Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (66 page)

The next player follows with 2s, the next with 3s, etc., all the while increasing the number of cards in the discard pile. After kings are played, the next player starts again with aces, and the cycle is repeated.

At any point, a player may call “bullshit!” This is a less polite way of saying, “Pardon me, I have grave doubts that the cards just played match what you have declared.” When bullshit is called, the cards in question are turned face up and one of two things happens.

If the challenge is fair and the cards are not what they were declared to be, the person who played the cards must pick up the entire discard pile. If the challenge is scurrilous and the cards are exactly as declared, the accuser must pick up the entire discard pile.

After a challenge, the next player in rotation picks up the game where it left off.

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

Busca is played in small towns and big cities across Italy. The game feels like a precursor to Hearts (substitute “cappotto” for “shooting the moon”) and, like Hearts, makes an excellent three- or four-person game.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
3 to 5

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all 8s through 10s, leaving forty cards total. Cards rank (high to low) 3, 2, A, K, Q, J, 7, 6, 5, 4.

Deal cards in a counterclockwise direction to all players, face down, as follows: eight cards each for five players, ten cards each for four players, thirteen cards each for three players. (In three-player games, the extra card is given to the dealer, who then discards one card and sets it aside, to be given to the winner of the final trick.)

SCORING
The goal is to avoid scoring points. Aces are worth 1 point, and all 3s, 2s, kings, queens, and jacks are each worth
¹
/
₃
of a point. The game ends when a player’s score hits or exceeds 31; at that point, the player with the
lowest
score wins.

At the end of the round scores are calculated as follows:

The winner of the last trick scores the difference between 11 and the sum of the other players’ scores.

All other players add up points taken in tricks and round down (e.g., 4
¹
/
₃
points scores 4 points, 5
²
/
₃
points scores 5 points).

If a player manages to score all the points, it’s called a cappotto and earns that player zero points and all other players 11 points.

HOW TO PLAY
The player to the right of the dealer leads the first trick. Any card may be played. The other players must follow suit if they can, or else they may play any other card. There is no trump. Tricks are won by the highest card in the leading suit. The trick winner leads the following trick. Scores are tallied once all cards are played and the deal rotates to the right.

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

Fan Tan is often played for money. It’s a game that offers low-key entertainment with a hint of gambling. Try a wager along the lines of 10 or 20 cents per chip.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
Ideal for 4 or 5; may be played by 3 to 8

HOW TO DEAL
Deal out a fifty-two-card deck to all players; don’t worry if some players have an extra card. Rankings are standard, with aces always low.

All players start with an equal number of chips or markers (20 to 25 chips per player is a good start) and
ante
into the pot either one chip (if they have one less card than the majority of players) or two chips (if they have one extra card).

SCORING
The goal is to be the first player to run out of cards. When this happens, the other players count their remaining cards and put one chip per card into the pot. The winner takes all chips in the pot.

HOW TO PLAY
The player to the left of the dealer starts and must play a 7 or pass. If nobody can play a 7, the hand is dead, all players throw one chip
into the pot as a penalty, the deal rotates left, and new cards are dealt (followed by yet another ante).

If any player can open with a 7 (or multiple 7s—play ‘em if you got ‘em), place the card(s) face up on the table. The other players in turn may play another 7 or play cards higher and/or lower in rank (and matching in suit) of the face-up 7. If 7 of hearts is played, for example, the next player may throw 8 of hearts (form a pile to the left of 7 of hearts) and/or 6 of hearts (form a pile to the right of the 7 of hearts). Players continue building up or down in suit until all thirteen hearts are played. The same process is followed for the other 7s in the deck.

IRREGULARITIES & DISPUTES
If players pass when they could have played a card, and this is later discovered, the offender must put three chips into the pot as a penalty. If the offending player could have played a 7 but did not, he or she must put three chips into the pot and give five chips to each player holding the 6 and 8 in the suit corresponding to the unplayed 7.