Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (82 page)

PRIAL
Any three cards of matching rank. The highest prial is 3-3-3, followed by A-A-A, K-K-K, Q-Q-Q, etc.

HOW TO PLAY
All players ante and receive three face-down cards. Players either look at their cards or
play blind
. The player to the left of the dealer opens the bet or passes. Once the bet is opened, all subsequent players must match the bet of the preceding player or fold. Unlike poker, the pot is never truly “neat” because subsequent players are required to match the bet of only the previous player and not
all
previous players.

If player one bets $1, for example, player two may fold, bet $1, or raise the bet (up to a predetermined maximum). If the bet is raised, say, to $3, player three may fold, bet $3, or raise the bet—but player three is not required to match player one’s original $1 bet. If player three then bets $3 and player four follows with $3, player one must bet $3 to stay in the game (even though player one has already bet $1).

When just two players remain, you may also
see
a player by doubling the previous player’s bet and proceeding straight to a showdown. If you paid to see a player, your opponent exposes his cards first. If you have a better hand, turn your cards face up and take the pot. If you have a worse hand, concede the pot, but do not expose your cards. You’re allowed to
muck
in this case. If the two hands are equal, the player who paid to see loses the hand.

As players fold, their cards are added to the bottom of the deck. After each game, the deal rotates clockwise, but cards are not reshuffled
unless
the previous hand was “see a player” and won by a prial.

If you decide to
play blind
, do not look at your cards. On your next betting turn, you may fold or bet half the required amount (this is the blind bonus). So if the bet is $10, you may pay $5 to the pot. In a showdown, you’re entitled to win 100 percent of the pot even though you’ve contributed at a 50 percent level. Blind players may look at their cards at any point, but once they do, they must start paying the full betting amounts to the pot. You cannot “see a player” when someone is playing blind.

If all players fold except a blind player, the pot is carried over to the next hand along with the blind player’s cards. The blind player receives a new three-card hand (and therefore has two hands on the table). If you look at either hand, you must choose between playing it (in which case you fold the other hand without looking at it) or folding it (in which case you play the other hand as blind, or look at it; it’s up to you). If you look at neither, play both hands blind until you eventually decide to look at one, in which case you follow the procedure above.

VARIATION 1: FOUR-CARD BRAG

Follow the rules of Three-Card Brag, but deal each player four cards face down. You may play blind or not; either way, the moment you look at your four-card hand, you must discard one card face down on the table. The goal is to create the best three-card Brag hand. Ties are broken by the highest discarded card.

VARIATION 2: FIVE-CARD BRAG

This is exactly like Four-Card Brag, but this time all players are dealt five cards. And as soon as you look at your cards, you must discard two in order to create the best Three-Card-Brag hand.

VARIATION 3: TEEN PATHI

Three-Card Brag is known as Teen Pathi in India. The rules are virtually identical, with the following changes. If you are playing blind, you must bet the current bet or double it—you may not bet any other amount. If you play an open hand
(you are not playing blind), you must bet a minimum of
twice
the current bet and a maximum of
four times
the current bet—you may not bet any other amount.

If all players but one fold, that player wins the pot—even if he was playing blind. As long as no players are playing blind, on your turn you may make the minimum bet and then ask the preceding player for a
compromise
. The preceding player is free to accept or decline your compromise. If accepted, look at each other’s cards and the player with the lower hand must fold (in case of a tie, the player requesting the compromise folds). If declined, the game continues as normal.

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

Authors is an excellent choice when your children are ready to graduate from
Go Fish!
. The two games are almost identical. The main differences are that Authors requires more concentration (because cards are exchanged one at a time rather than in sets) and that Authors has no stock pile (instead, all cards are dealt at the start of the game).

Authors has a noble legacy. The game was one of the first widely available card games, published by Parker Brothers in the 1890s. The title comes from the game’s original cards, which featured illustrations of popular authors and philosophers.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
3 to 8

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal all players cards until none remain. It’s OK if some players have one or two fewer cards.

WINNING
The player who collects the most four-of-a-kinds wins the game. In case of a tie, shake hands and congratulate your opponent on a well-played and evenly matched game.

HOW TO PLAY
The player to the left of the dealer starts by asking any other player for a single card. The only restriction is that you must already have at least one card of matching rank in your hand. For example, you may ask any player for the 7 of diamonds as long as your hand already contains a 7. You get another turn if your request is successful. Otherwise, the turn moves one player to the left.

If you are the player being asked for cards, you must hand over the matching card. If you don’t (intentionally or not), you lose the game if your error is discovered.

At the start of your turn, play any four-of-a-kinds in your hand. Simply show the set of four to the other players and place the cards face down in front of you.

Once you run out of cards, your turn is skipped in all subsequent rounds. The game ends as soon as all players but one run out of cards.

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

Try Beggar Your Neighbor whenever your games of
Egyptian Ratscrew
get out of hand. The games are very similar, minus the hand slapping.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
2