Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (50 page)

Now assume player one scores 40 points, player two scores 20 points, player three scores 5 points, and player four scores zero points.

If one of a pair of players doubles the other, calculate the difference between their hand scores, and add the difference to the player who scored better, and subtract the difference from the one who did worse. In the sample hand below, player two doubles player one, but player one scored 20 points better (40 − 20 = 20). So 20 points are added to player one’s score and subtracted from player two’s score.

If both players in a pair double each other, calculate the difference between their hand scores, double it, and add this amount to the player who scored better while subtracting the amount from the one who performed worse.

If a player did not double and was not doubled by another player, her score is simply noted on the score sheet. The “check” column is to verify that the total points awarded match the contract value.

The
symbol in the sample score sheet indicates that a player has doubled all other players.

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

This is a Westernized version of a popular modern Chinese card game. In China, the game is usually played for a small wager—say, 50 cents per player—which is won by the player who earns the least amount of points.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal thirteen cards, face down, to each player. Cards rank (high to low) 2-A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3. There is also a hierarchy of suits (high to low): of spades, of hearts, of clubs, of diamonds. Thus 3 of diamonds is the lowest card in the deck, 2 of spades the highest. And rank is always more important than suit (e.g., 10 of diamonds beats 9 of spades).

SCORING
The goal is to be the first player to empty his or her hand of cards. As soon as one player is out, the game immediately stops and scores are tallied. Players holding cards are scored 1 point per card (up to 9 cards) or 2 points per card (10–12 cards). If a player has not managed to play any cards, he is scored 39 points. A game of Big Two usually lasts until one player scores 50, at which point the player with the low score wins.

HOW TO PLAY
The player holding 3 of diamonds starts the game and must lead the card (face up in the center of the table), either on its own or in a valid combination. The valid plays in Big Two are:

SINGLE CARDS
High card wins. Higher suit wins if cards are of equal rank.

PAIRS
High pair wins. Higher suit wins if pairs are of equal rank.

TRIPLETS
High triplet wins (e.g., 2-2-2 beats K-K-K).

FIVE-CARD HANDS
All standard five-card poker hands may be played (see
the Poker section
), with subtle differences:

Despite 2s’ high rank in most hands, the highest
straight
in Big Two is A-K-Q-J-10, the lowest is 5-4-3-2-A.

If two players have a
flush
, the highest suit wins, regardless of which cards are in either flush.

Standard
full house
rules apply.

You must include a fifth card with any
four-of-a-kind
. It has no impact on the outcome, though, as the higher foursome wins.

The highest
straight flush
is A of spades-K of spades-Q of spades-J of spades-10 of spades. If two players have straight flushes, the hand with the highest-ranked card (e.g., a high ace) wins. If there is a tie, the high suit prevails.

If you play a single card, your opponents must follow with a single card; if you play a triplet, opponents must follow only with a triplet. Play continues until three players in a row pass, at which point the trick winner sets aside the trick, face down in a single pile, and leads the next trick.

Note that players are never required to play a card, even if they can. And passing once does not mean you’re out of the hand; players may jump back in on their next turn, if they can beat the cards on the table.

VARIATION: THREE-HAND BIG TWO

This is virtually identical to the basic game except that all players receive seventeen cards, with the final card placed face up on the table. The player holding 3 of diamonds leads and is required to take the extra card into her hand. The 3 of clubs starts the game if no player is holding 3 of diamonds.

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

Hearts is known as a “cutthroat” game for good reason. Its pleasure lies in pitting friend against friend in ruthless card combat; in overwhelming your good friends with unwanted point cards; in drowning your former friends in a deep pool of unwanted point cards; in repeatedly dumping into the hand of your now sworn enemies a heaping pile of unwanted point cards.

One reason for the ongoing success of Hearts is that the game has always favored players holding mediocre cards. In Hearts, low cards such as
2
,
3
, and
4
have the best chance of ducking tricks containing unwanted point cards. Another unique Hearts feature is that there is no winner, just a loser.

Hearts belongs to the illustrious family of negative, or reverse, card games. Unlike traditional card games such as Poker and Bridge, where winning hands or tricks is the goal, the original game of Hearts was called Reversis, and its object was to lose tricks instead of win them.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
Best for four, though three or five may play.

HOW TO DEAL
A standard fifty-two-card deck is used. In each suit the cards are ranked ace (high) to 2 (low).

Deal the entire deck. All players receive an equal number of cards, one at a time and face down. With three players there is one extra card; with five players, two extra cards. In either case, put the extra card(s) aside, face down. This is called the
kitty
and comes into play later.

PASSING CARDS
After all players have received and organized their cards, all players must pass three cards—no fewer, no more, and typically cards that are unwanted—to another player. Players may not look at any cards passed to them until they pass three of their own cards to the appropriate player.