Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (55 page)

SCORING
The goal is to capture tricks, and the first team to capture five earns 1 point. A bonus of 5 points is awarded if a team wins five tricks before their opponents win any tricks. An extra 1 point is awarded on top of that for each additional trick captured before the other team wins its first trick (for example, if Team 1 wins seven tricks in a row, they score 7 total points). Games are typically played to 15 points.

HOW TO PLAY
After the hands are dealt, a player holding only non-ranking cards may exchange from one to eight of his own cards with fresh cards from the stock. Otherwise the stock is not used. Partners show each other their highest single card. The player to the left of the dealer then leads the first card. High cards win the trick. If cards of equal rank are played, the trick is won by whichever card was played first. The round ends after all nine tricks have been captured.

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

This is the most interesting—and challenging—of the Irish “Spoil Five” family of games, which includes Twenty-Five, Forty-Five, and Fifty-Five. The difference here is the team play, which adds a layer of mystery and mischief to the game. If you’re new to two-player team games, Auction Forty-Five is a superb and easy-to-master introduction.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal five cards to each player in batches of 3-2. The remaining cards are the stock. Typically for Spoil Five games, the card rankings vary, based on whether the suit is trump or not:

NON-TRUMP SUITS (HIGH TO LOW)

Clubs & Spades: K-Q-J-A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Diamonds: K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-A

Hearts: K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2

Note that A of hearts is always the third-highest trump

TRUMP SUITS (HIGH TO LOW)

Clubs & Spades: 5-J-A of hearts-A-K-Q-2-3-4-6-7-8-9-10

Diamonds: 5-J-A of hearts-A-K-Q-10-9-8-7-6-4-3-2

Hearts: 5-J-A-K-Q-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2

SCORING
Each trick is worth 5 points, and the first team to score 120 points wins. An extra 5 points are given to whichever team won the highest trump in play. If the bid winners meet or exceed their bid, they score the bid amount and nothing more (though they are eligible for the 5-point high trump bonus). Otherwise, the bid amount is deducted from their score. If a team successfully bids 30, they earn a double-point bonus of 60 points.

HOW TO PLAY
The player to the left of the dealer opens the bidding. Players may pass, hold, or bid in multiples of 5, up to 30. A “hold” commits you to the previous player’s bid. Players who pass are allowed to bid again on their next turn. The bid is won when three players in a row pass. The bid winner nominates a trump suit for the hand. Note that teams with a game score of 100 or more points are not allowed to bid less than 20.

Once a trump suit is named, each player starting to the left of the dealer may discard up to five cards, and replace them with fresh cards from the stock.

The player to the left of the bid winner leads. Players must follow suit if possible, otherwise they may play any card. Tricks are won by the highest trump, or by the highest card in the leading suit. The exceptions: You may play trump at any time, and when trumps lead, you are not required to play any of the three-highest trump cards unless a higher trump leads. For example, if hearts are trump and J of hearts leads, you are required to play A of hearts if that’s your last trump card.

VARIATION: FORTY-FIVE

This is the same four-player game as above, except bidding is tossed out. In its place? Once all cards are dealt, the dealer turns up the next card. This determines trump for the hand. And if it’s an ace, the lucky dealer may swap the ace for any card in her hand. The team winning three or four tricks earns 5 game points (10 points, if they capture all five tricks). Games are played to 45 points.

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

If you’re a fan of Spades, you will immediately fall in love with Back Alley. Both games are partner-based trick-taking games. Back Alley’s edge comes from its
fixed-length deal of twenty-six hands. Your strategy varies drastically depending on the number of cards you’re holding, which means Back Alley doesn’t get stale.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and add two jokers. Nominate one joker as the “Big Joker” and one as the “Little Joker.”

A complete game of Back Alley consists of twenty-six deals. Deal thirteen cards to each player in the first hand, twelve in the second, eleven in the third, etc., down to one card each in the thirteenth hand, and then back up to two cards in the fourteenth, three in the fifteenth, etc., until all twenty-six hands are dealt.

Card ranking is standard, with aces always high. The Big Joker is always the highest trump, followed by the Little Joker, then the ace, king, queen, etc.

SCORING
Teams that meet or exceed their combined bids score 5 points for each trick bid, plus 1 point for every trick above their bid. Otherwise, they lose the amount of their bid multiplied by five. In a board bid, tricks are worth 10 points each. If you’re courageous enough to bid a “double board” or “triple board,” you’re committing to 15 and 20 points per trick, respectively. The non-bidding team earns 1 point for every trick they capture. The team with the highest score at the end of twenty-six hands wins.

HOW TO PLAY
After the first hand is dealt, the dealer turns up a card from the deck; its suit determines trump for the remaining twenty-five hands. If the turn-up card is a joker, there is no trump suit. In that case, the second joker is a “dead card” and should be replaced by a fresh card from the deck when it turns up.

After trump is established, a round of bidding starts with the player to the left of the dealer. Players may bid only once. The valid bids are pass, board (which commits you to win every trick in the round), or any whole number from one up to the number of cards dealt in the hand. If players from the same team bid, their individual bids are added together whether they like it or not! If all players pass, the hand is dead and the cards are redealt.