The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (198 page)

Examples:

Undealt cards If five play, the first of the two undealt cards is

turned up at the end of the first trick and is won by the first person

to play a card of its suit, or the highest if more than one play that

suit. The second card is then turned up and won in the same way.

Score Each player scores according to the method they chose. For

example, in a four-hand game, a player who finished with KT5

Q3 T982 9 would score 4 for having bid diamonds, 6 for reds, 8

for hearts, 10 for cards, 12 for spades, 12 for best, 14 for blacks, 15

for shorts, or 16 for clubs.

Game Keep playing until one or more players get fed up with it

and stop. They are designated anarchists and have 25 points

deducted from their final scores.

The bomb A Joker, representing a bomb, may be added to the

pack. One odd card is then dealt face up to the table. If it is the

Joker, the game explodes (or, at least, ends); if not, the player to

whom it is dealt is the anarchist. The anarchist may throw the

bomb to any trick. In this trick only, the bomb upsets the values of

al the other cards played, so that Deuces rank highest and Aces

lowest. The faced card is substituted for the bomb, and whoever

lowest. The faced card is substituted for the bomb, and whoever

wins it also wins the bomb. At end of play, the bomb-holder counts

it as any desired card for scoring purposes.

Variations Any of the fol owing additional announcements may be

made. They are gambling bids, being hard to predict and likely to

yield erratic scores.

uppers 3 per A, K, Q, J, T* taken in tricks

downers face value of every 5, 4, 3, 2 taken in tricks

fivers

5 times the face value of the lowest card taken

voids

25 per void (none taken of a suit)

doubles 20 for taking the same number of cards in two suits (or

30 for three suits, 40 for four suits)

* T = Twelve if the Australian ’500’ pack is used.

Minimisère

4–7 players (5 best), 21–36 cards

This snappy lit le tactical game, Jaime Poniachik tel s me, is played

in Buenos Aires on a tournament basis. Fame at last!

Cards The size of pack varies with the number of players as fol ows

(

= Joker):

players cards

ranking

four

21

A-K-Q-J-2-

five

25

A-K-Q-J-T-2-

six

30

A-K-Q-J-T-9-2-

-

seven 36

A-K-Q-J-T-9-8-7-2

Object To win three, four, or none of the five tricks played.

Alternatively, to bid and win al five.

Deal If four or seven play, deal the first card face up as the lead to

the first trick. If it is an Ace, Deuce or Joker, bury it and deal

another. Then deal five each in ones. Anyone who wishes to bid

five must do so before playing to the first trick. If two or more

players bid five, at least one of them is an idiot.

Play Eldest leads to the first trick, fol owing suit to the faced card if

any. Subsequent players must fol ow suit if possible, otherwise may

play any card. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led

and the winner of each trick leads to the next.

If a Deuce is led, it wins the trick, and the others must fol ow

suit if possible. If not led, it loses.

If a Joker is led, it wins the trick, and the others may discard

ad lib. Otherwise it may be discarded only when its holder

cannot fol ow suit, and loses.

Score Winning no trick scores 5 points, one trick = 1, two = 2,

three = 6, four = 8, five = 0 points unless bid verbal y. If anyone

bid five, they score 10 if successful, and everyone else zero. If

unsuccessful, they score zero and everyone else scores 5. Play up to

any agreed target, such as 25 or 50.

Squint

5 players,52 cards

This was deliberately designed to accommodate five players. It

borrows slightly from Skat, but is not a point-trick game and is

nowhere near as complicated as it looks at first reading.

PreliminariesDeal five players ten cards each from a 52-card pack

ranking AKQJT98765432. Deal the last two face down to the table.

These constitute the ‘squint’.

ObjectTo win tricks in one of the fol owing ways: by playing alone

against the combined ef orts of the other four (solo), by playing

with a partner against the other three (duo), or with everyone

playing for themselves (nolo). Although 10 tricks are played, the

last trick counts double, so the number of tricks is reckoned as 11

instead of 10. To remind you of this fact, the squint is placed in

front of the last trick winner in such a way as to look like an extra

trick.

BiddingHere’s how to determine which contract is played. Everyone

selects a bid-card of the suit they most favour as trump and holds it

face down on the table. When al are ready, the bid-cards are

revealed. The contract depends on the particular combination of

suits displayed, as fol ows:

The contracts are defined as fol ows:

Solo. The player showing the odd suit plays solo. As soloist,

you can either play with the suit of your bid-card as trump, in

which case your aim is to win more tricks than any other

which case your aim is to win more tricks than any other

single opponent, or you can announce a no-trump misére, in

which case your aim is to lose every trick. In either case, you

may (but need not) ‘squint’ – that is, take the squint, add it to

your hand, and make any two discards face down. If you

squint, you needn’t announce your game until you have

looked at the two odd cards. If you don’t squint, your game

value is doubled.

Duo. The two players showing the same suit are partners.

Their aim is to win at least six tricks using the suit they bid as

trump. Before play,each of them takes one card of the squint

(without revealing it) and makes any discard face down.

Nolo. There are no partnerships and no trumps. The aim is to

avoid winning tricks containing any card of the penalty suit,

which is the one that nobody bid. (Unless al five bid the

same suit – most unlikely! – in which case it is the suit they

al bid.) Before play, each in turn, starting with eldest, takes

the squint and makes any two discards face down to form the

squint for the next player. The dealer, who squints last, may

not discard from the penalty suit.

PlayEldest leads to the first trick. Players must fol ow suit if

possible, otherwise may play any card. The trick is taken by the

highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump if any are

played, and the winner of each trick leads to the next.

Score

Solointrumps.Forwinningmoretricksthananyindividualopponent,

score 5 points per trick won. If you fail, each opponent scores

5 per trick taken by whichever of them took most. Won or

lost, the score is doubled if you played without squinting.

Solomisère. Score 25, or 50 if played without squinting. This