The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (190 page)

appears.)

3. A vampire drains al the score out of the row and column in

which it appears, resulting in a whole line counting zero in

each direction.

The scores are therefore 38 to 30. If a vampire had been played in

place of Q, the scores would be 21 to 24.

Subsequent DealsThe next dealer clears the cof in away and from

the stock of unused cards deals four each face down and one face

up. Play and score as before.

GameAt the end of six deals both players record their totals.

Whoever scored more (if not tied) adds a bonus equivalent to the

dif erence between their two totals. Play up to 1000 points.

Duck Soup

2 players,52 cards

A not too serious trick-taking game designed to drive you quackers.

DealShuf le a 52-card pack, deal thirteen each in ones, and stack the

rest face down. The game is played in two courses. In the first

course (Duck), each player, after playing to a trick, draws the top

course (Duck), each player, after playing to a trick, draws the top

card of stockto restore the hand to thirteen. The second course

(Soup) begins when the stock is empty.

ObjectThe aim is to win tricks in each half of the game. It is bet er

to win a middling number in both halves than many in one half

and few in the other.

PlayNon-dealer leads to the first trick and the winner of each trick

leads to the next. The second may play any card. There is no need

to fol ow suit and there are no trumps.

In Duck (the first course), the trick is taken by the lowest card

of the suit led, and Ace counts low.

In Soup (second course), the trick is taken by the highest card

of the suit led, and Ace counts high.

The winner of a trick containing two cards of the same suit stores

it face down. One containing dif erent suits counts double, and is

stored face up. The winner of the trick draws first from stock (so

long as any cards remain), waits for the other to draw, then leads to

the next.

QuackingPeculiar things happen when the second player matches

the rank of the one led. He must, on this occasion, say ‘Quack!’ If he

fails to do so, the leader simply wins the trick, which counts double

and is stored face up.

If the second player quacks, the leader must either

say ‘Duck’, in which case the other wins the trick and stores it

face down; or

play a third card of the same rank and say ‘Quack-quack’. In

this case the other must play another card. If it is the fourth

card of the same rank, he says ‘Duck Soup’ and wins the trick.

If not, the leader wins the trick. In either case the four cards

count as two tricks, and both are stored face up.

1. The leader is not obliged to play a third card of the same rank, but may

duck even though able to match it.

A 2. Following a quack-quack, each player draws only one card from stock, not

two. When the stock is empty, therefore, players may well hold fewer cards than

thirteen.

ScoreAt the end of the Duck course, as soon as the last card has

been drawn from stock and before the next trick is led, both players

note the scores they have made so far, counting one for each face-

down trickand two for each face up. These tricks are then piled up

to one side so as not to get confused with tricks won in the second

half. Tricks won at the end of the Soup course are scored the same

way. Each player’s final score for the whole deal is found by

multiplying together the two scores for the individual halves.

GamePlay up to 250 points. A player finishing with less than 125

points is ‘in the soup’, and pays double. Scoring 125 or more in a

single deal wins the game outright.

Galapagos

2 players, 52 or 54 cards

A heady brew, redolent of Gops, Piquet, Whist, and Arsehole, but

with a few novelties thrown in. It would take ages to explain the

title.

PreliminariesDeal thirteen cards each from a wel -shuf led 52-card

pack ranking AKQJT98765432. Stack the rest face down and turn

the top card face up. The game consists of three phases as fol ows:

1. Auction. Players seek to improve their hands by bidding for

new cards from the stock. When the stock is empty, they score

new cards from the stock. When the stock is empty, they score

for any melds (card combinations) held in their revised hands.

2. Tricks. They then play these revised hands to 13 tricks, aiming

especial y to win the last.

3. Play-of . Final y, they each pick up as a new hand the thirteen

cards they used in the bidding, and aim to be the first to play

them al out.

The hundred bonusIf at the end of any scoring phase one player has

reached 100 and the other has not, the one who did so gains a

bonus. The bonus is 100 if the hundred is reached by the end of

Phase 1 (melds), 50 if by the end of Phase 2 (tricks), or 25 if by the

end of Phase 3 (play-of ).

Phase 1: AuctionAt each turn the top card of the stock is turned up.

Fol owing an auction, one player takes the faced card and the other

takes the one below it, sight unseen. The aim of the auction is to

win the privilege of choosing whether to take or cede the known

top card. Players bid by simultaneously revealing an unwanted bid-

card from the hand. The auction is won by the higher card. If tied, it

is won by the card of the same suit as the turn-up; or, if neither

matches suit, by thatof the same colour; or, if neither is of the same

colour, by that of the same parity as the turn-up. (Spades and hearts

are of major parity, clubs and diamonds minor.)

Whoever wins the auction may either take the top card and take

it into hand, leaving the opponent to take the next, or, if preferred,

may cede the top card to the opponent and take the next card

down, sight unseen. The bid-cards are then turned down, and the

next card of stock is faced and bid for in the same way. Continue

thus until the stock is exhausted, when eachplayer wil have

thirteen cardsinhand and thirteen face down on the table.

Scoring for meldsEach in turn, starting with the player who took the

last card, scores for any sets and sequences they declare. A set is

three or more cards of the same kind (Aces, Twos, Kings, etc.). A

sequence is three or more cards of the same suit and in ranking

sequence is three or more cards of the same suit and in ranking

order. Ace counts high only (A-K-Q…, not A-2-3…). A card may

belong to a set and a sequence. Score as fol ows:

Sequence of three = 10, four = 20, five = 50, six = 60, and

so on up to 13 = 130.

Set of three = 15, or 30 if the missing card is of one’s

proposed trump (which should then be announced).

Set of four = 40, but four Threes = 60, four Twos = 80.

Announce a sequence as ‘Three hearts’, ‘Six clubs’, or whatever,

and a set as ‘Three Aces’, ‘Four Nines’ etc. Any combination scored

for must be shown if requested.

If one player has reached 100 and the other has not, the former

gets a bonus of 100.

Phase 2: TricksPlay tricks as at Whist or Bridge, except that, before

play, each player declares which suit wil be their personal trump.

Whoever took the last card of stock leads to the first trick. The

second player must fol ow suit if possible, otherwise may play any

card. The trick is taken by the higher card of the suit led, or by a

personal trump to the lead of a non-trump suit. If one player leads

a personal trump and the other cannot fol ow, the lat er can only

beat it with a higher personal trump – an equal or lower one loses.

The winner of each trick leads to the next.

Whoever wins the last trick scores 10 points per trick won, and

the other player 5 per trick won. These scores are added to those

for melds.

If one player has reached 100, not having done so before, and the

other has not, the former gets a bonus of 50.

Phase 3: Play-of Each player now picks up the thirteen cards used

in the auction and arranges them as a playing hand. The aim is to

be the first to play them al out from the hand in the fol owing

way.

The winner of the last trick leads to the first round of play, and

The winner of the last trick leads to the first round of play, and

the winner of each round leads to the next. The leader may play

out a single card, or two or more cards of the same rank, or three or

more cards in sequence (not necessarily of the same suit; and Ace

counts high or low). The other must either play exactly the same

number and combination of cards, but higher in rank, or else pass.

If the lat er passes, the leader must then match and beat the last

combination or pass, and so on. This continues until one player

cannot or wil not beat the last-played combination. The other

player thereby wins the round, turns the played cards down, and

leads to the next.

Play stops as soon as one player plays their last card. That player

scores 10 for each card left in the other player’s hand. Reaching a

total of 100 or more by this process, if the other has not, earns a

bonus of 25. GameKeep playing to the end of Phase 3 of the deal in

which one player has reached 1000 points or more. After the play-

of , the player with the higher point-total scores a single game if the

loser reached 1000+, a double if the loser has less than 1000, a

treble if less than 750, a quadruple if less than 500.

Optional JokersIn case the game is not elaborate enough, you

may add two Jokers, one red and one black. Each player starts with

one Joker and twelve cards dealt. Each may play their Joker once

only. How it is used depends on when it is played, as fol ows.

Intheauction. Joker played as a bid-card always wins. If both

are played simultaneously, that of the same colour as the

faced card wins.

Inmelds Before scoring for melds, a player who stil has a

Joker may exchange it for any one of their played-out bid-

cards. This may yield a higher meld, or an extra trick.

In trick-play,a player who stil has a Joker counts it as a

personal trump, ranking lowest (below the Two).

Inthe play-of A Joker counts lower than a Two. It is not wild,

but may be used in a sequences beginning Joker-2-3… etc.

Garbo (‘I Want To Be Alone’)