Sedma
Sedma (from the Czech for “seven”) is an unusual trick-taking game from the Czech Republic. It can be played by two to four players, with four playing in partnerships. Sedma’s main draw is its strange method for determining the winner of a trick—rather than the highest card, the last card played of the same rank as the starter—or a seven, which serves as a quasi-trump card—takes the trick.
Object of Sedma
The object of Sedma is to score the most points by collecting the most aces and tens.
Setup
Sedma is traditionally played with a 32-card north German pack (which is normally used to play Skat), consisting of aces, kings, ober knaves, unter knaves, and number cards from the 10 down to the 7 in the suits of bells, acorns, leaves, and hearts. To make an equivalent deck from American cards, start with a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards and remove all of the 6s down to the 2s, leaving only 7s and above. For a three player game, remove two of the 8s as well.
In the four-player game, two partnerships play against one another. Once partnerships have been decided (through mutual agreement or some random determination method like a high-card draw), players should be seated so that partners are across from one another and so that each player is seated between two opponents.
Shuffle and deal four cards to each player. The deck stub is placed in the middle of the table, forming the stock.
Game play
The player to the dealer’s left (i.e. the dealer’s opponent, in a two-player game) leads to the first trick by playing any card face up in the middle of the table. Play continues to the left, with each person playing any card they wish to the trick, with no obligation to follow suit or play any particular card. It is important for each player to place their card in such a way that the order of cards played and who played them remains identifiable. When all players have contributed, the player who led to the trick may either choose to continue it by playing another card of the same rank as the starter, continue it by playing a seven, or allow the trick to end. If they wish, they may even continue the trick for a third or fourth round (after which nobody will have any cards). When the trick ends, whoever most recently played either a seven or a card of the same rank as the starter wins the trick. The cards are collected by the player that wins them and placed face down in a won-cards pile (in the four-player game, one player from each partnership maintains their side’s win pile).
After each trick, each player draws one card in turn from the stock, starting with the winner of the trick and proceeding clockwise, until all players have four cards once again. The winner of the last trick then leads to the next one. When the stock is exhausted, game play continues without drawing until the players’ hands are depleted, at which point the hand ends.
At the end of the hand, the following scores are tallied:
- Ten points for each ace or ten collected. (Ten points each for eight cards means a total of 80 points are available this way.)
- Ten points for collecting the last trick.
Whichever side or player collected the most points is the winner. If one player or partnership collected all 90 points available , it is a double win, and if one player or partnership captured all 32 cards, it is a triple win. If the game is being played for money, the losers pay the winner the agreed-upon stake (doubled or tripled for double and triple wins accordingly).
Each hand may stand alone as its own game. If not being played for money, players may instead wish to score one, two, or three victory points for the winners and play to an agreed-upon win threshhold (e.g. ten victory points).
Cuttle
Cuttle is a two-player game that likely dates back to the 1970s. Characterized as one of the earliest “combat card games”, Cuttle has been cited as similar to Magic: The Gathering and similar proprietary card games. Cuttle has the interesting mechanic of most cards being able to be played with two different effects, depending on the context in which they’re played in.
Object of Cuttle
The object of Cuttle is to be the first player to have 21 points in point-scoring cards on your side of the table.
Setup
Cuttle is played with one 52-card deck of playing cards. Despite the photo we chose for this post, Cuttle does not seem to have anything to do with cuttlefish, but if you insist on getting some involved in your game, you should probably use Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, since they’re waterproof.
Shuffle and deal five cards to each player, then one extra to the dealer. The deck stub is placed down in the center of the table, forming the stock. The area immediately next to it is reserved for discarded cards, referred to in Cuttle as the scrap pile.
Card ranking
The ranks of cards are not of great importance in Cuttle, but they do come up when scuttling cards (see below). Numerical cards rank in their usual order, with the ace low; i.e. (high) 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low). Face cards do not take part in any plays where rank is relevant. Suits break ties when cards have the same rank. Suits rank in the following order: (high) spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs (low).
Game play
On a player’s turn, they have the option of playing any one card or drawing one card from the stock. Thereafter, the turn passes to the other player.
Aces through tens can be played as a point card by simply placing them face-up in front of you. This scores points toward the 21 points required to win the game. Cards are worth their face value; aces are worth one point. They may also be played as a scuttle, which results in one of the opponent’s discards being placed in the scrap pile. To scuttle a card, you must play a card of higher rank (or of the same rank but higher suit), and as a result, both the scuttled card and the card played to scuttle it are scrapped.
Most cards may also be played as effect cards, with each rank of card having a unique ability (the 10 cannot be played as an effect card). Most of these are “one-off” abilities, taking effect, and then being scrapped. However, the abilities of the 8, jack, queen, and king are persistent, with the card remaining on the table until they are removed through the use of some other effect card, or the game ends.
The abilities of each effect card are as follows:
- Ace: All point cards on the table—yes, yours too—are scrapped.
- 2: The 2 has two different abilities:
- Scrap any persistent effect card (8, jack, queen, king) anywhere on the table. (Note that the 8 must be used as an effect card and not as a point card.)
- When an effect card other than an 8, jack, queen, or king is played by your opponent, you may play a two out of turn to block the effect.
- 3: Look through the discard pile and add any card of your choosing to your hand (other than the 3 that was played to trigger this effect).
- 4: Your opponent reveals two cards of their choice from their hand and scraps them.
- 5: Draw two cards.
- 6: Scrap all persistent effect cards (8, jack, queen, king) anywhere on the table. (Note that the 8 must be used as an effect card and not as a point card.)
- 7: Draw one card and play it immediately. (Even if the only legal play helps your opponent!) If there is no legal play for the card, it is scrapped.
- 8 (persistent effect): To signify that this card is being played as an effect card, it is placed at right angles to the other cards on the table (this is sometimes called a glasses 8, since a sideways 8 looks somewhat like a pair of eyeglasses). The opponent must expose their entire hand and leave it visible as long as the 8 is on the table.
- 9: Return any one persistent effect card to the player’s hand.
- 10: No effect.
- Jack (persistent effect): The jack is attached to any point card, and both cards are moved to the opposite side of the table (from your opponent to you or vice-versa). Each time a jack is added to or removed from a card, it switches sides again. Jacks are scrapped if the card they are attached to is also scrapped.
- Queen (persistent effect): Your opponent’s 2s, 9s, and jacks have no effect as long as this card remains on the table. 2s and 9s can be still be used against this card or any other queens, however.
- King (persistent effect): Your threshold for winning is reduced according to the number of kings in front of you:
- One king: 14 points.
- Two kings: 10 points.
- Three kings: 7 points.
- Four kings: 5 points.
Game play continues until one player reaches 21 points (or whatever lowered threshold they are required to reach, due to kings in front of them) at the end of their turn. That player is the winner.
In the event that the stock is depleted before the game has been decided, players have the option to pass. If three consecutive turns are passed, the game ends as a draw.
Twenty-Eight
Continuing our series of posts about games named after numbers (in the tradition of 13, 21, 31, and 99), now we have Twenty-Eight. Twenty-Eight, named after the number of points available in the game, is a four-player partnership game played with a stripped deck of only 32 cards.
Object of Twenty-Eight
The object of Twenty-Eight is to be the first partnership to score ten victory points by collecting jacks, 9s, aces, and 10s.
Setup
Twenty-Eight is played with a special 32-card deck. Starting from a standard 52-card deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, remove all of the 6s through 2s from the deck, leaving the 7s through 10s, the face cards, and the aces in each deck.
Twenty-Eight is a game for four players. The players divide into two partnerships, with partners sitting across from one another, so that the turn of play alters between partnerships when going clockwise.
Additionally, score is kept in Twenty-Eight, so you’ll need some way of keeping track of that. Most people will use pencil and paper, but there’s no reason you can’t do something like use the faces of a ten-sided die to keep score if you have one handy.
Shuffle and deal four cards to each player. The remainder of the deck is set aside for the time being.
Card ranking
Not only does Twenty-Eight use a 32-card deck, but the cards in that deck rank differently than in most other games. Jacks and 9s are placed higher than their conventional place in the ranking, giving us a ranking of J, 9, A, K, Q, 10, 8, 7. Suits are all equally important at this stage in the game.
Game play
After the cards have been dealt, bidding for the right to fix the trump suit begins. The player to the dealer’s right bids first, bidding any amount from 14 to 28, signifying the trick score that their partnership will collect on that hand. This player does not have the right to pass, although all subsequent players do. The next bid is then placed by next player to the right, and so on until three players have passed in succession. If the currently-active bid is your partners, you must bid at least 20 to overcall their bid. The final bid forms the contract for that partnership, which become the declarers, while the other partnership becomes the defenders.
Once the right to choose trump has been decided, the player with that privilege takes one card of the desired trump suit and places it face down on the table in front of them (although it is still considered part of their hand), keeping the suit secret from the other three players. At least initially, the trump suit will not be known by the other three players, and therefore will have no effect in the game. Once this is done, the dealer will deal four more cards to each player, giving each player a total of eight cards.
The player to the dealer’s right leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit, if able; the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. The player who selected trump may not lead a trick with the trump suit unless they have no other option, and they may not use the face-down trump card in a trick. Collected tricks are not added to the hand, but rather kept in a discard pile face down in front of one of the partners. The individual player that won the trick leads to the next one.
If a player is unable to follow suit, they call for the trump suit to be revealed, after which the face-down card is added to the bidder’s hand and can be played at any time. After this has occurred, any player who is unable to follow suit must play a trump if able; otherwise, they may play any card. A trump may only be played when a player cannot follow suit. When a trump has been played to a trick, the highest trump wins the trick, rather than the highest card of the suit led. If the trump suit was never revealed, the player who chose trump reveals the face-down card and plays it to the eighth trick.
After all eight tricks have been played, the declarers’ trick score is calculated from the cards captured in tricks:
- Jacks: three points
- 9s: two points
- Aces and 10s: one point
The declarers then score victory points as follows, depending on their bid:
| Bid | Contract fulfilled | Contract broken |
|---|---|---|
| ≤19 | +1 | –2 |
| 20–24 | +2 | –3 |
| ≥25 | +3 | –4 |
Game play continues until one partnership has reached a score of ten victory points. The partnership with the highest score at that point is the winner.
Five-Card Draw Poker
Five-Card Draw was once the most popular form of Poker played in the United States, and it’s one that most casual players are still the most familiar with, due to the fact that it’s among the simplest forms of poker. Although it has long since been upstaged by Texas Hold’em and Omaha in both casino play and many home games, it still has a loyal following in dealer’s-choice home games. Five-card draw was also used the basis for video poker machines, which were invented by IGT in 1979 and became a fixture on casino gaming floors in the 1980s.
Object of Five-Card Draw Poker
The object of Five-Card Draw Poker is to have the highest-rank poker hand at the time of the showdown.
Setup
As with most forms of poker, Five-Card Draw uses the standard 52-card deck. As usual, it’s an excellent idea to choose Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, the most durable playing cards in the world. You will also need poker chips to bet with. Players should determine betting limits, if any, as well as if any cards are to be designated as wild.
All players ante. Shuffle and deal five cards, face down, to each player. The deck stub is set aside and becomes the stock.
Game play
After players have received their hands, a betting round ensues, following the usual norms for betting in poker.
Thereafter, the player to the dealer’s left is given the opportunity to discard any number of cards face-down from their hand, and are immediately dealt the same number of cards from the stock, restoring their hand to five cards. (Note: some players’ house rules state that the maximum number of cards that can be discarded is four, and the held card must be an ace; otherwise, a player may only discard three cards. This is to prevent the stock from depleting too rapidly and to discourage players from “sucking out” on the draw.) Should the stock be exhausted before all players have drawn, the discards are collected and shuffled, and further draws are dealt from the discards.
After the draw is completed, another betting round occurs. After this betting round, the hands are exposed, and the player with the highest hand, according to the standard rank of poker hands, takes the pot.
Follow the Bitch
Follow the Bitch is a variant of Seven-Card Stud with a curious mechanic for determining wild cards. Because which rank of card is wild can change—sometimes multiple times—during the game, hands that are strong early on can be utterly worthless by the time the showdown rolls around.
Object of Follow the Bitch
The object of Follow the Bitch is to have the highest-ranked poker hand at the time of the showdown.
Setup
Follow the Bitch uses a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. Don’t use a paper deck that will just get beat up, sticky, and gross. Use a washable, durable deck of deluxe Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards.
You will also need something to bet with, such as poker chips. Make sure to agree to betting limits (or lack thereof) prior to starting.
All players ante. Shuffle and deal two cards face down to each player, then a third card face up.
Game play
If, at any time, a queen is dealt face up, the next card dealt face up after it becomes wild. For example, if Alpha is dealt a queen face up, and Bravo, sitting to their left, is dealt a 9, then 9s are wild. 9s will remain wild until the next face-up queen is dealt. If the final card dealt face up in a particular round is a queen (i.e. no cards follow it), then there are no wilds until the next queen appears.
The player with the strongest hand, when taking into account only their face-up cards, gets the right to bet first. Betting otherwise follows the usual norms for betting in poker. After the betting round concludes, two more cards are dealt to each player, one face down and one face up. Another betting round ensues, led by the current strongest player. One last pair of cards is dealt to each player (again, one face down and one face up), giving them an end total of seven cards. There is one final betting round, again led by the strongest player. Then all of the face-down cards are revealed. The player with the strongest hand, using five of the seven cards available to them, and taking into account whatever wilds happen to be at the end, is the winner.
Low Chicago
Vanilla Follow the Bitch can often fall prey to limited betting, because one player is obviously showing a much higher hand than their opponents. To counter this tendency, it is often played with Low Chicago rules.
The Low Chicago is the lowest face-down spade. Not all spades will be contenders for Low Chicago; the lowest spade possible, the A♠, may well be in the deck stub, or be dealt face up. The A♠ would therefore not be eligible to win. If the A♠ is eligible, then it will be the Low Chicago. Otherwise, it will be the 2♠, or if it’s not eligible either, then the 3♠, and so on.
The Low Chicago is determined at the time of the showdown. The player holding the Low Chicago splits the pot with the winner of the normal Follow the Bitch game. The players will often be uncertain whether a player is betting because they have a strong hand, or because they have Low Chicago. As a result, the betting is livened up.
Of course, if one player has both the strongest hand and Low Chicago, they take the entire pot.
3-2-1 Drop
3-2-1 Drop is a simple poker game that only uses three-card hands. Like Iron Cross and 3-5-7 (which it greatly resembles), players are not directly betting against each other, but instead risking the amount in the pot for a chance at winning it.
Object of 3-2-1 Drop
The object of 3-2-1 Drop is to accurately judge whether you are likely to have the best hand, thereby winning money when you do and avoiding losses when you don’t.
Setup
3-2-1 Drop, like most poker games, requires the use of a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. As always when such a thing is needed, choosing Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards is an excellent option.
You will also need something to wager with. Chips are the best thing to use, but you could also bet with coins, Monopoly money, matches, or whatever is handy.
All players ante. Shuffle and deal three cards to each player, as well as an extra three-card hand to the pot.
Game play
All players examine their hands to determine what they hold. As this is a three-card poker game, straights and flushes do not count, and the highest hand possible is three of a kind. Additionally, the two red kings are wild. Players then decide whether to play or fold.
Now, each player holds their hand, face down, about an inch or so above the table (low enough that none of their cards are exposed but high enough that it’s clear they are not on the table). The dealer then calls “3…2…1…drop.” On “drop”, players wishing to fold drop their hand to the table; any player that keeps hold of their hand is playing it. The hands are exposed, with the highest hand taking the pot. Losing players pay the amount of the pot into the pot for the next hand, and players that folded are not required to pay anything.
In the event that only one person plays their hand, the extra hand dealt to the pot is exposed, with the lone player hoping to beat it. If the player wins, they take the pot, and all other players ante. If the player loses, they pay the amount of the pot, and the money remains there for the next hand.
Game play continues until the cows come home. The losers of the last pot of the session pay only half the amount of the pot directly to the winner of the final hand.
Iron Cross
Iron Cross is a unique poker game involving five community cards. However, unlike Texas Hold’em and Omaha, you don’t get to use all of the cards…and you don’t even know what some of them are!
Object of Iron Cross
The object of Iron Cross is to win money by having the best poker hand possible using the four cards in your hand and a selection of the five community cards.
Setup
Like almost all poker games, Iron Cross uses the standard 52-card deck of playing cards. Like almost all poker games, you’ll have a better time if you’re using Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards.
All players ante. Shuffle and deal four cards to each player. Deal five cards face down to the center of the table in the shape of a cross, then turn two of the cards at the ends of the cross face-up. (Refer to the diagram for an example layout.)
Game play
Starting from the player to the left of the dealer, each player examines their hand and determines which of the community cards they will be using:
- Knowns: the two face-up cards.
- Unknowns: the three face-down cards.
- Row: the three cards (one face up and two face down) in the horizontal row. In the example image, this would be the 5♠ and the two cards to the right of it.
- Column: the three cards (again, one face up and two face down) in the vertical column. In the example, this would be the 8♦ and the two cards below it.
Players also have the option to fold.
After each player has declared, the hands and the face-down cards in the cross are revealed. Whoever has the best poker hand, using the four cards in their hand and the cards they selected from the table, wins the pot. All other active players (not the ones who folded, however) pay the amount of the pot into the center of the table, forming the pot for the next hand. (Option: the amount that is paid can be capped at the amount in the first pot, to keep betting amounts lower, if desired.)
In the event that only one player doesn’t fold, or if all players but the dealer fold (the dealer being compelled to play if all other players fold), that player plays “against the pot”. After their hand is revealed, four more cards are dealt to the board (forming a three-by-three grid) and the player’s hand is compared to the best five-card hand that can be formed using the nine cards on the board. If the player wins, which is unlikely as they are facing a best-out-of-nine-card hand, they win the pot and all other players must ante again for the next hand; otherwise, the pot remains for the next hand and they pay the appropriate amount into the pot.
Game play continues until you’re sick of it. For the final hand, losers pay half of the amount they would otherwise pay to the winner of the final pot.
Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker is a gambling game found in casino blackjack pits. It is based upon Pai Gow, an Asian game played with special tiles. Pai Gow poker replaces the tiles with Western playing cards and uses poker hands instead of traditional Pai Gow hands to determine the winner. Pai Gow Poker is played with a dealer, representing the house, playing against up to six players.
Object of Pai Gow Poker
The object of Pai Gow Poker is to divide the seven cards given to you into two poker hands that are capable of beating the dealer’s hands.
Setup
Pai Gow Poker is played with a 53-card deck (the standard deck plus one joker). Like all casino table games, Pai Gow Poker is generally played with paper cards, but there’s no reason you can’t use a fresh deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards. You will also need chips for each player to bet with, as well as three standard six-sided dice. For a more authentic experience, you can obtain a Pai Gow Poker layout, which is a felt cloth with spaces printed onto it for each player’s bet and their two hands.
Players place their bets in the designated space on the layout (or in front of them, if no layout is available). Deal seven hands of seven cards in the middle of the table (not to any individual player), setting the remaining four cards aside. The dealer selects one player to roll the dice. If the outcome of the dice roll is 1, 8, or 15, the first hand goes to the dealer, if it is 2, 9, or 16, the first hand goes to the player at position 2 (immediately to the dealer’s right), if it is 3, 10, or 17, the first hand goes to position 3 (to the right of position 2), and so on. Thereafter, the hands are given out in counter-clockwise order from the position that the first hand was given to. Any vacant seats are still given cards, but these cards are collected before game play begins.
Game play
Each player looks at their hand and splits it into two hands, the front hand, which is composed of two cards, and the back hand, which uses the other two cards. The back hand must rank higher than the front hand (which, of course, can only contain a pair at most). The joker, which is known as the bug, is wild for completing straights and flushes in the back hand; in all other circumstances, it is considered an ace. Once the player has determined how the hands should be split, the players set the hands by placing them face-down on the table; the back hand is placed vertically nearest the player, and the front hand is placed horizontally nearest the dealer. (If a layout is being used, the cards are placed in the appropriate boxes on the layout.) Once the hands have been set, the player may not touch their cards again.
The dealer then exposes their hand and sets their hands according to a set of rules called the house way. Each player’s hands are then compared to the dealer’s hands. If both of the player’s hands beat the dealer’s, the player is paid out at even money. If they both lose, the stake is lost. If one hand beats the dealer, but the other does not, it is a push. If a player is found to have made the front hand higher than the back hand, the hand is considered to be fouled and the stake is lost.
Pai Gow Poker for home play
Pai Gow Poker can be easily adapted to home play. All players ante, then seven cards are dealt to each player. Each player sets their hand, keeping it secret from the other players. After all hands have been set, they are revealed. If one player has the highest front hand and back hand, then they collect the lot. If the highest front and back hand are split between two players, the pot remains uncollected, the other players (other than the two winners) ante again, and a new hand is dealt, with the pot steadily building until someone can take it all.
Cribbage
Cribbage is a classic two-player game that is based around the running count of cards played. The game is often associated with the Cribbage board, a score-keeping device that is theoretically useful for any number of games, but in practice used exclusively for Cribbage.
Cribbage is based upon an older English game called Noddy, but the invention of Cribbage itself is attributed to Sir John Suckling, a seventeenth-century English poet-soldier who was widely regarded as the best card player in England. In 1641, Suckling led a conspiracy to release a friend who was being held in the Tower of London. His plot was exposed, and he fled to France. He was convicted of high treason in absentia, making him unable to return to England. Exiled, cut off from his income, and fearful of falling into poverty, Suckling swallowed poison and died in 1642.
Object of Cribbage
The object of Cribbage is to be the first player to reach the score of either 61 or 121 (depending on the length of game desired). Players score points by forming card combinations with the cards in their hand and the cards already played.
Setup
Cribbage uses one standard 52-card pack. Many Cribbage boards include a deck of low-quality cards, but we of course recommend Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards.
You will also need a way to keep score. While pencil and paper works, traditionally score is kept on a Cribbage board, the use of which is described below.
Determine how many points constitutes a game—traditionally, the game is played to 121, but if a shorter game is desired, it can be shortened to 61. Shuffle and deal six cards to each player.
Game play
Using the Cribbage board
A Cribbage board consists of a piece of wood or plastic with two tracks of sixty holes drilled into its surface. Each track also has a 61st start/end hole separate from the rest of the track. The board also includes two like-colored pegs for each player, usually with one player controlling red pegs and one controlling blue pegs. Players track their progress through the game by inserting these pegs into the board, progressing up one side and then down the other in a U shape. For a 61-point game, the pegs will make one lap around the board; for a 121-point game, the pegs will make two laps.
The game begins with each player placing one peg in the starting hole, representing a score of zero. Scoring on the Cribbage board is called pegging, and the first score by each player is recorded by placing the second peg the appropriate number of holes down the track. For example, if a player were to begin by scoring two points, they would place their second peg two holes down the track. Thereafter, scoring is recorded by removing the trailing peg and leapfrogging it over the first one, placing it the appropriate number of holes beyond the formerly-leading peg. In the example above, if the player were to score another two points, they would remove the trailing peg from the start hole and place it two holes beyond their leading peg, that is, the fourth hole, representing their total score of four.
Scoring with a Cribbage board presents a number of advantages over other scoring methods. For one, it is much quicker than pencil-and-paper scoring. Mathematical errors are less likely, since the board provides a visual method of calculating a score. It also allows for error-checking, since the number of spaces between the two pegs represents the last score that was pegged, making it easy to verify that the correct number of points were pegged and clearing up any confusion as to whether something was scored or not. Using two pegs also guards against a player pulling the peg out and forgetting where it was supposed to go.
The crib and the starter
Each player selects two cards from their hand and sets them, face down, in a central pile called the crib, an action which is called laying away. The crib is essentially a third hand that will be scored for the dealer at the end of the hand. The crib remains face down until that time and takes no part in game play.
The non-dealer cuts the deck stub. The dealer then takes the top card of the bottom half of the pack and exposes it. This card is called the starter. If the starter is a jack, it is called “His Heels”, and the dealer pegs two points. Otherwise, though, the starter takes no immediate part in gameplay, and is set aside for the time being.
Play of the hand
The non-dealer goes first, playing a card from their hand face-up on the table, announcing the value of the card played—aces are one point, face cards are ten points, and all other cards are their face value. The dealer does likewise, calling out the total value of their card plus their opponent’s card, and so on, alternating turns, with each player calling out the running total of the cards played. Players should take care to place their cards in such a way that both the order played and the person who played them remain clear.
As cards are played, players may score points for the following combinations:
- Fifteen (2 points): Playing a card that makes the running count 15.
- Pair (2 points): Playing a card that makes a pair with the card played immediately before it. Face cards must be the same rank; two kings would an appropriate pair, but a queen and a king would not.
- Sequence/run: Playing a card that creates a sequence with the previous two or more cards. Note that the sequence doesn’t necessarily have to appear in order; 5-7-6 is a valid sequence. A sequence of three scores 3 points, a sequence of four 4 points, and so on. Aces are low only.
- Triplet (6 points): Playing a card that makes a three-of-a-kind with the two cards played immediately before it.
- Four (12 points): Playing a card that makes a four-of-a-kind with the three cards played immediately before it.
It is customary to call out the points scored as you’re pegging them, e.g. “Fifteen for two” when scoring a fifteen. Note that any cards interrupting the chain will cause the combination to be invalid; 2-3-8-4 cannot be scored as a sequence, nor can 5-8-5 be scored as a pair.
The running count of cards played cannot exceed 31. If a player has no card that they can play without sending the count above 31, they call out “Go” rather than playing. The other player then pegs one point (or two if they were able to make the count exactly 31 just before the Go). The opponent of the player that called “Go” then plays any cards they have that can still be played without exceeding 31 and scores for any combinations made. The player who called Go then leads, with the running count resetting to zero; no combinations can be made with the cards played prior to this lead from this point onward.
Game play continues until the hands are exhausted. Whoever plays the last card scores one point for Go (as their opponent now cannot play), or two points if the running total ends on exactly 31. The hands are now counted out.
Counting out
Each hand is then examined for scoring combinations, as listed below, a process known as counting out. The non-dealer’s hand is counted out first, then the dealer’s, then the crib (this order is important because it can influence who reaches the ending score first). Each hand is considered to have five cards: the four cards actually dealt to each player, and the starter, which acts as a community card.
The scoring combinations possible are listed below:
- His Nobs (1 point): A jack of the same suit as the starter. (Note that if the starter is, itself, a jack, this was already scored as “His Heels” and is not scored again.)
- Fifteen (2 points): A combination of cards that totals fifteen.
- Pair (2 points): Two cards of the same rank.
- Run: Three or more cards that form a sequence. A sequence of three scores 3 points, a sequence of four 4 points, and so on. Aces are low only.
- Flush: Excluding the crib and the starter, four cards in the hand of the same suit scores 4 points. If there are four cards in the hand or the crib that are the same suit as the starter, the flush scores 5 points.
Note that each card is not limited to appearing in one combination; it can be used multiple times, even in combinations of the same type! Therefore, if one were to hold four jacks, one would score 12 points, as follows: J♠-J♣ (pair for 2 points), J♥-J♦ (2 points), J♠-J♥ (2 points), J♣-J♦ (2 points), J♠-J♦ (2 points), J♥-J♣ (2 points). A hand consisting of 4-5-5-6 would score for two runs of three (4-5-6 twice, each using a different 5) as well as for a pair of 5s, and two fifteens (4+5+6=15 twice, again each using a different 5) for a total score of 6 for the runs + 2 for the pair + 4 for the two fifteens = 12 points.
As each player counts out the score, they announce the combinations that they see and peg them as they are called out. When they are done, if the opponent notices any unscored combinations, they may call “Muggins”, and claim the points for themselves.
The crib is counted out last, and all points scored from it are pegged by the dealer. After the crib is counted out, the next hand is dealt, with the deal passing to the non-dealer from the first hand. Game play continues until either player reaches a score of 61 or 121, as agreed; play immediately ceases, even if the score is reached in the middle of the hand.
Glossary now available!
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