Conquian

Conquian

A meld of four cards in the game Conquian.
Origin	Mexico
Alternative name(s)	Coon can
Type	Matching
Players	2-6
Skill(s) required	Strategy
Cards	40
Deck	Spanish
Play	Clockwise
Playing time	20 min.
Random chance	Medium
Related games
Canasta Desmoche

Conquian is a card game which probably dates back to seventeenth-century Central America, but which was popularized and extended to the United States, especially Texas, from Mexico, although this allegation is still much controversial.^[1] It was first described in detail in R. F. Foster's Hoyle in 1897. And according to David Parlett,^[2] it is an ancestor to all modern rummy games, a kind of proto-Gin Rummy.

The name is thought to either derive from "con quién" – Spanish "with whom", or from the Chinese game Kon Khin, a variation of the earlier game Khanhoo. It is sometimes corrupted to Coon Can (first described in The Standard Hoyle in 1887 and today known in the United States as Double Rum for being played with two packs), Councan, Conca and Cunca, a South American variation of the game. However, no Chinese card game by the name of ‘Kon Khin’ has ever been found, and these words do not even match any of the many card games that have prevailed in Ming-Qing China. In 19th-century Mexican literature (e.g. Luis Gonzaga Inclán’s Astucia, 1865; Juan Antonio Mateos’s Sacerdote y caudillo, 1869) the word is spelled cunquián, in italics, showing thus it has nothing to do with the phrase “¿Con quién?”. It is much more tempting to relate Conquian to the 19th-century Philippine card game Kungkian, or Kungkiyang, which Ilocano and Cebuano dictionaries define as “A card game, the same as the pañggiñggí [i.e. Panguingue], except that there are only two players.”

Overview

The deal

Conquian is played by two or more players with a 40-card pack of cards ranking A 2 3 4 5 6 7 J Q K, being the rest stacked face-down on the table. The aim is to be the first to get rid of the cards, including the last one drawn.

Each player is dealt ten cards and wins the game by melding a total of eleven cards. They may be melded by pairing (at least three or four of a kind) or by a straight flush sequence (three to ten cards from the sequence A 2 3 4 5 6 7 J Q K A: thus, A 2 3 and 6 7 J are valid sequences).

The play

Playing Conquin, Louisiana, 1938; photo by Russell Lee

After the deal, the dealer turns up the top card from the remainder of the deck to begin the discard pile. The non-dealer then has the option to take the first card, but must use it immediately (with at least two hand-cards) to make a meld. If the non-dealer doesn't want the card, the dealer has the option to pick it up and use it for his meld. If neither player wants the first card, the non-dealer takes the first card from the draw pile and may use it immediately to meld or discard it. They may not place the card in their hand. If either player makes a valid meld with it, they must discard one card from his hand. The other player may then choose this card or draw another from the pile.

So whoever turns from the pile has first choice of the card turned, and must either meld it, extend one of his existing melds with it, or pass. If both players pass, the second turns it down and draws next.

Melding

In melding, a player may "borrow" cards from their other melds to help create new ones, provided that those thereby depleted are not reduced to less than valid three-card melds. After melding, the player's discard becomes available to the opponent, who may then either meld it or turn it down and make the next draw.

Refusal

If a player declines a faced card which can legally be added to one of their existing melds, they must meld it if their opponent so demands. This way, it is sometimes possible to force a player into a situation from which they can never go out, therefore creating a point of much interest to the strategy of the play. If neither is out when the last available card has been declined, the game is drawn and the stake carried forward.

Winning

Winning a hand entails melding eleven cards, so on the last play, the winning player must use the drawn card in his meld. Play may be extended over several hands by playing to a specified point total. Points still in the losing player's hand are awarded to the winner. Face value for cards 2–7, 10 points for Jacks, Queens, or Kings, and 15 points for Aces.

Variations

• The Jacks, Queens and Kings may be removed instead of 8s, 9s and 10s.
• No cards are removed.
• Each player may be dealt nine cards and attempt to meld ten.
• Three players can play this game with eight cards being dealt and attempt to meld nine.
• Four players can play with seven cards dealt and attempt to meld eight.
• Trading can happen after the players have reviewed their initial hand, but before the first draw. Each player takes one card from their hand and passes it clockwise to the next person at the table. Players agree among themselves how many trades are allowed in the game.
• Coo-Can, a variation of the game popular in Carrigtwohill, Cork, Ireland.

The game is played with two full decks (104 cards). Can be played by 2 to 6 players. Players receive 10 cards each at the start of the game, except the dealer receives 11 cards by dealing to himself first and dealing clockwise, one card at a time to all players. The game commences when the dealer discards a card face-up. The next player can then pick either the top card of the deck, or the top card of the discard pile. Play continues in a clockwise direction. If, during the game, all deck cards are picked, the discard pile is mixed and placed as the deck. The object of the game is to meld all cards first.

Cards can be melded in a set of four, or a single card meld. The set of four cards can be made up of four of the same value card, e.g. four Kings, or four cards in a straight flush, e.g. 6, 7, 8, 9 of Diamonds. Aces are low at all times. Single card melds are allowed by adding to a previous meld, e.g. placing another King on an existing meld of Kings, or continuing a straight flush by one card. Melding a set of four cards onto an existing meld is allowed. A player must meld their own set of four cards during the game before being allowed to meld a single card. Only one meld can be made in a players turn. If a player melds, they must then discard a card to the discard pile.

As melds can be made as a set of four, or as a single card, a player must declare when he reaches four, or one, remaining cards. If a player has one remaining card in his hand, they can only pick from the deck, not from the discard pile. The game is usually played for low stakes, e.g. "Euro the game, and two cent a spot" e.g. A losing player holding 8, 8, 8, A, at the end of the game would pay the winner €1.50 (€1 for the game, plus ((8+8+8+1)*2 cent). J, Q, K count as 10 spots each. One exception to the melding pattern is if a player "Goes for Cooch". "Cooch" is achieved by filling a 10-card straight flush, and melding the 10 cards in one turn. If a player wins with a "Cooch", then losing players pay double to the winner.

See also

• Khanhoo
• Buraco
• Rummy

References

1. ^ Scarne on Card Games - pg. 35. ISBN 0-486-43603-9
2. ^ Dictionary of Card Games, Oxford University Press, 1996 - pg. 74. ISBN 0-19-869173-4

External links

• Rules Of Rummy Card Games
• Scarne on Card Games
• A Brief History of Playing Cards
• Cooncan (Conquián): A Game of Cards also Called "Rum". Full-text reproduction of the 1913 publication by Robert Frederick Foster in electronic form now in the public domain. See also the 2007 Edition, ISBN 0548317712.