Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (83 page)

HOW TO DEAL
Divide a fifty-two-card deck roughly in half, and place the halves face down in front of each player.

WINNING
The goal is to avoid running out of cards. The first player to do so loses the game.

HOW TO PLAY
The game starts with one player turning up the top card of his face-down pile, and placing the card face-up in the center of a table. The other player then does the same.

There are two kinds of cards:
honors
(A, K, Q, J) and
ordinary
(10 through 2). The game continues until one player turns up an honors card. When this happens, the opponent pays a penalty by turning over cards from her stack to the center pile: four cards for an ace, three cards for a king, two cards for a queen, one card for a jack. After the penalty is paid, the original player takes the face-up pile of cards from the table and places them face down at the bottom of his own personal stack of cards.

You’re in luck if you happen to turn up an honors card when paying a penalty. The roles immediately switch, and your opponent must now pay you the appropriate penalty.

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

Whether you know it as Michigan, Newmarket, or Boodle, this game is heaps of fun for kids who grasp the basic elements of cards and are looking for a little extra challenge. While gambling is not a requirement, if you decide against money stakes, you should nominate a prize ahead of time for the winner. A good incentive—and the healthy competition that comes with trying to win it—is what makes Boodle so much fun.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
3 to 8

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal each player cards one at a time until none remain. It’s OK if some players have one or two fewer cards. The dealer also deals a
widow
or “extra” hand (in a game with five players, six total hands are dealt) that is not used. Card rankings are standard, with aces always high.

Each player should start with an equal number of markers, or chips; 15 or 20 per player is a reasonable amount. (Toothpicks are a good household stand-in for chips.)

WINNING
The game ends when any player runs out of markers, and whichever player collects the most markers is the winner. Typically each marker is worth a token amount of money. Otherwise, a small prize is awarded to the overall winner.

HOW TO PLAY
Before dealing, remove the following four cards from a second deck and place them face up on the table: A of hearts-K of clubs-Q of diamonds-J of clubs. These are the Boodle cards. Next, each player places one marker on each Boodle card (the dealer places two markers on each card).

The player to the left of the dealer starts by leading his lowest card in any suit. Whichever player holds the next highest card in the very same suit must
play it. For example, if 4 of clubs is the first card played, then whoever has the 5 of clubs must play it. The process continues until the highest card is played (A of clubs in this example), or until there’s a gap in the cards (nobody has the required card because it’s already been played or is buried in the widow hand). When this happens, whichever player played the last card starts all over again, playing her lowest card in any suit.

Whenever a Boodle card is played in rotation, that lucky player captures all the markers on the corresponding Boodle card. The hand ends as soon as any player runs out of cards. The remaining players forfeit one marker for each card in their hand to the winning player. Any markers left on the Boodle cards are carried over to the next hand. The deal rotates clockwise and new cards are dealt.

VARIATION: AUCTION BOODLE

This is identical to the basic game except that the dealer may decide to swap her hand with the widow prior to the start of play. And no, the dealer is never allowed to look at the widow hand before deciding to swap!

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

Even younger kids enjoy Concentration. The only skill required is, well, a little concentration. You need to remember which cards are where on the table so you can turn up a matching pair.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
1 to 6

HOW TO DEAL
Deal an entire fifty-two-card deck face down in a pattern of your own choosing: four rows of thirteen cards, a pyramid, two squares—it doesn’t really matter as long as all cards are face down.

WINNING
Collect the most sets of paired cards to win the game.