Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (53 page)
Read Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games Online
Authors: Scott McNeely
Four-of-a-kind
, in which case they win the pot and a new hand is dealt. The highest four-of-a-kind hand wins in a
showdown
.
Four pairs,
in which case the hand is dead, all players must
re-ante
, and a new hand is dealt.
Otherwise, the game proceeds as normal, with players laying out three brag hands on the table and scoring 1 point to the winner of each. Unlike in Thirteen-Card Brag, you may play a “junk hand” (any three random cards) in this variant. The high card wins the point. A player must earn 2 points to capture the pot; otherwise the pot stays on the table, all players re-ante, and a new hand is dealt.
VARIATION 2: SIX-CARD BRAG
This is essentially the same game as Nine-Card Brag, with the following differences. High card is 6, followed by A, K, Q, J, 10, etc. All players are dealt six cards, and four-of-a-kind immediately wins the pot. Otherwise, players create two three-card brag hands and lay them on the table. A player must win (or tie) both hands in order to win the pot. The pot stays; if not, players re-ante, and a new hand is dealt.
VARIATION 3: SEVEN-CARD BRAG
Follow the rules of Six-Card Brag, and simply substitute 7 as the high card and deal seven cards to each player. With no four-of-a-kind, all players create two three-card brag hands, simply ignoring the extra card.
- DIFFICULTY
:
low - TIME LENGTH
:
short - DECKS
: 1
Tien Len, the national card game of Vietnam, shares many traits with the Chinese game Big Two. The main difference is that Tien Len is universally played for a wager—whether large or small, this game functions best when all players have something at stake.
HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal all players thirteen cards. Cards rank (high to low) 2-A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3. There also is a hierarchy of suits (high to low): of hearts, of diamonds, of clubs, of spades. Thus in Tien Len, 3 of spades is the lowest card in the deck, 2 of hearts the highest. And rank is always more important than suit (e.g., 10 of spades beats 9 of hearts).
SCORING
The object is to
avoid
being the last player holding any cards. This player loses the game and pays all the other players an agreed-upon stake (typically 25 cents).
HOW TO PLAY
In the first round, the player holding 3 of spades leads the first trick—and
must
play this card either on its own or as part of a combination,
face up in the center of the table. (In subsequent rounds, the winner of the previous round plays first and may lead with any card or card combination.) In Tien Len, the valid plays are:
SINGLE CARDS
High card wins. Higher suit wins if cards are of equal rank.
PAIRS
High pair wins. Highest suit wins if pairs are of equal rank.
TRIPLETS
High triplet wins (e.g., 2-2-2 beats K-K-K).
FOUR OF A KIND
High foursome wins.
SEQUENCES
Three or more cards in ascending sequence. Ranking is not continuous. The highest sequence is 2 of hearts-A of hearts-K of hearts. High card wins, or the high suit wins if the sequences are of equal rank.
DOUBLE SEQUENCES
Three or more pairs in unbroken sequence (e.g., 5-5-6-6-7-7). High pairs win, or the high suit wins if there’s a tie.
If you play a single card, your opponents must follow with a single card; if you play a triplet, opponents must follow only with a triplet. Players are allowed to pass and then jump back in on their following turn, as long as they can beat the cards on the table.
Play continues until three players in a row pass, at which point the trick winner sets aside the trick, face down in a single pile, and leads the next trick.
- DIFFICULTY
:
low - TIME LENGTH
:
short - DECKS
: 1
This game is easy, fun, and thoroughly addictive—Twenty Down is the perfect antidote to some of the more complicated four-person games in this collection.
HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all 2s through 6s, leaving thirty-two cards total. Card rankings are standard, with aces always high.
Deal two cards to each player. The player to the dealer’s left selects a trump suit (based on the two-card hand), and then all players receive three more cards, for a total of five.
SCORING
All players start the game with 20 points and compete to be the first player to score zero points. Points are awarded for the following:
-1 points for each trick won, or -5 points if a single player wins all the tricks
+5 points if a player stays in but wins no tricks
All points are doubled if hearts are trump
If all players but one drop out, that player scores -5 points (-10 points if hearts are trump)
If two players score zero points on the same hand, the player with the lowest negative score wins.
HOW TO PLAY
The game starts with a round of drawing. All players may (but are not required to) discard a maximum of three cards and draw replacements from the top of the deck. Next, all players must decide if they are “in” or “out” of the hand, with two caveats. If the trump suit is diamonds, all players
must
stay in. The player who selected trump must also play. The player to the left of the dealer plays the first card, and all players who are “in” try to beat it. Players must follow suit if they can, otherwise they may play a trump or, if they have no trump, any other card. Tricks are won by the highest ranking trump card, or by the highest card in the leading suit if no trumps are played.
Scores are tallied once all cards are played, and a new hand is dealt. If no winner emerges after eight hands, on the ninth hand (and in all subsequent hands) hearts are always trump and no player is allowed to drop out.
Many of the games covered in the
Ultimate Book of Card Games
have variations specifically for four players. Also take a look at the next chapter, which features four-player partnership games.
Partnership Games
DON’T BE SCARED OF PARTNERSHIP GAMES. It is true that these are games of considerable complexity and skill. And sure, some partnership games have accredited instructors, nationwide clubs, many libraries’ worth of books written about them, their own cable TV shows, and weekly columns in the newspapers. On the face of it, it’s easy to be intimidated.
But even the most complicated partnership game (that honor goes to Contract Bridge) can be conquered by first-time players without too much trouble. And once you’ve cracked open the door just a little, you’ll discover an entire world of experienced players keen to mentor novice players.
Some of you will already be familiar with mainstream partnership games such as Bridge and Canasta. Likely you’re in for a pleasant shock at the number of lesser-known—but hugely enjoyable—partnership games there are to sample: Pedro, Pinochle, Pisti, 18, Auction 45, Euchre, even Whist!