OLD MAID
Requirements
- Two to five players.
- The standard 52-card deck is used, but the queen of clubs (or any one other queen) is taken put and put aside so that only 51 cards remain for play poker .
Any player may deal the first hand. the turn to deal then passes to the left in subsequent hands. Beginning at the dealer’s left, each player is dealt, face down, one card at a time until alol cards have been given out. It has no bearing on the game if the cards do not deal out evenly.
Object. To get rid of all of one’s cards by putting them into pairs of the same denomination.
Each player spreads his cards face up, picks out and discards all pairs, putting them face up in the center of the table. Each player shuffles his hand out of sight of the other players, usually behind his back. If no queens have been paired and discarded, three remain in play and the player on the dealer’s left draws one card from the dealer’s hand. if only one queen remains in play, the first draw is made from the hand holding it.
The player who gives the first draw holds his face-down cards toward the player on his left, and the latter draws out one card. If this card pairs with one in his hand, he discards the pair. In any case, he then shuffles his hand and allows the player on his left to draw one card. They play continues in rotation with each pair formed being discarded until all the cards have been paired except the odd queen. The player who is stuck with this is the “Old Maid” and loses the hand.
Play is continued until one player is the “Old Maid” a certain number of times. This player is considered the loser of the game while the one with the fewest “Old Maids ” is the poker winner . It is advisable to keep the score on paper.
AUTHORS
Authors was originally played with special cards bearing the pictures of famous writers. These cards are still available, but regular playing cards can be used.
- Three to six players; four or five is best.
- A standard 52-card deck.
The 52 cards are deal out, one at a time, as far as they will go. It does not matter if some payers receive one more card than the others. When there are fewer than six players, some ranks may be discarded in order to reduce the size of the hands.
Each player in clockwise rotation (starting at the dealer’s left) calls any other by name and asks for a specific cards by suit and rank. The asker must have at lest one card of the same rank in his hand, but he may not ask for a card he already holds. If the person asked has the card, he must give it up if not, he says “No.” The same player continues to ask various players for particular cards by suit and rank as long as he is successful in obtaining them when he fails, the turn passes to the left.
As soon as a player gets four cards of the same rank, he must show them, and place them on the table in front of himself. These four cards are called a book. The player who collects the most books is the winner of the game.
When Authors is played for a stake, chips are used, and when a player completes a book he collects one chip from each other online poker player, but he must put down the book before calling for another card in order to collect. For any violation of procedure, such as asking for a card he already holds or asking for a card when he does not hold another of the same rank, a player must pay one chip to each fails to surrender a cards when he does not hold another of the same rank, a player must pay one chip to each other player. If a player asks out of turn, or fails to surrender a card when it is requested, he may not score for making a book of that rank.
Go Fish or Fish
A simplified form of Authors.
- Two to five players.
- A standard 52 cards deck.
Cards are dealt one at a time. If there are two players, each get seven cards; if there are two players, each gets seven cards; if more than two players, each gets five. The remaining cards comprise the stock.
Each player in turn asks any other player for all the cards he holds of a specified rank, for example, “Give me your nine.” The asking player must have one or more cards of the asked for rank in his own hand. the person asked must give up all the cards he has of that rank. The first player’s turn continues as long as he succeeds in getting cards from any other player. If that player asked has no cards of the rank requested, he replies “Go Fish.” The asker then takes the top card of the stock, and the turn moves to the left.
Whenever a player gets four cards of the same rank, he must show them and put them down in front of himself. The winner is the player who first matches up all his cards and has none left in his hand. Or, the play continues until the stock is exhausted, in which case the player having the most books wins.
Optional Rules. The asker’s turn continues if )a) the card drawn from the stock is of the rank asked for, or (b) if it is of another rank but completes a book.
DONKEY
Requirements
- Three to 13 players.
- A standard 52-card deck that has been stripped so that for each player in the game there is a complete set of four cards of the same denomination: four kings, four queens, etc. When six are playing, the deck would contain 24 cards. the remainder of the cards are placed aside and not used in play.
- One chip is placed in the center of the table for each player in the game less one. Example: If there are five players in the game, only four chips are palced on the table.
Object of the Game. To make a group of four of a kind in the player’s hand, or not to be the last to notice when someone else accomplishes this.
The Deal. Any player shuffles the pack thoroughly and deal four cards, one at a time, to each player.
The Play. Once all the cards have been dealt, the dealer announces “Go.” At that time, every player passes a card to the player at his left simultaneously. The passing continues until one player matches his four cards. he then quickly picks up a chip from the table, attempting to do so unnoticed. As grabs for a chip. One player, of course, will not be able to obtain a counter and he is the “donkey” for that hand. the winning player must be prepared to show that his hand contained the required set, otherwise he becomes the donkey.
Each time a player loses a game, he receives a different letter in the word “donkey” in the order that the name is spelled. First player to score DONKEY loses. The score is kept on paper.
Pig
This game is similar to Donkey, except:
- When a player has in his hand four cards of one denomination, as four kings, he stops passing or picking up cards and puts his finger to his nose. The other players must immediately stop passing and each must put his finger to his nose. The last to do this is the “Pig.”
- The first player to become a pig ten times is the “prize pig” and must “oink-oink” for the others.
My Ship Sails
A variation of Pig for older children.
Requirements
- Three to seven player, each for himself.
- A standard 52-card deck. (When only three or four are playing, use 21-or 28-card decks, respectively, comprising any seven cards of each of three or four suits. With five to seven players, use the full deck.)
Object of the Game. To be the first player to get a hand of seven cards all in the same suit.
The Deal. Anyone may deal. Each player is dealt a hand of seven cards, one at a time, beginning with one at dealer’s left and going in clockwise rotation. The remainder of the deck is put aside.
The Play. Each player puts any one card face down at his left; then at the same time all players pick up the cars at their right. This continues until one player has collected seven cards of the same suit. He shows his hand, announces “My ship sails!” and wins the deal.
Variation. Some play that the first player to get a hand of all cards in the same suit announces “My Bird Sings.”
SLAP JACK
Requirement
- Three to eight players, each for himself.
- A regular 52-card deck.
Object. To win all the cards, buy being the first to slap each jack as it is played to the center. Any player may deal first. The cards are shuffled and dealt out, one at a time to each player in clockwise rotation until all have been dealt; they do not have to come out even. Each player without looking at any of his cards squares up his hand into a neat pile in front of him, face down.
Each player in turn, beginning at the dealer’s left, must lift one card from the pile in front of him and place it face up in the center of the table; in doing this, he must turn up the card away from him, not toward him, so that he may not see it any sooner than any other player. Accordingly, he should try to make the play with a very quick movement so that other players may not see the denomination of the card before he does.
When the card played to the center is a jack, the first player top slp his hand down on it takes it, all cards below it in the center of the table. The player winning these cards turns them face down and shuffles them with the cards in his hand still remaining on the table in front of him, to form his new hand. When several players slap at once, the one whose hand is nearest the jack wins the pile. If a player slaps a card that is not a jack, he must give one card from the top of his pile face down, to each of the other players.
Snap
This game is similar to Slap Jack except for the following:
- Each faces up his cards one at a time on a pile in front of his face-down hand; the cards being faced up one at a time in rotation. When a card is faced up which is the same in denomination as a card already faced up on some other pile, the first player to call out “Snap” wins both piles, and adds them to his pack.
- The player remaining in the poker game the longest and holding all the cards is the winner