I wanted to explore the idea of a rank card as trump instead of a suit as trump (for example, Tens, instead of clubs). I threw this idea around with my wife Jessica, and we came up with this game.
Cards
Use the entire deck of 52 cards.
Players
Four, each playing for himself.
The Deal and the Bidding
Deal the entire deck. Each player receives thirteen cards. At this point trump is not yet established. Each player makes a bid – a promise of the number of tricks she will win. This number can range from one to thirteen.
The Play
The first player to the left of the dealer starts the round by leading any card. All other players must follow suit if possible. A player who can not follow suit may throw off any card.
The first Queen played:
- Wins the trick.
- Establishes trump for the remainder of the round. All cards in the suit of the Queen become trump with 2 low and Ace high. The remaining three Queens are still trump and beat any card in the trump suit. The first Queen played on any trick will win that trick.
NOTES:
- Before the first Queen is played (i.e. before the trump suit is established), all Queens belong to their respective suits. If a suit is played and the player only has the Queen in that suit, she must play it. She wins the trick, but also establishes trump as a suit of which she has no other cards.
- After the first Queen is played, trump is established. Now, if trump is led (including any Queen), and a player has another Queen and no other of the trump suit, he must play that Queen. If another Queen is played earlier in that round, the second Queen, though it must be played, still loses the trick.The player who wins a trick, leads the next card. Play continues until all cards are played (in thirteen rounds/tricks).The deal then passes to the left. Rinse and repeat.
Scoring
Each trick bid and won counts for ten points. Each trick won but not bid counts one point.For example:
- Brad bids six and wins six tricks – he scores 60 points.
- Dave bids five and wins seven – he scores 50 + 2, or 52 points.
- Chris bids three and wins two – he scores 0 points.The game continues until one player reaches 200 points.