JASS

This interesting card game is related more to the Pinochle – Bezique side of the family than to the game of Klaberjass, which it is often confused with and only resembles in the rank of the cards in trump. It also is called Yass.

Requirement

1. Three or four players, each for himself.
2. A 36-card deck made by stripping out all cards below the six from a regular 52-card deck.
3. Rank of cards: In nontrump, they are as follows: ace (high), king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six (low). In a trump suit, they rank: jack (high), nine, ace, king, queen, ten, eights seven six (low).

The Deal. Players cut for deal, and his cut is dealer. Each player, beginning at dealer’s left, receives a hand of nine cards, dealt three at a time per round. If four are playing, the last card is turned up to determine the trump suit. If there are player, the twenty-eights cards is turned up for trump, and the remainder of the deck is put aside.
The turn to deal in subsequent hands passes to the left.

Exchanging Hand and Trumps.

1. If there are playing, dealer has the first privilege of exchanging his hand for the nine cards left in deck, which he does not see. But he must first wait until the player who holds the six of trumps exchanges it for the turned trump (unless, of course, dealer holds it himself ). If dealer does not wish to exchange his hand for the face-down cards, any player in turn may then do so. But a player must exchange is made, no further exchanges are allowed. Rotation of choice of the exchange is to the left.
2. If four play, there can, of course, be no exchange of hands, but the player who holds the six of trumps exchanges it for the turned trump. Dealer picks up the card after the exchange to complete his hand.

The Play. The player at dealer’s left may lead any card. Each player in turn must follow suit and try to win the trick if possible if a player cannot follow suit, he must trump if able to and must trump higher if a trick already has been trumped. But the holder of the jass may trump with it even when able to follow suit.
After a player has poker played to the first trick, all hands may expose any melds for which they wish to score. The values of melds are as follows:

A sequence must be adjacent in rank, and rank for this purpose only being: ace (high), king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six. This ranking of sequence holds for trumps, too. But, a player loses the score of his meld if he fails to win at least one trick in the play.
The winner of a trick leads to the next, and play proceeds until all tricks have been played.
Scoring. At the end of play. each player is credited with what he won. These are the counting cards
and their value: jack of trumps (jass), 20 points; nine of trumps, 14; any ace, 11; any ten, 10; any king, 4; any queen, 3; any jack except jass 2. For winning last trick, the player scores 5 points in addition to any others he may win in the trick. A player who does not win at least 21 points is set back 100 points, which is subtracted from his score.
The Game. The first player to reach 1,000 points announces it. If his claim is verified, he is the winner, if not, he loses. If a player or players is found to have 1,000 points at the end of play in a deal, game is set at 1,250 or 1,500. A player may win only by announcing that he has scored enough for game.
Variations. Here are two variants that are often injected into the game.

1. Some play that, as in Pinochle, a player must undertrump if unable to overtrump when playing to a suit in which he cannot follow.
2. Some play that in a four-handed game, a player who thinks his hand cannot score at least 21 points may drop out of play. The turn to do so begins with the player at dealer’s left and passes to the left. Only one player may drop out.

Two-handed Jass

This follows the same procedure of play as Two-Handed Pinochle, but the rules are that of Jass. That is, each player is dealt nine cards at the start, and after each trick the winner takes the top card of the stock, his opponent drawing the next. Melds may be made, only one per turn, by the winner of a trick before leading to the next. Until the stock is exhausted, there is no obligation to follow suit to a lead. But once the stock is gone, it is obligatory to follow suit if able, as well as to win any tricks.

JULEPE

A fascinating Spanish game which combines the basic features of both Poker and Pinochle. I first saw it played at the Curacao Club in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, where its members play Julepe and Chemin de Fer at the same time.
Requirements

1. Two to nine players; six and seven make for the best game.
2. A standard deck of 52 cards plus a joker, whose suit is wild and is valued at 10 ½. However, when it is turned face up on the table to denote trump it becomes the 10½ of spades. cards rank as in poker, two (low), three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, joker (10 ½ ), jack, queen, king, and ace (high).

Start of the Game. Each player antes a chip into the center of the table, forming the pot.
Object of the game. To win the game by scoring two or three tricks out of five played. If one player wins two tricks and another two or three tricks, they divide the winnings.
The Deal. Any player by mutual consent becomes the first dealer. From then on the deal moves to the dealer’s left, clockwise (Deal rotates counterclockwise in Latin America.) After the dealer shuffles the cards, he offers them to the player on his right to cut.
In a six-or seven-handed game, dealer deals each player five cards, three at a time, then two at a time in clockwise fashion. Player to the ;dealer’s left, known as the leader, receives the first three cards and the dealer the last two cards. in a seven, eight-, or nine-handed game each player is dealt five cards. In a five-or six- handed game each player is dealt six cards, three at a time. In a two, three, or four-handed game, each player is dealt nine cards in groups of threes.
After each player has been dealt the proper number of cards, the next card is faced up on the table and denotes the trump suit. The stock (remainder of the undealt cards) is placed alongside the trump card.
The First Play of the Hand. The first play at Julepe is played the same as Draw Poker. The leader has the first privilege of play. After examining his cards, he must do one of three things.

1. He may open, which indicates he plays.
2. He may pass (drop out), which indicates he doesn’t desire to play the hand.
3. He may reserve, which indicates he reserves the privilege to play or pass after all the other players have had their turn to play or pass. Should one or more players poker play, the leader may either play or pass. But, should all the players pass, he must also pass.

After the leader has decided, each player in turn, starting with the player to the leader’s left, may do one of two things: play or pass. They cannot reserve. This privilege is only valid for the leader. If all the players pass but one, he wins the pot. If they all pass, a new hand is dealt with the same ante.
Should one player who reserved plays (the leader), the former may viras throw in his entire hand and take the trump upcard from the table and draw four cards. otherwise the trump upcard cannot be taken by a player. But, should a player hold a six of trumps, he can exchange that six of trumps for the trump upcard resting on the table before the said player viras.
When the active players number two or more, these remaining players may if they desire draw cards in an attempt to improve their hands, or stand pat. This procedure is called the draw, and is played as follows:
The dealer must ask each player (starting with the nearest active player to his left and rotating clockwise) at his proper turn of play how many cards he wants to draw, if any. This he indicates to the player by saying “How many?” The player either says none or tells the dealer how many cards he wants to draw, which number cannot exceed five. The dealer must wait until the player discards. In a two-handed game in which a player is dealt nine cards, should he stand pat, he must discard four cards to make a playing hand of five cards. Should he want to draw cards he discards six cards plus the number of cards he want to draw. Example: Player holds eleven cards, he discards eights cards and has three cards left in his hand: he is permitted to draw two cards to make his five card hand. The same procedure of discarding and drawing holds true be it a two-handed game or a nine-handed game. In short, player must have only five cards in his hand after the draw. The stock runs out, discards are shuffled and dealt to complete the draw.
The Second Play of the Hand. The second play of Julepe is similar to the play of Pinochle in which players play out their hands in the form of tricks. The first player who opened plays first. He may lead off (start the play) by taking any one of the five cards he holds from his hand and playing it face up on clockwise. After the first card has been led, each active player in turn of play (which remember moves to the left) must observe the following rules:

1. Each player, if he has it, must play a card of the suit led. Example: A diamond is the first card led, therefore all players must follow suit with a diamond.
2. If the player does not have a card of the suit led, he must play a trump card (same suit as the trump upcard).
3. If he does not have a card of the suit led or a trump card, he may play any other card in his hand.
4. When a trump card is led (is the first card played to the trick), each player must play a higher trump card than any previously played if he has one.
5. But if a nontrump card is led and the player trumps that card, succeeding players are not required to trump or play a trump card higher than the one that has been previously played.

This routine of play continues until all five cards in the player’s hands have run out and all cards have been played to poker tricks .
How to Score the Hand. A player who wins two or more tricks wins the hand. If one player wins two tricks and another two or three tricks, they divide the pot. Should an active player fail to win two or more tricks, he must pay the winner or winners an amount equal to the pot. Example: If the pot contained six chips, each active player who failed to scores two or more tricks must pay the winner or winners six chips