If you did draw some royals, you now place them the same way we will when
playing: put it outside the grid, adjacent to the grid card it’s most similar to. ‘Most Ploys:
similar’ means:  Aces are Extractions: at any time you can use up one of the aces you’ve
1. Highest value card of the same suit drawn to pick up one stack of cards from the grid and put them face-down at
2. If none, highest value card of the same colour the bottom of your draw pile. You can do this even after drawing a card and
3. If none, highest value card before placing it. Turn the ace face-down to remember you’ve used it.
4. If there’s a tie, or most similar card is on a corner, you can choose  Jokers are Reassignments: at any time you can use up one you’ve drawn to
between the equally valid positions move the top card of one stack on the grid to another position. The place
4. Any aces and jokers you drew during set up, keep them face-up to one side. These you move it to must be a valid spot to play the card, and placing it can
are Ploys you can play whenever you like, rules below. trigger an Attack the same way a normal play can. Turn the joker face-down
5. Once you have a 3×3 grid of number cards, you may choose one to replace if you to remember you’ve used it.
like: put it on the bottom of the draw pile and draw a new card to replace it. If you cannot place a card: and you have no Ploys to use, you must add the card as
The Goal Armour to the royal it’s most similar to (lowest value royal of same suit, failing that
Find and kill all the royals. lowest of same colour, etc). It increases their health by the value of the card. So a
Play King with a 3 as armour now has 13 + 3 = 16 health. You can add armour to a royal
Draw the top card from the deck. that already has armour – it stacks. If a royal ends up with 20+ health (or 19+ for a
 If it’s a royal: use placement rule above. King), that’s a natural loss as there’s no longer any way to kill them. (Credit to Chris
 If it has value 2-10: you must place it on the grid. It can go on any card with Thursten for the armour idea!)
the same or lower value, regardless of suit. If there are no living royals on the table: if every spot around the grid has a dead
 If it’s an ace or joker: keep it to one side, see Ploys. royal on it – all 12 – you’ve won! If not, just keep drawing cards until you find a royal,
Killing royals: if you’re able to place a card on the grid opposite a royal – so there are placing the cards in a face-up pile as you go. Once you find a royal, place it, then add
two cards between – those two cards Attack the royal. The sum of their values must the cards you cycled through to the bottom of your deck.
be at least as much as health of the royal to kill them: if it’s not, you can still place the If the draw pile runs out: and you haven’t killed all the royals, use any ploys you have
card, but the royal is unaffected. The value of the card you just placed is not part of left to fix the situation if you can. If you’re out of both cards and ploys and not all
the Attack, only the two between. royals are dead, you’ve lost.
 Jacks: 11 health. The cards Attacking can be any suit. Scoring
 Queens: 12 health. The cards Attacking must match the colour of the queen If you’ve killed all the royals without running out of cards, your score is how many
to count. Ploys you have left unspent. So the maximum score is 6.
By Tom Francis

The Bogey 1

Designer: Katharine Turner must be either added to the bottom of a column of the same suit containing only
Year: 2016 cards of a higher value, or placed to start a new column.
Set up Gameplay
Remove the jokers from a deck of traditional playing cards. Shuffle the deck and deal The game starts with an empty board. Play alternates between you and the bogie,
yourself an opening hand of 5 cards starting with you. On your turn you first draw enough cards to bring your hand to five
How to Win cards. For each card in your hand you must decide whether to play it to the table,
The aim of the game is to play all the cards in as few columns as you can. The win discard it, or to hold on to it for the next turn. The bogey then takes his turn. He plays
criterion, in terms of number of columns, is as follows: novice: 12 columns the next card in the deck either
normal: 11 columns advanced: 10 columns legendary: 9 columns epic: 8 columns adding to an existing column or starting a new one. You may choose where the card
How to play a card to the table is played. If it cannot be played legally the game is lost. Remember there is a limit of
Over the course of the game, columns of cards are built. In each column, the cards twelve columns. When the deck has run out the discards are shuffled and become
are of the same suit, and the cards the deck.
must be decreasing in value A more difficult variant: A more difficult version of the game is to change the hand
(K,Q,J,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,A) but may size to 4 (instead of 5). This means the bogey plays cards a higher proportion of the
time.
FAQ:
Are the jokers used? The jokers are not used.
Can you pass a turn? Yes. Passing a turn, that is letting the bogey play multiple times
in a row, is the same as choosing to "hold on" to all your cards (not discarding nor
skip values. To play a card to the table it playing any of them).

Scoundrel 1

A Single Player Rogue-like Card Game by anywhere you wish, though I recommend to the right of the Room. Cards are
Zach Gage and Kurt Bieg discarded face down.
SETUP
Scoundrel is played with a standard deck GAMEPLAY
of playing cards. Search through the deck and remove all Jokers, Red Face Cards and On your first and every turn, flip over cards off the top of the deck, one by one, until
Red Aces. Place them off to the you have 4 cards face up in front of you to make a Room. You may avoid the Room if
side, they are not used in this you wish. If you chose to do so, scoop up all four cards in one motion and place them
game. Shuffle the remaining at the bottom of the Dungeon. While you may avoid as many Rooms as you want, you
cards and place the pile face may not avoid two Rooms in a row. If you choose not to avoid the Room, one by one,
down on your left. This deck is you must face 3 of the four cards it contains. Take them one at a time. If you choose
called the Dungeon. Take out a a Weapon... You must equip it. Do this by placing it face up between you and the
piece of paper and pen (or use remaining Room cards. If you had a previous Weapon equipped, move it and any
your memory). Mark down 20 on Monsters on it to the discard deck. If you choose a Health Potion... Add its number
the piece of paper, this is your to your health, then discard it. Your health may not exceed 20, and you may not use
starting Health. more than one Health Potion per turn. If you take two Health Potions on a single
turn, the second is simply discarded, adding nothing to your health. If you choose a
RULES Monster... You may fight it barehanded or with an equipped Weapon. Once you have
The 26 Clubs and Spades in the deck are Monsters. Their damage is equal to their chosen 3 cards (such that only one remains), your turn is complete. Leave the fourth
ordered value. (e.g. 10 is 10, Jack is 11, Queen is 12, King is 13, and Ace is 14) card face up in front of you as part of the next Room.
The 9 Diamonds in the deck are Weapons. Each weapon does as much damage as its
value. All weapons in Scoundrel are binding, meaning
COMBAT
if you pick one up, you must equip it, and discard your previous weapon. The 9
Hearts in the deck are Health Potions. You may only use one health potion each turn, If you choose to fight the Monster barehanded ... Subtract its full value from your
Health, and move the Monster to the discard deck. If you choose to fight the
even if you pull two. The second potion you pull is simply discarded. You may not
Monster with your equipped Weapon ... place the Monster face up on top of the
restore your life beyond your starting 20 health. You may locate the Discard Deck

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Weapon (and on top of any other Monsters on the Weapon. Be sure to stagger the
placement of the Monster so that the Weapon's number is still showing. Subtract the SCORING
Weapon's value from the Monster's value and subtract any remaining value from The Game ends when either your life reaches 0 or you make your way through the
your health. It is important to note that although you retain your weapons until they entire Dungeon. If your life has reached zero, find all the remaining monsters in the
are replaced, once a Weapon is used on a monster, the Weapon can then only be Dungeon, and subtract their values from your life, this negative value is your score. If
used to slay Monsters of a lower value (less than equal) than the previous Monster it you have made your way through the entire dungeon, your score is your positive life,
had slain. or if your life is 20, and your last card was a health potion, your life + the value of that
potion.

Mini Golf 1

The game was created by famous game designer Sid Sackson. difference of 2; the ball could therefore move two cards up and to the left, or two
Number of Players: One or more. cards down and to the right. Alternatively, the ♣ 6 and ♠ 4 allow the ball to move
Equipment: A standard 52-card deck, a small marker (to represent a golf ball), and two cards straight up or down. The best way to play the first hole is to move down
paper and pencil (for keeping score). two cards to the ♥ 5. From there, the ♦ Q and ♠ 8 allow a move of four cards
Setup: diagonally up and to the right, landing on the ♠10. With the ♥ 6 to the left and no
Remove any three kings from the deck, then shuffle and deal the remaining 49 cards card to the right, the ball moves down one card (6-5=1) onto the ♦A, completing the
face up to form a 7x7 array. Place the marker on the remaining king, which hole in a total of three strokes. For the second hole, the best play is to move
represents the first tee. diagonally down to the ♥ 7, then left four cards to the ♣ 6. The ♦ 10 and ♣ 10
The Golf Course allow a choice of distance in the diagonal running from the ♠ 6 to the ♦ 8, and a
The first "hole" is the ♦ A, the second hole is the ♦ 2, and so on through the ninth move of two cards ends on the ♦ 2. Again, the total is three strokes. The third hole
hole (the ♦ 9). Holes 10 through 18 are the ♠ A through ♠ 9. Each hole is also the can be played in four strokes, as follows: diagonally left and up to the ♠ 6, diagonally
tee for the next hole. up again to the ♠ 2, down 1 to the ♣ 9, and down another 4 to the ♦ 3.
Hitting the Ball Winning
The ball can be "hit" (i.e., moved) horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The distance In a solitaire game, a player wins if his or her score-the total number of strokes taken
(in cards) the ball moves is determined on all 18 holes-is less than or equal to par. Par on each hole is 3, for a total of 54.
by the two cards on either side of the Variation with Rebounds
ball, and at right angles to the direction For a faster game, a movement is allowed even if it is greater than the number of
of movement. The card with the lower spaces in that line. Instead of going out of bounds, the ball bounces back onto the
number is subtracted from the higher; course. If the ball is moving horizontally, vertically, or diagonally into a corner, it
the king counts as 13, queens as 12, bounces back in the direction from which it came. If the ball is moving diagonally and
jacks as 11, numbered cards as hits the edge other than at a corner, it goes off in the other diagonal direction. Par for
themselves, and aces as 1. If i the result this variation is only two strokes per hole, for a total of 36 for the 18 holes.
of the subtraction is 6 or more, either 5 Example of Play with Rebounds
or 10 is subtracted, as necessary, to Using the same grid as before, start at the ♣ K and move five cards diagonally up and
bring the result to a number less to the right. The ball moves over the ♦ 5, ♦ 7, ♠ A, and ♠ 10, and lands on the ♥
than 6. If both cards are the same 10. The second stroke is one card to the right onto the ♦ A. For the second hole,
number, the result is 0. But instead of move straight down and bounce off the bottom, ending the five-card move on the ♣
no move, this allows the player to Q. A move of three cards to the left then brings the ball to the ♦ 2. To start the third
choose any length move from 1 to 5 hole, move three cards straight up to the ♦ 5. The two queens allow a choice of
cards in the given direction. The ball distance in moving diagonally down and left; choose 4 and bounce at the ♠ 7 to
may not be moved in a direction that reach the ♦ 3 in two strokes.
would take it ' out of bounds"-that is, For a More Challenging Game
past the last card in the line of Instead of moving any distance from 1 to 5 (in the appropriate directions) when the
movement. If, because the ball is at the ball is between two cards of the same number, players can increase the difficulty of
edge of the layout, there is only one the game by allowing no movement in such directions.
card at right angles to the direction of Maximum Strokes
movement, the other number is taken It rarely happens that a hole cannot be reached. But a player who feels that one is
as 0 to determine the distance the ball impossible may elect to move directly to the hole and take a score of 6 on that hole.
is hit. This applies regardless of which variation is being played.
Example of Play Two or More Players
At the start of a game, in the card Rules are as in the solitaire game, with the following changes. Each player uses a
layout above, the ball is on the ♣ K, distinct marker for a ball and has pencil and paper. Working to a time limit (30
and the player must maneuver it to the ♦ A. The cards above and below the ♣ K are seconds is recommended), each player writes down his or her first move. The moves
the ♣ 10 and ♣ 5. Since the difference is 5, the ball can't be moved horizontally left are exposed simultaneously; and the markers are moved. If a player mistakenly
or right (it would go out of bounds). In one diagonal direction, the cards are ♣ 9 and indicates a space that cannot be reached, or fails to write down a space, his or her
♣ 4; these also have a difference of 5, and would put the ball out of bounds. marker stays in its original location, but the player adds one stroke to his or her total
Movement is possible in the other directions. The ♦ Q and ♦ 5, in the other diagonal for the hole. As players reach a hole, they drop out of play until all players have
direction, have adifference of 7, which is reduced by 5 to make a reached that hole. After 18 holes, the player with the lowest number of strokes is the
winner.

Card Capture 1

To reach the heights of popularity, you must leverage your friends in getting more Influencer discards (these are lost opportunities!). If any face card ends up here, you
popular friends, dropping the least influential as you climb the ranks of influencers. lose the game!
Only when you befriend the most influential stars can you win at life. GAMEPLAY
This game resembles modern deckbuilding games. Take turns until the game ends with you winning or losing. Each turn is separated into
COMPONENTS: 4 suits of 13 cards -- 2 to 10, J, Q, K, A. 2 Jokers three phases:
OBJECTIVE: Befriend the four most popular people (J, Q, K, A) from each of four 1. Invites
different groups, adding them to your Friends deck. If you succeed, you win! If any of If there are any gaps in the Event row, move cards to the right, then draw Influencers
these 16 are discarded, you lose. to fill in the gaps. Towards the end of the game, there will be no more Influencers to
SETUP: Take the Jokers and the 2 to 4 of each suit. Shuffle them and place in front of draw. Continue playing but skip this phase.
you face-down. These is your Friend deck. Leave a space next to it for your Friend 2. Prep Squad
discard (tired, but not gone!). Shuffle all the other cards and place it further from you, You may place any cards from your hand to the Friend discard pile. You now draw
face-down. This is the Influencer deck. Draw 4 cards from the Influencer deck and Friends until you have 4 cards in hand. Your squad is now assembled.
place them face-up to the right 3. Attend Event
of the deck. This is the Event You head over to the event with your squad. One of three outcomes must happen:
row, representing Incluencers a. Befriend one Influencer
you can befriend at an event. If If Friends in your hand match suit with an Influencer, you may use them to befriend
any face cards (J, Q, K, A) are in the Influencer: move these Friends and the Influencer to your Friend discard.
the Event row, place them at the You may add up Friends in the same suit.
bottom of the Influencer deck. A Joker copies any one card in your hand.
The gaps will be filled on the The J/Q/K/A cards cost 11/12/13/14 each.
first turn. Leave a space to the b. Lose one Friend
right of the Event row for The right-most Influencer takes a Friend from your hand, and they both go into the
Influencer discard pile.
c. Sacrifice two Friends
Discard two Friends to the Influencer discard pile, then move any one card in the
Event row to the bottom of the Influencer deck.

Other Solitaires
For more classic solitaires, and to play them digitally, visit solitairenetwork.com, politaire.com, and goodsol.com/games/.

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The popular website Board Game Geek holds annual competitions for the best newly designed solitaire games that can be played with a standerd deck. Some of the games mentioned
above derive from there (Card Capture, Scoundrel, The Bogey, and Gridcannon). If you are interested in newer, more original, more experimental and potentially more engaging
solitaire games, visit Board Game Geek.

There are many solitaire “Dungeon Crawler” games that have been invented in the 2000s, such as “Dungeon Solitaire: Tomb of the Four Kings”, “OverThrone: A Game of Cards”,
“Standard Deck Dungeon”, “Blackie’s Maze” and “One Against the Dead”. A dungeon crawler has elements taken from RPGs. Different cards represent different monsters, powers or
items, and the core principle is that you fight monsters that appear infront of you. These games are often far more complicated than standard solitairs like “Klondike”, but give a more
rewarding experience for investment. Some of these games like “One Against the Dead” require many additional components like coins and dice.

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 RECOMENDATIONS
So where should you start? Often games will depend on who you are playing with, the number of players you have, and the kind of game you
are looking for. So to help you branch out beyond the repertoire that you might already be familiar with, here are some recommendations for
games that I especially suggest for different situations.

Are you looking for...

- a game for just two players? GOPS and Scopa are two simpler games that are quite rewarding. If you want a trick-taking game for just two,
then Briscola and German Whist are both straight forward and good choices, while Le Truc is fantastic for those who like bluffing,
and Schnapsen is worth the effort to learn if you enjoy skilful play. Cribbage and Gin Rummy are two non trick-taking classics that are every bit
as good today as they have always been.

- a game for four-players in partnerships? There are several good trick-taking games to choose from in this category, and while the ever-
popular Bridge is good, the learning curve can be steep. I recommend starting with a simpler game like Euchre or Whist, or else something that
involves more skill, like 500, Rook, or Spades, which incorporate the fun of bidding and give opportunity for a winning bidder to strengthen
their hand.

- a trick-taking game for an odd number of players? Ninety-Nine is the best trick-taker that plays with exactly three players. Hearts and Up
and Down the River can both handle various player counts, and are very good; if you enjoy bidding for how many tricks you think you will win
then Up and Down the River is an absolute must. Briscola Chiamata is a very rewarding experience for five players that features hidden
partners.

- a light social game for a larger group? Try the classic climbing game Warlords and Scumbags, the almost brainless Cuckoo, or the frenzy
of Spoons, all of which are easy to learn and don not require too much brain power. Blitz, Skull and Cheat are also good choices for fun social
games that can work with more than four players.

- a game that is fast-paced? Try the craziness of two player Speed/Spit, or else ramp up the difficulty slightly with the frantic game-play of the
popular Nertz, both of which have simultaneous real-time game-play. Egyptian Ratscrew also requires quick reactions and speed, and provides
more chaos. Kemps is like a team version of spoons and is an enjoyable and strategic alternative.

- a game that is unusual and out-of-the-ordinary? Try the logical deduction required by the clever and inventive Eleusis, or the long and
savoury gameplay of Zetema. Deduce or Die is another clever deduction game, similar to Cleudo and Sleuth. Zwicker is a four-player fishing
game and has great scope for wit and partnership cooperation, and Fight the Landlord is a strategic game that involves trying to take down one
player. Literature is very similar to Go Fish, except that players are working in pairs, thus increasing the strategy tenfold. Regicide is a new
game that involves cooperation between all players, working together to beat the game. Finally, Cuttle is a combat card game similar to Magic
the Gathering (except that it’s older than Magic).

- a game for older children? Fun games that I have had good success with in playing with children include Cheat, Fan Tan, Knock Out
Whist (which also serves as a good introduction to trick-taking), Palace, Spit, Kemps and Spoons. Warlords and Scumbags is a simple yet
enjoyable climbing game. If they can handle the scoring system, Scopa is definitely a rewarding game that older children can
enjoy. GOPS produces an excellent head-to-head battle-of-wits for just two, and so does Golf.

- a game for younger children? There's a number of classic and very simple games not included on this list, such as Beggar My Neighbour (2-3
players), Crazy Eights (2-7 players), Go Fish (2-6 players), Old Maid (2-12 players), Slap Jack (2-8 players), Snap (2-4 players), and War (2
players). Be aware that some games like Beggar My Neighbour and also War involve no decisions and are a matter of pure luck!

NOTES:

This book does not feature any gambling games.

Most rules are sourced from Pagat.com. Book is compiled by Evan Leed 2021 (who takes credit for none of the rules).

Don’t let the large amounts of text put you off, rules in this book often appear to be extensively long only because lots of information is given to explain
examples and variations of each game.

Recommendations on this page mostly come from EndersGame at playingcarddecks.com/blogs/all-in/40-great-card-games-for-all-occasions.

For more card game rules, visit Pagat.com or BicycleCards.com.

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