Pasur (game)

Pasur is a card game of Middle Eastern origin. Played widely in Iran, it is played similarly to the Italian game of Cassino and the Egyptian game of Basra. Pasur is also known by the names "Chahâr Barg" (4 cards), "Haft Khâj" (seven clubs) or "Haft Va Chahâr, Yâzdah" (7+4=11).

Preliminaries

One standard pack of 52 cards and 2, 3 or 4 players who take turns being dealer. Object of the game is to get the most points based on winning certain cards.

Deal

Four cards face-down to each player and four face-up to form the “pool” in the middle of the table. If one of the cards in the pool is a Jack, it gets cut back into the deck and is replaced with a new card, and if this is a Jack as well or if there are multiple Jacks in pool, dealer reshuffles and deals again.

Play

Beginning at dealer’s left, players take turns playing cards to the table until there are no cards left in their hands. Dealer then deals four more cards to each player (but not to the pool) and play continues until the deck is exhausted. A play consists of playing one card in one of two ways:
*1. Either by adding it to the pool of face-up cards
*2. Or by using that card to pick up one or more cards in the pool.A player may not add a card to the pool if that card is capable of picking up one or more cards in the pool. The player must pick up the cards or play a different card.

Winning cards

Cards may be picked up as follows.
*1. Number cards (including Aces) pick up one or more other cards with which they combine to form a sum of eleven.
**Example: The pool contains Ace, 2, 2, 4 and 10 in varying suits. A player can play a 10 to pick up the ace, a 9 to pick up either of the 2’s, an 8 to pick up the Ace and one of the 2’s, a 7 to pick up the 4 or both of the 2’s, a 6 to pick up the Ace and both 2’s, a 5 to pick up the 4 and one of the 2’s, a 4 to pick up the 4, a 2 and the ace, a 3 to pick up the 4 and both 2’s, a 2 to pick up the 4, both 2’s and the ace, or an Ace to pick up the 10.
*2. A King picks up one King, a Queen picks up one Queen.
*3. A Jack picks up all Jacks and number cards on the table, but not Kings and Queens.

coring

Players keep the cards that they pick up face-down in a pile in front of them. The object of the game is to collect the most points, which are tallied by each player once the deck has been exhausted. Scoring is as follows:
*Most clubs: 7 points
*10 of diamonds: 3 points
*2 of clubs: 2 points
*Each Ace: 1 point
*Each Jack: 1 point
*Each "Sur": 5 pointsThus there are a total of 20 available points each round, plus a number of 5-point bonuses for each "Sur" (see below) that occurs. If 3 or 4 people are playing and there is a tie for most clubs, then nobody scores for clubs and the base point total is 13 instead of 20.

urs

A "Sur" happens when a player clears all remaining cards from the pool and players keep track of their "Surs" by turning a card face up in their winnings pile. There are two exceptions:
*1. When a Jack is used to pick up all remaining cards from the pool, this is not scored as a "Sur".
*2. A "Sur" may not be scored in the last round of play.Note that a "Sur" may not occur when the pips on the cards in the pool total more than ten. It is also impossible to score a "Sur" when there are multiple face cards or a mix of number cards and face cards in the pool.

Ending the game

Once the deck has been exhausted and points have been tallied, deal passes to the left and the pack is dealt out anew. Game continues until someone’s score is 60 or more points. If players are tied, play continues until the tie is broken.

External links

* [http://www.pagat.com/national/iran.html More Persian card games]
* [http://www.pagat.com/fishing/basra.html Basra card game]
* [http://www.geocities.com/pasurbazi/ Persian Pasur site ] (in Persian)