Thirteen
Players and Cards
A standard 52 card pack is used. No jokers. The cards ranking from high to low: 2-A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3. There is also an ordering of suits - from high to low: hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades.
Objective
The objective of this game is to be the first player to put down all the cards in their hand while attempting to maximize the number of cards remaining in the other players hands.
How to play
Thirteen can be played by two, three, or four players. Regardless of the number of players, each player is dealt 13 cards at the start of the game. The game is played in a clockwise fashion starting with the player that holds the 3 of spades (or the lowest card). The player can play the 3 of spades as a single card or with a set of cards. Instead of the holder of the lowest card playing the first card after each new deal, the winner of each hand plays first in the next and can play any of the legal combinations.
Legal combinations
There are four types of legal play: single cards, pairs, three of a kinds and straights. Straights can be as low as three cards and can get as high as twelve cards. Twos cannot be played within a straight.
Subsequent plays must be larger in rank with the same number of cards. For example, if the 3 was played as a single, valid plays are any single card higher then the 3. If the following player plays an 8 of diamonds, the next play must be an 8 of hearts or higher.
Play continues until either the previous played combination can't be beaten or everyone passes, relinquishing the control to the player who played the last set of cards.
The person now in control, has the choice to play in singles, pairs, three of a kinds, or straights. What is played depends on the best way to rid your hand of all cards as well as regaining control of the game.
Bombs
The special combinations that beat twos are called bombs.
- A four of a kind can beat any single two (but not any other single card, such as an ace or king). A four of a kind can be beaten by a higher four of a kind.
- A sequence of three pairs (such as 7-7-8-8-9-9 ) can beat any single two (but not any other single card). A sequence of three pairs can be beaten by a higher sequence of three pairs.
- A sequence of four pairs (such as 5-5-6-6-7-7-8-8) can beat a pair of twos (but not any other pair). A sequence of four pairs can be beaten by a higher sequence of four pairs.
- A sequence of five pairs (such as 8-8-9-9-10-10-J-J-Q-Q ) can beat a set of three twos (but not any other three of a kind). A sequence of five pairs can be beaten by a higher sequence of five pairs.
Note that these exceptions only apply to beating twos, not other cards. For example, if someone plays an ace you cannot beat it with your four of a kind, but if the ace has been beaten by a two, then your four of a kind can be used to beat the two.
Unbeatable combination
- a straight ace of hearts high
Automatic wins
- all four twos
- every single kind of card (3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A-2)
Scoring
In each deal when a player gets rid of all their cards the other players record the number of the cards remaining in their hand. If a player is left with 1 to 7 cards then they are in the safe zone and each card is counted as 1 point. If a player is left with 8 to 10 cards then the points are doubled. If a player is left with 11 to 13 cards then the points are tripled.
Points are added to those who get bombed. If a player's single two gets bombed then 20 points is added to their score. If a player bombed that bomb then it would be 40 points and so on.
If a player's pair of twos gets bombed then 40 points is added to their score. If a player bombed that bomb then it would be 80 points and so on.
If a player's three of a kind of twos gets bombed then 60 points is added to their score. If a player bombed that bomb then it would be 120 points and so on.
When a player reaches 150 points the game is over and the player with the least points wins. If playing for money everyone pays the players with a lower score.
Other sources:
http://www.pagat.com/climbing/thirteen.html
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