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Card Games |
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A B
C D E F
G H I J K L
M N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z (#)- Number of
players |
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A) Authors (2+)
B) Barbu
(4)
Blackjack (2+)
C) Camicia
(2)
Chinese Ten
(2-4)
Crates (2-5)
Crazy Eights (2+)
*Crazy
Tan (2-3)
D)
*Double
Deck Fan Tan (7 +)
*Double
Deck Trump Fan Tan (7+)
F)
Fan Tan (3-6)
G)
Go Fish (3-6)
H) Hearts
(4)
*Hearts
Tan (4)
L) Last
One (2-6)
S) Spades
(4) Spoons
(3-8)
T) *Trump
Fan Tan
Authors
The object is to collect books, which are sets of four cards of the same rank, by asking other players for cards you think they may have. Whoever collects most sets wins. The basic idea is very simple and they are often thought of as children's games.
This is Go Fish without the stock pile. All the cards are dealt out as equally as possible to the players. A turn consists of asking a player for a rank (or a specific card if you play that version). If they have it your turn continues; if not the turn passes to the player you asked. As in Go Fish, you must have a card of the rank you asked for. Books of 4 cards are discarded. The game continues until all the cards are formed into books, and whoever gets most books wins - or you can score one point per book and play to a target score.
This game is called Authors in the USA, because at one time it was played with special cards showing pictures of famous authors.
John
McLeod
Barbu
originally by Nick Wedd revisions by
John McLeod 
Introduction
Barbu is a skilful card game for four players. It uses a standard 52-card pack as for bridge or poker, ranking as usual from highest to lowest A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 in each of the four suits. In the course of a session, each player will play each of the seven contracts once, so that there are 28 hands played in all.
The initial declarer is chosen at random. For the first seven hands, this player will be declarer. The cards will be dealt by the player on declarer's right, and cut by the player opposite to declarer. After this declarer has done her seven contracts, the player on the original declarer's left will be declarer for seven contracts, and so on, until everyone has done her seven contracts.
In each of these contracts, each player is playing for herself. Declarer chooses the contract, but there is no reason for the other players to cooperate against her. The rules about doubling, however, are asymmetrical with respect to declarer (see below).
The Seven Contracts
There are five "negative" and two "positive" contracts.
In negative contracts, there are no trumps. The declarer leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit if possible - a player who cannot follow suit may discard any card. The winner of a trick leads to the next. In certain contracts there are restrictions on what card may be led to a trick. The negative contracts are:
The positive contracts are:
The scores are cunningly chosen so that the total over seven hands is 0.
Doubling
After the contract has been chosen, each player in turn, starting on declarer's left, has one opportunity to double. A player may double all, some, or none of the other players. Declarer, however, is restricted in that she may only double players who have doubled her.
In each series of seven hands, each player is obliged to double declarer at least twice.
In the two positive contracts, the other players may only double declarer, not each other. Declarer may double those who have doubled her, as usual.
When doubling a player who has already doubled you, it is conventional to use the word "redouble". When making every possible double and redouble, it is conventional to use the word "maximum".
A double is, in effect, a side-bet between the two players involved about which of them will do better than the other. When you are deciding whether to double another player, the only issue is whether you expect to score better than her.
Scoring
The doubles are recorded on the score sheet as they are made. Doubles of declarer are ringed, to make it easier to ensure that each player makes her compulsory two doubles of declarer.
At the end of a hand, it is scored. First of all, the points won or lost by the players are written down. Then the effects of the doubles are calculated pair by pair, for each of the six pairs of players:
For example, here is a score-sheet, with two hands already played and scored.
On the first hand, Anne was declarer and chose No Queens. Her choice of contract was written "Q" in the left column.
Beth (with a good hand for No Queens) began the doubling by saying "maximum" to double everyone else. This was recorded in Beth's column as a letter "X"; and was ringed to indicate that it includes a double of declarer. Then Cath doubled Anne and no-one else (she believes that the outcome of No Queens is unpredictable, so she might as well make a double of declarer). This was recorded as a letter "A" for Anne, with a ring round it as Anne is declarer. Then Diana passed (having a poor hand). Then Anne redoubled Cath (but not Beth, who seems from her behaviour to have a strong hand). This was recorded as a letter "C" for Cath.
In the play, Diana captured two queens among her tricks, and Anne and Cath captured one each. This was recorded as -6 to Anne, -6 to Cath, and -12 to Diana.
Then the side-payments were calculated. These are shown here in color, for the sake of this explanation (normally, of course, they would all be written with the same pencil).
Then the totals were calculated, and written into the totals column for each player.
Finally, the total value of the contract was written into the check-sum column at the right, and a check made that the total of the four players and the rightmost column added up to 0.
On the second hand, Anne chose No Hearts. Beth and Cath passed, Diana said Maximum, and Anne redoubled Diana. Anne took no hearts, Beth took 6 points worth, Cath took 20 points worth, and Diana took 4 points worth. The side-payments were calculated and added up as described, and the check-sum was checked. Note that the five figures in the right column for each player and for the check-sum are running totals.
History
The word "barbu" is French for "bearded". In some packs, the king of hearts is shown with a beard. The game Barbu has existed in France for some time in a simple form where the different games are just played in a fixed sequence (no choice of contract and no doubling). The more elaborate modern version described here was developed by bridge players and was a favorite of the Italian "Blue Club" bridge team.
Advice on Skilful Play
No Hearts and No King of Hearts are generally best bid on hands with many hearts. This is because the rules forbid the leading of hearts. A hand with long hearts will be short in the other suits, and will thus get more opportunities to discard.
In No King of Hearts, a player who holds the King, and is confident of not taking it herself, will be influenced by the doubling on where she dumps it. It can therefore be possible for a player with a very poor hand, who did not double, to cooperate with declarer in dumping the King on a player who did double. (This assumes that declarer holds the King.) One way of cooperating with declarer is by returning the suits which she leads.
To bid No Last Two, aces can be as valuable as twos. A very poor holding is 9 8 7 6: you can be confident that the other players will not lead this suit for you.
The total score for No Tricks is 30, but this is in effect the smallest contract, as the tricks tend to be spread around. It is therefore a suitable hand to keep to last, as playing it with an unsuitable hand is rarely a total disaster. In playing No Tricks, ingenious sacrifice plays (such as are skilful in ramsch and other negative games) are not appropriate. It is better to keep your head down and avoid each trick as it comes round.
No King of Hearts only scores 20, but is really a big hand. This is because the penalty of 20 all comes in one lump.
Trumps can sensibly be left to the last hand, as you can be sure of being dealt a hand with at least four trumps in it. Do not bid Trumps for the first hand of your seven unless you expect to win at least seven tricks. From a trump holding of e.g. A J 10 9 6 5 3 the lead of the jack can be effective: there is a good chance that this will force the play of both the queen and the king, because of the trump-overtaking rule.
In dominoes, aces and twos are liabilities. A "block" like 765 can be powerful, in a suit in which the 4 3 and 2 are not held. Holding the specified rank is not necessarily a good thing: with an ideal hand such as 568, 5689, 689, 689 the best choice of rank is the 7.
Over seven hands, declarer can expect the best score, closely followed by the player on her right. The player on declarer's left can expect the poorest score, as she must make her doubles before hearing those of the other players.
It is bad to leave a compulsory double to the last hand of a seven, unless this hand will be something small (No Tricks, or maybe No Queens). It is particularly bad to be obliged to double a positive contract.
In view of the advice in the previous paragraph... Suppose it is the sixth hand of the seven. Declarer chooses No Tricks, leaving Trumps for last. A player doubles declarer only. Declarer should recognise that this is a desperation double, and redouble it (if it really came from a good hand, the doubler would have doubled the other players as well).
If you have a hand which is very good for several contracts, it is best to choose one which will induce some doubles. For example, consider a hand which can guarantee taking no tricks, and has a heart void. If you bid No Last Two, say, probably no-one will double you. But if you bid No Hearts, you will likely get a double from an opponent: at least one of them must hold at least five hearts, which is normally a strong holding in this contract.
Variations
Scoring
There are a number of different scoring schemes possible. One is to score -15 for taking the King of Hearts in "No King of Hearts" and +40/+20/+10/-10 for dominoes. Some schemes lose the zero sum of the scores, which is a pity as it is very useful for checking, and makes it easier to convert the result to money won or lost. Any scheme can easily be made zero sum without affecting the balance of the game by adjusting all four scores in Dominoes by the same amount (in fact you might have to change some by 1 more than others due to rounding effects).
Doubles and Redoubles
Some people only allow players to double declarer, not each other, and if the declarer redoubles, she must redouble everyone who doubled, not just some of them.
Extra contract - Ravage City
No trumps. Rules of play as for other negative contracts. Whichever player takes the most cards in any one suit scores -36. If there is a tie between two players (probably each has most cards in a different suit), each scores -18; if three players tie each scores -12; if all four tie, all get -9.
If you play with Ravage City there will obviously be 32 deals - 8 for each declarer - rather than 28. The scoring schedule for the other contracts will need adjusting to preserve the zero sum feature.
Other Pages
Tom Carmichael Barbu
Page
Jeff Goldsmith's San
Francisco Barbu
John
McLeod
Blackjack is a popular American casino game, now found throughout the world. It is a banking game in which the aim of the player is to achieve a hand whose points total nearer to 21 than the banker's hand, but without exceeding 21.
Marvin L. French reports that in Nevada casinos this game is called 21 rather than Blackjack; "Blackjack" is the name of the same game played in the home, with slightly different rules mostly associated with the absence of a house dealer. The "Blackjack" holding of ace and jack is called a "natural" by all casino personnel
Each player competes against the dealer,
not against the other players. The object of the game is to have a higher point
total than the dealer without going over 21. Each ace counts as either 1 point
or 11 points, face
cards (kings, queens, jacks) count 10 points each, and all other cards (2
through 9) count their face value.
The Play
The dealer, Yahoo! in this case, deals two cards to each
player and two cards to himself. Players' cards are dealt faceup, while one of
the dealer's cards is dealt face up and the other is facedown. After the deal,
the dealer "asks" each player whether they want an additional card. At
Yahoo! an arrow indicates which player is being asked to make a decision. A
player may "Stand" -- play just the
two cards originally dealt or may "Hit"--
take another card. After being dealt an additional card, the player may stop or
may take still another card. A player may take as many cards as he or she wants,
but as soon as the player's total exceeds 21, the player loses.
After all players have drawn, the dealer's remaining card is exposed.
Under most casino rules, a dealer with a total less than 17 must "hit"
(take a card); with 17 or more, dealer must stand. If a dealer has a "soft
17"--a hand that contains an ace plus six other points, and which can
therefore be counted as either 7 or 17--some casinos require the dealer to hit
and some require dealer to stand. When creating a blackjack table at Yahoo!,
players may choose which of these two rules they prefer.
If dealer "busts" by going over 21, any
players still in the game win. Otherwise, players with totals higher than the
dealer win, while players with totals less than the dealer lose. In case of a
tie, or "push" the player's bet is
returned (no money changes hands).
If a player's or the dealer's first two cards total 21 (an ace and a 10 or face
card), the holding is known as a blackjack. A player with blackjack is paid
extra--usually one-and-a-half times the original bet--unless dealer also has
blackjack, in which case the player loses. If dealer's face up card is an ace,
players are often given a chance to buy insurance
against the possibility of the dealer's having a blackjack; the insurance bet
usually pays 2-to-1 if dealer really does have 21. (This is usually a poor
percentage bet for the player.)
Player Options
A player who decides not to stand may choose to "double,"
also called "double down," before
receiving his or her card. The player must double his or her bet, and then
receives only one more card. The best time to double is with a total of 11 or
10, and some casinos only allow doubling with these totals (there are no
restrictions at Yahoo!, however).
A player with a pair may choose to split the
pair and play each card as a separate hand. The player must also make an
additional bet, equal to the original bet, to cover the additional hand. In some
casinos, as well as in Yahoo!, a player may also split any two cards with a
value of 10. At Yahoo!, a player who is dealt another matching card may split
again; and during the play of a hand that began as a split, a player still has
the usual option of doubling. Most casinos limit some of these splitting,
re-splitting, and doubling options (but Yahoo! does not).
Camicia is a game of pure luck for two players. It is the Italian version of "Beggar My Neighbour", and like that game, it is a children's game. The American game "Egyptian Ratscrew" is also related.
The cards
An Italian deck of 40 cards is used (you can also use a 52 card deck - though I never did). Suits are ignored. There are two types of cards: aces, two and threes are attack cards, the other are normal (cannon-fodder) cards.
The play
All the cards are dealt to the two players, face down, so that they end up with a packet of 20 cards each.
The players then alternate to turn the top card of their packet face up and put it in a pile on the table. If the card is 'normal', no action is taken and the play passes to the other player.
When an 'attack' card is played by one of the players, the other player has to play a number of cards corresponding to the face value of the attack card, that is one card for an ace, two cards for a two, and three cards for a three.
If all the cards played in response to an attack are normal, the attacking player takes the pile of played cards and puts then face down to the bottom of their packet.
If one of the cards played in response to an attack is an attack card itself, the former attack is null, and the new attack is processed.
When a player runs out of cards, that player loses the game.
Note: This game becomes a war of attrition, since as you win cards, your attack cards become more diluted in your packet, and you become more vulnerable to attacks. Moreover, the attack cards that give you the highest gain (the threes) are also the most vulnerable to counterattacks, while the aces, which can capture only a card a time, are more secure.
For a game with two players: each player gets twelve cards. For a game with three players: each player gets eight cards. For a game with four players: each player gets six cards.
After all the cards have been dealt, four cards are turned over face up from the remaining deck and placed in a layout like this.... (x=card, d=deck)
The layout isn't that important, if you want your
own setup, go right on ahead... (Just as long as you have four cards out and the
remaining deck on the table.)
The rules:
Players are to make pairs of cards that add up to ten. For an example, here is a setup of a game. The four cards on the layout are a 5, an ace, a ten, and a three. To make a move on this turn (with this layout), a player would need to play a five - out of his hand - (on the five), ace (on the nine), a ten (on the ten), or a seven (on the three). For cards that have face value greater than ten, you just play the same card on it. (Tens on tens, jacks on jacks, queens on queens, kings on kings...)
After a person makes a play, he takes the pair (that he made add up to ten) and puts them in a stack of cards by him (face down, for later evaluation). He also flips over the top card from the deck and places it face up on the table. If the flipped card makes an "adds up to ten" pair on the table, then he takes the new pair as well and places it in his stack.
Example play:
A person lays a five on a five. He picks up the two fives off of the table and
puts them into a stack by him. He then turns over the top card in the deck and
places it face down on the table. Suppose this new card was a king and there was
a king on the table as well. He takes both kings, and doesn't flip over any more
cards.
If a player cannot make a matching pair on his move: the player is to play one of his cards onto the table. Then he is to flip over the top card from the deck as stated above and see if the flipped card matches any of the cards on the table.
Although the game is started with four cards on the
table, it is possible to have more or less than four cards on the table during
the course of the game.
Scoring
In the stack that each player has next to him, separate all red cards from black ones. (Except the aces under certain conditions which I will get to later) Cards that have a face value equal to or greater than ten are scored as ten points. A nine is also worth ten points and an ace is worth twenty points. (The red nine and red ace pair is worth (combined) thirty points.)
Example scoring
Let's suppose a person has the following: (after separated reds from blacks)
K, Q, Q, 9, 6, 7, A, 3, 4, 5, 5. The points add up as follows: 10 + 10 + 10 + 10
+ 6 + 7 + 20 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 5 = 90
The black aces... For a game with either three or
four players, the variation on scoring is as follows. When playing with three
people the ace of spades is worth thirty points. When playing with three or four
people the ace of spades is worth thirty points and the ace of clubs is worth
forty points.
Finding out who wins...
(Yes, I think this deserves it's own section...) After the game is over, add up the points you have (remember - red cards only). The score for a tie game (for two people) is for each person to have 105 points. The score for a tie game (for three people) is 80 points a person. For four people, it is 70 points. The difference of your score from the tie score is how many points you win or lose by. (I know it is a strange way of scoring... but it's the game.) This is how I remember it...
Example evaluation: Let's say player 1 had 90 points, and the player 2 had 120 points. Player 2 then won by 15 points and player 1 lost by fifteen points. (120-105 = 115)
If you choose to, you can do this scoring the normal
way. That is, the difference between scores is the amount the person wins by.
This description of Crates, as played in and around Boston, Massachusetts, USA was contributed by Richard Hussong.
Crates is a form of Crazy Eights, played with a normal 52-card deck, with enough extra rules to be amusing. Like most Eights-type games, it is somewhat reminiscent of the commercial game Uno. It was invented in the 1970s in Cambridge, Massachusetts by some technical workers, to be played during lunch hour.
The Players
Crates is normally played by four players, playing in two partnerships, but there are variants playable by from two to five players, which will be described at the end, along with some other variant rules. In the four-player game, partners sit opposite one another.
The Cards
The Crates deck is a normal 52-card deck, with no relative ranking of suits or numbers. In one variant, the Kings and Queens are removed from the deck to decrease the size of the deck and increase the proportion of special cards.
Card Points Table
In the scoring phase of the game, each card is assigned a number of points. This assignment may be summarized as follows:
Back
to top
Card Score
A 1
2 20
3 see scoring.
4 15
5 30
6 30
7 20
8 50
9 30
10 25
J 10
Q 10
K 10
The Deal
A game of crates consists of 15 hands. In the first hand, each player is dealt 8 cards; in the second hand, 7 cards, and so on until the eighth hand, in which each player is dealt 1 card. On the next, ninth hand, each player is dealt 2 cards; on the tenth hand 3 cards, and so on until the fifteenth hand, in which each player is dealt 8 cards.
The deal begins with any player, and rotates to the left thereafter. When all cards have been dealt, the dealer places the deck of remaining cards on the table, turns up the top card of the deck, and places it next to the deck, to start the discard pile.
The Goal
The goal of Crates is to win by being the player with the fewest total points accumulated during the game.
The Play
At any moment during the play, there is a current suit, a current rank, and a current direction of play. The current suit is the suit of the top card of the discard pile unless that card is an 8 or a 9, in which case the current suit is the suit chosen by the player who played the 8 or 9. The current rank is always the rank of the top card of the discard pile. On each hand, the initial direction of play is clockwise.
The card turned over by the dealer to create the discard pile is treated as if it had been played by the dealer in the ordinary course of play, except that, if it is an 8 or a 9, the dealer must choose a suit before examining his or her hand, and if the turned card is a 9, the suit must be of the same color as the 9.
The general rule of play is that each player must play a card that matches the current suit or the current rank, or play a wild card (an 8 or 9). The only exception to this rule occurs during a 2-sequence. When a player cannot play on the discard pile, that player must draw one card from the deck, and play proceeds to the next player in the current direction.
When a card is played, there may be some further action to be taken before the next player's turn. See the table of card actions for the list of such actions.
When a player has exactly two cards, that player must say "one card" in a clearly audible fashion when playing a card. This applies even if the card played is a 6, which cannot actually leave the player with one card after the turn ends. If the player must make some other announcement (e.g., specify a suit for a wild card, or announce the total of a 2-sequence), "one card" must be said first. A player who fails to say "one card" when required to do so is penalized by having to draw two cards on his or her next turn. If the player does not get another turn in the current hand, the penalty is forgotten.
Ending a hand
When one player no longer has any cards, the hand is over, unless a 2-sequence is in progress, in which case the 2-sequence continues until it ends normally, at which time the hand is over, even if every player now has cards.
The following table summarizes the effects of playing a given card on the play of the game:
A: used in a 2-sequence 2: start a 2-sequence 3: none 4: skip the next player 5: Cards for everyone 6: same player plays again 7: next player but one takes a card 8: wild, and change to any suit 9: wild, and change to same-color suit 10: reverse direction of play J: none Q: none K: none
Special rules and notes
When a player plays a 2, it starts a "2-sequence". Thereafter, each player must play an A or 2, of any suit. When one player cannot do so, that player must draw a number of cards equal to the total number of pips played in the 2-sequence. The 2-sequence is then over, and the next player plays following number or suit, as usual. Note that this applies even if the player has gone out during the 2-sequence, so a player may actually have to draw cards after going out.
When a player plays a 5, each other player must draw a card. These cards must be drawn in order, in the current direction, to ensure that any pressure goes to the correct player or partnership.
Scoring
At the end of each hand, players receive points according to the cards remaining in their hands. See the card points table for the point values of the various cards.
At the end of the game (i.e., at the end of the fifteenth hand), the player or partnership with the fewest points wins the game.
Scoring threes
The threes are special in scoring. A hand containing only threes counts -50 for each three in the hand. When threes are accompanied by other ranks, they score +3 instead. Also, a three can be used to "cover" any card but an eight. That is, if a hand contains both threes and "eligible cards" (i.e., cards that are not eights), the player may pair a three with an eligible card. The resulting pair is treated as a new eligible card, with score 3. This pairing continues until no bare threes remain. Which eligible cards are paired with threes is up to the player, but it is wise to pair the highest value cards possible.
Scores for all hands are added together, and the winning player or partnership is that player or partnership with the fewest points after the end of the fifteenth hand.
Scoring examples
Suppose a player is left with the following cards: A, 2, 3, 3, 6, 8, K. One three should cover the 6, and the other should cover the 2, since these are the highest-scoring eligible cards. The total score would then be 50 + 10 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 67 points
Suppose a player is left with just 3, 3, 8. The threes are themselves eligible cards, so one of them covers the other, resulting in a score of 53.
Pressures
When a player must draw a card, but the deck is exhausted, that player (or that player's partnership) is given a "pressure". The first pressure a player or partnership receives counts 5 points, and each one thereafter counts double the value of the previous one. Pressures are accumulated throughout the game, but scored in the round in which they occur.
For example, if a partnership gets the first pressure of the game on hand 2, then two pressures on hand 3, the first pressure adds 5 points to the score for hand 2, while the second and third pressures add 10 + 20 = 30 points to the score for hand 3. The next pressure for that partnership will be worth 40 points.
Conventions
The hands in which 1 to 3 cards are dealt are referred to as the "skill hands", while the others are referred to as the "luck hands" (when they are referred to at all).
If one player has chosen a suit as a result of playing a wild card, and the next player plays a ten (thus reversing the direction of play), the player who plays the ten says "Play 'em" to the player who chose the suit.
A player receiving a card as a result of another player's playing a seven should thank the donor. In particular, in a partnership game, a player who plays a seven should say "Card for my partner!", and the partner should respond "Thank you, partner!"
If a player's last card is a 6, and can be played, that player must play the 6 and immediately draw another card. This is known as a "Cooper". A player who Coopers need not (and should not) say "one card" on that turn, of course. The term "Cooper" is sometimes extended to cover all cases in which a 6 is played, then a card is drawn, but the "one card" rule does apply to two-card Coopers.
A player who causes the other players to draw an unusually large number of cards in quick succession is said to be "working the deck".
It is considered reprehensible to deliberately fail to say "one card" in order to avoid going out on the next turn.
Saying "Uno" instead of "one card" is grounds for being vilified by the other players.
Variants
The rules for two-player, three-player, and five-player Crates are almost the same as those for the four-player game. The most obvious difference is that there are no partnerships, so scores and pressures are tallied individually. In addition, in the two-player and three-player games, the actions of certain cards are changed as follows:
7: next player takes a card
J: previous player takes a card
Some players also prefer to remove the queens and kings from the pack in the two-player or three-player game, in order to produce more pressures.
Skill-hand World Series
(Thanks to Sunshine, of Philadelphia, for these rules) This is another two-player Crates variant. It is played with three hands, one of which is played by a dummy player, known conventionally as "Figgy" (or, more formally, "Fighdij"), whose hand is visible to both other players.
The rules are generally those of three-handed Crates, with some modifications:
Only the 1-card and 2-card skill hands are played; the sequence is 2-1-1-2.
Figgy never deals, and his hand is played by the previous player in the current direction. Note that this means Figgy's hand will typically be played by both players at various times during each hand.
Figgy begins the game with -50 points, and never receives a pressure. If Figgy would normally receive a pressure, that pressure instead goes to the next player to play. Figgy can win the game, to the everlasting mortification of the human players.
John
McLeod
Crazy
Eights
contribution from Szu Kay Wong
Introduction and Alternative Names
Crazy Eights is a game for two or more players, in which the object is to get rid of the cards in your hand onto a discard pile by matching the number or suit of the previous discard. There is a huge number of variations of this game, and many alternative names. It is sometimes called Crates, Switch, Swedish Rummy, Last One or Rockaway. In Germany it is Mau-Mau; in Switzerland it is Tschausepp. Some British players call it Black Jack, which is unfortunate as it can lead to confusion with the well-known American banking card game Blackjack.
Basic Game
The basic game of Crazy Eights uses a standard 52 card pack, or two such packs shuffled together if there are a lot of players. The dealer deals (singly) five cards to each player (seven each if there are only two players). The un-dealt stock is placed face down on the table, and the top card of the stock is turned face up and placed beside the stock to start the discard pile.
Starting with the player to dealer's left, and continuing clockwise, each player in turn must either play a legal card face up on top of the discard pile, or draw a card from the un-dealt stock. The following plays are legal:
Variations
Crazy Eights is one of the easiest games to elaborate by adding variations, and is rarely played in its basic form. There are variations in the number of cards dealt, the rules about drawing cards and the scoring system. Usually, special meanings are given to particular cards; when played these cards affect the sequence of play, or have other effects.
Drawing Cards
In the normal game, you may always use your turn to draw a card. However, some people play that you may only draw if you are unable to play - if you can play you must.
Some allow the drawn card to be played immediately if it is a legal play.
Some allow more than one card to be drawn - either up to a fixed number of cards, after which if you still cannot (or will not) play the turn passes to the next player. Others require you to continue drawing until you can play.
Last Card
There may be a rule that you must alert the other players when you have just one card left. If you fail to do so you must draw cards (usually two) from the stock as a penalty.
Special actions Cards
Other variations
Bartok, Crates, Last One, Mao, Spoons,There have been many commercial versions of eights, designed to be played with specially produced packs of cards. Probably the best known of these is Uno.
Fan
Tan
from Hoyle's Book of Games
Fan Tan is a Chinese gambling game based on guessing the number of beans in a pot. The card game Fan Tan may have been named for it but is in no way similar to it.
Shuffle, cut, and deal the deck out to all of the players. If you are not playing with exactly four players, there will be extra cards.A valid play is:Canonical rules state that you should deal out the extra cards in the order that they would normally be dealt, since the deal changes every time and this will not inconvenience one player more than any other player, but you can also simply turn the extra cards face up. This second option can be useful in Trump Fan Tan.
The player to the left of the dealer goes first and must play if possible.
Play proceeds around the table with players passing if they cannot play and playing if they can.
The winner is the first player who has played all of his or her cards.
A sevenA build up or down on cards currently played according to suit (i.e. clubs are played on clubs, hearts on hearts, etc.)
A "build up or down" is a simple concept. If there is a seven out, and you have either (or both) the six and eight of that suit, you can either play the six on the lower vertical half of the seven or the eight on the upper vertical half of the seven. If you played the six, the next player can play a five or an eight or play on a different pile.
The main rules of Fan Tan are:
Aces are low, Kings are high -- i.e., after the ace has been played, no other cards will be played on the lower half of the seven. Same with kings and the upper half of the seven.
If you can play, you must play.
Current play: Player 1 has no sevens and passes
Cards played so far: none
Current play: Player 2 has the seven of hearts and seven of spades, must play one of them, and chooses the seven of spades.
Cards played so far: Seven of hearts
Current play: Player 3 has the eight of hearts and the seven of clubs and chooses the play the eight of hearts on the seven of hearts (on the top half).
Cards played so far: Seven of hearts and eight of hearts
Current play: Player 4 has the six of hearts and plays it on the seven of hearts (on the bottom half).
Cards played so far: six, seven, and eight of hearts
Current play: Player 1 has the five of hearts and plays it
Cards played so far: five, six, seven, and eight of hearts
Current play: Since player 2 does not have the four or nine of hearts, he must play the seven of spades.
Cards played so far: five, six, seven, and eight of hearts and seven of spades.
And so on.
If you have extremely high or low cards (like kings and queens or aces and twos) and the seven of that suit, it probably behooves you to play that seven early so that there is time in the game to build towards extremes.
Avoid playing the "controlling" or "pivitol" cards in a game like the sixes, sevens, and eights for as long as you can since by not playing the eight, you prevent everyone holding higher cards from playing them.
Whenever possible, play to minimize the number of openings that your play will give to other players (this goes hand-in-hand with the previous point).
Runs (straights) are your friends: i.e., if you have the four through ten of a suit, you can keep everyone else from playing for a long time because your new plays (up until the point at which you play the four or the ten) will not allow anyone else to play.
When you can, play an ace or a king since no one else can play on them and this will also get rid of a card in your hand.
Watch your cards carefully! The best way to ruin a Fan Tan game is to pass and then realize a few turns later that you could have actually played back then.
Entirely too much Fan Tan playing has lead to the development of several variations on the basic game of Fan Tan. They are listed below in alphabetic order.
Recommendations:
For large games (7 or more players): Double Deck Fan Tan
For small games (2-3 players): Crazy Tan
For all-around fun: Trump Fan Tan or Hearts Tan
For masochists: Double Deck Trump Fan Tan
Perhaps the simplest in concept, Double Deck is rather different in strategy. The main problem for the player is that suddenly he or she is not guaranteed to be able to play since there are two of each card.Double Deck is recommended for seven or more players.
Only for the truly masochistic. Follow the rules of Double Deck Fan Tan and Trump Fan Tan at the same time. Don't come crying to me after you've tried it.... ;^)
Crazy Tan
Crazy Tan is based on a combination of crazy eights and fan tan.
For the basic game, deal seven cards to each player. On your turn, you must either play (and if you can play you must) or draw a card. First player out of cards wins.
We have found the game moves rather slowly that way, so we now play with a rather different rule for the number of cards you draw: incremental drawing. If the person before you was able to play (and of course did so), and you cannot play, you draw one card. If the person after you cannot play, he or she draws two cards. If the next person cannot play, then he or she draws three cards. As soon as someone plays a card, the count gets reset to zero. Note: If you draw a card that you can play then you must play it on that current turn!
Playing with runs (straights) also speeds up the game. If you have any number of consecutive numbers in the same suit (e.g. 3, 4, and 5 of clubs) then you may play them all at once (e.g. play the 3, 4, and 5 of clubs on the 6 of clubs).
You can also play with multiples. If you have two or more cards of the same rank (e.g. two nines) and you can play both of them, then you may play both of them in one turn.
The combination of these two rules leads to the concept of multiple parallel runs. Meaning, if you have, for example, the 4, 5, 6, 7 of clubs and the 4, 5, 6, 7 of hearts, you can lay down eight cards in one turn.
Hearts Tan
Use Hearts-style passing.That is, on the first deal, every player passes three cards to the left. On the second, pass three cards to the right. On the third, pass three cards across. On the fourth, pass no cards.
With other than four players, an easy way to do it is just to pass first to your immediate left, then to the left, skipping one person, then to the left again skipping two people, etc. This works for any number of players. On the nth hand, where n is the number of players, have a no-pass round.
This adds several interesting elements of strategy: It is obvious that you want to pass your worst cards.
If all you have is the 3 of clubs and the Queen of clubs, you might be inclined to pass those cards and none others.
However, if you get passed the Ace of clubs and the King of clubs, you would have been better off keeping the three and the Queen.
You discover other strategy points as you play Hearts Tan. Definitely a variant worth trying.
Trump Fan Tan
Trump Fan Tan is simply Fan Tan with a trump suit. Any card of the trump suit (generally spades) can replace any other card of that rank (i.e. 5 of trump can be played as trump (in this case spades) or 5 of heart, club, or diamond).The card that was displaced by the trump card must be played on the trump pile. As it can get rather confusing which pile is which, the 7 of trump must be played as trump (i.e. cannot be played to replace the 7 of any other suit).
If you have an uneven number of players and have chosen to flip the extra card (s), the suit of the last flipped card can automatically be called to be trump. In that case (and this should be decided before the deal), either the flipped card replaces the first card it can (i.e. is played as an indiscriminant trump) or (this is what I prefer) must be played as trump on the trump pile.
G
Go
Fish 
The object is to collect books, which are sets of four cards of the same
rank, by asking other players for cards you think they may have. Whoever
collects most sets wins. The basic idea is very simple and they are often
thought of as children's games.
This is best for 3-6 players, but it is possible for 2 to play. A standard 52 card deck is used. The dealer deals 5 cards to each player (7 each for 2 players). The remaining cards are placed face down to form a stock.
The player to dealer's left starts. A turn consists of asking a specific player for a specific rank. For example, if it is my turn I might say: 'Mary, please give me your jacks'. The player who asks must already hold at least one card of the requested rank, so I must hold at least one jack to say this. If the player who was asked (Mary) has cards of the named rank (jacks in this case), she must give all her cards of this rank to the player who asked for them. That player then gets another turn and may again ask any player for any rank already held by the asker.
If the person asked does not have any cards of the named rank, they say 'Go fish!'. The asker must then draw the top card of the un dealt stock. If the drawn card is the rank asked for, the asker shows it and gets another turn. If the drawn card is not the rank asked for, the asker keeps it, but the turn now passes to the player who said 'Go fish!'.
As soon as a player collects a book of 4 cards of the same rank, this must be shown and discarded face down. The game continues until either someone has no cards left in their hand or the stock runs out. The winner is the player who then has the most books.
Variations of Go Fish
Some people play that rather than asking for a rank, you must ask for a specific card. You must already hold at least one card of that rank. For example, you say: 'Tom, please give me the seven of diamonds'. If Tom has it he gives it and you get another turn. If he doesn't, he says 'Go Fish!' and you draw from the stock. In the unlikely event that you draw the seven of diamonds you get another turn; if you draw anything else it is now Tom's turn.
If you play this variation, you need to agree whether it is permissible to ask for a card which you already hold in your hand. Obviously you'll have to fish and your turn will end, but you might do this deliberately to mislead the other players into thinking that you didn't hold that card.
Some people play that when the stock runs out, you carry on playing until all the cards have been made into books. Obviously after the stock has run out there is no 'Go Fish!'. If the person you asked doesn't have the card asked for, the turn passes directly to them.
There are various ways of scoring. For example, you may play a series of hands, scoring one point for each book you make. The game continues until someone wins by reaching an agreed target score - for example, 10 points.
John
McLeod
H
Hearts
Jennifer Bullock
Setup:
This game played with four players. The main object of the game is to get the least points. People usually play Hearts to 100 points. The set end point for the game, however, can be determined by the players.
All the cards are dealt, each person getting 13 cards. The first part of the game is called passing. You choose three cards to get rid of and pass them to another player. The number hand you are playing determines which way the cards are passed. Also, you are not allowed to look at the cards you were passed before passing your three cards to the designated player.
First hand: pass to left
Second hand: pass to right
Third hand: pass across
Fourth hand: hold, no passing
This pattern repeats. Example, for the fifth hand,
you would pass to the left; for the sixth you would pass to the right; etc..
Playing
The first card played, after all passing has been
done is the two of clubs. (Generally on the first round, no point cards are
allowed to be played...) Each player must follow suit of what was lead. For
the first round, each player must play clubs - unless he is out of them (in
which case, he can throw off any cards he likes - except point cards for the
first round). The person who took the last trick, is the one who leads for the
next trick. From then on, players must follow suit unless out of the suit lead
- in which case, point cards can be played. The only exception in playing is
that hearts cannot be led until they are 'broken.' Hearts are broken when
someone plays a heart onto a trick of a different suit. (example, diamonds are
led and the cards played are three diamonds and one heart. The player who
played the heart has now allowed for hearts to be led.)
Important notes on scoring
Hearts are each worth one point and the queen of spades is worth thirteen. If
clubs are led, and the player holding the queen of spades has no clubs left,
then chances are he will 'dump' his queen. This way, he won't get the thirteen
points from the queen. Also, it is very bad to lead a trick with the ace or
king of spades. Unless the queen has already been played, chances are someone
will play it when you do this. (Same is the case for leading with a high
heart, the other players will most likely get rid of their high hearts that
are lower than the card you played. (When leading for all suits but hearts, it
is generally better to lead low or mid-range cards - somewhere below a nine.
When leading hearts, it is better to lead the lowest card you have.)
Side note: Leading means that you are the first
person to play a card for a round.
Running or Shooting the Moon
These two terms are synonymous with each other.
Both are defined as 'taking all 26 points' in a hearts game. Sometimes it is
very easy to miss seeing that someone is trying to run during a particular
game. (Generally, if one person is taking all the point cards, it is better to
try and get someone else to take point cards - even if it is yourself) When
someone runs, the general rule is that everyone else goes up 26 points, while
the player who ran gets zero points for that specific game. Sometimes it is
possible to take all the points when you think you are unable to. This may be
because the other players aren't paying attention, or the cards were dealt in
a weird way that made it possible. The most important thing is to try and have
more than one person taking point cards.
Mark Alexander reports that this variation of Crazy Eights (for 2 to 6 players) has been traced back to Walla Walla prison in Washington State, USA in the 1980's. Another correspondent tells me that she remembers playing it in the state of Maine, USA in the 1970's.
A standard deck of 52 cards plus two jokers is used. The dealer deals an equal number of cards to each player, from 4 to 8 cards each at the dealer's choice. If all agree, nine cards each can be dealt. The next card is placed face up to start the discard pile and the undealt cards are placed face down beside it, to form the stock. Play is initially clockwise, and the turned up card is considered to have been played by the dealer, so the player to dealer's left will play next, unless the initial turned up card has a special effect.
Normally each player in turn must either play a card to the discard pile, matching the previous top card in number or suit, or draw the top card from the stock. The object is to have no cards left in your hand.
Certain cards have special effects as follows:
| Two | The next player must draw to cards from the stock, and is not allowed to play a card. |
|---|---|
| Three | If you play a three you may in the same turn play any card on top of it. This is called "stacking". |
| Four | Playing a four causes a "melee"; the player of the four
is the "aggressor" (attacker) and the next player in turn is
the "aggressee" (defender). If the defender or any other
player has the five of the same suit they may play it; the player of
the five then becomes the aggressor and the previous aggressor becomes
the aggressee. After the five, anyone may play the six of the same
suit and so on up. If no one plays the next card, the current
aggressee must draw from the stock a number of cards equal to the pip
value of the card played by the current aggressor. Example: A plays the  4;
B plays the 5;
no one plays the 6;
A must draw five cards and the next player in turn after A can then
play. |
| Five, Six, Seven | No special effect except as part of a melee begun by a four. |
| Eight | Can be played on any card. The player announces a suit and the next play should be in the announced suit. |
| Jack | The next player skips a turn |
| Ace | The direction of play is reversed |
A joker can represent any card of the pack, at the choice of the person who plays it to the discard pile.
A player who has only one card left must say "last card". When a player gets rid of all their cards the play ends.
The punishment for any misplay or failure to call "last card" is to draw one card from the stock.
At the end of the play, anyone who has more than one card scores penalty points for the cards in their hand: face cards and tens are 10, aces are 15, eights are 25, jokers are 40 and other cards are face value. Any player whose penalty points reach or exceed an previously agreed target is eliminated from the game (this is called "going busto"). The last player left in is the winner.
Spades
Jennifer Bullock
Setup:
This game is usually played with four people, but it is possible to play with three. (Although, most people tend to favor playing against four) The main object of the game is to get the most points. People usually play Spades to 500 points. The set end point for the game, however, can be determined by the players.
All the cards are dealt, each person getting 13
cards. The first part of each round is called bidding. Looking at what you
have in your hand, you bid on how many tricks you think you can take.
Playing the cards:
Usually, when I play, the two of clubs is the
first card played after all bidding is done. A trick are the three or four
cards that are played in a round. Example: for the first trick, this an
example: the two of clubs, the ace of clubs, the four of clubs, and the six of
clubs. In a trick, each person plays only one card. In this example trick, the
person who played the ace 'takes the trick'. When playing, the card that is
lead for a trick determines what suit is played for that round. For example,
if the five of diamonds was lead, each person must follow suit. This means
that each other player must play a diamond, unless out of diamonds. If a
player is out of diamonds (or whatever suit was lead), he may trump with
spades or get rid of unwanted cards in his hand.
Important notes on scoring and bidding:
Spades are the 'trump' card. This means that if you are out of the suit that was lead, you may play a spade in hopes of 'trumping' and winning the trick. (As long as nobody else plays a higher spade, you win the trick) If you are low in a suit (2 cards or less) and at least a few spades, you can usually expect to be able to trump that suit sometime in the course of the game.
Usually when people bid, aces are counted as one
trick. (Most likely they are a 'sure' thing.) Kings are iffy tricks. Let's say
you have a lot of hearts (5+), but you have the ace and the king. The ace
could be counted, but the king may be trumped. Depending on if you have any
other iffy tricks in your hand, you may count or not count the king of hearts
as a trick.
Bidding Nil or Blind Nil
It is possible to bid zero. Unless you have a really, really bad hand, it is hard to go 'nil'. Since it will get you fifty points if you succeed, all other players (except for your partner, if you are playing teams) will try and intentionally give you tricks. Unless you can cover yourself with lower cards, sometimes it is tough to go nil. Sometimes it is better to bid one instead of nil, that way you only lose ten points and not fifty.
Blind Nil is only used (usually) when playing teams. Blind Nil means that you bid Nil BEFORE seeing your cards. This is worth one hundred points. (Nil is worth fifty.) When playing teams, some people use the rule that you can pass one card to your partner (and that your partner gives you one of their cards). This way, if you bid blind nil, you have a sort of 'safety net' if you have the ace of spades. (Or another high spade)
Bags. Bags are
defined as overtricks. For example, if you bid 4 tricks at the beginning of
the game, and you ended up getting 6 tricks - you would end up with 2 bags.
The variation rule involving bags states that if you have 10 bags, you get
-100 points. This makes the game more strategic in that, you have to try and
only get the number of tricks you bid. Side
note: If you are playing teams - the teams
bid as a group (each person states how many bids they think they can take and
both players decide on what to bid) so if, as a team, you bid seven and take
eight. That team would have one bag. Doesn't matter who which partner takes
the tricks.
Spoons is a hilarious card game closely related to Craits yet much more physically active. Television and card game trivia buffs might be interested to know there was a "Mork and Mindy" card game published back when the show was popular, the rules of which were almost directly copied from Spoons.
Principles of the Game
The objective of Spoons is to get rid of all your cards before anyone else. To keep this from being too easy, there are a number of rules to remember, violation of which always results in the same penalty (draw a card).
The Deck
It is best to use a pack of 104 (two standard 52-card packs shuffled together, without any jokers).
Number of Players
From three to eight may play.
The Spoons
For a group of N players, there should be N-1 spoons. They should be piled in the center of the table, where any player can reach them. For safety's sake, do not attempt to use any other utensils (forks, knives, grapefruit spoons) in this game.
Rule violations are pointed out (literally) by "razzing". Any and all players who recognize the violation have to point at the perpetrator and make a certain noise -- the preferred sound is "ZZZZT!" or "ERRRR!", perhaps best described as the sound one hears on game shows when a question is answered incorrectly or time runs out. Players who can't make this noise can use one of their own, for example, "dingdingdingdingding!"
The razzed player has to draw a card. When doing this, he or she must say some interjection agreed upon at the start of the hand (this can change from hand to hand as well). Generally, this is a polite, yet humorous interjection, such as: "Curses, foiled again!", "Oy, Vey!", "Great Caesar's Ghost!", "Oh, woe is me!", or "Bummer!" If the razzed player doesn't say this exact phrase, he or she gets razzed again!
There is a statute of limitations on razzing, however. If the error is not pointed out before two other players have completed their plays (either drawing or discarding), the rule bender gets away with it -- and, in fact, can razz anyone who razzes them!
The Deal
First dealer is determined randomly; in subsequent hands, the deal passes to the left. The number of cards the dealer gives out depends on the number of players: for three or four, deal seven each; for five or six, six each; and for seven or eight, five each. The remainder of the cards are placed in the center of the table, forming a stock. The top card of the stock is turned over to begin the discard pile. Whatever powers the turn-up has are deemed to originate from the dealer (e.g. if the dealer turns up a King, he or she determines who is affected by it). The dealer must announce the "name" of the card (explained below) as they turn it over, or else get razzed.
The Play
Unless a Queen was turned up, the game starts off with the person on the dealer's left and proceeds clockwise. In their turn, players must either draw a card or play a card from their hand face up onto the top of the discard pile. To discard, the card played must match the top card of the discard pile in either suit or rank (if the top card is a 5 of spades, for example, a spade or a five can be played). Upon discarding, the player must say the "name" of the card, or else get razzed. If you have a card you can play, you do not have to play it -- but if you do not play, you must draw (drawing a card of your own free will is not the same as being razzed; you do not have to say the agreed-upon interjection. Anyone who razzes you for not saying the phrase after you draw freely can be razzed!) If you can play the card you drew immediately, you may; otherwise, play passes on to the next person.
When a person gets down to one card, they have to announce "one card!", or else get razzed. Holding your cards to prevent others from seeing how many you have is not only unethical, it is punishable by razzing as well.
When a person discards his or her last card, they have to be careful to announce the "name" of that card as well -- otherwise, they'll be razzed and just have to draw another!
Names and Powers of Cards
Except for cards with special powers, all cards are "named" according to their rank, regardless of suit. For example, on playing a six of spades, one has to say "Six!" The following cards, however, have special powers.
Regardless of whose turn it was at the beginning of the Trump War (as this is called), normal play is considered to start again from either the left or right of the person who played the final King, depending on the direction of play. Anyone who plays out of turn should be razzed.
Queen
When played, this reverses
the direction of play. The correct phrase to say is "Switchback".
Anyone who
plays out of turn (for example, the player to the left after play has
shifted to the right) should be razzed.
Jack
When played, the player (and everyone else) has to yell "Spoons!" and grab for a spoon. Since there is one fewer spoon than the number of people, someone ends up without one. That person has to say the interjection phrase and draw two, or else be razzed. If someone grabs more than one spoon, they (not the spoonless ones) are the ones who have to draw. In cases where two players have grabbed the same spoon, the one who has a hold closer to the end of the handle wins. Brute force should never prevail, as this often leads to disputes.
Ten
Eight
Deuce
For example, player A plays "two!" Player B drops an ace on the pile (any suit) and announces "three!" Player C drops a two on the pile and says "five!" Player D has no aces or twos, and so says "Oy, Vey!" (or the appropriate interjection) and draws five cards. Play continues with the person following Player D.
"The Count" can get pretty vicious if you have a crowd that likes to hang on to their aces and twos just in case of just such an emergency. The theoretical maximum anyone could ever have to draw is 24 cards, but this would surely be a rare case. Usually it is anywhere from two to six.
If anyone gets down to one card during "the Count", they must announce it after their play. If anyone goes out of cards during "the Count", the game continues until someone is unable to play a deuce or an ace, and draws their cards. There is the possibility that someone will go out, play will continue around the table, and they (with no cards, unable to play a two or ace) will be the ones having to draw! If, after the Count victim has drawn his or her cards, one or more players are still out of cards, the one who went out first is the winner; the others each have to draw a single card off the discard pile, saying the appropriate interjection.
Ace
When the Stock is Exhausted
The player whose turn it is must take all the cards under the top discard (which remains the same) and shuffle them, placing them back on the table to form a new stock.
Scoring
Whoever has went out scores zero for that round. Everyone else scores points for the cards remaining in their hand according to the following schedule:
30 points: each 10 or 8
20 points: each K, Q, or J
10 points: each A or 2
5 points: each of the remaining ("powerless")
cards.
Variations
The use of objects other than spoons: Spoons are not available everywhere (riding the bus, goofing off in the office, visiting a bachelor's apartment), so a variety of substitutions have been used over the years. Acceptable substitutions should be small enough to grasp in one hand easily, sturdy, and have no sharp edges or points. Here are some examples of acceptable and unacceptable spoon-substitutes.
Off this site and appear to be for all ages.
Outside the Asylum Melissa Binde
We do Not recommend these sites for young surfers.
They are nice pages, we just feel the content of some, is not appropriate for all ages.
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