Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (37 page)

Since one point is awarded to the player who captures the majority of spades, take every opportunity to capture (or to build and capture) spades, at least until a majority are won. Unless you are supremely confident, do not build with high-value cards such as aces or the Big and Little Casinos. Capture these cards straight away, or risk your opponent swooping in and robbing you of your build.

Similarly, avoid complex build-and-pairing combinations early in the game, unless you are certain your opponent does not possess the cards necessary to capture them. Since face cards may be played and captured only in sets of two, it’s a good defensive maneuver to hold a face card late in the game. Use it either to capture the last trick (thereby winning any unclaimed table cards) or to throw yourself an easy win and the right to lead the subsequent trick (owning the lead late in the game is often very handy).

IRREGULARITIES & DISPUTES
If the dealer exposes a card when dealing to himself or to an opponent, the non-dealer has the right to instantly end the
hand and score the offending dealer -1 point. The non-dealer will also automatically deal the next hand. If the non-dealer decides to continue play, the misdealt card (or cards) is put back into the deck and the entire deck is reshuffled. No other penalties apply.

If the misdeal results in one player having too few cards or in the stock having too few cards at the end of the hand, the offending dealer scores -1 point and the affected player plays on with a short hand. If the misdeal leaves a player with too many cards, the offending dealer scores -1 point, the excess cards are added face up to the table, and the game continues. On the very next deal, the dealer must also short his hand by the number of cards dealt in excess.

If a player uses a card to incorrectly capture another card (for example, incorrectly pairing 9 of diamonds on the table with 6 of diamonds from the hand), the offending card must be trailed immediately. If a player makes a build that on her next turn she cannot win, the opponent scores 1 point. The build remains on the table and may still be won by either player.

VARIATION 1: DRAW CASINO

This straightforward variation of the standard two-player game is more of a novelty. That said, in China it is the most popular version of the game played today. There is only one round of dealing: four cards to each player and four cards to the table. The remaining stock cards are placed on the table. In all subsequent rounds, players draw one card from the stock after their turn, so they always maintain a four-card hand. In all other respects, the game is identical to the standard version.

VARIATION 2: ROYAL CASINO

Once you’ve mastered the basic game, give Royal Casino a try. It plays exactly like standard Casino, except that face cards now have point values, which greatly expands your building and pairing opportunities.

Face cards have the following values when combining and building them: kings are 13, queens 12, jacks 11. Aces are now worth either 1 (as in the
standard game) or 14, determined at the discretion of the players. Set aside the rules against using face cards in builds and multi-card pairing. In Royal Casino, you may use a queen in your hand to capture two or more queens on the table. You also may use a queen (with a face value of 12) in your hand to combine with 10 of diamonds, 2 of clubs on the table, or to combine with 9 of hearts, 2 of diamonds, A of spades (playing A of spades as 1 point). Alternatively, you may combine A of spades in your hand with Q of clubs, 2 of hearts on the table (playing A of spades as 14 points).

VARIATION 3: SPADE CASINO

Here’s another good way to add zing to a standard Casino game. The idea is to make spades more valuable, which increases the risks for players who use spades in builds and combinations.

All spades are worth 1 point when tallying scores, except for J of spades (worth 2 points), and the Little Casino (2 of spades, worth 2 points). The Big Casino (10 of diamonds) is now worth 3 points. Players still earn 1 point for capturing a majority of spades. In each hand there are 26 total points at stake (not counting points for sweeps). Games of Spade Casino are typically played to 61 points.

VARIATION 4: THREE-HAND CASINO

Compelling three-player games are hard to come by, and it’s a shame that Three-Hand Casino is not more widely played. The game has plenty to recommend it, especially if your threesome is looking for a game that balances skill, strategy, and cutthroat play. Who knows, maybe Three-Hand Casino is due for a comeback.

There are no partnerships. Instead, each player vies against the other two to score the greatest number of points. The rules are exactly like the standard two-player game, the only difference being that a hand ends after four rounds instead of the standard six, due to the greater number of cards in play (sixteen in the first round, twelve in each of the three subsequent rounds).

The player to the left of the dealer always plays first, and the deal rotates clockwise after each hand. Games of Three-Hand Casino are typically played to 15 points (short game) or 21 points (standard game).

VARIATION 5: FOUR-HAND CASINO

Four-Hand Casino is usually played when four die-hard Casino players gather and nobody is willing to sit out for a game. Skip ahead to Contract Bridge, Four-Hand Bezique, or Partnership Klaberjass if you crave more action.

Choose teams by dealing out the cards; the first two players to draw aces are partners, and they sit opposite each other. The game is played exactly like the standard two-player game, the only difference being that a hand ends after three rounds instead of the standard six, due to the number of cards in play (twenty in the first round, sixteen in each of the two subsequent rounds).

The first player to capture a card collects all the cards for that team. At the end of each hand, the cards and points of each partnership are pooled, and scores are awarded accordingly. There’s not much intrateam strategy in the game. Players can try to create builds for their partner to capture, but since table talk is not allowed, this is not an easy thing to pull off.

VARIATION 6: SCOPA

Naysayers may argue that Scopa is not a variation of Casino but a stand-alone game in its own right. Scopa and Casino are very similar, the main differences being the deck (forty cards instead of fifty-two), scoring values, and the fact that some elements of Casino (primarily building) are not allowed.

Scopa may be played by two or three players. Start with a standard fifty- two-card deck, and remove all 8s, 9s and 10s, for a total of 40 cards. When combining cards, the following values are used: numbered cards are worth their face value, aces are worth 1, kings 10, queens 9, jacks 8.

All players start with three cards (not the usual four), with four cards on the table. When players empty their hands of cards, three additional cards are dealt to each player until the stock is exhausted.

SCORING
The goal of Scopa is the same as in Casino, namely to capture cards from the table and thereby earn points:

As in standard Casino, 1 point is awarded for a sweep (capturing all the cards on the table in a single turn).

Scopa also has a unique scoring feature called
Primiera,
earned by the player who has the most points after adding up their highest-value cards in each of the four suits. Primiera scores are calculated at the end of each hand on the following basis: 10 points for face cards, 12 points for 2s, 13 points for 3s, 14 points for 4s, 15 points for 5s, 16 points for aces, 18 points for 6s, 21 points for 7s. To determine who wins the Primiera point, each player adds together the scores of their single highest card in each suit. For example, player one’s highest-value cards in each suit are 7 of diamonds, A of hearts, 5 of clubs, J of spades; player two holds 6 of diamonds, J of hearts, 4 of spades, 6 of clubs; player three has 7 of hearts, 7 of clubs, Q of diamonds. Player three is immediately disqualified because only three suits are represented (this example assumes player three has won no spades). Player two scores 60. And player one scores 62, thereby winning the 1 Primiera point. No Primiera point is scored if there is a tie.

Scopa is won by the first player to score 11 game points. As in Casino, it is allowed to “call out” early, with identical penalties for making a false claim.

HOW TO PLAY
Scopa is played identically to Casino, with the following exceptions. You may capture only a single combination per turn, not multiple combinations. So if the table cards are 5 of hearts, 5 of diamonds, 6 of clubs, 4 of spades, a king captures either the 5 of hearts-5 of diamonds combination or the 6 of clubs-4 of spades combination, but not both.

Similarly, your 7 of hearts may capture either 4 of hearts-3 of diamonds or pair with the 7 of diamonds, but you may not do both in the same turn. In fact, in this example you are forced to capture the pair rather than the combination—in Scopa, if you have both a pair and a combination available, you must always choose the pair.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   medium
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   medium
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Cribbage requires skill, a healthy dose of strategy, and a pinch or two of luck—a heady brew that can sustain the interest of card players for hours on end. The game takes a few hands to master. But don’t let this put you off. Cribbage is a superb two-player game.

One important element of the game is the board. Cribbage boards are typically made of wood and have small pegs that simplify score tracking. A Cribbage board is not required, but it makes scoring a lot easier.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a standard fifty-two-card deck. Cards rank high to low from king down to ace. Face cards are worth 10 points, aces are worth 1, and all other cards are worth their
index value
. Deal each player six cards, one at a time and face down. No other cards are dealt.

Each player looks at her cards and then nominates two cards to place face down in the center of the table. This is the
crib
, an extra hand of four cards that always belongs to the dealer. Once the crib is established, the non-dealer cuts the deck, and the dealer turns up the top card from the lower portion of the deck. This is the
turn-up card,
which is used by both players as a fifth card in their hand. If the turn-up card is a jack, the dealer scores 1 point for His Heels (see “
Scoring
” below).

SCORING
The goal in Cribbage is to be the first player to score 121 points (in tournament play, if a player wins with 121 points before his opponent scores 61 points, a double-game score is earned). Players earn points for scoring the following combinations: