Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (43 page)

Similarly, you are expected to provide information to your opponent where and when appropriate rather than to—how rude!—force your opponent to inquire directly. For example, if you and your opponent both declare five cards for point, the elder player will say something like “forty-seven” and
the younger player should reply either “good” (conceding the point) or “forty-nine” (winning the point), but the younger should not reply “not good,” since this would (unnecessarily) prompt the elder to inquire “how much?”

Never ask to see an opponent’s foursome. It is simply not done. It is OK to inquire after an opponent’s triplet; however, limit your inquiry to the cards’ rank and not to the suits of individual cards.

VARIATION: RUBICON PIQUET

Except in France, the traditional version of Piquet has been eclipsed by Rubicon Piquet. The games are identical in all respects except one. In Rubicon Piquet, there are only six total deals, alternating between each player three times.

At the end of six deals, a winner is crowned. Typical of Piquet, there are special rules for determining the final scores in a game of Rubicon Piquet. If both players earn more than 100 points, the winner scores 100 points plus the
difference
of the two scores. For example, if player one ends with 120 points and player two ends with 112 points, player one wins the game with a total of 108 points. Math alert! The winning score is 100 + (120−108). If either (or both) players score fewer than 100 points, the winner scores 100 points plus the
sum
of the two scores. For example, if player one ends with 85 points and player two ends with 70 points, player one wins the game with a total of 255 points.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   medium
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   long
   
3. DECKS
   : 2
   

Solitaire connoisseurs will appreciate Russian Bank. The game follows a rough Solitaire framework, using tableau and reserve piles to build a set of foundation cards up by suit and rank. The twist here, of course, is that Russian Bank is highly competitive.

HOW TO DEAL
Each player starts with their own fifty-two-card deck (choose decks with different backings to tell them apart), and deals twelve cards, face down, as her stock, plus four face-up cards in the tableau, leaving room for two center columns, as shown below (F = foundations). Place the remaining cards face down in your reserve pile.

SCORING
The goal is to play
all
your cards (your stock, reserve, and waste piles) to your tableau or foundation piles. You also may load your cards onto your opponent’s stock or waste piles (see “How To Play” below). The first player to rid himself of cards earns 30 points, plus 2 points for each card left in his opponent’s stock, and 1 point for each card left in his opponent’s reserve and waste piles.

HOW TO PLAY
The game starts with player one moving any aces from his tableau to the foundations. Once a foundation has been seeded with an ace, you may then build on it
by suit
in
ascending
rank up to the king.

Next, player one turns up a stock card. If the card may be played to the foundations, it
must
be played to the foundations. Otherwise, use the card to build on your tableau in
descending
rank and in
alternating color
.

Thereafter, each turn follows the same rules of priority:

1. Turn up a stock card (unless one is already face up).
   
2. Any card that may be moved to the foundations
   must
   be. If both a stock and tableau card may be moved to the foundations, the stock card must move first.
   
3. Turn up a card from the reserve, and play it to the foundations or tableau. If the card is not playable, leave it face up in the waste pile.
   

Move cards in the tableau one at a time, not in groups. Fill tableau vacancies with any available card (following the rules of priority above), including the top card from another tableau pile.

During your turn, you also may
load
cards from your own stock, reserve, or tableau onto your opponent’s stock or waste piles, by building up
or
down in rank and by suit. So if your opponent has 5 of diamonds face-up in her stock, you may build 6 of diamonds, then 7 of diamonds, then 6 of diamonds on her stock, forcing her to play these extra cards. And yes, it is OK to change directions mid-build.

Unlike most Solitaire games, you may not use any cards from your own waste pile. Instead, once your reserve is exhausted, turn the waste pile over (do not shuffle) to create a new reserve.

IRREGULARITIES & DISPUTES
If either player builds incorrectly or does not follow the rules of priority, the error must be corrected only if it’s noticed. Once the turn shifts, any errors stand.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   medium
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   medium
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

If you’ve played cards in Austria, you probably know this superb two-player game by the name of Schnapsen. The Anglicized name refers to the minimum points needed to win a hand. The game moves quickly, requires a good memory, favors skill over luck, and demands total concentration.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all 2s through 8s. You’re left with twenty-four cards ranking (high to low) A, 10, K, Q, J, 9.

Deal six cards to each player, face down in batches of three. Turn the next card on the deck face up (to determine trump suit for the hand) and set it aside. The remaining cards are the stock.

SCORING
The first player to earn 7 game points wins. You earn game points by being the first player in a hand to score at least 66 points from cards taken in tricks (see the scoring chart below). If neither player
goes out
and the hand is played out to the end, the player with the highest score earns 1 game point.

If a player scores 66 points before an opponent scores 33 points, 2 game points are earned. If the opponent hasn’t won even a single trick, 3 game points are earned. In case of a tie, the game point goes to the winner of the following hand.

In addition, if you’re holding a king and queen of matching suit, you score 40 points (in trump) or 20 points (all other suits) by declaring a
marriage
and then leading either card. The player who wins the last trick of a hand scores 10 points, but only if the entire deck is played out and neither player closes.

In Sixty-Six, players are
not
allowed to write down or track their scores, nor to look back at tricks they have won. This makes it harder to “go out” with confidence.