Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (39 page)

The player to the left of the dealer determines the turn-up card and leads the first round. In the case of a go point being scored, the first player unable to play a card in the previous round always leads the next round. Each team combines its score during the game. When scoring during the showing phase, the order is always non-dealing team, dealing team, dealing team’s crib.

VARIATION 5: TABLETOP CRIBBAGE

This is a
no-peekie
offshoot of Cribbage (think of it as standard Cribbage minus the matching phase) and uses most of the same scoring rules. The game is best for two players sitting side-by-side (not across from each other). Deal twelve cards to each player, face down in a pile, and do not look at any cards. Take the next card and lay it face up in the middle of the table. Put a marker (penny, beer cap, matchstick, etc.) on top of it. No other cards are dealt.

Tabletop Cribbage uses a five-by-five layout of cards. The object is to play point-earning cards in rows (if you’re the non-dealer) or columns (if you’re the dealer). The non-dealer leads, and plays a card in any empty slot. The only restriction is that the card must touch the edge of an existing card on the board, either to the side, top or bottom, or diagonal edge.

Each player alternates taking a card from his hand (remember, players are not allowed to look at their cards) and playing it on the board. No points are scored until all twenty-four cards have been played. The non-dealer always counts points first. Each row or column is treated like a standard hand of Cribbage, scoring points for pairs, runs, and/or fifteens. Only five-card flushes are allowed. No points are awarded for His Heels or His Nobs.

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

The name means “Forty” in Spanish, which is how many points you need to win. The game is popular throughout South America, but in Ecuador it has been elevated to a national pastime. The rules are simple enough, and once you master them, it’s a fast-paced, think-on-your-feet kind of game.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all 8s, 9s, and 10s for a total of forty cards. Aces are always low in Cuarenta. Deal five cards to each player, face down, in a single batch. The remaining cards are set aside for later use. The deal alternates after each game.

SCORING
The first player to score 40 points wins the game. Points are awarded for cards captured during play and for the following special circumstances:

At the start of the game, any player dealt four-of-a-kind immediately wins the entire game.

At the start of the game, any player dealt three cards of matching suit proclaims a
ronda
(round) and earns 4 points.

A player earns 2 points, called a
caída
(fall)
,
for capturing by matching (not by adding or sequencing) the card just played by an opponent. If you’re lucky—or clever—enough to capture part of an opponent’s ronda, and if you declare this before the next hand is dealt, score yourself 10 points!

If you clear the pot of cards, it’s called a
limpia
(clean) and is worth 2 points. You cannot earn a limpia if you have 38 or more points.

At the end of the game, a player who captures twenty cards earns 6 points, plus 1 point for every two additional cards captured. If both players capture more than twenty cards, the non-dealer earns 6 points and no other points
are awarded. If neither player captures twenty cards, the player with more cards earns 2 points.

HOW TO PLAY
The player to the left of the dealer places one card on the table, face up. The opponent may capture this card three different ways:

MATCHING
Play a card of equal rank (e.g., 4 on a 4) and capture both cards.

ADDING
Play a card that adds up to the value of one or more
non-face
cards in the pot. For example, if 2, 3, 6 are in the pot, playing 5 will capture the 2 and 3. Aces are valued as 1 point. Face cards have no point value and may not capture or be captured in this manner.

SEQUENCING
When capturing by matching or adding, capture any other cards in the pot that are in unbroken ascending rank. If the pot contains 3, 4, 5, 6, Q, for example, your 4 captures the 4 (for the match) as well as the 5 and 6 (for sequencing).

You may not capture more than once per turn, so if the pot contains A-3-4-7, you may play a 4 either to capture the 4 (for the match) or to capture the A and 3 (for adding), but not both. Either way, you may capture a sequence, if it’s available. If you fail to capture all cards you are entitled to—usually by not seeing a sequence opportunity—your opponent may point this out before playing a card and capture the card(s) for herself.

Deal five more cards to each player once both players’ hands are empty; continue until the stock is exhausted (in a two-player game this means four total deals). Any cards left in the pot between deals stay in the pot and are available for subsequent capture, but you may not score a caída using cards from a previous deal.

STRATEGY TIPS
Playing to an empty pot is dangerous, since it is relatively easy for your opponent to score a caída. A good defensive move is to lead with one card in a pair of cards, to minimize the chances of your opponent capturing it on a match.

VARIATION: FOUR-HAND CUARENTA

The four-person partnership version of Cuarenta is played exactly as above, with just two slight differences. Partners sit opposite each other, and only two deals per game are possible (as opposed to four).

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

The history of this game is legendary. In 1909, Elwood Baker, a Whist teacher based in Brooklyn, New York, invented this variation of the already famous game of Rummy. Elwood originally called the game Gin, playing on the hard-alcohol heritage of Rummy (which was originally called Rum).

In the 1940s, the game was adopted by Hollywood, popularized in film and on radio, and grew into a nationwide fad under the name “Gin Rummy.” It remains one of the world’s truly great two-player card games. Though it’s easy to learn, there’s plenty of strategy and skill required. Gamblers are also fond of the game, since its scoring system readily lends itself to betting.

HOW TO DEAL
Use a fifty-two-card deck, and deal ten cards to both players, one at a time and all face down. The remaining cards are the stock; the topmost stock card, turned face up, is known as the
upcard
. In Gin Rummy, kings are always high and aces are always low. A game typically lasts for twenty or thirty minutes, depending on how many individual hands are dealt.

SCORING
The goal is to be the first player to earn 100 points. Face cards are worth 10 points, aces are 1, and all other cards are worth their
index value
.