Belote
Belote is a trick-taking game from the same family as Klaberjass. It is most commonly played with four players in partnerships, although variations for fewer players are out there. In the early 20th century, it knocked Bezique out of its position as the top card game in France, and still remains one of the country’s most popular games.
Belote is traditionally played counter-clockwise, with the deal and turn progressing to the right. This convention is often disregarded in recent years, however, in favor of a progression to the left as in most other card games. Our rules assume the turn passes to the left. If you prefer the turn passing to the right, simply switch “left” and “right” whenever they’re mentioned in the text.
Object of Belote
The object of Belote is to be the first partnership to reach a score of 1,000 points. Points are scored through declaring certain combinations in the hand and by taking points in tricks.
Setup
Belote is played with a 32-card deck. Starting from a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, remove all the cards from 6 down to 2. You’ll be left with aces through 7s in each of the four suits. You should also have something to keep score with, like pencil and paper.
Determine partnerships somehow, such as high-card draw or even just mutual agreement. Partners should sit opposite one another, with their opponents sitting in between. The turn of play should alternate partnerships as it progresses around the table.
Traditionally, the cards are not shuffled in Belote. The player to the dealer’s right simply cuts the cards. Deal a batch of three cards to each player, then another batch of two cards. Turn the next card of the deck, the upcard, face-up in the center of the table. Set the deck aside, it will be used again later.
Card ranking
Belote uses a different card ranking than most other games. The 10 is ranked higher than the king, giving a full card ranking of (high) A, 10, K, Q, 9, 8, 7 (low).
In the trump suit, the jack and 9 are promoted to the top two ranks. That means in the trump suit, the full ranking is (high) J, 9, 10, K, Q, 8, 7 (low).
Game play
Bidding
The player to the dealer’s left gets the first opportunity to take, that is, to accept the suit of the upcard as the trump suit. If they do not wish to, they may pass. When a player takes, there is no more bidding, and that player becomes the taker for the ensuing hand. By taking, a player commits their partnership to take more points than their opponents.
If all four players pass, the player to the dealer’s left may name a trump suit other than that of the upcard. If they do, that player becomes the taker and the bidding ends. Otherwise, they may pass, as before. If all four players pass, the cards are thrown in, the deal passes to the left, and new hands are dealt.
Regardless of whether the upcard’s suit became trump or not, the taker adds the upcard into their hand. The dealer deals three more cards to each player, except for the taker, who only receives two cards from the deck.
Making declarations
After the bidding has been resolved and the players have their full hands, they may make declarations about the contents of their hands. The valid declarations are:
- Four of a kind (Jacks, 9s, aces, 10s, kings, queens): Four jacks score 200 points, four nines score 150, and four of either aces, 10s, kings, or queens score 100 points. You cannot declare four of a kind in 8s or 7s. Ties are broken by the rank of the cards.
- Sequences: A run of three or more cards of the same suit, in sequence. For the purposes of sequences, cards rank in the order they do in most games, that is, (high) A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 (low). A run of five or more scores 100 points, a run of four scores 50 points, and a run of three scores 20 points. Longer sequences rank higher than shorter ones. Ties are broken by the rank of the highest card of the sequence. If there are two identical sequences and one is trump, the trump sequence ranks higher.
- Belote and rebelote: The king and queen of trump. Scores 20 points.
Belote and rebelote are always scored. However, only the team holding the highest declaration may score for the other declarations.
First, the player to the dealer’s left speaks, stating the type of the highest declaration they have (e.g. “a run of four”, “four of a kind”, etc.). If the next player has a higher type of declaration, they state its type. If they have one of the same type, the next player responds with “How high?”, upon which the first player states the rank of the highest card of their sequence or the rank of their four-of-a-kind. When a player cannot beat a declaration, they say “good”. This continues until the highest declaration amongst the four players has been determined. The value of the declarations are recorded, but are not immediately added to the score.
After the highest declaration has been determined, the opponents may request that any of the combinations declared be revealed.
Some players choose not to allow declarations, as doing so increases the amount of influence blind luck has on the game. Others allow only belote and rebelote to be declared. This should be established by mutual agreement before the game.
Play of the hand
The player to the dealer’s left leads to the first trick. Each player to the left plays a card to the trick in turn. Players must follow suit, if possible. Otherwise, if one of their opponents is currently winning the trick, they must play a trump. If they cannot, or the player’s partner is winning the trick, they may play any card. If a trump was led or played to the trick, players are also required to play a higher trump than the others in the trick, if possible, as long as one of their opponents are winning the trick.
When all four players have played to the trick, it is awarded to the player that played the highest trump. If no trump was played, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led. The cards making up won tricks are not added to the hand. Instead, they’re added to a face-down won-tricks pile in front of one of the partners. The player who wins each trick leads to the next one.
Play continues until the players run out of cards. The partnership that takes the last trick scores ten points for dix de der (ten for the last).
Scoring
After the hand concludes, each partnership totals the values of the cards they collected in tricks. Cards score:
- The jack of trump: 20 points.
- The nine of trump: 14 points.
- Aces: 11 points each.
- 10s: 10 points each.
- Kings: 4 points each.
- Queens: 3 points each.
- Non-trump jacks: 2 points each.
Note that 8s and 7s, as well as 9s in non-trump suits, do not score anything. There are 152 possible points available through tricks, plus the ten for dix de der, which adds up to a maximum score of 162.
If the taking team scores more in tricks than their opponents, they have made their contract and both teams score all of the points they’ve earned through tricks, plus any points in declarations they may be entitled to. If the taking team fails to make their contract, their opponents score 162 points, plus their declarations, plus the taking team’s declarations!
When one side takes all of the tricks in the game, it is called a capot. If the taking side scores a capot, they score an additional 90 points, giving them a score of 252 for the hand, plus declarations. Likewise, if the taker’s opponents score a capot, they score 252, plus both sides’ declarations. In any case, whenever a team takes no tricks, the only declaration they may score for in that hand is belote and rebelote.
Scores are traditionally rounded to the nearest ten after each hand is scored. Game play ends when one team reaches a score of 1,000 points at the end of a hand. That partnership is the winner. If both teams exceed 1,000 points on the same hand, the game ends as a tie.
Ziginette
Ziginette is an Italian gambling and banking game for any number of players, although it might get a little bit hectic with more than about eight. Card expert John Scarne described Ziginette in the mid-twentieth century as “the biggest money card game in Italy”, and noted that it was also popular among Italian-Americans. Ziginette was likely the basis for the similar American gambling game Skin.
Unlike most banking games, Ziginette has no inherent house edge. When casinos spread the game, they would take a 10% cut of the banker’s wins, thus ensuring they profit by running the game. Without this cut, neither the banker nor the players have an advantage.
Object of Ziginette
The object of Ziginette is to win money when the dealer matches their card before you match yours.
Setup
Ziginette is played with the 40-card Italian deck. (This deck is also used to play Seven and a Half, Scopa and Briscola.) To form such a deck, take a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards and remove the 10s, 9s, and 8s. What remains will be a deck that has ten cards in each suit (ace through 7, and the three face cards). You will also need something to bet with. Because of the all of the winning and losing that will be taking place, using chips is highly recommended. If Blackjack dealing equipment is available, such as a shoe and a discard rack, it might be useful, but is not required.
Determine the first dealer-banker by some random method, such as a high card draw. Before dealing the first hand, the banker must announce what the minimum and maximum bets will be. These limits must be an amount they’re comfortable with losing, because they will be responsible for paying out all winning bets.
Shuffle and deal two board cards face up to the center of the table. Then, deal a third card face up in front of the banker. If any of these three cards form a pair, it is called a playette. In this case, the cards are returned to the deck, which is shuffled before redealing.
Game play
The players may now place a bet on either of the board cards available to them. If they wish, they can bet on both cards, on just one, or neither.
Once the players have had an adequate time to make their bets, the banker deals a fourth card, face up. If it doesn’t match any of the cards previously dealt, it simply becomes another board card. Players may place wagers on it just like the others. However, if the new card matches one of the board cards, the banker collects all of the bets placed on the board card of that rank. When a card is matched in this way, it is removed from the board. The other two cards of that rank simply become dead and are discarded upon being dealt. This continues, with the banker dealing new cards and collecting losing bets.
When the banker deals a card matching their own, the hand ends. The banker must pay out every wager currently on the board at even money. The deal then passes to the player on the losing banker’s right.
In the event that all of the cards on the board are matched before the dealer’s, or that there are no bets left on the board and the players are unwilling to place new ones, the hand ends. In this situation, the banker has the option to deal another hand. If they do, they may adjust the betting limits prior to dealing. They may also elect to pass the bank to the next player, the same as if they had ended the hand by losing.
Three Thirteen Rummy
Three Thirteen Rummy is a simple rummy game for two or more players. Aficionados of Gin Rummy will find its closed melding style quite familiar, but it allows for much larger, more social games. Additionally, gradually-increasing hand sizes and different wild cards on each hand mean that each hand plays slightly differently!
Like many games, Three Thirteen Rummy has been adapted as a commercial game with a proprietary deck. Called Five Crowns, the proprietary version of the game introduces a fifth suit, stars, and six jokers, expanding the deck to 116 cards!
Object of Three Thirteen Rummy
The object of Three Thirteen Rummy is to have the lowest score at the end of eleven hands. This is achieved by being the first player to arrange all of your cards into melds.
Setup
The number of cards you need for Three Thirteen Rummy depends on the number of players. For two players, you’ll need one standard 52-card deck of playing cards, like Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards. When playing with three or four, shuffle in a second deck. For five or six, add a third deck, and so on. You also need something to keep score with; pencil and paper will perform admirably.
The number of cards dealt varies from hand to hand. On the first hand of the game, deal each player three cards. On the second hand, deal four cards, and so on each hand, increasing by one card each hand. The eleventh and final hand will consist of thirteen cards. Place the deck stub in the center of the table, forming the stock. Turn the top card of the stock face up. This card, the upcard, will be the first card of the discard pile.
Game play
Game play begins with the player to the dealer’s left. They may take either the top card of the discard pile, or the top card of the stock. They then end their turn by discarding a card from their hand. Play then passes to the next player to the left, who follows the same procedure, and so on and so forth.
As with most rummy games, Three Thirteen Rummy revolves around melds, which are combinations of three or more cards. Valid melds include three or more of a kind, or a run or sequence, such as 5-6-7, of the same suit. Aces are low, and kings are high, and a sequence cannot progress from one to the other (Q-K-A and K-A-2 are not valid melds). The players’ goal is to form their entire hand into melds, eliminating their deadwood (unmatched cards). Melds are kept in the hand when formed, not laid out on the table.
A different rank of cards is wild on each hand. On the first hand, 3s are wild. On the second, 4s are wild, and so on, until the eleventh hand, when kings are wild. Wild cards may substitute for any other card in a meld. There is no limit to how many wild cards can be in a meld. Melds of all wild cards are also acceptable.
In the rare event that the hand continues until the stock is exhausted, set the upcard aside, shuffle the rest of the discards, and turn them face down to form a new stock.
Ending the hand
When a player has formed their entire hand into melds, they are entitled to go out. They discard as normal, announcing that they are going out as they are doing so. Each opponent then takes one final turn. The hand ends when the turn reaches the player that went out.
The player who went out reveals their hand, arranging it into melds to allow the other players to verify that they have no deadwood. The opponents do the same. Each player then scores the value of their deadwood (with the player that went out scoring zero for the hand). As in Gin Rummy, aces are worth one point, face cards worth ten, and all other cards their face value. Wild cards are scored the same as they would be if they were not wild. Players may not lay off deadwood on their opponents’ melds.
After the end of the hand, the deal rotates, and the cards are shuffled and a new hand is dealt. Game play continues until eleven rounds have been played. The player with the lowest score at the end of the game is the winner.
See also
Ace-Deuce-Jack
Ace-Deuce-Jack is an extremely simple gambling game that was popular during World War II. In Ace-Deuce-Jack, the players are simply betting whether three randomly-selected cards will be an ace, a 2, or a jack. That’s it; it’s all blind luck. There’s no skill involved at all.
It should be noted that the house edge on Ace-Deuce-Jack is just a shade over 10%. As a result, the players are at a significant disadvantage to the banker. If you’re going to play Ace-Deuce-Jack with your friends, we recommend not playing with real money.
Object of Ace-Deuce-Jack
The object of Ace-Deuce-Jack is to win money on bets that three randomly-selected cards will not be an ace, a 2, or a jack.
Setup
You will need one standard 52-card deck of playing cards. As always, we heartily recommend Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards for any card game you want to play. You’ll also need something to bet with, such as poker chips, buttons, beans, or some other similar counters.
Any player may shuffle and deal one card, face up, to each player. Whoever gets the highest card becomes the first banker. The banker declares the acceptable maximum and minimum bets that they will allow for the following hand.
Game play
The banker begins the hand by shuffling the deck and placing it face down. They then cut the deck twice, forming three piles of cards. Each player then decides how much they would like to bet and places that amount in front of them.
After all players have fixed their bet, the banker turns over each pile of cards. If any of the three exposed cards on the bottom of the piles are an ace, a jack, or a 2, the banker wins and collects all bets. If all three cards are of other ranks, the banker pays each player out at even money.
Rotate the bank after a predetermined number of hands. To maximize the fairness of the game, each player should have an equal opportunity to bank.
Big Three
Big Three, also known as Dig a Hole, is a Chinese climbing game for three players. Unique among the climbing games, Big Three starts each hand with a bidding round. The bidding round determines the stakes for each hand, as well as determining a temporary partnership for that hand only. The two players who lose the bid form an alliance to help each other defeat the high bidder.
Object of Big Three
The object of Big Three is to be the first player to discard all of your cards.
Setup
Big Three is played with a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. If you choose Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, not only will we be happy, but so will you.
You also need something to keep track of the score with. The most convenient way of doing so is by having a pool of counters, such as poker chips, beans, buttons, coins, or any other comparable trinket. By mutual agreement, these may each represent some cash value. If so, collect money from each player and distribute the appropriate number of chips. If not, simply give each player the same number of chips.
The dealer shuffles and places the deck face down in the center of the table. Starting with the dealer, each player in turn draws one card. This repeats until each player has sixteen cards. Place the four remaining cards in the center of the table, forming the widow.
Card ranking
As in many other games in the climbing family, the cards rank out of order in Big Three. The 3 is the highest card, as you might expect from the title of the game. This is followed by the 2, then the ace, then the rest of the cards in their usual order. This gives us a complete ranking of (high) 3, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 (low).
Unlike in Thirteen and some other climbing games, the suits have no rank relative to one another. Cards of the same rank simply tie.
Game play
Bidding
A hand of Big Three begins with a bidding round to determine the partnerships for that hand. The player holding the 4♥, or the player holding the lowest heart if nobody holds the 4♥, bids first, and must make a bid of at least one unit. The next player to the left bids next, and may bid either two or pass and drop out of the bidding. This continues until either someone bids three, or two players have passed, whichever comes first.
The player that wins the bid plays solo against the other two players. The solo player then picks up the widow and adds it to their hand. While they now have 20 cards compared to their opponents’ 16, they can theoretically form more combinations with the extra cards, which will allow them to get rid of their cards faster. (This is where the name Dig a Hole comes from—the high bidder is digging themselves further in the hole by getting more cards, in search of treasure that will help them ultimately win the hand.)
Play of the hand
Play begins with the player who bid first (the holder of the lowest heart). That player lays a valid combination of cards, face up, in the center of the table. These are the permissible card combinations:
- Single card
- Pairs
- Trips (three of a kind)
- Quads (four of a kind)
- Straights (three or more cards in sequence, e.g. 4-5-6)
- A run of three or more consecutive pairs, trips, or quads (e.g. 4-4-5-5-6-6, or 6-6-6-7-7-7-8-8-8, etc.)
Aces, 2s, and 3s cannot be used in straights or runs of multiple pairs, trips, or quads.
The next player to the left must play a higher-ranking instance of the same type of combination. Straights and runs must be followed by another straight or run of the same length. For example, a four-card straight must be followed up by another four-card straight, not a three-card or five-card or any other straight. The highest-ranking card present is used to determine the ranking of the entire combination.
Play continues to the left, each player playing higher than the most recent combination. If a player cannot or does not want to play higher, they may pass. They may play again when it comes back to their turn.
If there are two consecutive passes, however, the sole remaining player is free to play whatever combination of cards they choose (i.e. they are not compelled to play the same type of combination as before). The next player must then play higher than this new combination, and so on.
Settlement
Game play continues until one player has cleared their hand of all cards. If the solo player achieved this, both of their opponents pay them chips equal to the amount of the winning bid (a bid of one equals a one-chip payout, a bid of two equals two chips, and so on). If one of the solo player’s opponents exhausted their hand first, the solo player must pay the amount of the bid to both of their opponents.
Jersey Gin
Jersey Gin is an adaptation of Gin Rummy for three players. A three-player Gin game similar to this one first surfaced in Jersey City, New Jersey, where it was discovered by noted card game expert John Scarne. Scarne analyzed the rules of the game and found them to be “full of mathematical bugs”; he took the liberty of correcting the rules to make them fairer. He then published his corrected rules under the name “Jersey Gin”.
Object of Jersey Gin
The object of Jersey Gin is to arrange your hand into melds and be the first to knock, hopefully ensuring that the total of your unmatched cards is lower than that of your opponent.
Setup
To play Jersey Gin, you’ll need one standard 52-card deck of playing cards. We’d be pretty pleased to know that you’re using a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards. You should also have something to keep score with, like a pencil and paper.
Shuffle and deal ten cards, face down, to each player. Place the stub in the center of the table, forming the stock. Turn the top card of the stock face up; this card, the upcard, is the first card of the discard pile.
Game play
Everything in Jersey Gin revolves around melds. Three or four of a kind is one type of meld. Another is a run or sequence of three or more cards of the same suit, in sequence, such as 5-6-7♣. Cards rank in their usual order. Aces are always considered low, and cannot be used consecutively with the king. That is, neither Q-K-A nor K-A-2 are considered valid melds.
Each card also has a point value in Jersey Gin. Aces have a value of one point, face cards have a value of ten. All other cards are worth their face value. These values are used to calculate a player’s deadwood, the value of the cards in their hand that cannot be formed into melds.
Play of the hand
The player to the left of the dealer goes first. They start their turn by drawing one card. This may be either the top card of the discard pile or the top card of the stock. They then end their turn by discarding a card, face up, from their hand. Play then passes to the next player to the left, who does the same thing, and so on and so forth.
The discard pile should be kept squared up at all times: fishing through the discards is prohibited. If a player wants to use the information of what the discard pile contains, it is their responsibility to remember what has been discarded throughout the game.
Ending the hand
When a player’s deadwood score reaches ten or less, they may knock by discarding their card face-down and knocking on the table. Each player then lays their hand face up on the table, with each meld identifiably broken out. The two players that didn’t knock may reduce their deadwood counts by adding cards to their opponents’ melds, which is known as laying off. The difference between the knocker’s score and that of each of their opponents is added together to arrive at the knocker’s total score for the hand. For instance, a player knocks with a deadwood count of 9, while their opponents have 11 and 14. The knocker scores (11–9) + (14–9) = 7 points for the hand.
If the player with the lowest underwood score is not the player who knocked, the lowest player is said to have underknocked. They score for the hand as if they had knocked, plus a ten-point underknock bonus.
Rather than knocking, a player may elect to continue playing until their deadwood score reaches zero. When this happens, they declare gin and reveal their hand, scoring the opponent’s deadwood total plus a 40-point bonus. The opponents may not lay off deadwood on a gin hand.
After the end of the hand, the deal rotates for the next hand. Game play continues until a player reaches 100 points. This player then scores an additional 100 bonus points. Each player scores a box bonus of 25 points for each hand that they won.
The break (when the stock runs out)
Unlike in standard Gin Rummy, the game doesn’t just end when the stock runs out. Instead, when the stock is reduced to three cards, the break occurs. The next player to draw is called the breaker. Special rules apply after the break. Players cannot knock, and a card can only be drawn from the discard pile if it can immediately be used in a meld.
After the breaker completes their turn, they lay their melds face up, keeping their deadwood concealed in their hand. The next person to play draws, then lays their melds out in the same way, and may lay off any cards that they can on the breaker’s melds. The third player completes their turn similarly, with the opportunity to lay off on either of their opponents’ melds. If there are still cards left in the stock, then it is the breaker’s turn again, who may now lay off on any meld.
If a player goes gin, it is handled in the usual way, as described above. Otherwise, the hand continues until the stock is completely out of cards and the final player has discarded. At that point, the hand is scored, treating the player with the lowest deadwood as though they had knocked. If there is a tie involving the breaker, the breaker wins it; if the other two players tie, the player to the left of the breaker wins it.
See also
Malilla
Malilla is a trick-taking game for four players in partnerships. Players vie to take tricks that contain aces, 7s, and face cards, as those are the only cards worth any points!
Malilla originated in Spain, where it is called Manilla, and most likely derives from an earlier French game called Manille. From Spain, it crossed the Atlantic to Mexico, where it remains popular today.
Object of Malilla
The object of Malilla is to be the first partnership to score 35 or more points. This is achieved by winning tricks containing aces, 7s, and face cards.
Setup
Malilla is traditionally played with a 40-card Spanish deck. Outside of Spain, however, it is commonly replicated using a subset of the standard 52-card deck. Starting from a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, remove all the 10s, 9s, and 8s. This will yield a deck with ten cards in each of the four suits (aces, kings, queens, jacks, and 7s through 2s). You also need something to keep score with; pencil and paper works admirably.
Determine partnerships by whatever method is convenient, such as high-card draw or even just mutual agreement. Partners should sit opposite one another, with their opponents in between. The turn of play should alternate partnerships as it progresses clockwise around the table.
Shuffle and deal ten cards to each player. The first 39 cards should be dealt face down. The 40th and last card in the deck should be dealt face up to the dealer. This card indicates the trump suit for the hand. Once all players have seen it, the dealer can add it to their hand.
Card ranking
For the most part, the cards rank in their usual order in Malilla. However, the 7 is elevated to become the highest-ranking card, leading to a complete ranking of (high) 7, A, K, Q, J, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low).
The card ranking influences the point values of each of the cards, as well. The 7 is also the most valuable card in the game. The point values of each card are:
- 7: five points.
- Ace: four points.
- King: three points.
- Queen: two points.
- Jack: one point.
- 6s through 2s: zero points.
Game play
If the dealer’s last (face-up) card is a point-scoring card, the dealer’s team scores that many points as a bonus. These points are, in most cases, scored immediately. The only exception to this is if the bonus would cause the dealer’s team to win the game. In that case, the bonus points are held in abeyance until the end of the hand, and are only scored after the results of the hand are scored.
Play of the hand
The player to the dealer’s left leads to the first trick. The other players, in turn, each contribute a card to the trick. When all four players have played, the person who contributed the highest trump, or the highest card of the suit led if no trump was played, wins the trick.
There are a few restrictions on what can be played to a trick. As in most trick-taking games, in Malilla, you must follow suit. If you cannot follow suit, you may play almost any card, including a trump. The exception is that you cannot play a 7 of a non-trump suit that has not yet been led in that hand. (In the rare case that this is the only card available to play, this rule is waived.) Also, if an opponent has played the card that is winning the trick as of your turn, you must beat it if it would be legal for you to do so.
Once a player has won a trick, they collect the cards and place them in a won-tricks pile shared with their partner. For ease of scoring later, it may be a good idea to keep the point-scoring cards in a separate pile than the non-scoring cards. The winner of each trick leads to the next one. (Note that it is always OK to lead a 7—the restriction on them only applies to playing them when not following suit.)
Scoring
After all ten tricks have been played, each partnership totals the value of the point-scoring cards they captured. Whichever partnership collected more points over the course of the hand wins it. They subtract their points collected from 35 and score the difference. If both partnerships tie, both collecting 35 points, neither partnership scores for that hand.
If a partnership captures all ten tricks, they will have collected 70 points, thereby scoring 35 points for the hand. This is sufficient to win the game, and is called a capote.
If neither side reaches a score of 35 after the hand is scored, then the deal passes to the left and new hands are dealt. Game play continues until one partnership ends the hand with a score of 35 or more. That partnership is the winner.
Irregularities
Malilla is unusually harsh on players who fail to play correctly. Any irregularity in dealing results in the errant dealer being forced to surrender the cards to the next dealer. If it is discovered that a player made an incorrect play to a trick, such as failing to follow suit when able, or not winning the trick when able, the partnership committing the foul loses the entire game.
Buck Euchre (Dirty Clubs)
Buck Euchre (also known as Dirty Clubs) is somewhat of a cross between Euchre and Rams. It’s a trick-taking game for four players. Unlike regular Euchre, however, it’s every player for themselves; there’s no partnerships!
Like Rams and other games in its family, Buck Euchre penalizes players for failing to collect at least one trick. If a player is not confident in their ability to take a trick, they can, in most cases, simply drop out of the hand.
Object of Buck Euchre
The object of Buck Euchre is to be the first player to reach a score of zero points or less. This is accomplished by either:
- Choosing the trump suit and winning at least three tricks, or
- Not choosing the trump suit, but staying in the hand and winning at least one trick, or
- Recognizing that your hand is total garbage and dropping out of the game to avoid a penalty.
Setup
Buck Euchre uses the same stripped deck that regular Euchre does. Starting from a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, remove all of the 8s through 2s. You’ll be left with a 32-card deck composed of ace to 9 in each of the four suits.
You’ll also need some way of keeping score. Pencil and paper works all right, but you can use any method that suits your fancy. Each player starts the game with 25 points.
Shuffle and deal five cards to each player. (You may deal this as a batch of three to each player, followed by a batch of two, if desired.) Turn the top card of the stub face up and place it on top of the stub. The suit of this card, the upcard, is the proposed trump suit.
Card ranking
Buck Euchre uses the same card ranking that regular Euchre does. In case you’re in need of a refresher, here it is:
Cards rank in a different order in the trump suit then they do in the other suits. The highest trump is the right bower, the jack of trump. The next highest trump is the left bower, the jack of the same color as trump. This is followed by the ace, king, queen, 10, and 9 of trump.
In the non-trump suits, cards rank (high) A, K, Q, J, 10, 9 (low). (In the suit that’s the same color as trump, the jack will, of course, be missing from the ranking, because it is considered a trump.)
Game play
If the upcard is a club, clubs automatically become trump. Otherwise, the trump suit is determined by the bidding round, as described below. Note that if clubs become trump automatically, since the bidding round is bypassed, every player is obliged to play the hand.
Bidding
The player who fixes the trump suit is called the declarer. The declarer is obligated to take at least three of the five tricks in the following hand.
The player to the left of the dealer has the first opportunity to accept or reject the upcard’s suit as trump. If they accept, they do so by stating “I order it up.” If a player orders up, the dealer takes the upcard into their hand and discards any other card face down onto the stub. When a player declines to order up, the opportunity passes to the left. If the first three players pass, the dealer may accept the upcard’s suit as trump by drawing it and discarding, as before. Otherwise, they turn the upcard face down.
If the dealer rejects the upcard’s suit as trump, the player to the left of the dealer has the first opportunity to name another suit as trump. They may also pass, if they wish. If all four players decline to name a trump suit, then the hand is played with no trump.
If a trump suit has been decided, either by accepting the turned-up trump or by selecting one of the other three suits as trump, the other players then have the opportunity to drop out of the hand, going clockwise from the player to the declarer’s left. Any player who remains in the hand must take at least one trick. Failure to do so will subject the player to a penalty.
Play of the hand
The player to the dealer’s left leads to the first trick. Proceeding clockwise from the lead player, every player contributes one card to the trick, until all four players have played. Players must follow suit, if able; otherwise, they may play any card. (Note that the left bower is considered part of the trump suit. Playing it to a trick led by a card of its “natural” suit is not considered following suit.) The player who played the highest trump, or the highest card of the suit led if no trumps were played, wins the trick.
When a player wins a trick, they take the cards from it and place them face-down in a won-tricks pile in front of them. To keep it clear how many tricks the player has taken, it’s a good idea to put each trick at right angles to the one before it. After a player wins a trick, they lead to the next one.
Game play continues in this manner until all five tricks have been played.
Scoring
When the hand is over, players score as follows:
- If any player collects all five tricks, the game ends, with that player winning.
- Any player who dropped out of the hand scores nothing, positive or negative.
- The declarer scores a penalty of five points if they failed to collect three or more tricks. They are said to have been euchred or set back.
- Any non-declarer that stayed in the hand scores a penalty of five points if they failed to collect at least one trick.
- Any player that doesn’t meet one of the conditions above loses one point for each trick they took.
The deal passes to the left, and another hand is played. Further hands are played until a player’s score reaches zero or less. That player is the winner. If two players reach zero or less on the same hand, the player that is further in the negative wins the game. If the players have the same score, they tie.
Kaluki (Caloochi)
Kaluki (also known as Caloochi) is a game in the Rummy family that was popular in the eastern United States in the middle part of the 20th century. It can be played by two to four players, but is best for four.
Despite its homophonic name, it is not to be confused with the Caribbean game named Kalooki, which is a totally different game based on Contract Rummy.
Object of Kaluki
The object of Kaluki is to be the first player to deplete their hand of cards. A player achieves this by forming combinations of cards called melds.
Setup
To play Kaluki, shuffle together two standard 52-card packs of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, complete with jokers. You’ll be left with a 108-card pack that has two of each card, ace to king, in each of the four suits, with four jokers.
You also need some form of token to keep track of the scoring with. Poker chips work well, as do buttons, pennies, or any number of other small doodads. Establish whether or not each counter will hold some form of monetary value. If so, determine how much they’re worth and exchange them for cash appropriately. (If you’re using pennies as tokens, you really shouldn’t make them worth anything more than 1¢, since otherwise, you risk making a mockery of fiat currency systems.) Simply distribute the tokens equally between the players if you opt not to play for money.
Shuffle. The player to the dealer’s right cuts the cards, exposing the bottom card of the half of the deck they lifted up. Should this be a joker, the player cutting the cards keeps it and is dealt one fewer card than the other players. The player then completes the cut. Deal fifteen cards to each player (unless the player at their right kept a joker, in which case skip them in the last round of dealing). Place the stub in the center of the table, forming the stock. Turn over the top card of the stock. This card, the upcard, will become the first card of the discard pile.
Game play
Before actual game play begins, the dealer gets a chance to draw the upcard. If they do, they replace it with a discard from their own hand, which becomes the new upcard, and their turn ends. If they choose not to take the upcard, the play simply passes to the dealer’s left. They do not get a draw from the stock or any other consideration if they simply don’t like the upcard.
The player at the dealer’s left gets the first full turn. They may draw either the top card of the stock or the upcard. If they take the upcard, it must immediately be used in a meld. After drawing, they may meld, as described below, if able. Thereafter, they discard one card, and the turn passes to the next player.
Melding
Each card in Kaluki has a point value, used to determine the value of melds it is used in. Aces are worth eleven points, face cards ten, and all other cards their face value.
Valid melds are the same as in most other Rummy games: three or four of a kind, or three or more cards of the same suit in sequence. An added stipulation is that duplicate cards are not allowed in melds. That is, in three or four of a kind, all of the cards must be of different suits. J♠-J♣-J♦ is a valid meld, but J♠-J♦-J♦ is not. Aces may be either high or low in sequences, but not both. K-A-2 isn’t something you can meld.
The first set of melds a player makes in each hand is their initial meld. These melds must total at least 51 points. If other players have melded, the player may lay off on their opponent’s melds as well, and count these toward their initial meld total. However, a player must lay down at least one meld of their own to satisfy the initial meld requirement.
After a player has made their initial meld, they may meld on their turn as much or as little as they please.
Ending the hand
The hand ends when a player runs out of cards. That player wins the hand. Each of the winner’s opponents pays them one unit for each unmelded card left in their hand, and two units for each joker. If a player is able to meld all fifteen of their cards in one turn, they have gone Kaluki and the payouts are doubled—two units for each unmelded card in hand, and four for each joker.
Skin
Skin is a banking game for three to seven players. Unlike most banking games, the banker has no inherent edge over the rest of the players. The players are just as likely to walk away a winner as the banker is. As a result, when it was spread in casinos, the house simply ran the game and charged a rake, much the way they do with poker. You’re not likely to find a game of Skin in the casinos anymore, though.
Skin is likely descended from the quite similar Italian banking game Ziginette. At the height of its popularity, it was played throughout the American Midwest and South.
Object of Skin
The object of Skin is to win money when the dealer matches their card before you match yours.
Setup
You’ll need a standard 52-card deck of playing cards to play Skin. Why not treat your players to a game dealt with Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards? You’ll also need something to bet with—as usual, poker chips are usually best, but you can also use tokens of some other type (which may or may not have a cash value). Straight cash can theoretically be used, but is likely to make dealing the game more difficult.
Determine the first banker, who also serves as dealer, by shuffling the pack and dealing one card, face up, to each player in turn until someone is dealt an ace. That player is the banker. Before dealing, the banker/dealer declares the minimum and maximum bets they are willing to accept. The banker should have enough money on hand to cover a maximum bet by every player at the table. The dealer thoroughly shuffles the deck in preparation for the deal.
Game play
The first card is dealt to the player to the dealer’s right. This player has the right to either bet on this card or reject it. If they reject the card, they must sit out until the turn of play makes it around to them again. (There is little rational reason for rejecting a card, but some players may have superstitions regarding particular cards.) The rejected card is then offered to the next player to the right, and so on.
When a player accepts the card, the banker deals themselves a card. If the first two cards dealt form a pair, they are simply discarded and a new card is offered to the player that accepted the first one. Otherwise, the player places a bet on the center of their card between the minimum and maximum allowed. The dealer stacks an equal amount of their money on top of the player’s bet.
After the bet is placed, the banker deals the next card face-up in the center of the table. If this card is the same rank as the player’s, the dealer takes all of the money on the player’s card (the player’s bet plus the dealer’s match). The player’s card and the matching card are both discarded, and the other two cards of that rank are dead for the rest of the deal—they’re simply discarded whenever they’re revealed. If the card does not match the either the player’s or the dealer’s cards, it is offered to the next player to the right of the player who bet, as before, and so on.
Side bets
Once two players are in the game, they may wager against one another that the other player’s card will be matched before their own. Both players must, of course, agree to the proposed wager and its amount. Such side bets are placed in an unambiguous location so they won’t be confused with the bet against the dealer. (Betting can get quite complex with so many players betting against each other and the dealer!) A player must have established a bet with the dealer before they can bet against another player. A player that has no card (either because it’s not their turn yet, or because they rejected the card offered to them) cannot place a side bet.
Later play
Once the player to the dealer’s left has been offered a card, the dealer goes around the table again, offering cards to players without them (either because they rejected the card offered on the first round or because they lost). If there’s nowhere else for a card to go, it is simply placed in the center of the table. Thereafter, when a player needs a new card on their turn, they simply choose one from the middle of the table.
It is important for the dealer to keep track of which cards are dead. Any dead cards must be discarded whenever they are encountered. It’s quite easy to forget that a rank is already dead and offer it to another player!
When the banker loses
If the banker deals a card that matches their own in rank, every active player wins their bet with the dealer. The dealer may then choose to take a new card. If so, each player has the option to bet against the dealer’s new card. They are not obligated to, however. The dealer can also decline to draw a new card, and simply continue dealing until any outstanding side bets are settled.
Ending the deal
The deal ends whenever the banker chooses not to take a new card and all side bets are settled, or when the deck runs out, whichever comes first. The player to the left then becomes the new banker. Game play continues anew with the incoming dealer.
