EIGHTS

EIGHTS is a game of the Stops family, and is regarded as one with better opportunities for skill than other members of the family.

It probably originated in the United States where it is also called Swedish Rummy, although there is no connection with games of the Rummy family. The game is also called Switch (usually with Jacks rather than 8s being the most significant cards).

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

The game is best for two players, although three can play, and four can play in two partnerships, as explained later.

CARDS

The full pack of 52 cards is used. Each player draws a card, lower deals (Ace high). Thereafter the deal alternates with each hand. The dealer shuffles, the non-dealer cuts, and the dealer gives seven cards, one at a time, to each player. The remainder of the pack is placed face down to form the stock, and the top card then turned face up beside the stock to become the starter.

THE PLAY

The non-dealer plays first. He must begin a talon pile by laying onto the starter a card from his hand of either the same suit or the same rank as the starter. If he is unable to, he must draw cards one at a time fro the top of the stock until he can.

When a player has laid a card, his opponent takes his turn and play continues alternately. If the stock becomes exhausted, player unable to make a turn passes.

The game gets its name from the fact that all 8s are wild. An 8 may be played at any time, whether or not the player holding it could play another card. The player laying an 8 can specify which suit it represents (but not which rank). He can thereby change the suit or stipulate that the previous suit continues.

A player may choose to draw from the stock even if able to play, but he must eventually lay a card if able he cannot pass while holding a card which can be played.

The winner is the first to get rid of all his cards. If the stock is exhausted and neither player can play, the game ends in a block, but is still valid for scoring. A player is debited for the cards in his hand when his opponent goes out, on the following scale: an 8 counts 50 points, a King,

Queen or Jack counts ten points, and all other cards count their pip value (Ace counts one point). If the game ends in a block, each player is debited for the cards in his hand. When a player’s debit score reaches 100, his opponent wins the game, and wins by 100 points plus the differences between the two totals.

Settlement is made of the basis of an agreed amount per ten points, the difference being rounded up to the nearest ten.

Good play comes from keeping count of the number of cards played in each suit, in deciding when to change the suit, in deciding when to change the suit, and in particular in the use of the 8s. It is best to keep an 8 for emergencies, and it might sometimes be worth drawing from stock rather than playing an 8.

A player with the last 8 who knows a suit is exhausted might deliberately call for that suit to cause a block, if he is confident that his opponent holds cards counting more than he does himself.

EIGHTS FOR THREE PLAYERS

This version is played cut-throat style, i.e. each player for himself. After deciding dealer, the deal passes to the left. Each player is dealt five cards (not six as with two players ) one at a time, and the player to the dealer’s left plays first.

Play continues in turn to the left. When one player’s debit score reaches 100, each player’s score is rounded up to the nearest ten, and the players settle with each other according to the difference between them at a rate agreed beforehand. There is no bonus for winning the game.

EIGHTS FOR FOUR PLAYERS

This version is played in partnerships of two, each player sitting opposite his partner. Each is dealt five cards. For a partnership to win a hand, both partners must get rid of their cards. The side which fails to go out is debited with the cards held in the hands of the players on that side (there might be one hand or two to count).

When one partnership is debited with 100, the winning poker partnership score the difference in the two totals (rounded up to the nearest ten) plus 100 for game. Each winning partner collects from his opponent on his right settlement at an agreed rate per ten points based on the winning margin (i.e. if the margin is 130, each loser pays to his right-hand opponent 13 units).