4. Stops

SEQUENCE   MICHIGAN   DOUBLE STOPS   SPIN   SNIP, SNAP, SNOREM    THE EARL OF COVENTRY   JIG   EIGHTS   HOLLYWOOD EIGHTS    GO BOOM   HOLLYWOOD GO BOOM    FAN-TAN    LIBERTY FAN-TAN    FIVE OR NINE    COMMIT    ROLLING STONE    PLAY OR PAY

The many games of the Stops family are all good fun, are all easily learned, and are all suitable for mixed groups of children and adults. The simplest game of the family has no Stops at all, but it belongs in the family as a sort of great-grandfather of the other games. This parent form, called Sequence, is excellent for very young children.

SEQUENCE

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 10. Four or 5 players make the best game.

CARDS: Deal one at a time to each player until the deck is used up. It doesn't matter if some of the players are dealt more cards than the others.

OBJECT: TO get rid of all of your cards.

THE PLAY: The player at the dealer's left puts down his lowest card in any suit he chooses to begin with. The rank of the cards is:
(Highest) Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2 (Lowest)

After the first card has been put down on the table, whoever has the next-highest card in the same suit must put it down. This process continues, until somebody finally plays the Ace of that suit.

For example, suppose that the first player's lowest spade is the 4. (This would be so if some other player had the 3 and the 2 of spades.) The first player puts down the 4 of spades, somebody else plays the 5 of spades, another player puts down both the 6 and the 7 of spades (it doesn't matter if the same person plays two or more cards in a row), and this process continues until somebody finally plays the Ace of spades.

When the Ace is reached, the one who plays it must begin a new suit. As before, the player who begins the suit must begin with his lowest card in that suit.

Sooner or later, one of the players will get rid of all of his cards. He wins the hand, and the other players lose one point for each card that they still have when the hand comes to an end. (A simpler method is to forget the scoring by points and just play to win the hand.)

SKILLFUL PLAY: Practically no skill is required for this game. It is wise to begin with the deuce of some suit when it is your turn to begin a play. If you have no deuce, you should begin with a 3—or the lowest card of any suit in your hand. If you don't follow this policy, you may eventually get stuck with a deuce or a 3 in your hand-.

The great value of the game for very young children is that it is very easy to teach and that the children get practice in recognizing the numbers and in learning how the numbers follow each other in sequence. For especially young children, it is possible to remove the picture cards from the deck and use only the numbers from 1 to 10. In this case, of course, the Ace is the lowest card, and the 10 is the highest card of each suit.

MICHIGAN

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 8.

CARDS: The ordinary deck of 52 cards plus the 4 special cards (we'll come to them later) from another deck.

THE DEAL: The dealer gives one card at a time face down to each player, taking care to deal an extra hand as though there were 1 more player at the table. It doesn't matter if some hands have one more card than others.

PAY CARDS: The 4 pay cards, taken from another deck, are the ^ Ace, the * King, 0 Queen, and <J> Jack. These are placed face up in the middle of the table and remain there throughout the game. Before each deal, each player places one counter on each of the special cards. (The counters may be poker chips, matchsticks, toothpicks, dried beans, etc. All players should be given the same number of counters to begin a game.)

OBJECT: TO win counters from the other players. This is done by getting rid of all of your cards or by playing a pay card and thus winning the counters that are on that special card in the middle of the table.

THE PLAY: The dealer looks at his own hand and announces whether or not he will auction off the extra hand. If the dealer wants the extra hand himself, he puts his own hand aside, face down, and plays the extra hand in its place. If the dealer likes his own hand, he may auction off the extra hand to the player who bids the most counters for it. If 2 players make the same bid, the first one to speak counts. If both speak at the same time, the one who would play first going around to the left from the dealer wins the tie. If the dealer says he is going to sell the extra hand, he is not allowed to change his mind even if he is not satisfied with the results of the auction.

After the question of the extra hand is settled, the play begins. The player to the left of the dealer may begin with any sviit, but must put down the lowest card of the suit he chooses to begin with. The player with the next higher card in the same suit continues, and the play proceeds as in Sequence. When any player puts down a card that is the same as one of the pay cards in the middle of the table, he collects all of the counters on that card. It is therefore an advantage to hold one of these pay cards in your hand.

If a player reaches the Ace of a suit, he must start with a new suit, but must play the lowest card he holds in whichever suit he chooses to continue with.

There is an important difference between this game and Sequence. You cannot always proceed up to the Ace of a suit, because you are sometimes stopped by the missing cards that are in the discarded hand. When no one is able to continue with a suit, the person who made the last play must begin again with a new suit, beginning (as always) with his lowest card in this new suit.

Sooner or later, some person plays the last card in his hand. He then collects from each other player at the rate of 1 counter for each card left in that player's hand.

SKILLFUL PLAY: There is skill both in the auction and in the play.
A good hand contains 1 or more of the pay cards. Even if you have no pay cards, you may still have a good chance to play out quickly if your hand contains very few of the very low cards in any suit. It usually isn't hard to reach Queens, Kings, and Aces, but it is often very hard to get rid of deuces and 3's.

As the dealer, you should be satisfied with your hand if you have 1 or more pay cards, or if you have a hand that contains practically none of the deuces or 3's. If you have a bad hand, containing no pay card and including 2 or more of the very low cards of the deck, you should exchange your hand for the extra hand instead of auctioning it off.

You follow the same principles if some other player is the dealer and offers to auction off the extra hand. The extra hand isn't worth a single counter to you if you already have a good hand. If you have a bad hand, however, you should be willing to bid up to 3 or 4 counters for the extra hand. If very few players are interested in bidding for the extra hand, you will probably get it for only 1 or 2 counters, but it won't be worth much. If the other players are satisfied with their hands, it is probably because they have pay cards in their hands, which means that there will be none left in the extra hand. However, there will be an advantage in exchanging your original hand for another hand because you will be the only player in the game who knows the cards in the discarded hand (that is, you will be the only player who knows these things if you have a good memory).

In the play of the cards it sometimes helps a great deal to know when a suit is going to be stopped. For example, suppose you know that the 9 of spades is in the dead hand. If you have the 8 of spades in your new hand, you can safely begin spades rather than some other suit. When you eventually play your 8 of spades, the suit will be stopped, and you will then be able to switch to some new suit. This gives you two chances to play, so it is always an advantage to be the one who switches to a new suit.When it is up to you to start a new suit, it is usually a sound idea to begin a suit in which you have a pay card. This is your best chance to get the pay card out of your hand and thus collect the counters for playing it.

DOUBLE STOPS

This is the same game as Michigan, except that the 10 and 9 of hearts are added to the layout in the center of the table. In order to win the counters on the 10 and 9 of hearts, the same person must play both cards. This seldom happens, because sometimes the 2 cards are dealt to different players, and sometimes the cards are not reached. In such cases, the counters pile up so that they eventually make a rich haul for the player who wins them.

SPIN

This game is the same as Michigan except that the player who holds the Ace of diamonds is allowed to play it in order to stop one sequence and start another. For example, suppose somebody else has started Clubs and that the play has reached the 8 of clubs. You hold the 9 of clubs and the Ace of diamonds. You play both cards together, announcing "Spin" as you do so. This stops the run in clubs, and allows you to begin the play in some other suit. You may, if you wish, then play a pay card if you have one, or you may begin with a low card in some new suit.

The player who has the Ace of diamonds is allowed to play it and call "Spin" only at the time that he can make a normal play. In the example just given, for example, you would not be allowed to play the Ace of diamonds unless you could first make a normal play with your 9 of clubs.


SNIP, SNAP, SNOREM

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 or more players. The more the merrier.

THE DEAL: One at a time to each player, until the entire pack is used up. It doesn't matter if some players have more cards than the others.

OBJECT: TO get rid of all of your cards.

THE PLAY: The player at dealer's left puts any card face up on the table. The next player (going around to the left) matches the play with the same card in a different suit, saying "Snip." The next player in turn (always going around to the left) continues to match the original play with the same card in a third suit, saying "Snap." The next player follows with the 4th card of the same kind, saying "Snorem." If a player is unable to follow with a matching card, he says "Pass," and the turn to play passes to the next person on the left.

For example, the first player puts down a 6 of hearts. The next player to the left has no 6 and therefore must say "Pass." The next player has the 6 of diamonds and therefore puts it down, saying "Snip." The next player to the left has both of the remaining 6's and therefore puts them down one at a time, saying "Snap" for the first of them, and "Snorem" for the second.

The player who says "Snorem," on putting down the 4th card of a kind, plays the first card of the next group of 4. If he has more than one of a kind, he must put down as many as he has instead of holding out one of the cards for "Snorem." For example, if you have 2 Kings, you must put both of them down if you decide to play a King. It would not be proper to put down just one of the Kings and wait for the other 2 Kings to appear before showing your remaining King for a "Snorem."

The first player to get rid of his cards wins the game.
SKILLFUL PLAY: There is no real skill in this game. It can be taught to even the youngest children, and they will be as good as the greatest Snip, Snap, Snorem expert after just a minute or so of practice.

THE EARL OF COVENTRY

This is the same as Snip, Snap, Snorem except that different words are used. The exact word depends on whether the player is young or grownup.

Young children always use the same words when putting down their cards. For example, suppose a young player puts down a 5. He says, "There's as good as 5 can be." The next young player to put down a 5 can say, "There's a 5 as good as he." The next player says, "There's the best 5 of all the three." The fourth player would say triumphantly, "And there's the Earl of Coventry!"

Grownup players must make a different rhyming statement as they play their cards. For example, an adult who plays a 5 might say, "Here's a 5 you can have from me," or "The best 5 now on land or sea," "The finest 5 in the land of the free," or any similar rhyming statement.

If a grownup fails to make an acceptable rhymed statement when he plays his card, he is not allowed to begin a new play at his next turn at "Snorem." The turn to make the new play passes to the next young player at his left.

JIG

This is the same as Snip, Snap, Snorem or The Earl of Coventry, except that the players put down 4 cards in sequence instead of 4 of a kind.

For example, suppose that the player at the left of the dealer begins by putting down a 5. The next player must put down any 6 or must pass his turn. The next player must put down any 7 or must pass his turn. The play is completed by the next person who puts down any 8. The one who completes the play with the fourth card in sequence then begins the new series by putting down a card from his hand.

The game may be played by saying "Snip, Snap, Snorem," or by using rhyming statements as in the Earl of Coventry.

EIGHTS

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 8. The game is best for 2, 3 or 4. In the 4-handed game, the players who sit across the table from each other are partners.

THE DEAL: Seven cards to each player in the 2-handed game; 5 cards to each player when more than 2 are playing.

The rest of the cards are put face down on the table as the stock, and the top card is turned face up to begin another pile.

THE PLAY: The player to the left of the dealer must match the card that has been turned up. That is, he must put down a card of the same suit or of the same rank.

For example, suppose that the card first turned up is the 9 of spades. The first player must put down another spade or another 9.The newly-played card is placed on top of the turn-up card, thus putting it up to the next player. It is up to the next player to match the new card either in suit or in rank.

The four 8's are wild. That is, you may play an 8 at any time, when it is your turn. When putting down an 8, you are allowed to call it any suit at all, as you please. For example, you might put down the 8 of hearts and say "Spade." This would call upon the next player to follow with a spade in order to match your card.If you cannot play, you must draw cards from the top of the stock until you are able to play or until there are no more cards left in the stock. You are allowed to draw cards from the stock, at your turn, even if you are able to play without drawing. This is sometimes a good idea.

OBJECT: TO get rid of all of your cards. The first player to get rid of all of his cards wins.

Sometimes a hand ends in a block with nobody able to play, and with no person having played out. The hand is then won by the player with the smallest number of cards. If 2 or more players tie for this honor, the hand is declared a tie.

SKILLFUL PLAY: The most important principle is not to play an 8 too quickly. If you waste an 8 when you are not really in trouble, you won't have it to save you when the going gets really tough.

The time that you really need an 8 to protect yourself is when you have been run out of a suit. For example, after several spades have been played, you may be unable to get another spade even if you draw every single card in the stock. If you are also unable to match the rank of the card that has been put down, you may be forced to pick up the entire stock before you can pass your turn. From here on, of course, it will be very hard for you to avoid a disastrous defeat. An 8 will save you from this kind of misfortune, since you can put it down in place of a spade, and you may be able to call a suit that embarrasses an opponent just as much as the spade embarrassed you.

If you're lucky, you won't have to play an 8 at the beginning, and you can save it to play out as your last card. If you're not quite as lucky as this, it is sensible to play the 8 as your next-to-last card. With a little luck, you will then be able to play your last card when your next turn comes, thus winning the hand. To play an 8 with more than 2 cards in your hand is seldom wise. It is usually better to draw a few cards from the stock in order to find a playable card.

The best way to beat an opponent is to run him out of some suit. If you have several cards in one suit, chances are your opponent will be short in that suit. As often as you get the chance, you keep coming back to your long suit, pounding away at your opponent in this way until he is unable to match your card. If this is done often enough, your opponent will have to draw from the stock and may have to load himself up badly before he is able to play.

HOLLYWOOD EIGHTS

This is the same as the original game of Eights, except that a score is kept in points with pencil and paper. When a hand comes to an end, each loser counts up his cards as follows:

Each 8 __________________ 50
Each King, Queen, Jack, or 10 10
Each Ace _________________1
Each other card _______pip value

The winner of a hand is given credit on the score for the total of all points lost by all of the losers.

For example, suppose you have an 8, a 9, and a 7 when a hand ends. The 8 counts 50 points, the 9 counts 9, and the 7 counts 7. The total is 50 + 9 + 7, or 66 points.

In Hollywood scoring, 3 separate game scores are kept. The first time a player wins a hand, his score is credited to him in the first game score. The second time a player wins a hand, he gets credit for his victory both in the first game and also in the second game. He will thus have a larger score in his first game than in his second game score. The third time a player wins, his score is credited to him in all 3 games. He continues to get credit in all 3 games from then on.

Sometimes the game runs on until everybody feels like stopping. In this case, the 3 game scores are added whenever everybody wants to stop. The winner is the player with the biggest total for his 3 scores.

For example, suppose you win five hands in a row, with scores of 10, 25, 40, 20, and 28 points. Your score would look like this:

A more popular method is to end a game as soon as any player's score reaches 100. When this happens in the first of the 3 games, the other 2 games continue. In the later hands, the score is entered on the 2nd game and on the 3rd game, but no further entry is made in the finished first game. Sooner or later, same player reaches a score of 100 in the 2nd game, and this likewise comes to an end. Eventually, also, some player reaches a score of 100 in the 3rd game, and then all 3 games have ended.

The winner is the player with the highest total score when all 3 game scores have been figured out and added up.

GO BOOM

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 or more.

THE DEAL: 7 cards to each player. The rest of the pack is put face down in the middle of the table, as the stock.

OBJECT: TO get rid of all of your cards.

THE PLAY: The player at the left of the dealer puts any card down on the table. The next player must follow by matching the suit or the rank of the first card. Each player in turn after this must match the previous card in suit or in rank.

For example, suppose the first player puts down the Jack of diamonds. The next player may follow with any diamond or with another Jack. If the second player decides to follow with the Jack of clubs, the third player may then match with a club or with one of the two remaining Jacks.

When a player cannot match the previous card, he must draw cards from the stock until he is able to play. If a player uses up the stock without finding a playable card, he may say "Pass," and his turn is then passed to the next player.

When everybody at the table has had the chance to play or say "Pass," the cards are examined to see who has played highest. The cards rank as follows:
(Highest) Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (Lowest)

If there is a tie for first place among cards of the same rank, the card that was first played is considered higher. The player who put down the highest card has the right to begin the next play.

The play continues in this way until somebody gets rid of all of his cards. That player wins the hand.

If none of the players is very young, a system of point scoring may be used. When a hand comes to an end, each loser counts the cards left in his hand as follows:

Each picture card ______10
Each Ace _____________1
Each other card __pip value

The winner of the hand is credited with the total of all points lost by all losers.

SKILLFUL PLAY: The strategy in Go Boom is much the same as in Eights. You try to run your opponent out of a suit in the hope that he will not be able to match your play with a card of the same suit or the same rank.

In the early stages of play, it is useful to play as high a card as possible in order to have the best chance to win the privilege of beginning the next play.

HOLLYWOOD GO BOOM

This is the same as Go Boom, except that the scoring is Hollywood style (3 games at a time). As in Hollywood Eights, 3 game scores are kept for each player. The first time you win a hand, you get credit only in your first game score. The second time you win a hand, you get credit both in your first game score and in your second game score. After that, you get credit in all 3 game scores.

The first game ends when any player reaches a score of 100. Later hands are scored only in the second and third games. The second game ends when any player reaches a score of 100 in the second game. Thereafter, the scores are entered only in the third game score. When some player reaches a score of 100 in the third game, also, all of the scores are totaled to see who wins.

FAN-TAN

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 8.

THE DEAL: One at a time until all the cards have been dealt. It doesn't matter if some players get more cards than others.

OBJECT: TO get rid of all of your cards.

THE PLAY: Each player in turn, beginning with the player at the dealer's left, must play a card if possible. If he cannot play a card, he must put a counter into the middle of the table. (All players should be given the same number of counters to begin a game.)

The possible plays are: Any 7; or any card in the same suit and in sequence with a card previously played.

For example, suppose that the player at the dealer's left put the 7 of spades down on the table. The next player may put down a new 7 or may play the 8 of spades so that it covers half of the 7 of spades. The second player, instead, may play the 6 of spades so that it just half covers the 7 of spades. If the 8 of spades has been played, the next player has the right to put down the 9 of spades. Once the 9 of spades has been played, the next player has the right to put down the 10 of spades.

This process continues. At any turn, a player may put down a new 7 or may continue a sequence that builds up from a 7 to a King or down from a 7 to an Ace. The King is the highest card that may be played on a sequence and the Ace is the lowest card that may be played on a sequence.

The play continues until somebody gets rid of all of his cards. That player then collects all the counters in the middle of the table. In addition, each loser pays out one counter for each card left in his hand.

SKILLFUL PLAY: It is usually easy to get rid of cards of middle size, such as 8's, 9's, 6's or 5's. It is usually hard to get rid of very low or very high cards, such as Aces, deuces, or Queens or Kings.

The way to play skillfully is to force the other players to build up to your high cards or down to your low cards. You can't always do this, but you can try.

If you have the 8 of spades, nobody can play the 9 of spades or any higher spade until you have first put down your 8. If a player who has high spades finds no chance to play them, he must play something else at his turn. This other play may be just what you need to reach your own very low cards or your own very high cards.

This shows you the general strategy. You play as much as possible in the suits that will lead to your very high cards or to your very low cards. You wait as long as possible before playing in the suits in which you have only middle-size cards. If you have just a little luck, you will get rid of your very high cards and your very low cards fairly early. You will then be able to get rid of your middle-size cards in the last suit, catching the other players while they still have the very high cards and the very low cards in that suit.

LIBERTY FAN-TAN

This is the same game as Fan-Tan, except that it isn't necessary to begin a suit by playing the 7. Nobody can start a new suit until the previous suit has been finished.

The player to the left of the dealer begins by playing any card of any suit. The next player must follow with the next higher card in the same suit or must put one counter in the middle of the table. The third player must continue with the next card in sequence or must put one counter in the middle of the table. This process continues, building up past the King with the Ace, deuce, and so on, until all 13 cards of the suit have been played. The one who plays the 13th card of the first suit may begin with any card in a new suit. Then the same process is continued with the second suit.
The player who first gets rid of all of his cards takes all the counters from the pool.

SKILLFUL PLAY: Your chance of winning is best when you can determine which suit will be played last. If you have very few cards in this suit, you have an excellent chance to win all the counters since you will get rid of your few cards in that last suit while the other players still have cards of that suit left in their hands.

The time to choose the last suit does not take place after the third suit has been played since then there is no choice. The time for the choice occurs after the second suit has been played, since then two suits remain, and the player who chooses the third suit automatically fixes the other suit as the fourth suit to be played.

If you happen to end the second suit, by good luck, you will then begin the play of the third suit. Naturally, you should play your longer suit as your third suit, saving your shorter suit for last.

If the two suits are almost equal in length, it is sometimes wiser to play the shorter suit third and save the other suit for the last. The time to do this is when you have two cards in sequence in the shorter suit. If you start with the higher of these two cards, you will naturally finish the suit with the lower. For example, suppose you have <spade> K-9-8-2. You notice that the 9-8 are in sequence. Following the principle just mentioned, you begin the suit with & 9. Other players follow with 10, J, and Q, allowing you to play the King. The Ace is played, you follow with <spade> 2, and others play on until your <spade> 8 completes the suit. Since you have completed the suit, it is up to you to start the next suit, and this is exactly what you foresaw.

The player who ends the first suit should use the same principle of starting the second suit with the higher card of two cards in sequence. This will allow him to end the second suit and thus make his own choice for the third suit.

FIVE OR NINE

This is the same as Fan-Tan except that the first player may put down a 5 or a 9 (instead of a 7). The card chosen by the first player sets the pattern for the rest of that hand. If he puts down a 5, for example, the other three suits must likewise be begun by 5s; and if the first player begins by putting down a 9, the other three suits must be begun by a 9.

Regardless of whether the play begins with a 5 or a 9, each suit builds up to a King as its top card and down to an Ace as its bottom card.

COMMIT

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 or more.

THE DEAL: Remove the 8 of diamonds from the deck of 52. Deal the cards out one at a time, as far as they will go evenly. Put the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table to form stops.

OBJECT: TO get rid of all of your cards.

THE PLAY: The player at the dealer's left may play any card to begin with. He and the other players can proceed to build up in sequence in the same suit.

For example, suppose that the first player begins with the 7 of clubs. Any player who has the 8 of clubs promptly puts it face up on the table. Then it is the turn of any player who has the 9 of clubs. This continues until the King of clubs is reached or until the sequence is stopped because the next card happens to be one of those face down in the middle of the table.

When the sequence is stopped for either of these reasons, the person who played last begins a new sequence with any card in his hand.
A player who holds the 9 of diamonds may play it if he has ended the previous sequence and it is therefore up to him to begin a new one. Another possibility of playing the 9 of diamonds occurs when all of the players have stopped with any sequence. When the 9 of diamonds is played, each player in rotation has the chance to continue the play either with the 10 of diamonds, thus continuing a diamond sequence, or with the sequence that was interrupted by the 9 of diamonds.

For example, suppose that somebody begins a sequence with the 3 of spades. The next player puts down the 4 of spades and then follows it with a 9 of diamonds. This gives a choice to the player at his left: he may continue with a 10 of diamonds or with the 5 of spades. If he has neither of these cards, the turn passes on to the left until somebody plays either the 10 of diamonds or the 5 of spades, thus showing which way the sequence will continue.

When you play the 9 of diamonds, you collect two counters from every player in the game. If somebody gets rid of all of his cards before you have played the 9 of diamonds, you must pay 2 counters to each other player in the game. (All players should be given the same number of counters to begin a game.)

When a player goes out (by playing all of his cards), the remaining players must show their hands. Any player who has a King must pay one counter to each of the other players in the game.

SKILLFUL PLAY: AS in the game of Michigan, the best strategy is to begin with your lowest card in your longest suit.

It is helpful to remember the stops. At the beginning of a hand, the only stop you are sure of is the 8 of diamonds. It pays to begin with a low diamond if you have the 7 of diamonds in your hand, for then you will probably build up to that 7 and thus have the chance to begin the next sequence.

ROLLING STONE

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 to 6.

THE PACK: When 4 play, use the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7 of each suit. If there is a 5th player, add the 6's and 5's. If there is a 6th player, add the 4's and 3's. There must be 8 cards for each player.

THE DEAL: One card at a time until each player has 8 cards. This uses up the pack.

OBJECT: TO get rid of all of your cards.

THE PLAY: The player at the dealer's left begins by putting down any card he pleases. The others must follow suit if they can, playing high or low as they please.

If all follow suit, the player who put down the highest card leads again. In this case the cards that were played to this first trick are turned over and put aside.

Whenever a player cannot follow suit at his proper turn to play (the turn to play is always to the left), he must pick up all the cards previously played in that trick. This ends that trick, and the player who has picked up the cards begins the next trick by leading any card that he pleases.

This process continues, and in most games a player picks up the cards several times. Eventually one player will get rid of all of his cards, thus winning the hand.

For the purpose of winning a trick, the cards rank as follows:
(Highest) Ace-Kjng-^ueen-Jack-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2 (Lowest)

PLAY OR PAY

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 or more.

THE DEAL: One card at a time to each player, until all of the deck has been used up. It doesn't matter if some players get more cards than others.

OBJECT: TO get rid of all of your cards.

THE PLAY: The player to the left of the dealer may put down any card from his hand. The player to his left must follow with the next highest card in the same suit or must put a counter into the middle of the table. (All players should be given the same number of counters to begin a game.) This process continues, with each player in turn obliged to continue the sequence or pay one counter into the middle of the table.

The cards in their proper sequence are: Ace-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-Jack-Queen-King-Ace-2-3- (etc.).

The player who puts down the 13th card of a suit makes the first play in a new suit.

The play continues until somebody wins by getting rid of all of his cards. Each player then puts one counter in the middle of the table for each card left in his hand. The winner takes all the counters out of the middle of the table.

SKILLFUL PLAY: There is no skill in following suit; you either have the card or you don't. The only skill is in choosing the right card with which to begin a play.

If you have two cards in sequence in any suit, begin with the higher of these two cards. Eventually you will end that suit by playing the lower card of the sequence. This will give you the right to begin the next suit.

When possible, you try to get rid of your long suits first. If your shortest suit is saved for last, there is a fair chance that you will be the first player to get rid of all of your cards.

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