Read Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games Online
Authors: Scott McNeely
Briscola |
Continental Rummy |
Oh Hell |
MOST UNDERRATED BETTING GAMES
Baseball |
Guts |
Three-card Brag |
BETTING GAMES THAT GENERATE THE LARGEST POTS
Deuces Diablo |
No-limit Texas Hold’em |
Psycho Shelby |
SILLIEST BETTING GAMES
Indian Poker |
No-Peekie Baseball |
Sheep Shagger |
DRINKING GAMES
Fan Tan |
Peg Leg |
Toepen |
GAMES TO CUT YOUR TEETH ON
Klondike |
Pedro |
Spades |
BEST INTRODUCTION TO BIDDING GAMES
Big Three |
Klaberjass |
Setback |
MOST UNDERRATED KIDS’ GAMES
Boodle |
Pig |
President and Pond Scum |
MOST CHALLENGING GAMES IN THE BOOK
Contract Bridge |
Samba Canasta |
Skat |
BEST GAMES FOR A LAZY SUNDAY WITH FRIENDS
Spades |
Twenty Down |
Whist |
ALL-IN:
Betting all of your remaining chips.
ANTE:
An obligatory amount bet by all players at the start of a game, before cards are dealt.
AUCTION:
Bidding to determine the trump suit and winning contract in Bridge and similar team-based games; selling undisclosed card(s) to the highest bidder in Poker games.
BID:
The number of tricks (sometimes also a trump suit) an individual player or team commits to winning during a hand.
BLIND BET:
A forced ante by one player (sometimes two) before the start of a game, or a bet made by any player who has not yet seen any of their own cards.
BLUFFING:
Making a bet with bad cards, in the hope that other players fold.
BOARD:
Refers to a layout of cards—usually face up—on a table or other playing surface, used by all players for building or melding depending on the game. In Solitaire, the board refers to the tableau.
BOAT:
A full house in Poker games. Sometimes called a “full boat.”
BUILD:
Ordering cards in sequence either up or down in rank, sometimes also by suit and/or alternating color.
BULLETS:
A pair of aces in Poker games.
BURNING CARDS:
The act of setting aside the topmost card from the deck before dealing a hand, especially common in games of Texas Hold’em.
BUTTON:
Typically a marker placed in front of a player to indicate where the dealing should start. In some betting games, buttons are used to track the number of “lives” a player has remaining.
BUY-IN:
In Poker it’s the amount of money all players should start with, as in the game’s buy-in is $20.
CALL:
A betting term for matching the bet made by a previous player.
CHECK:
A betting term for passing the decision to the next active player while simultaneously reserving your right to call whatever bet is eventually made.
CHASE:
To stay in the game with a worthless or low-value hand, hoping to draw a valuable card(s).
CHIP:
A counter used in Poker in lieu of actual money.
CONTINUOUS RANKING:
Refers to a sequence of cards that wraps around an ace from low to high or high to low, as in 3-2-A-K-Q. In many games ranking is not continuous, in which case 3-2-A-K-Q is not a valid sequence.
See also
Rank
.
CONTRACT:
See
Bid
.
COWBOYS:
A pair of kings in Poker games.
CUT:
A shuffling term, meaning to lift the top part of a shuffled deck and place it beneath the lower half in order to obscure the bottom card of the deck.
CUTTHROAT:
A game played without teams; every player for themselves.
DEAD:
When referring to a single card, it means the card cannot be used, scored or counted in the current hand. When referring to a player’s hand of cards, it means the hand itself cannot be used, scored, or counted.