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.
Calypso
Calypso is a trick-taking game where each player has their own trump suit! It is a partnership game for four players. Each player has the goal of making thirteen-card runs in whichever suit is trump for them. The result is a game quite different from every other trick-taking game in the book.
R.W. Willis, of Trinidad, invented Calypso. On a vacation to England in October 1953, he shared his game with Bridge player Kenneth Konstam. Konstam helped Willis to simplify and balance the rules of the game, and quickly became one of its greatest proponents. With the help of the Bridge expert’s promotion, Calypso became the subject of several books. Card manufacturers released box sets of cards and props for running a Calypso game.
Unfortunately, Calypso’s fate was much like that of Zetema. For whatever reason, Calypso never achieved lasting acceptance among card players. David Parlett theorizes that it may have been a victim of Canasta’s tremendous popularity at the time, or possibly that its unusual rules were outside of players’ comfort zones.
Whatever the case may be, Calypso faded from public view only a few years after its big debut. As with Zetema, however, card game authors’ curiosity about Calypso has prevented it from being forgotten entirely.
“Of all “invented” card games not invented by me, Calypso is the one I most enjoy, and most wish I had thought of first.” -David Parlett
Object of Calypso
The object of Calypso is to win tricks, using the cards contained within them to make calypsos. A calypso is a set of thirteen cards of the player’s trump suit (one of each rank).
Setup
Calypso uses a lot of cards: a 208-card pack. To form such a deck, take four decks of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards with the same back design and color and shuffle them together. You’ll also need something to keep score with, either a pencil and paper or an app on your smartphone.
Determine partnerships by any suitable method, such as by high-card draw or simply mutual agreement. Players should be seated so that their partner is seated across from them, with their opponents at their immediate right and left.
Each player also needs to determine which suit will be their trump suit before play begins. Again, if every player has a preference that doesn’t conflict with the other players’, or nobody really cares which suit they’re playing, mutual agreement will suffice. Otherwise, a high-card draw may be necessary. Customarily, the spade player’s partner will be the heart player and the diamond player’s partner will be the club player. However, there is no real reason this convention needs to be followed if anyone has strong feelings to the contrary.
Shuffle, using the multiple-deck shuffling method, if required. Deal thirteen cards, face down, to each player. Set the rest of the deck aside, face down; it will be used for subsequent deals.
Game play
The player to the left of the dealer leads to the first trick. They may lead a card of any suit, including their trump suit. Each player in turn plays one card to the trick. They must follow suit if able; otherwise, they may play any card they wish.
Because there are four trump suits, determining who wins each trick can be somewhat complex. The following rules decide the winner of a trick:
- If the lead player led their own trump suit and was the only player to play a card from their trump suit, they win the trick. For example, if the diamond player led a diamond, and everyone played diamonds, the diamond player wins the trick, regardless of the rank of the cards played. If the diamond player led a diamond, and the only player not to play diamonds was the club player, who played a spade, the diamond player would still win the trick.
- If the lead player led their trump suit, another player was unable to follow suit, and they played a card from their own trump suit, then whichever card is higher wins. For example, if the diamond player led the J♦, and the spade player played the Q♠, the spade player would win the trick.
- If the lead player leads any of the three suits that are not trump for them, and everyone follows suit (or plays non-trump cards), the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. This happens even if it was not played by the player that suit belongs to. That is, if, say, hearts are led by the club player, the heart player does not “trump” and automatically win the trick. They can only win the trick by playing the highest heart without being trumped by the spade or diamond players.
- If the lead player leads any of the three suits that are not trump for them, a player cannot follow suit, and they play a card of their own trump suit, that player wins the trick. For example, the spade player leads the 9♥. If the club player is out of hearts and instead plays the 4♣, the club player would win the trick.
- If multiple players cannot follow suit to a non-trump lead and play their own trumps, the highest-ranked trump takes the trick. For example, the spade player leads the 9♥, which is followed by the 4♣ from the club player, and the 6♦ from the diamond player. The diamond player would win the trick.
- If two cards tie for taking the trick, the one that was played first takes the trick. (This may happen if two identical cards are played, or two trumps of the same rank are played to a trick.)
Cards rank in their usual order. Aces are high. The winner of each trick leads to the next one.
Building calypsos
When a player wins a trick, they can use the cards in it toward a calypso. Each player will always have one calypso of their suit in progress. Incomplete calypsos are fanned out face-up in front the player they belong to. When a player gets cards from winning a trick, they place any cards of the opponents’ suits in a face-up won-tricks pile at their side. Then, they pass any cards of their partner’s suit that were in the trick across the table to them, for the partner’s use in their calypso. Finally, they add any needed cards to their own calypso.
A player can only have one calypso in progress at at time. If they or their partner happen to win a trick that contains a duplicate of a card already in their calypso, this card is simply added to the won-trick pile.
When a player has obtained one card of each rank in their trump suit, they have completed their calypso. They square up the cards into a pile and set it aside. The player may then use any unused cards in the last trick won to start a new calypso.
Scoring
After all thirteen tricks have been played, the deal passes to the left. The new dealer gives each player thirteen more cards from the undealt portion of the deck. Game play continues, with players continuing to build the calypsos they already have in progress.
When all of the cards dealt in the last batch of thirteen have been exhausted, the game ends. The scores are then calculated. Each partner first calculates the value of their calypsos: 500 for the first, 750 for the second, and 1000 each for the third and (almost impossible) fourth. Both partners’ scores are then combined. Each side adds to their calypso scores 10 points for each unused card in their won-tricks pile and 20 points for each card in their uncompleted calypsos to arrive at their final total. Whichever partnership has the higher score wins the game.
Minnesota Whist
Minnesota Whist is a variant of Whist that is played in Minnesota and South Dakota. The game is so popular in these areas that players just call it “Whist”. It most likely derives from a similar Scandinavian game, which crossed the Atlantic along with Norwegian immigrants. You’ll need four players, in partnerships, to play Minnesota Whist.
Object of Minnesota Whist
The object of Minnesota Whist differs depending on if the hand is a “high bid” or a “low bid”. For high bids, the object is to collect seven or more of the thirteen tricks. For low bids, the object is to collect six or fewer tricks.
Setup
Minnesota Whist uses a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. Choose Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards—even if you drop them in 10,000 lakes, they’ll still be perfectly fine. You also need something handy to keep score with. Pencil and paper works reasonably well for the purpose.
Partnerships can be determined by any convenient method. High-card draw works if you prefer a random method, but if partnerships form by mutual agreement, that works too. Partners sit across from one another, such that as the turn passes to the left, players of alternating partnerships will play after one another.
Shuffle and deal thirteen cards to each player. This will use the entire deck.
Game play
Cards rank in their usual order in Minnesota Whist, with aces high. Notably, unlike other forms of Whist, there is no trump suit.
Bidding
Each player selects one card from their hand and plays it face down in front of them. If they wish for a high bid hand, they play a black card. If they prefer a low bid, they play a red card. Note that these cards are still part of the player’s hand, so players will normally select the lowest card they have of the appropriate color to prevent giving away more information than they have to.
The player to the left of the dealer turns their bid card face up. If it is a red card, the next player to the left reveals their card. This continues until someone reveals a black card. This player (and by extension, their partnership) is said to have granded. All players then return their bid cards to their hands (any players after the player who granded do not reveal their bid cards). The game is then played as high bid. Only if nobody grands, i.e., all four players reveal a red card, is the hand played as low bid.
Play of a high bid hand
The player to the right of the granding player leads to the first trick. Each person to the left plays a card to the trick in turn. Players must always follow suit if able; otherwise, they may play any card. The player who contributed the highest card of the suit led to the trick wins it. Won tricks are not added to the hand. Instead, they are placed face-down in a won-trick pile in front of one of the partners. Each trick should be placed at right angles to the previous tricks, to allow the number of tricks won to be easily counted later.
When all thirteen tricks have been played, each partnership counts the number of tricks that they won. Whichever team collected more tricks scores one point for each odd trick (each trick collected in excess of six).
Play of a low bid hand
A low bid hand is played exactly like a high bid hand, except that the player to the left of the dealer leads to the first trick. The team that collected more tricks loses one point for each odd trick.
Ending the game
After each hand is played, the deal passes to the left, and new hands are dealt. Game play continues until one partnership scores thirteen or more points. That team wins the game.
California Jack
California Jack is a trick-taking game for two players. It plays pretty similarly to All Fours, which it descends from. Unlike most games, though, the stock is kept face up. This allows each player to see what’s coming up on future draws, and lets them keep track of what’s in their opponent’s hand!
Object of California Jack
The object of California Jack is to be the first player to reach a score of ten points. Players score points by capturing certain trumps and the most card points overall on a hand.
Setup
California Jack uses a standard 52-card pack of playing cards. The choice is yours as to what kind to use, but we of course endorse playing with Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards.
Shuffle and deal six cards to each player. Then, place the stub face up in the center of the table, forming the stock. The suit of the top card of the stock becomes the trump suit for the hand.
Game play
The non-dealer leads to the first trick. They may lead any card they wish. The dealer must either follow suit or trump. Only if they have neither a card of the suit led or the trump suit are they free to play a card of any other suit.
The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, unless someone played a trump to it, in which case the highest trump takes the trick. The winner of the trick puts the two cards in a won-tricks pile in front of them, then draws the top card of the stock. The player who didn’t win the trick then draws the next card. The winner of each trick leads to the next one.
Players should keep an eye on what the next card of the stock is going to be. Many times, whether a player wants this card or not will determine how seriously they contest the trick. Additionally, as the hand goes on, a player with a good memory can keep track of the exact contents of their opponent’s hand.
After the stock is exhausted, the players simply play out the last six tricks without drawing.
Scoring
After the hand ends, the appropriate players score the following four points, in order:
- High—capturing the ace of trumps,
- Low—capturing the 2 of trumps,
- Jack—capturing the jack of trumps,
- Game—accruing the highest total of cards captured during the hand, scoring as follows: ten for each 10, four for each ace, three for each king, two for each queen, and one for each jack. 9s and below do not count toward the game score. If two players tie for game, the point is not scored.
After scoring the hands, the non-dealer from the hand just played deals new hands. Game play continues until one player reaches ten points. When a player scores their tenth point, scoring stops immediately. That player wins; the remaining points for that hand do not count.
Couillon
Couillon is a Belgian trick-taking game for four players in partnerships. In Couillon, players try to collect the most points by capturing high-ranking cards in tricks. At the beginning of the hand, the players get the opportunity to select a trump suit. If they do, they risk incurring a penalty if they fail to capture as many points as their opponents. Several variations of the game are played throughout the Low Countries.
Object of Couillon
The object of Couillon is to collect the most points by winning tricks.
Setup
Couillon is played with a 32-card deck. Starting with a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, remove all of the 6s through 2s. You’ll be left with a deck that has ace through 7 in each of the four suits.
You also need something to keep score with, preferably something that erases easily. A small chalkboard or dry erase board is ideal. Draw a vertical line in the middle of the board, with five horizontal lines crossing it, as shown at the right. Label each half of the board as belonging to one of the two teams.
Determine partners by any agreed-upon method, such as high card draw or even just mutual agreement. Partners should be seated across from each other, so that as the turn passes around the table, players of alternating partnerships will be taking their turns.
Shuffle and deal four cards to each player, two at a time. Place the eight-card stub in the center of the table. Then, turn the top card of the stub face-up. The suit of this card (referred to here as the upcard) is a potential trump suit.
Game play
Determining trumps
The first order of business is to decide on what the trump suit is. The player to the left of the dealer may either accept the suit of the upcard as trump or decline it. If they choose not to accept it, the turn passes to the left, and the dealer’s partner then has the right to accept or decline it.
If all four players reject the upcard as the trump suit, turn up the bottom card of the stub. This suit then becomes the trump suit.
Play of the hand
The player to the dealer’s left leads to the first trick. Each player in turn, going clockwise, contributes one card to the trick. A player may play a trump to any trick. If they do not have or don’t want to play a trump, they must play a card of suit led, if able. Only if they have no cards of the suit led may they play any non-trump card they wish.
The highest card of the suit led, or the highest trump if any were played, wins the trick. (Aces rank highest, and all other cards follow their usual order.) Won tricks are not added to the hand; instead, cards from won tricks are placed face-down in a pile. Both partners from a side share one pile.
Scoring
After all four tricks have been played, both teams tally the point values of the cards in their won-trick pile. Aces are worth four points, kings are worth three, queens are worth two, and jacks are worth one. Tens and nines have no point value.
Whichever team collected more points wins the hand. They erase one of the lines from their half of the board to record this. If the side that accepted trumps lost, they add a mark to one of the lines. This line now counts double; to be erased, two wins are needed (one to remove the mark, and another to remove the line).
If the partnerships scored an equal amount of points, neither team scores for the hand. Instead, the next hand with a winner counts double.
The deal passes to the left, and new hands are dealt. Game play continues until one partnership erases all of their lines. That team wins the game.
Bezique
Bezique is a two-player trick-taking game. Unlike in most trick-taking games, however, most of the tricks don’t affect the score at all! Instead, winning tricks gets you the right to form melds, which is where all the points are scored.
Bezique originated in France, probably deriving from Piquet and Sixty-Six. It reached its peak of popularity in France around 1840 or so, but spread across the English Channel and enjoyed a run of popularity in England until about the turn of the 20th century. Bezique is also the ancestor of Pinochle—in fact, its two-handed version plays nearly identically to two-handed Pinochle. Therefore, we’ve included the variant Six-Pack Bezique here. Six-Pack Bezique was said to be Winston Churchill’s favorite game, and he was well-regarded as one of the game’s earliest experts.
Object of Bezique
The object of Bezique is to score the most points by forming melds and taking the last trick of the game.
Setup
A single Bezique pack comprises 32 cards, from ace down to 7 in each of the four suits. Such a pack can be made by taking a standard 52-card deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards and removing all of the 2s through 6s. Six-Pack Bezique, as the name implies, uses six such packs, for a total of 192 cards. You’ll also need something to keep score with, such as paper and pencil.
Determine the first dealer through some random method. The dealer cuts as close to 24 cards as possible off the pack. The non-dealer estimates how many cards were cut and states their guess. The dealer then deals twelve cards to each player. If they had exactly 24 cards (exactly enough for the deal), they immediately score 250 points. If the non-dealer was exactly right in their guess, they score 150 points. The remaining cards become the stock, and are toppled over in a pseudo-fan in the center of the table to make it easier to draw from them.
Card ranking
Bezique uses the same ranking used by Sixty-Six and Pinochle. Tens rank higher than face cards, so the full ranking of cards is (high) A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7 (low).
Game play
Before any game play begins, a player holding no face cards in their hand, only number cards, may show their hand to their opponent and score 250 points for carte blanche. Thereafter, if they draw another card that is not a face card, they may show this card before putting it in their hand and score another 250 points for another carte blanche. They may do this as many times as they both continue to draw number cards and show them. When they draw a face card, or they stop revealing their draws, they may no longer score for carte blanche.
Play of the hand
The non-dealer leads to the first trick. The dealer may play any card in response to this, and is not obliged to follow suit. However, only a higher card of the suit led can win the trick.
The winner of the trick is then allowed (but is not required) to declare and/or score any valid melds, as described below. The player that won the trick then draws a card from the stock, followed by the other player. Then, the player who won the first trick leads to the second trick. Cards from past tricks are simply left in the middle of the table and take no further part in game play.
The suit of the first sequence or marriage melded becomes the trump suit. Once the trump suit has been established, any trump can defeat a lead of a non-trump suit, regardless of rank. (If a trump is led, a higher trump is still needed to defeat it, of course.)
Melds
These are the melds that are possible in Bezique:
- Class A
- Sequence— A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. In trumps, worth 250 points, in any other suit, 150 points.
- Class B
- Marriage—K-Q of the same suit. In trumps, worth 40 points, in any other suit, 20 points.
- Class C
- Any four aces—100 points.
- Any four kings—80 points.
- Any four queens—60 points.
- Any four jacks—40 points.
- Four aces of trumps—1,000 points.
- Four 10s of trumps—900 points.
- Four kings of trumps—800 points.
- Four queens of trumps—600 points.
- Four jacks of trumps—400 points.
- Class D
- Bezique—Q♠-J♦. 40 points.
- Double bezique—Two beziques, e.g. Q♠-Q♠-J♦-J♦. 500 points.
- Triple bezique—Three beziques. 1,500 points.
- Quadruple bezique—Four beziques. 4,500 points.
Melding is done by playing any valid meld, as described in the list above, face-up to the table. A player may play multiple melds to the table at once, but they may immediately score the value of only one of the melds so declared. The player may score another declared meld each time they win another trick. Melded cards are still considered part of the hand, and they can be played on later tricks. If a meld is declared but not scored, it must remain intact on the table to be scored on a subsequent trick win.
A player can reuse previously-melded cards for another meld, but only if the new meld is of another class. For example, a Q♠ cannot be moved from a bezique to a different J♦ to form another bezique (both Class D). It could, however, be moved to form a marriage (Class B) with a K♠. There are two exceptions. One is when an existing meld is augmented with more cards: a player may play Q♠-J♦ to score a 40-point bezique, then, on a later turn, add another Q♠-J♦ to score 500 more points for a double bezique. A player may also break up a meld by playing one card to a trick, and then restore it with a card from the hand to score again for that type of meld.
When the stock is depleted
Once the last two cards of the stock have been drawn, no more melds can be made. Each player picks up all of their melds from the table, which should restore their hand to twelve cards. The final twelve tricks are then played. The second person to play to each trick must now follow suit if able. They must also win the trick if able to do so.
The player that wins the last trick scores 250 points for doing so.
Ending the game
After the hand ends, the final scores are tallied. The player with the higher score earns an additional 1,000 points for winning the game. However, if the loser failed to score at least 3,000 points (an act which is known as crossing the Rubicon), regardless of whether the winner did the same, the winner also scores a bonus equal to the loser’s score. For example, if a player won 3,500 to 2,800, the winning player’s final score would be 3,500 + 1,000 + 2,800, or 7,300 points.
Ribs
Ribs is an interesting mash-up of a trick-taking game for four to ten people. While most of the usual aspects of a trick-taking game are there, nearly all of them are modified in one unique way or another. Players bid to determine a target score to reach—at the beginning of every trick. Each person plays two cards to each trick. It’s not a given that a player will win the entire trick—very often, it’s a split decision, with one player winning some cards and losing others!
Object of Ribs
The object of Ribs is to capture the most point-scoring cards over the course of a hand.
Setup
The game is played with a deck that varies in size based on the number of people playing. Each suit extends from ace to 7 inclusive (6s and below are discarded). One full suit is included for each person playing. Since each suit contains eight cards, the deck will always have eight cards for each player. More than four players will require using multiple decks. It’s all right if some suits appear twice and others don’t. If you decide on the thematically appropriate choice of eating ribs while playing Ribs, we highly recommend using Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, since they’re washable.
Shuffle and deal eight cards to each player, exhausting the entire deck.
Game play
The cards rank in their usual order, with aces high. Although they are the highest ranked card, aces have no value for scoring. Face cards are worth two points each, and number cards are worth one point each. There is a total of ten points available per player on each hand. Suits are wholly irrelevant to the game—there is no requirement to follow suit.
Bidding
Unlike most trick-taking games involving bidding, a new round of bidding occurs before each trick. On the first trick, bidding begins with the dealer. They must make an opening bid of at least two points. The next player to the left may either pass or raise the bid by one point (multiple-point raises are not allowed). Once a player has passed, they may not bid again for this trick. Bidding continues until all players but one have passed.
On the second and subsequent tricks, bidding begins with the high bidder from the previous trick rather than the dealer.
Play of the trick
The high bidder selects two cards from their hand and plays them face-down in front of them. These cards are called the ribs. The next player to the left then plays any two cards from their hand, face up. There is no need to follow suit or follow any other restriction in playing. This continues on around until every player has played two cards to the trick.
Once per hand, a player may fold by playing their cards face-down to the trick. These cards are not in contention for taking the trick, but cannot be won by any player. When everyone has played to the trick, folded cards are simply discarded to the discard pile without being revealed. Once a player has folded, they may not do so again for the rest of the hand.
After all players have contributed to the trick, the high bidder turns the ribs face up (this must always be done, even if the player knows they haven’t made the bid). They are then compared to all of the other face-up cards. If anyone played a pair of cards that matches the ribs exactly in rank, e.g. Q-7 against Q-7, they are said to have been cracked. The player who cracked the ribs immediately captures all of the face-up cards on the table, including the ribs, and places them in their captured-cards pile.
If nobody cracks the ribs, they are compared to each pair of cards in turn. The following rules are applied:
- If both of the cards on the table are higher than the ribs, those cards defeat the ribs. The person that played those two cards captures them.
- If the ribs match just one of the cards on the table, the ribs defeat the cards played. This applies even if the other card is higher than the ribs. For example, if the ribs are J-9 and the cards on the table are A-J, the ribs win, because the jacks match.
- If the ribs outrank both of the cards on the table, the ribs defeat the other cards played.
This continues, with the ribs being compared against each player’s cards in turn. When players defeat the ribs, they take their cards off the table and put them in their won-cards pile.
Eventually, the only thing left on the table will be the defeated cards. The value of these cards (not including the ribs) is totaled and compared to the high bid for the trick. If the points on the table are greater than or equal to the amount of the bid, the high bidder captures all of them and the ribs. If the total is less than the amount of the bid, then the ribs are discarded, each of the high bidder’s opponents capture their own cards, and the high bidder captures nothing. Bidding then begins for the next trick.
Scoring and ending the game
After four tricks, each player will have played all eight of their cards. Each player then totals the values of the cards in their won-cards pile. Whoever has the highest score wins the hand.
The deal passes to the left, and the next hand is dealt. Game play continues until one player wins an agreed-upon number of hands (such as five). That player wins the entire game.
Mighty
Mighty is a trick-taking game for five players. While not strictly a partnership game, the player that wins the bidding round has the option of selecting a partner. Unusually, though, which player is the partner remains unknown to everyone but the person selected—even the player that selected them!
Mighty originates from South Korea, having been invented there by college students in the 1970s. It is still mostly played there, especially by students, but it has spread to other countries as well.
Object of Mighty
The object of Mighty is to score points by capturing tricks containing 10s and higher.
Setup
Mighty uses a standard 52-card deck to which one joker has been added. We highly recommend using Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards. This is partly because we sell them, but mostly because they have a cool dragon on one of the jokers. You’ll also need something to keep score with. You can use pencil and paper or chips (which may or may not represent real money) for that.
Shuffle and deal ten cards to each player, then a three-card widow. Traditionally, this is done by dealing one card to each player, then a batch of two cards to each player, then a batch of three, then a batch of four. The three remaining cards become the widow.
Game play
In Mighty, the cards mostly rank in their usual order, with aces high. The only cards worth any points are the aces, kings, queens, jacks, and 10s. This means there are 20 points available in any given hand.
Additionally, three cards have special powers:
- The mighty—The A♠, unless spades are trump, in which case the A♦ is the mighty. The mighty always takes the trick.
- The joker—The second-highest card. It can only be beaten by the mighty, unless the ripper is played.
- The ripper—The 3♣, unless clubs are trump, in which case the 3♠ is the ripper. If the ripper is led, if any other player holds the joker, they must play it to that trick. The joker then has no value and cannot win the trick.
Bidding
Bidding starts with the dealer on the first hand. A bid consists of a target number of points and either a suit or “no trump”. A no trump bid is considered higher than a trump bid, but the suits have no relative value to one another. A player may also pass, but is out of the bidding for this hand.
After the dealer has bid, the next player to their left bids higher or passes. This continues for as many rounds as it takes until all the players but one have passed. That player becomes the declarer, and their bid becomes their contract.
The exchange
By winning the bid, the declarer has the right to exchange cards with the widow. They take the three widow cards into their hand, then discard three cards from their hand face down. Any point cards discarded to the widow will count for the declarer at the end of the hand.
After exchanging cards, the declarer announces the trump suit. By default, this will be the suit stated in their bid. If they wish to change the trump suit from this (usually due to an unexpected find in the widow), they may do so, but this will increase their contract by two points. If a player changes from a no trump to a suited contract, this will also increase the contract by two points. Going from a suited contract to a no trump contract only increases the contract by one point.
A player may not increase their contract without changing suits.
Calling a partner
Before actual play begins, the declarer may announce any of the 53 cards in the deck. The player holding this card becomes the declarer’s partner. This player will share in one third of the declarer’s win or loss for the hand. The partner does not reveal themselves at this time.
If the declarer wishes to play without a partner, they may simply declare “No partner”. More deviously, they may name a card in their own hand, or even more sneakily, in the discards.
If a player bid 20 no trump, the maximum possible bid, they may also state a suit that it would be helpful for their partner to lead.
Play of the hand
The declarer leads to the first trick. Neither the mighty nor the joker can be led to the first trick, but they can be led to subsequent tricks. Each player in turn must play a card to the trick, following suit if able; if they cannot, they may play any card. The trick is won by the player who played the highest-ranked card, in the following order: the mighty, followed by the joker, then the highest trump played, and finally the highest card played of the suit led.
The cards in the trick are not added to the player’s hand. Instead, any point cards won by the defenders are placed face up in front of the player that won them. All other cards (non-scoring cards, point cards won by the declarer) are placed face down in a discard pile in front of the declarer.
The mighty can always be played (except as a lead to the first trick), whether or not it would be considered following suit. When led to a trick, other players still have to play whichever suit the mighty belongs to. If the mighty is the only card you have in its suit and that suit is led, you have to play it in order to follow suit.
The joker cannot be led to either the first or last tricks. On the second through ninth tricks, it can be led, and the person playing it declares which suit everyone else has to play in order to follow suit.
The identity of the declarer’s partner remains secret until one of two things happens. When they play the card that was called, this obviously reveals who the partner is. Also, when the partner wins a trick that contains a scoring card, they may reveal themselves as the partner (but are not compelled to). When the partner’s identity becomes known, any cards in front of them are added to the declarer’s discard pile.
Scoring
The hand ends when all ten tricks have been played (and every player is therefore out of cards). The point cards won by the defender are counted. This total is then subtracted from 20 to determine the number of points won by the declarer and their partner. If this number is greater than or equal to the contract, the declarer has successfully made their contract.
In Mighty, whenever a score is recorded for the declarer, an equal but opposite amount is scored to the defenders to balance it. The total of all scores recorded on a hand must equal zero, as described below.
If the contract was fulfilled, the defenders each lose one point for each point bid beyond twelve. The declarer scores two points, and the partner scores one point, for each point bid beyond twelve. For example, with a made contract of seventeen points, there are five points bid beyond twelve. The declarer scores 5 × 2 = 10 points. The declarer’s partner scores 5 points. Each defender scores −5. The three defenders scored −15 between the three of them, and the declarer and their partner scored 15 between the two of them, so the scores balance.
If the contract was not fulfilled, it is scored the same way, except the declarers lose points and the defenders gain them. For a broken contract of fourteen points, the defenders would each score two points. The declarer would lose four points and their partner two. The scores balance (2 + 2 + 2 = 4 + 2).
If the declarer played without a partner, the declarer scores double, scoring or losing four points for each point bid above twelve. This works out, of course, because with no partner there are four defenders instead of three, so the scores still balance.
A special scoring rule applies if either side collects a large number of points. If the declarer captures all 20 point-scoring cards, it is called a run. If the defenders capture eleven or more point cards, this is a back run. Should either of these happen, all point scores for the hand are doubled.
After the hand is scored, the deal passes to the declarer’s partner. On every hand other than the first, the declarer of the previous hand gets the first bid. Game play continues until any predetermined stopping point (such as a certain time or number of hands played).
Pitch
Pitch (also known as Setback) is a trick-taking game played in the United States. In the Midwest and central parts of the United States, it is most commonly played as a partnership game. On the coasts, Pitch is more frequently played as a cutthroat, every-player-for-themselves game, often for money. The four-player partnership game is described here.
Pitch is essentially an American adaptation of the old English pub game All Fours. Pitch uses a more conventional bidding system to fix the trump suit, rather than the more complicated procedure found in All Fours.
Object of Pitch
The object of Pitch is to be the first team to score 21 or more points by successfully fulfilling bids.
Setup
Pitch is played with a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. Because you need a deck of cards that can stand up to whatever you throw at it, make sure you always use Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards.
Partnerships may be determined by any agreed-upon method, including mutual agreement or any sort of random process. Partners should sit across from each other, so as play proceeds clockwise, each player’s turn is followed by one of their opponents’ turns.
Shuffle and deal six cards to each player, in two batches of three. The stub is set aside and is not used for the rest of the hand.
Game play
Game play in Pitch revolves around scoring points for the following achievements:
- High—playing the highest trump in play during the hand,
- Low—capturing the lowest trump in play during the hand,
- Jack—capturing the jack of trumps,
- Game—accruing the highest total of cards captured during the hand, scoring as follows: ten for each 10, four for each ace, three for each king, two for each queen, and one for each jack. 9s and below do not count toward the game score. If the teams tie for game, the point is not scored.
Because not all of the cards are dealt on each hand, the trump scoring for High is not necessarily the ace, and the trump scoring for Low is not necessarily the two. Likewise, the point for Jack sometimes goes unscored, since the jack of trumps is not always in play.
Bidding
The right to choose the trump suit is given to the player who makes the highest bid. Available bids in Pitch are two, three, four, and smudge. The first three of these bids represents a commitment to score at least that many points on the following hand. A bid of smudge, the highest bid, is a bid to score four points plus all the tricks. However, by bidding four or smudge, you may unknowingly get yourself into a situation where it is impossible to make your bid. The jack of trumps is not always dealt, and in hands where this is the case, the point for Jack is not scored, meaning the most you can score is three. Even if you take all six tricks, you will not make your contract.
Bidding begins with the player to the dealer’s left. They may either bid or pass. Bidding continues clockwise, with each player passing or making a higher bid than the players before them. The dealer makes the last bid, and has the right to bid the same as the player before them, called stealing the bid. If every player passes, the dealer is compelled to make a bid of two, called a force bid. There is only one round of bidding; the high bid stands after the dealer makes their bid. The player making the high bid is called the pitcher.
Play of the hand
The pitcher leads to the first trick. The suit of the card they lead off with becomes the trump suit. Each other player plays to the trick in turn, proceeding clockwise. Each player must follow suit, unless they are unable, in which case they may play any card. Additionally, playing a trump is always allowed, even if the player could follow suit. The player who plays the highest card of the suit led (aces rank high) collects the trick, unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump played wins the trick. Collected tricks are not added to the player’s hand, but rather a score pile shared with their partner. The winner of each trick leads to the next one.
Ending the hand
When all six tricks have been played, the hands are scored. If the pitcher’s team makes at least as many points (as described above) as they bid, they score one point for each point made. When a bid of smudge is made, the pitcher’s team scores five points (the four points they scored, plus one for the smudge). If the pitcher’s team failed to make their bid, they are said to have been set. They are set back the amount of their bid instead, i.e., the value of their bid is deducted from their score. Regardless of if the pitcher’s team makes their bid or not, their opponents always score the number of points they made.
The deal passes to the left, the cards are shuffled, and new hands are dealt. Game play continues until a partnership reaches a score of 21 or more after having successfully made their bid. Note that it’s possible for a team to score above 21 while not being the high bidders. In this case, the team must remain above 21 points and successfully make a bid before they can win. (In some cases, the winning team may even have a lower score than their opponents, simply because they made a winning bid and crossed 21 before their opponents, already over 21, could.)
See also
Pitch is one of those games with lots of variations—tell us how you like to play in the comments!
Twenty-Nine
Twenty-Nine is a game that is played in South Asia, predominately in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. A trick taking game for four players in partnerships, Twenty-Nine is unique in that the trump suit remains concealed from the time it’s decided to the first time it becomes relevant.
The game is one of a family of trick-taking games played throughout the Indian subcontinent where the jack and 9 are the two highest cards in each suit. Most likely, these are descendants of the European Jass family of games (which Klaberjass is a part of), which use the same card ranking. One of the Jass games was probably exported to the region by the Dutch, which in turn spawned the South Asian family of jack-9 games.
Twenty-Nine is yet another game we’re writing about that has a numerical title; we’ve also posted the rules to 13, 28, 51, 99, and 500.
Object of Twenty-Nine
The object of Twenty-Nine is to be the first partnership to score six victory points. Teams score victory points by successfully fulfilling contracts, which is done by taking at least the number of card points bid.
Setup
Twenty-Nine is played with a 32-card deck. Starting with a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, remove all of the 2s through 6s, leaving 7 through ace in each of the four suits.
The cards removed from the deck are traditionally used for scorekeeping and declaring trumps. Each side receives one black 6 and one red 6, which are used to indicate positive and negative points respectively. To indicate positive points, the red 6 is turned face-down and overlaps the black 6 in such a way that the number of pips visible equal the number of victory points the team has scored. Each player also receives one card of each suit for declaring which suit will be the trump suit.
The players divide into two partnerships, either by mutual agreement or through some random method. Partners should sit across from one another, such that each player’s opponents are sitting to their left and right.
Shuffle and deal four cards to each player. Place the deck stub in the center of the table; it will be used after the bidding round.
Card ranking
As mentioned above, the two highest cards in each suit are the jack and 9. The 10 also ranks out of the typical order, raking above the king. The full rank of cards in Twenty-Nine is (high) J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7 (low).
For the purposes of determining the value of tricks taken, the cards score as follows: jacks score three points, 9s score two, aces and 10s score one. The other cards do not have any value at all.
The astute reader will notice that there are seven card points in each suit, or 28 altogether. The name of the game Twenty-Nine, derives from the 28 card points plus one extra point that was formerly awarded for taking the last trick. Even though scoring this twenty-ninth point has fallen out of favor, the name Twenty-Nine has stuck.
Game play
Choosing the trump suit
Before actual game play begins, there is a bidding round where the players vie for the right to name the trump suit. The player to the dealer’s left bids first, naming any number of points between 15 and 28. This bid is a commitment for that player’s partnership to take at least that many points if they win the bidding. If a player doesn’t wish to bid, they may pass. The next player to the left may then either bid (higher than the first bid, if any) or pass. This continues on around the table until all players have passed but one. That player wins the bidding. If the first three players pass, the dealer is compelled to make a bid of fifteen, and bidding immediately ceases.
The high bidder selects one of the four suits to be the trump suit. To indicate this, they place one of the out-of-play cards of the corresponding suit face-down in the middle of the table. The high bidder and their partner become the declarers, while their opponents become the defenders. The winning bid becomes the declarers’ contract. The dealer then deals the remainder of the deck out, giving an additional four cards to each player.
Play of the hand
The player to the dealer’s left leads to the first trick, with each player to the left playing in turn. Players must follow suit if able. Whoever plays the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. That player collects the cards played and puts them in a face-down won-tricks pile that they share with their partner.
The first time that a player is unable to follow suit, the high bidder must turn the card they used to declare trump face up for the other players to see. From this point forward, if one or more cards of the trump suit are played to a trick, the highest trump will take the trick. A player does not have to play a trump if they don’t want to.
The king and queen of trump is a special combination called the royals. If a player holds both of these cards, and the trump suit has been revealed, they may reveal the two cards immediately after their partnership wins a trick. If the declarers hold the royals, it reduces the value of their contract by four points. If they are shown by the defenders, it increases the declarers’ contract by four points. Note that both the king and queen must be in the player’s hand at the same time. If one or both of the cards have been played to a trick (most likely because trump hadn’t been revealed yet), they cannot be scored as the royals. The royals cannot reduce the contract below 15 points or increase it above 28.
Scoring
The hand ends after the eighth trick has been played. The declarers count the number of points taken in tricks. If they successfully fulfilled their contract, they score one victory point. If they did not, they lose one victory point.
Game play continues until one team has scored six victory points. That team is the winner. On the other hand, it is possible for a team to reach −6 points; a team that does so loses.
