The Book of Card Games: The Complete Rules to the Classics, Family Favorite and Forgotten Games (11 page)

A dealer is randomly selected and deals five cards face down to each player, if there are multiple players, or seven cards if there are only two players. The remaining cards are then placed face down in a stockpile, accessible to everyone in the playing area. The top card is turned face up and placed next to the stack of cards to start the discard pile.

The game begins with the player to the dealer’s left. If the first card turned over in the discard pile is an eight, the player chooses a suit and then discards a card of that suit from his hand. If the card is not an eight, the player discards a card of that suit or of that value from her hand. For instance, if the top card is 6♦, you may discard a six of any suit or any diamond. If you have no cards that can be played, you must pick up the top card from the stockpile. The next player to the left then plays, with the same options. If you discard an eight, you must then call out a new suit for the next player to play. The game stops when any player discards the last card in her hand.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
Two

EQUIPMENT:
One standard deck of fifty-two cards; cribbage board

TIME:
Half an hour

PARTNERSHIP:
No

COMPLEXITY:
Medium

Sir John Suckling, an English poet and playwright, is credited with creating cribbage in approximately 1631. It’s a fast-paced card game that uses a unique scoreboard called the cribbage board. The objective of cribbage is to be the first player to score 121 points or more, moving around the cribbage board twice and then crossing over the starting line with one or more points. The standard cribbage board has four parallel rows of thirty holes each, and there are two pegs for each player. You and your opponent use two rows each, moving up the outside row and down the inside row—completing a sixty-hole track. The two pegs are used to mark your current score (the one in front) and the previous score (the one in back). Each time you earn points, whether during play or in counting your hand, you move the rear peg ahead of the forward peg by as many holes as points earned. Each move is called a “peg,” and you can peg one or more points per move.

Cribbage opens with both players cutting the deck to see who will deal first. The player with the lowest card becomes the first dealer and deals six cards, face down, one at a time to each player.

The game begins with you and your opponent looking at the six cards in your hands and each discarding two cards. The four discarded cards become the “crib” and are an extra hand for the dealer to use later. The dealer’s opponent cuts the deck and turns the top card face up. This is known as the “start” card. If it is a jack, the dealer scores and pegs two points. The starter card will be used again later to help you score points with your hand.

Play begins with the dealer’s opponent laying down one card face up on the table. The dealer lays down a second card, adding the value of the two cards together to keep a running total. Each time a card is laid down, the cumulative value of your cards and your opponent’s cards are added together into this running total. You can lay down any card that you wish, as long as the running total does not exceed thirty-one. You each keep your own cards in front of you instead of mixing the cards together. Play alternates between the two players. If you play a card that makes the running total exactly thirty-one, you peg two points. Your opponent then lays a card, and the running total starts over from zero. If you cannot play a card without exceeding thirty-one, you let your opponent know this by saying, “Go.” If your opponent cannot play a card either, he pegs one point for the “Go.” If your opponent can play any cards without exceeding thirty-one, he plays those cards scoring one point for the “Go” and an extra point if the new running total is exactly thirty-one. It is then your turn to lead a new card, starting the running total over at zero. This continues until you both have played your four cards. The last player to lay down a card pegs one point. The eight cards have been played, and now it’s time to score the hand.

Along with scoring the above points during play, you can score other points for different things, as follows:

• Fifteens:
  If you hit a value of fifteen in the running total, you score two points.
  
• Pairs:
  If you play a card of the same value as the previous card, you score two points.
  
• Pair royal
  (three of a kind):
  If you play a card of the same value as the previous two cards in a pair, you score six points.
  
• Double pair royal
  (four of a kind):
  If you play a card of the same value as the previous three cards in a three of a kind, you score twelve points.
  
• Runs:
  If you make a sequence of three cards (for instance, eight/nine/ten) you receive three points. If the run is four cards, you receive four points, and so on. The run does not need to be in exact sequence—that is, you could play a nine/ten/eight, which would still count for three points. The run can be made up of cards from any suit.
  

Cards played before the total resets to zero (after hitting thirty-one) do not count toward a pair, three of a kind, four of a kind, or run.

In proper cribbage etiquette, you each announce the running total and any points earned before pegging your score. For example, let’s say you have a hand with 4♣ 5♠ 10♥ 7♥, and your opponent has a hand with 5♦ 6♣ 8♥ and 3♠. You lay down your 4♣ and say “Four.” Your opponent lays down his 6♣ and says “Ten” because now the running total is four plus six. You lay down your 5♠ to make the running total fifteen, which scores you two points for fifteen and say “Fifteen for two.” You peg two points on the cribbage board. You then say, “Run for three,” because you have a run of 4, 5, 6, and peg three additional points. Your opponent now lays down his 5♦, making the running total twenty and scoring two points for creating a pair. He says “Twenty for two” and pegs his two points. He then says “Pair for two” and pegs two additional points. You lay down your 10♥, making the running total thirty and say “Thirty.” Since your opponent cannot lay a card that will push the running total over thirty-one points, and he does not have an ace, he cannot play. He says, “Go.” You score one point by saying “One for the go,” and since you cannot play a card either, the running total starts again at zero and play returns to your opponent. He lays down his 3♠ and says “Three.” You lay down your last card, the 7♥, and say “Ten.” Your opponent lays down his 8♥, to make the final total eighteen points, says “Eighteen for one” because he laid the final card, and pegs one point.

After play is over, you each add up the points contained within the combination of your four cards plus the starter card originally turned up by the dealer. Each scoring combination (pairs, three of a kind, four of a kind, and run) scores the points stated. A flush receives four points if the starter card is not of the same suit and five points if it is. A nob (having a hand with a jack of the same suit as the up card) receives one point. You can also receive points that your opponent forgot to claim by calling “muggins” and declaring those points.

For example, suppose your hand has the cards 5♥ 5♠ 9♠ 10♥ and the starting up card is the J♦. You can form four combinations of fifteen (5♥ 10♥, 5♥ J♦, 5♠ 10♥, 5♠ J♦), a run of three (9♠ 10♥ J♦), and a pair of 5s for a total of thirteen points.

If you have a pair in a run, the run can be counted twice. Let’s say your hand has the cards 2♦ 4♦ 5♥ 6♠ and the starting up card is 6♦. You have one run of 4♦ 5♥ 6♠ and one run of 4♦ 5♥ 6♦. You also have two combinations of fifteen 4♦ 5♥ 6♠ and 4♦ 5♥ 6♦, and a pair of 6s, for a total of twelve points.

The dealer’s opponent adds up his points first, pegging them on the board, and then the dealer adds up his points and pegs. The dealer then takes the four crib cards, turns them over, and receives points for that hand as well. Any points he earns through those cards are scored and pegged immediately, before the next hand is dealt and played.

Order of play can become essential toward the end of the game, as each of you gets closer to winning. If you have enough points, you could go out before the dealer, even if the dealer has many points in his hand and in the crib. If you beat your opponent before he reaches the last leg of the board, you “skunk” him and score twice as many points. If you beat your opponent before he makes his first trip around the board, you “double-skunk” him and can receive triple or quadruple points, depending on which variation you choose to play.

If four people are playing, the players form two teams, with partners sitting across from each other. The dealer deals five cards to each player, who each discard one card into the crib. Play is the same as earlier, except if you say, “Go,” the three remaining players can play if able. The player who said, “Go,” is the first to lead the next card after all players have played. Teams score points as above, and team members peg their points sharing the same pegs. When scoring a hand, the dealer’s opponents count first, followed by the dealer and his partner.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
Four

EQUIPMENT:
Twenty-four card deck (A, K, Q, J, 10, 9 of each suit)

TIME:
One hour

PARTNERSHIP:
Yes

COMPLEXITY:
Medium

Euchre is a popular trick-taking game that is played with multiple players in a group setting. It uses a smaller deck of cards than the standard deck of fifty-two, making play a bit speedier.

Euchre is a classic card game with a disputed history. There are arguments that euchre is a descendant of the Spanish game Triumph, the German game Jucker, the French game Triomphe, or the game Écarté that was popularized by the Pennsylvania Dutch. Regardless of its origins, euchre was very popular in Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and found its way to the United States in the early nineteenth century. Euchre remains very popular in the U.S. Navy, and in fact may have been initiated in the United States and other countries through this venue. Euchre was the game of choice until bridge appeared on the scene and gained more popularity.