Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (54 page)

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

28 is hugely popular in India, especially in Kerala, and yet is almost completely unknown anywhere else. This is a shame, because it’s one of the few trump-based partnership games where the trump suit is not exposed immediately.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all 2s through 6s, for a total of thirty-two cards. Deal four cards to each player in a counterclockwise direction. In each suit, cards rank (high to low): J-9-A-10-K-Q-8-7.

SCORING
Teams compete to be the first to score 15 total points. Points are awarded whether you succeed or fail to make a bid:

Bids of 19 or less, score 1 point if successful or -2 points for failing

Bids of 20 to 24, score 2 points if successful or -3 points for failing

Bids 25 or more, score 3 points if successful or -4 points for failing

HOW TO PLAY
The player to the right of the dealer opens the bidding. The minimum bid is 14 points, and bidding continues until three players in a row pass. You’re bidding on how many total points your team thinks it will capture in tricks, based on the following card values: jacks, 3 points each; 9s, 2 points each; aces and 10s, 1 point each. In each hand, 28 total points are at stake, and so the maximum team bid is 28 points.

The bid winner nominates a trump suit by placing one card (of the proposed trump) face down on the table. The card is not shown to any other player until later in the game. The dealer then gives each player four more cards (for a total of eight). At this point the bid winner (or his partner) may increase his bid to a minimum of 24 or higher.

The player to the left of the dealer leads. All other players must follow suit if possible. The trick is won by the highest card in the leading suit, and the trick winner leads the next trick. The bid winner is not allowed to lead
trump (the suit of which only he knows) unless he has no other cards in his hand.

If you cannot follow suit, you have two options: play a card from any other suit to the trick (and lose the trick), or, before playing a card, call for the trump suit to be exposed. In this case, the bid winner must expose the trump card, and the card is then added to the bid winner’s hand. You must now play trump to the trick (if you have trump), or play a card from any other suit.

Once the trump suit is exposed, tricks are won by the highest trump or, if none, by the highest card in the leading suit. Players must still follow suit if possible, or play any other card (including trump). Trump, however, is not retroactive—any trump cards played prior to the exposure of the trump suit are given no special status.

If nobody calls for the trump to be exposed during the first seven tricks, the bid winner is required to expose trump in the last trick and then immediately to play it, since this is his last remaining card. Scores are tallied when all eight tricks are played. The deal rotates to the right.

VARIATION: THREE-PLAYER 28

The three-player version of 28 follows the same rules as the basic game, except the thirty-two-card deck is reduced to twenty-four cards total (remove the 7s and 8s), and the minimum opening bid is 12 points (not 14). In each hand, the bid winner plays alone against the other two players.

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

In Lebanon, 400 is the most common trick-taking game played. In some ways, the game is a mirror image of Spades, featuring a permanent trump suit (hearts in this case) and a single round of bidding. 400 has none of the complexity of Bridge or similar partner-based bidding games. For some players, this is a plus.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal thirteen cards to each player in batches of 1-2-2-2-2-2-2. Card rankings are standard, with aces always high.

SCORING
Scores are tracked for each individual player, even though 400 is a partnership game. The bid winner, if successful, earns the amount of her bid. A bid of 6, for example, scores 6 points; a bid of 8 scores 16 points (
bids above seven are doubled
). The converse is also true. If you fail to make a bid, subtract the bid amount from your game score.

In order to win the game, a member of either team must score 41 total points,
and
her partner’s score may not be negative. Otherwise, the game continues. If both teams earn 41 points or more in the same hand, the higher score wins.

HOW TO PLAY
Hearts are the permanent trump suit. Once all cards are dealt, bidding starts with the player to the right of the dealer and proceeds counterclockwise. Players bid only once. The minimum bid is 1, and your bid commits you to winning that number of tricks.

Bids from 1 to 6 are worth that amount; all bids 7 and above are doubled (e.g., a bid of 7 is worth 14 points). If the sum of all bids is 10 points or less, the hand is dead and new cards are dealt.

Otherwise, the player to the right of the dealer leads the first trick, and the other players must follow suit if they can. If they cannot, they may play any card including trump (permanently established in hearts). Tricks are won by the highest trump or, if none, by the highest card in the leading suit. Scores are tallied after all thirteen tricks are played, and the deal rotates counterclockwise.

VARIATION: CUTTHROAT 400

The cutthroat element comes from modified bidding rules. All other rules are identical to the main game. Bids from 1 to 4 are worth their face value; bids 5 and above are worth double points. Players must bid a minimum of 3 (not 1) with scores between 30 and 39 points; a minimum of 4 with scores between 40 and 49 points (above 41 points, your partner must have a negative score, thus preventing your team from winning).

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   low
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Alkort is an ancient Icelandic game, with roots at least into the early eighteenth century. It remains popular in Iceland, though nowadays a small wager is typically added between the teams (say, $1 per game) in order to enliven an otherwise straightforward trick-taking game.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all 10s and 5s, leaving forty-four cards total. Deal nine cards to each player in batches of three. The eight remaining cards are the stock.

Card rankings are always (high to low) K of diamonds-2 of hearts-4 of clubs-8 of spades-9 of hearts-9 of diamonds, followed by aces, jacks, 6s, and the remaining 8s. All other cards have no ranking. If you lead with a non-ranking card, however, you will win the trick if only other non-ranking cards are played. The one exception is 7s; these
always
win when leading a trick, otherwise they are considered non-ranking.