Knock Out Whist
This is a simple Whistgame for children for two to seven players. Use a standard pack of cards anddeal seven cards to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down in apile in the centre. The top card in this pile is turned up, and this gives a trumpsuit for the first hand. Play now begins. The aim is to win all the tricks. Theperson on the left of the dealer leads with any card. The other players followand must play the same suit if they can. The person playing the highest value cardwins the trick. If a player cannot follow suit, they can win the trick byputting down a card from the trump suit. If they do not have trumps either, theyshould put down anything (preferably something of low value as they are going tolose the trick anyway). The winner of the trick starts the next trick and soon,until all seven cards have been played. Anyone who hasn’t won a trick is eliminatedfrom the game. The cards are gathered up and shuffled but in the second roundthe dealer only deals six to each player. In the next round five, then four,three, two and then only one in the end, if the game goes that far. Whoever winsthe most tricks in a round chooses trumps for the next hand and leads off.Players who win no tricks drop out on the way and sooner or later one player willwin all the tricks in a hand. This player is the overall winner.
Palmanism
An ideal game for any numberof young players, this is also a good memory test for adults. If you want to playas a large group, and make it more complicated, try using two or even threepacks of cards. Take full packs of cards, including Jokers, shuffle them well,and deal them out, face down, in six rows of nine. The first player turns overtwo cards so they are face up for all to see. If he turns over two cards of thesame value he takes them and turns over another two. He can go on as long as hekeeps finding pairs. If his two cards do not match, he should place them face downagain, and then the next person takes a turn. The player who has collected the mostpairs, once all of the cards have been picked up, is the winner. The person withthe best memory and the longest attention span will win.
Brag
This is a very oldgambling game which is probably the ancestor of Poker. It doesn’t have to beplayed with money but it is essential to have counters or matchsticks withwhich to bet. As ever, there are several variations of the game, but the mostcommon is Three Card Brag. Decide at the start who is to deal and what the maximumstake is to be. Use a full pack of cards.
Three specific cards areknown as Braggers: Ace of Diamonds, Jack of Clubs, 9 of Diamonds. These cards areWild and can be whatever you wish.
Play begins with thedealer putting down a stake. He then deals three cards to each player. Oncethey have looked at their hands, they must bet on the outcome. They must putout a stake at least as high as the dealer’s to stay in the game. If they have nothingin their hand to give them confidence they may retire. Play goes around thetable and back to the dealer. If any player has raised the original stake it isnow up to the dealer. If he is confident he has a winning hand he puts downanother stake at least as large as the highest stake on the table. Again,players around the table consider their position and confidence. They must retireand forfeit their stake, or put down a matching stake. If the dealer has a badhand, he too may retire, leaving his stake in the pool. When a player has bet anamount that no one else is prepared to match, the others retire and he takesthe pool of tokens. He does not have to reveal his cards, so he could be bluffingand have nothing of any value at all, but still win.
If any or all playerswant to see a high-bidder’s hand, they must first bet a higher amount and then callto see his hand. At this point all hands are revealed and the best hand takes thekitty. A Hand is valued in the following hierarchy:
- Three of akind (natural): Ace high, down to 2, no wild cards.
- Three of akind: including one or more Braggers.
- Two of a kind(natural): Ace high, down to 2, no wild cards.
- Two of a kind,including one or more Braggers.
If two players have similar pairs, theplayer with the highest third card wins. You need nerves of steel and actingability for this game.
Black Maria
Although it can be playedwith more, this game is best played with three players and is considered by manyto be one of the very best cards games. Its appeal lies in the fact that theplayers can practise their skill more in this game than in many others. Remove the2 of Clubs from a normal pack and play with 51 cards. The aim of the game is toavoid taking tricks which contain any Penalty Cards. These cards and their penaltypoints are:
Queen of Spades – Black Maria – 13 points
King of Spades – 10 points
Ace of Spades – 7 points
All Hearts each of which carries –1 penalty point
Shuffle and cut thepack to deal, the lowest cut becoming the dealer. Share out the whole packequally, face down, to the three players.
Players sort their handsinto suits and sequence – Aces high. They then select the three cards they wantleast in their hands and pass them face down to the player on their right. Theymay not look at the cards they are receiving until they have chosen and passedthe three they are discarding. Play begins with the person on the dealer’s leftputting a card face upon the table. The next person to the left must play a cardof the same suit if he has one, and the third player must then do the same tocomplete the trick. If a player has no cards of the right suit, he may discard anycard of any other suit. The trick is won by the highest card of the suit of thefirst card played (the suit of the leading card).The winner of a trick leadswith a card to start the next trick. Play continues until all 17 tricks are completed.Each player can then total the penalty points of the cards in the tricks theyhave won. The player with the least penalties wins the round. Skill can beapplied throughout this game in the passing of cards at the beginning and obviouslyin the play itself. Once you have played it a few times you will begin to appreciateall the options for cunning play.
Chase The Face
Each player startswith three counters which represent his three lives. The object of the game isto make sure you are not the one holding the lowest value card in each round.If you are, you surrender a counter and lose a life. When you have lost allthree lives you are out. The winner is the person who remains holding one or morecounters when all other players have lost their lives. The ranking of cards is asfollows: Ace is the lowest value and King the highest. Clubs rank lowest in suit,followed by Diamonds, then Hearts, and Spades have the highest value (therefore,the Ace of Clubs is the lowest possible ranking card and the King of Spades isthe highest.) The dealer deals one card face down to each player, who may lookat their card. Any player who has a king reveals it by turning it face upon thetable. Beginning with the player on the dealer’s left, each player who hasn’tgot a King may swap his undisclosed card with that of the player on his left (unlessthat player has a King).This option is also available to the person the on the dealer’sright. Once every player has decided to keep their card or has exercised their optionto risk exchanging it, then the dealer may consider his move. He may keep his cardor cut one from the pack. Whichever he does, all cards are now revealed and theperson with the lowest loses a life and surrenders a counter. Each roundcontinues in the same way. The cards are shuffled after each hand and the deal movesto the next player on the left.
Pontoon
Also called 21 or Vingt-et-Un,this is probably the most popular and simple of card games for a group ofplayers. First, choose the Banker by making each player take a card from thepack. The person with the highest gets the Bank. This is not always anadvantage since an experienced player who bets high can cripple the Bank quicklyif he is lucky. For this reason it is a good idea to decide on a maximum stakeat the outset of the game. The Banker starts by dealing one card to each playerincluding himself. The players look at their cards and place a bet on the tablebefore them. The Banker then deals each a second card. The aim is to have ahand with a total value as close to 21 as possible, or a hand of five cardswith a value of 21 or less. Court cards are all valued as 10. Aces can count as1 or 11, as the player wishes. All other cards are according to their facevalue. A pair consisting of an Ace and a 10 or Court card is an instant winner:the cards add up to 21 exactly and should be shown face upon the table at once.This is known as a Pontoon.
The other players keeptheir cards a secret to themselves. Starting with the person on his left, the Bankerasks each person what they wish to do. Their options are as follows: * A playercan buy a card by putting out more counters at least equal to (but not more thantwice) his original stake. A card that is bought is delivered face DOWN by the Banker.* The player may decide to Twist-ask the Banker to turn over a new card-in whichcase there is no charge but the card is delivered face up.. * The player canBuy or Twist as he wishes once, twice or three times. However, once a card has beentwisted a player cannot return to buying cards. Any player with five cards whichtotal 21 or less has a Five Card Trick. When a player is satisfied with his handhe Sticks and the Banker moves to the next player. * However, if a card bringsthe player’s hand to a total value above 21 he is Bust and this must be announced.The cards are turned face up and the Banker takes the player’s stake. Once everyonehas gone bust, stuck or got a Pontoon, the Banker plays his own hand. TheBanker turns up both his cards and can twist to add more cards if he wishes.Once the Bank has decided to stick (or Stay), or has gone Bust, all remaininghands are revealed. If the Bank goes Bust, it must pay out an amount equal tothe original stake to anyone who has not gone bust. (Triple to anyone with aPontoon, Double for a Five Card Trick or 21.) If the Bank sticks on four cardsor less, he pays out to anyone with a higher value hand and takes the stake of anyonewith a lower value hand. If the Bank has a Five Card Trick he pays out toPontoons only. Everyone else loses their stake. For instance, the Bank starts witha King and a 1. It turns another card, a 7, bringing its total to 19. It wouldbe prudent to stop at this point, as it would be extremely unlikely to be dealtanother 2 or an Ace and anything else would bust the hand. Consequently, theBanker announces that he will “pay20andup”.The Bank sticks and pays anamount equal to the player’s stake to anyone with 20, double the stake to a playerwith 21, double to anyone with a Five Card Trick, and three times to a Pontoon.
Three times the stake for pontoon.
Twice the stake for five cards of 21 or under in value.
Twice the stake for any cards adding to 21.
Once for any cards adding to 20.
