Eighty-three (card game)

Eighty-Three is a trick-taking card game heavily influenced by Cắt Tê. Like Cắt Tê, the main objective is to win a specific trick and there is no trump suit. However, the goal is to win the fifth trick, rather than the last (the name of the game comes from the fact that five is 83 percent of six). Additionally, the game uses a scoring system with points rather than a winner-take-all format.

Rules of Eighty-Three

Dealing

Three to eight people generally play this game. It can also be played by two players, but at the risk of decreased quality of the game. One player deals each hand, and each player receives six cards.

The Play

The player to the left of the dealer leads with any card. Deviating from Cắt Tê, other players must follow suit and place their cards face up. As there is no trump suit, whoever has the highest ranking card in the leading suit wins the trick. Trick winners lead subsequent tricks, and play continues until all competitors play each of their six cards. After points are assigned, the next round commences with the next player, in clockwise turns, leading the first trick.

Scoring

The player who wins the fifth trick is the winner of the round and scores two points. This player can earn an additional point if the fifth trick is won without an Ace and an additional point if this player does not win the sixth trick. All players, whether they win the round or not, can earn a point if their hands contain four-of-a-kind of any rank or if all six cards are of the same suit. Because both conditions cannot be met simultaneously, a person can score a maximum of five points per round.

Whoever reaches a predetermined final score based on the total points of each round wins the entire game. If two players pass that threshold and have an equal number of total points, tiebreakers depend on house rules. The player who won the most rounds might win the game and/ or more rounds are played until a clear winner is established. In the latter case, it is possible for other players to remain in contention and pull an upset by catching up and surpassing the tying players. This possibility, which also depends on house rules, essentially punishes the tying players for not definitively winning a game.

Strategy

In this game, players determine their own strategies based on numerous factors. As such, they may need to make alterations to their tactics often during a game. However, the most stable strategy, aside from keeping track of suits that have been played, is to win the fourth trick. The player who does so sets the suit for the fifth trick and has a good chance of winning with a high-ranking card. By extension, winning the third trick can help with the fourth; however, winning all of the first five tricks is an unreasonable goal, and so each player must decide on the best time to win tricks. A less stable strategy is to expel low cards during the first few tricks in order to save the high cards for the fifth trick. However, the limited number of cards and the requirement to follow suit makes this strategy difficult to follow sometimes. Additionally, the scoring provision regarding the sixth trick encourages players to keep at least one low card.