Winner (card game)

Winner(争上游) is a card game popular in China, similar to the game President, the game Big Two, and other shedding games. It is the game from which Tien Len and other similar games are derived.

Rules

Cards

The game uses a standard 52-card deck, with thirteen cards in four suits, and two jokers. Spades is the highest suit, followed by hearts, then clubs, then diamonds. Like Big Two, twos rank high, and the rest of the deck ranks as usual: aces above kings, kings above queens, and so on, with threes being the lowest.

Valid Combinations

Cards may be played as singles, pairs, three of a kind, full house, four of a kind, straights (3 or more in a row), straight flushes (3 or more in a row of the same suit), pair straights, and three of a kind straights. The leading card to a trick sets down the type of play. The combinations and their rankings are as follows.

* Single cards: Any card from the deck, ordered by rank with suit being the tie-breaker. (For instance, spade ace beats diamond ace, which beats spade king.)

* Pairs: Any two cards of matching rank, ordered as with singular cards by the card of the higher suit. (A pair consisting of the king of spades and clubs beats a pair consisting of heart king and diamond king.)

* Three of a kind: Any three cards of matching rank.

* Three of a kind, with an extra card: Any three cards of matching rank plus another card.

* Full House: A composite of a three-of-a-kind combination and a pair. Ordered by the rank of the triple, regardless of the pair.

* Four of a kind: Any four cards of matching rank, plus one or two extra cards. (see Bomb variation)

* Straight: Any Three or more cards in a row. Twos are low in a straight (so K-A-2 is not valid, but 2-3-4 is), and Aces can be played high or low. A-2-3 is the lowest straight. If a [x] card straight is the current play type, it is only possible to beat it with another [x] card straight or a [x] card straight flush. You must play the same number of cards to beat a straight.

* Straight Flush: Any three or more cards in a row of the same suit. Same rules apply as a straight. Any straight flush will beat a straight of the same size.

* Pair Straight: 6, 8, 10, or 12 cards that are both in a pair and a part of a straight, for example

* Three of a kind straight: Same as pair straight, but with triples.

Dealing and Playing

The dealer (who may be chosen by cutting the cards, as usual) shuffles the deck to begin with and begins dealing out the cards singly, starting with himself, in a clockwise manner around the table. The cards are dealt out entirely. In a three player version of the game, the dealer ends up with one more card than the other two players.

At the beginning of the first game, the player with the 3 of diamonds starts. The three of diamonds does not need to be played in the first play. Play proceeds clockwise, with normal climbing-game rules applying: each player must play a higher card or combination than the one before, with the same number of cards. Players may also pass, thus declaring that he does not want to play (or does not hold the necessary cards to make a play possible). A pass does not hinder any further play in the game, each being independent.

When all but one of the players have passed in succession the trick is over, and the cards are gathered up and a new trick is started by the last player to play. When a player plays the 2 of spades either as a singleton or as part of a pair of 2s, it is often customary for that player to re-start play immediately by leading a new card or combination, since the 2 of spades cannot be beaten whether as a singleton or as part of a pair of 2s, and the passes are mere formalities (See bomb variation for an exception).

End Game

The game continues until the Winner and Loser have been determined, the Winner is the first person to play all their cards, the Loser is the player still holding cards when everyone else is out. After a Winner and Loser are established, the Loser must shuffle and deal out the next game. The Loser must then give their highest card to the Winner in exchange for any card of the Winner's choosing, unless the loser has both the jokers. The cards exchanged will be shown to the other players.

coring

Scoring varies from place to place. The most common version is that after a game each player with cards remaining scores -1 point for each, unless they have 10 or more remaining, in which they score -2 for each. If they didn't get to play any cards at all, they score -3 for each. Then the winner of the hand scores +1 for every -1 his opponents got. (So, for example, if North won, and East, West, and South respectively still had 3, 11, and 8 cards left, East would score -3, West would score -22, South would score -8, and North would score +33.)

Likewise for a 3-player game, a player with 17 cards remaining is deducted triple points. A player with more than 11 cards and less than 17 cards remaining is deducted double points.

Variations

* It can be played that a straight must be higher than another straight by a full rank, not just a suit
* Bomb: a four of a kind can be played as a bomb. It beats any other play (other than a higher 4 of a kind)

External links

* http://winnercardgame.googlepages.com