The Book of Card Games: The Complete Rules to the Classics, Family Favorite and Forgotten Games (27 page)

If you are not the player to get rid of your cards first, you receive penalty points for the cards remaining in your hand. Cards with a value below ten receive five points each, tens and face cards receive ten points each, and aces are worth fifteen points each. The game is played to a specified number, determined before play begins (usually 200 or 300 points), and when one player goes over that number, the player with the fewest points wins the game.

Progressive Rummy is played in a series of hands with varying wild cards. You’ll need four to six players and a standard deck of fifty-two cards. The objective of Progressive Rummy is to win points by arranging your eight cards into melds. In the first deal, aces are wild. In the second deal, twos are wild. In the third deal, threes are wild, and so on. After the thirteenth deal, when kings are wild, the first game is considered complete and the player with the fewest points wins.

A random dealer is chosen and deals out eight cards, one at a time, face down, to each player. The dealer turns up the next card, face up, and this begins the discard pile. The remainder of the cards are placed face down next to the discard pile and become the stockpile. Deal continues to alternate after each hand.

Play begins with the first player to the dealer’s left. In your turn, you may take the top card in the discard pile or the top card from the stockpile. You may then lay down a meld of three or more cards in a sequence of the same suit (such as 7♥ 8♥ 9♥), or three or more cards of the same value (7♥ 7♠ 7♣). You may also add cards to melds that have already been laid down if you can. There is no minimum or maximum number of cards you can lay down. You end your turn by discarding a card. If a wild card has been played, you may replace that card with its natural card and then use the wild card to complete a meld in your hand that you wish to lay down. Play continues multiple times around the table.

The first player to discard all of his cards ends that hand, and the hand is scored. All players still holding cards add up the points contained in the cards that they hold, not including the melds. Face cards (jack, queen, and king) score ten points each, and the remaining cards score their value. If you hold a wild card for that hand, the wild card is worth twenty points instead of its normal value. The player with the fewest points after the thirteenth hand wins the game.

Also known as 500 Rummy or 500 Rum, this game of rummy allows for some very large hands and a chance to score a lot of points. Rummy 500 is played with two or more players using a standard pack of fifty-two cards. All face cards are worth ten points, and the numbered cards are worth their face value. An ace is worth one point if played in a sequence, or fifteen points if played in a group or left in the player’s hand. If playing with jokers, they are worth fifteen points each. The objective of Rummy 500 is to have the fewest points when one player reaches the cut-off score.

A random dealer is chosen who deals out the cards, one at a time, face down, to each player. If there are two players, each player receives thirteen cards. If there are three or more players, each player is dealt seven cards. The dealer turns up the next card, face up, and this begins the discard pile. The remainder of the cards are placed face down next to the discard pile and become the stockpile. Deal continues to alternate after each game.

Play begins with the player to the dealer’s left completing a turn. Each turn requires the player to draw the top card on the discard pile, the top card of the stockpile, or a card farther down the discard pile (but only if he can meld that card with other cards in his hand) and lay them down. If you choose the card farther down the discard pile, you must add the other cards above into your hand. Whatever card(s) you choose to take, if you have a meld, you may lay it down on the table (although you are not obligated to do so). You may also choose to lay off other cards on your opponent’s melds or previous melds that you have laid down. When you lay off on your opponent’s cards, do not actually add the cards to his hand. Place them in front of you so you can score points for them later.

After you are done laying down cards (or if you choose not to lay down any cards), you end your turn by discarding a card. This card is placed face up on top of the discard pile, but slightly to the side of the card beneath it so that all cards are fanned out and visible. If you drew the top card from the discard pile, you may not discard that same card within the same turn. Play continues clockwise multiple times around the table.

Play for that hand ends when the stockpile runs out of cards or when the first player discards his last card by melding, laying off, or discarding his last card. No other players may discard cards from their hands, even if they have melds or could lay off on other melds.

After a player goes out, the other players add up the value of the cards in their hands and subtract that from the value of the cards they have laid on the table. Hands continue to be dealt until a player’s cumulative score reaches 500 points with two people playing; 300 points with three people; 250 points with four or five people; or 200 points with six to eight people. The player with the most points at that stage wins.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
Four

EQUIPMENT:
Scopone Scientifico deck

TIME:
One hour +

PARTNERSHIP:
Yes

COMPLEXITY:
Medium

Scopone Scientifico is an Italian game typically played with a forty-card Italian deck with suits of coins, cups, swords, and batons. The cards in that deck are one to seven and three court cards. You can use your deck of fifty-two cards with the standard four suits—just remove the eight, nine, and ten of each suit. The objective of the game is to capture cards of any suit from the table in an attempt to get as many points as possible.

A random dealer is selected and deals a group of three cards to each player, another group of three cards to each player, and a final group of four cards to each player, all face down. Deal passes to the right with each hand.

Play begins with the player to the right of the dealer laying down a card from his hand to the table. He plays this card face up so everyone can view it. If the player to his right has a card of the same value, he may “capture” that card by laying down his card and picking up both his card and the first player’s card. Otherwise, he lays down a second card to the table. Play continues around the table. When it’s your turn, you must either lay down a card to the table or capture one or more cards. You can capture multiple cards by laying down a card with a value equal to the sum of two or more cards on the table. For example, you can lay down a nine and capture a five and a four, or a four, a three, and a two. The exception to this is that if you lay down a nine and there is a nine on the table, you must capture that single card. For the purposes of this game, the king is ranked as ten, the queen is nine, the jack is eight, and the seven through ace rank as seven through one.

When you capture cards, you must take the card that you laid down, plus the cards you captured, and lay them face down in a pile in front of you. If there are any cards remaining when the last card is played, the last player to pick up cards gets to pick up all cards on the table as a bonus.

If you are able to clear all of the cards on the table with one card (a sweep), you score one point for “scopa.” At the end of the game, four more points are determined. If your team captured the most cards during play, you win one point. If your team captured the most diamonds (coins) during play, you win one point. If your team captured the 7♦—the “sette bello”—during play, you win one point. If your team captured the best “primiera,” you win one point. The primiera is made up of your team’s four highest valued cards, one in each suit. For the purpose of calculating scores in Scopone Scientifico, use these values:

• Sevens are worth twenty-one points
  
• Sixes are worth eighteen points
  
• Aces are worth sixteen points
  
• Fives are worth fifteen points
  
• Fours are worth fourteen points
  
• Threes are worth thirteen points
  
• Twos are worth twelve points
  
• Court cards (king, queen, and jack) are worth ten points
  

All suits must be represented. If you do not have a card in each suit, your opponents automatically win the point for primiera. If both teams have a card in each suit, you compare the total of your highest four cards, and the team with the higher total wins the point. The first team to score eleven or more points at the end of a hand wins the game.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
Three to five

EQUIPMENT:
One deck of thirty-two cards (A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 of each suit)