All Fours (a.k.a. Seven Up)
All Fours, also known as Seven Up, is a trick-taking game for two to seven players (although three to five is the most common, and four is probably the optimal number). All Fours is a very old game, originating in English pubs; it appears in game books as far back as The Compleat Gamester from 1674. Its rules have gradually changed over the years, but the central premise of the game—scoring points for high, low, jack, and game—has remained unchanged.
All Fours has the distinction of being the first game to use the term jack, referring to the point for collecting what was then called the knave of the trump suit. Over time, the term jack began being applied to the actual card and not just the point it awarded. By the time indices became standard on playing cards, the most junior of the court cards bore a letter “J”, and knave for a rank of playing cards was simply a linguistic curio.
Object of All Fours
The object of All Fours is to be the first player to reach a score of seven points. Players score points by capturing the highest and lowest trump in play, the jack of trumps, and the highest-value cards in play.
Setup
All Fours requires the use of one 52-card deck of playing cards. Always use Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards to make sure your cards make it through the whole game.
Shuffle and deal three cards at a time to each player. Make two passes so that each player has a hand of six cards. Turn the next card of the deck face up; this is the upcard. The deck stub is placed next to the upcard, forming the stock.
Game play
Determining the trump suit
The upcard indicates the first suit that can potentially be designated as the trump suit. This is initially up to the player at the dealer’s left, who can accept the upcard’s suit as trumps by stating “I stand.” Otherwise, they decline it by stating “Beg.” The dealer then has the opportunity to accept the upcard’s suit by saying “I give you one”—if this is done, the player to the dealer’s left scores one point. If the dealer does not wish to accept the upcard’s suit, they declare “Refuse the gift”, and a procedure called running the cards begins.
To run the cards, the dealer gives each player another batch of three cards and turns up a new upcard from the stock. If this card’s suit is the same as the previous upcard, the cards are run again. Otherwise, the new suit becomes trump. If this new upcard is a jack, the dealer scores one point. Players then discard back down to six cards, putting the discards face down into a discard pile. In the event that no new suit is turned up before the stock runs out, all cards are collected, and the same dealer deals a new hand.
Play of the hand
After the matter of determining trump has been resolved, actual game play begins. The player to the left of the dealer goes first, leading the first trick. Each player plays to the trick in turn. If able, each player follows the suit lead, unless they are unable, in which case they may play any card. Additionally, playing a trump is always acceptable. 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 separate score pile kept in front of them. The winner of the trick leads the next one.
If it determined that a player previously revoked (i.e. did not follow suit when able), the player is ineligible to score the points for Jack or Game (see below) on that hand, and all other players score one point, unless the jack of trumps is in play, in which case they score two points.
Scoring
When all six tricks have been played, the following four points are scored, in order, by the appropriate players:
- 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 two players tie for game, the point is not scored.
Due to the fact that not all cards are dealt during the 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 is not always scored, since the jack of trumps is not always in play.
After the hands are scored, new hands are dealt. Game play continues until one player scores seven points.
See also
Hearts
Hearts is a classic game for four players. Unlike most card games, Hearts works on golf rules—the player with the lowest amount of points is the winner. Winning is generally done by avoidance of certain cards that score points—namely, the hearts, after which the game is named, and also the ultimate old maid, the Queen of Spades.
Hearts received a boost in popularity in the 1990s because Microsoft included a computerized version of it in its Windows operating system.
Object of Hearts
The object of the game is to have the lowest score at the end of the game by avoiding the thirteen Hearts and the Q♠. Or, collect absolutely everything and watch your opponents suffer.
Setup
You will need scorekeeping equipment (pencil and paper, or one of several smartphone/tablet apps that do all the math for you) and a standard 52-card deck of cards. Use Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards for the full effect of the Q♠’s wrath—her role in Hearts is why her artwork on the Denexa deck depicts her with a uniquely…unpleasant expression.
Shuffle and deal out the entire deck. Each player should end up with thirteen cards.
Game play
At the beginning of the first hand, each player selects three cards and pass them to the left; they will receive three replacement cards from the right. On the second hand, cards will be passed to the right; on the third, straight across. No passing occurs on the fourth hand. The fifth hand restarts the cycle, passing to the left, and so on.
After passing has occurred, the player holding the 2♣ leads it. The next player to their left responds by playing a club, if they are able; otherwise, they may play any card except for a heart or the Q♠. The other two players follow in turn. These four cards played to the table are called a trick. After all players have played a card, the player who played the highest club collects the trick and places it into a score pile separate from their hand. The 2 is the lowest card of any suit, and the ace is the highest card.
The player that won the first trick then leads any card, except for a heart; again, all players must follow the suit led, if able. There is now no restriction on what may be played if the player cannot follow suit. After all four cards have been played, the player who played the highest card of the suit led collects the cards and gets to start the next trick, and the process repeats.
When a player who is unable to follow suit plays a heart, hearts are said to have been broken. Hearts can then be led to subsequent tricks.
Scoring
After the thirteenth trick, all players will have exhausted their hand. Each player looks through their score pile and adds up their score, as follows:
- The thirteen hearts: one point each.
- The Q♠: thirteen points.
In the uncommon event that one player has managed to score all thirteen hearts and the Q♠—an act known as shooting the moon—rather than scoring 26 points, they score zero for the hand, and all three of their opponents score 26!
The deal passes to the left, the cards are shuffled, and a new hand is dealt. Game play continues until one player exceeds 100 points; the player with the lowest score at that point is the winner.
Variations
The Jack of Diamonds variant of Hearts, also known as Omnibus Hearts, adds a fifteenth point card to the game, the J♦. Unlike the other scoring cards, however, the J♦ is not a penalty; it is a bonus, worth −10 points. Like all other scoring cards, however, it cannot be played on the first trick of a hand, and it must be collected in order to successfully shoot the moon.
Some groups allow a player to opt to score −26, rather than forcing their opponents to score 26, when shooting the moon. This avoids some unfortunate scenarios where a player shoots the moon, forcing an opponent over 100 and ending the game, but causing the shooter to lose to a player that still has a lower score after the 26 points are accounted for.
See also
