Cards, Anyone?

[le Duc]

Is anyone else out there fond of card playing? I am an avid player, and am continually looking for better games to challenge the wits and strategic skills (and sometimes just the ability to guess right). Here’s list of the ones I enjoy, and I’m curious if anyone has others to add:

First, of course, there is poker and its psychological people-reading challenge. I primarily play Seven Card Stud with a smaller number, or Omaha Hold ’Em with larger groups. Texas is okay, but it’s so popular and I like to buck the trends.:evil:

Foursome games
Euchre & Bid Euchre—we’ve actually come to like the latter better—we play this one several times a week.
Whist (didn’t like it) & Bid Whist (which was fun)
Spades: fun for three or four.
Pinochle: just learning this one, but seems to be the best yet.

Games for two
My wife and I play cribbage some, which is not particularly challenging.
German Whist we have found to be a great game.

So that's my list. Anybody know of good ones to add to the repertoire? Or cool variations on the ones listed?

[weirdel]

Almost any card game I try I get hooked on. :mellow:

First it was Pokemon, then it was Duel Monsters, YuGioh or something, Black Jack, Poker, and "Mafia," which isn't exactly a true "card game," but it's funny.

[Neuro]

I generally don't like them because they're too dependent on chance and pretty much have no room for creativity but I used to play spades online occasionally and I found the team aspect of it pretty interesting. I also don't mind cribbage as I feel I'm improving my math and memory skills because of all the counting :)

[Noehelia]

I am a big fan of cards although it has been quite some time since I played.
In Greece we play games that I do not think that they are known to other countries.
1) Thanasis, it's name is hilarious because it is a common ugly male name. It is a variation of rummy, I would say more particularly canasta. It is played with 2 decks, every time wild cards are assigned and the goal is to form set of cards. When someone goes out (meaning that all his cards in his hands are in a set) he gets 0 points as a penalty and everyone else add points from the cards they have not put on a set. When someone reaches 101 points he is out of the game and the winner is the one that will be left in the end without passing the 101 threshold. It can last many rounds until someone is a winner.
2) We call poker as poka and we play variations of poker. Everytime someone is the dealer he decides what kind of variation we will play. So during a night we can play 20 variations and some times we make variations of our own.

[ElstonGunn]

I used to play Euchre pretty much every day in high school. It's been a while, though. I've been thinking about trying to find some people to get a monthly low-stakes poker game going on.

I used to play Pit when I was younger. That was always fun. I also played a game called something like "Mille Borne." It was a card game based on a car race, but I've never heard of it or seen it outside of my house.

[le Duc]

I generally don't like them because they're too dependent on chance and pretty much have no room for creativity...

I hear that. There are a number of card games that absolutely bore me. I have, however, had some success with creating games on my own. It requires a lot of calculations of probabilities to make the game parameters work, but it's doable.

2) We call poker as poka and we play variations of poker. Everytime someone is the dealer he decides what kind of variation we will play. So during a night we can play 20 variations and some times we make variations of our own.

How did that work out ~ did people enjoy it? I've tried to do that before on poker nights, and invariably there will be several vehement objections. I personally think it would be cool to have to mentally transition each time and try to stay on top of it.

I also played a game called something like "Mille Borne." It was a card game based on a car race, but I've never heard of it or seen it outside of my house.

I forgot to list games not played with standard playing cards. I LOVE Mille Borne: we happened upon it at a yard sale and it looked interesting, so we picked it up. It makes for a great competition, I think. I've played it with two, three, or four players, and I think I like three the best, although it can result in some unfortunate pure-luck scenarios.

I've also played Rook (it's okay, I guess) and Xactika, which is another great game of memory and calculation.

[Noehelia]

How did that work out ~ did people enjoy it? I've tried to do that before on poker nights, and invariably there will be several vehement objections. I personally think it would be cool to have to mentally transition each time and try to stay on top of it.


This is how poka is played anyway not only from my company but by card clubs too. Yes, we do enjoy it as it doesn't get boring. Poker for us on the other hand is the usual game of dealing 5 cards, then have the option to change in one round up to 3 cards (depending on the number of the players and how many cards they are on the deck) and then showing them. But it is consider boring to play it all night.
However, I should inform you that the known variations of Omaha and Texas hold'em were not known to us before seeing them on tv during the last few years. Now we have added them too in the variations.
I do not know if the usual variations that have their own greek names and rules are known to the rest of the world. When you play a lot you remember the rules anyway for each variation. I do not have a good memory on these things however so I always ask.The dealer states the name of the game, how many cards he is going to deal, if there are any cards down, whether we are going to share cards with others, how many bets and what is the winning combination. Actually this is the most basic thing in a variation, whether Flush is consider to win Full House and Straight wins 3 of a Kind or the opposite, the rest is easy to figure out.

[le Duc]

Actually this is the most basic thing in a variation, whether Flush is consider to win Full House and Straight wins 3 of a Kind or the opposite, the rest is easy to figure out.

The hand rankings are changed, too? That's awesome. I once got some friends to alternate deals between poker and crash (or brag ~ an English game similar to poker) where the hands are differently ranked. I loved the challenge of the continual change.

[Synamon]

We play Dealers Choice poker as well, it does keep it interesting. Some of the games have real names, some we just make up, inventing your own variation is part of the fun. There is always groaning and grumbling when you deal an unpopular version.

As a kid we played card games a lot (Crib, Rummy, Crazy 8s, 31, Rumoli, Hearts, etc), they were more popular than board games at my house and especially when we went camping. When I worked I played Bridge every day at lunch. I played online poker for a couple of years. Socially I still play cards with friends including Euchre, Poker, etc.

[Noehelia]

I will try to explain a variation as how we play it in my company. Keep in mind even people themselves make variations of the variations and some things depend from the company (this is why the dealer explains how he is going to play his game from the beginning unless you are used of how your company play the games). The names of the variations are known but the exact rules can vary.
First of all, we do not play with all 52 cards. It depends of how many people are gathered, 4 or 5 or even 6. Usually we include from card number 6 and up and if they are more people we include also 5.
Cross: Three cards are laid one next to the other horizontally. One more card is added above the middle card and one below (so it has the shape of a cross). In my company usually we add in the corner 2 cards in a stack as an extra option. All these are upside down in the beginning and you can not see them. We deal 4 cards to each player and he has to decide from the beginning before opening the cards which one is going to throw. So everyone stays with 3 cards on his hand. Then gradually the cards are opened - usually we open two corners one next to the other, then the other 2 corners, then the middle and the stack together. In every opening there is a bet so in total there are 3 bets. You have the option to use from your hand 2 or 3 cards, not only one. From the cards that are down you can use only cards that are in the same line either horizontally or vertical, but you can also take one (and only one) if you want from the extra stack. All the cards that are down are shared. Flush wins Full House and Straight wins 3 of a Kind.

[Motor Jax]

i just like collecting decks of poker cards.. i used to have 6 decks of poker cards that i never even played... and 2 of them were still in the packaging

heh, i'm moving so i chunked 3 decks of playing cards...

[Monte314]

Anything much deeper than Slapjack is beyond me.

[le Duc]

Anything much deeper than Slapjack is beyond me.

Really? For some reason I would've thought card counting and probabilities would be right up your alley... although I guess those aren't inherently mathematical talents.

[Nyuszi]

This is interesting, I find card-playing to be something most INTJ's would enjoy by strategy thinking.
Cards run in my family (a lot of things do) and I like about 17 games.

-Poker (any variation)
-Gin Rummy/Rummy
-Tunk ('bout no one knows this)
-5 Crown
-Slapjack
-Egyptian Ratscrew
-Spades
-Hearts
-Spoons
-Crazy 8's
-Solitaire
-Speed
-Crib
-Bridge
-Blackjack
-Uno (counts?)

Time flies by with those.

[le Duc]

Sure, Uno counts. Killer Uno is even better.

Never heard of Tunk or Egyptian Ratscrew. Care to enlighten?

[ElstonGunn]

Never heard of Tunk or Egyptian Ratscrew. Care to enlighten?

I think I've played that game, but it went by the name "Smackdown" within my group. I don't remember the specifics. It's like slapjack, but a little more complicated, if I'm remembering both games correctly. You deal out the cards face down, and then everybody lays one down face up in succession, and when a certain card comes up, the first person to slap it wins the pile, and hilarity ensues. It's a lot more fun if people wear big, pointy rings.

[le Duc]

Cross: Three cards are laid one next to the other horizontally. One more card is added above the middle card and one below (so it has the shape of a cross). In my company usually we add in the corner 2 cards in a stack as an extra option. All these are upside down in the beginning and you can not see them. We deal 4 cards to each player and he has to decide from the beginning before opening the cards which one is going to throw. So everyone stays with 3 cards on his hand. Then gradually the cards are opened - usually we open two corners one next to the other, then the other 2 corners, then the middle and the stack together. In every opening there is a bet so in total there are 3 bets. You have the option to use from your hand 2 or 3 cards, not only one. From the cards that are down you can use only cards that are in the same line either horizontally or vertical, but you can also take one (and only one) if you want from the extra stack. All the cards that are down are shared. Flush wins Full House and Straight wins 3 of a Kind.

Do you know if the change in hand rankings is due to a change in probabilities based on the different style of dealing?

I think we're going to try this at our next game night. It sounds really cool. Thanks!

[Noehelia]

Do you know if the change in hand rankings is due to a change in probabilities based on the different style of dealing?

I think we're going to try this at our next game night. It sounds really cool. Thanks!

I am not sure exactly why. It is easy to observe in the variations after playing them for a while whether it is easier to have Full House than Flush.
Maybe it is because we deal 4 cards and then we throw one, and people tend to keep cards with the same number. Maybe it is too obvious from the cards beneath what would be the higher Full House so people step out earlier and it is not very challenging. But for some reason there are variations that accept Full House as better than Flush and sometimes I do not understand the reason.
For example: Koskotas (this is how they have told me the name of the variation is, it is a name of a notorious conman in Greece).
Lay 2 rows horizontally 5 cards each. Each person gets 4 cards (by the way we deal cards one by one to each person not all together, for all variations) however he is obliged to use 2 cards of them, only 2. You can form sets with the cards that are on the table by row, either cards from the above row or cards from the row below. You can see that in this variation the restriction of using 2 cards out of the 4 that you have in your hands although makes harder the possibility someone has Flush in general, it makes it easier for him when in one row there are already 3 cards with the same shape. In this variation it is easier in general for people to form Full House (and in fact it happens almost every time at least for two people) but it's more risky that way and more gambling. I think that is the reason but i am not sure.

I am delighted that you liked the variation. If you want I will try to gather some more and translate them to English. I do not have good memory on these things though, maybe I have to gather my company to play once again.

I remembered a variation that is very obvious why Flush is higher than Full House. We call it Grave but I think that it has other names like Good-Bad.
2 rows of 5 cards each. 5 cards to each player. The dealer decides before starting whether the cards in the row below will be thrown or the row above. We start opening cards by column (in order not to be many rounds of bets we open, 2, 2 and then the last column). Who ever has the same number as the cards that are thrown out, he throws his same cards also. In the end people usually do not have 5 cards on themselves. In this game it is obvious how difficult it is to have Flush while Full House is easier to obtain.

[Nyuszi]

Sure, Uno counts. Killer Uno is even better.

Never heard of Tunk or Egyptian Ratscrew. Care to enlighten?

Sure, I'll start with the Ratscrew. You need at least two people to play, and it can go up to 8+ people. Someone deals out all the cards evenly to everyone (unless 52 cannot be divided evenly by the number of people evenly, of course) and no one can look at their cards. Top card goes down, and if it is cards 2-10 you have to play one card, and if it is a jack you also play one card but if it is not a face card like a queen, king, or ace the person who dealt the jack gets all the cards in the pile (you try to get the most cards). If it is a queen, you must lay down at least two cards in the hope of laying down a face card, king you must lay down three and ace four.
You can slap cards to get the pile too, but it either must be a sandwich (3,4,3; 5,9,5; 8,K,8 if you're lucky), or a double (4,4).That is the only time you can slap cards and if you run out of cards you can slap your way back into the game. Pretty fun and vicious sometimes. Most similar to war. Whoa I forgot war in my list.

My family's version of tunk is nothing like the versions you could look up online for. Hopefully you'll understand me because it's a little complicated to explain. It is more fun if you have a lot of people, I think you can have up to 17 people but the least you can have is two. So, someone deals out three cards to everyone, only three and you can look at them. The goal is to try to get 31 points in your hand of the same suit. To add up points the card's face value is the amount of points, J-K is ten, ace is 11. Ex: (9/hearts, Jack/hearts, 3/clubs = 19 points for hearts, 3 for clubs since you cannot mix points of different suits.) The one exception to this is 3 cards with the same face value (J,J,J) and that equals 30 and a half. There are four rounds for everyone until you're out, usually you play with money but w/o is fun too. Usually it's a set of 3 for money, like 3 quarters or 3 dollars and once you run out of money to pay you are what we call "on a free ride" and can still play unless someone lays down their hand and you have the lowest amount of points in your hand or if someone gets a 31.
After dealing the three cards to everyone, you leave the rest of the cards in the center and draw the first card out next to it face up w/o taking any cards. The next person (to the left of the dealer usually) can either take that card or draw another one from the top of the remainder of the cards and discard one other card (can be the same card you picked up). You keep playing until someone knocks which means anyone after the knocker has one more time to draw freely and then another time to draw and then lay down your hand. You knock if you think you have a pretty high score close to 31. If you have not played tunk before, I suggest to just watch what knocking does instead of doing it yourself to see the hang of it.
If you or someone else gets a 31, you immediately lay down when it is your turn and everyone has to pay once except the person who laid it down.
If someone knocks and everyone laid down, the person who has the lowest scores loses a chance.
There is a neat way to make more people pay (this game can be long), and it's only available for the person to go first, they can immediately lay down their hand and everyone has to lay down as well, and so the person with the least amount of points, of course, loses one of their money sets or one chance. If two or more people have the same amount of points for the lowest score, they both/all pay. Most similar to poker.
There is no slapping at all, unless you get angry at someone and want to literally slap them...hehe..heh.

I think I've played that game, but it went by the name "Smackdown" within my group. I don't remember the specifics. It's like slapjack, but a little more complicated, if I'm remembering both games correctly. You deal out the cards face down, and then everybody lays one down face up in succession, and when a certain card comes up, the first person to slap it wins the pile, and hilarity ensues. It's a lot more fun if people wear big, pointy rings.

Egyptian ratscrew or tunk? Haha, if someone played ratscrew with pointy rings, everyone would need bandaids as a requirement for the game :D. Seriously, it hurts to slap and have hands slap yours, especially if their nail gets ya, but everyone probably knows that. One hand was bleeding once, luckily there wasn't any blood on the cards.

[le Duc]

Ratscrew sounds interesting ~ I'd have to try it before I could determine how well I liked it. I have heard of tunk before, now, only it was just called 31 when we played it. I forgot to put it on my list: fun game.

[MichaelDale]

Blackjack is my game of choice for a number of reasons

It has the lowest house advantage and it is possible to card count and actually get an advantage over the house and make money, what fun! Also it is very simple, which makes it kind of relaxing, yet there are so many strategies in blackjack and if you follow a specific set of rules and indices you can surely win... the "numbers" are on your side..you math types would really flip for the card counting calculations based on number of decks, penetration, game type, etc. im sure...

[Colette]

Is anyone else out there fond of card playing? I am an avid player, and am continually looking for better games to challenge the wits and strategic skills (and sometimes just the ability to guess right). Here’s list of the ones I enjoy, and I’m curious if anyone has others to add:


I play:

Bridge (a passion)
500 (dump Euchre if you can play this - it's much more skillful)
Rummy and Gin Rummy
Canasta
Cribbage (I like it more than you I think - do you play strategically? :))
Hearts (or Black Bitch as it was fondly called at school)
Spades (rarely)

and of course the gambling ones, mostly Poker and Blackjack. I'm better at Blackjack than Poker 'cos I count cards well :)

[SiMey]

I like asshole!

Hmm, did that come out right?

I think it's also called President.

Like Rummy and Canasta also but find it difficult to find opponents. (Damn introversion!)

I like games that rely on some strategy and enjoy creating a set of rules by which I play. These rules are constantly tested and refined, retested and refined further. That keeps my mind occupied.

I enjoy friendly competition and being able to socialise without just sitting and talking.

I have no interest in betting (gambling is for losers). Hence poker and games of general chance don't get me going as much.

[le Duc]

Blackjack is my game of choice for a number of reasons...

Blackjack has intrigued me for awhile. I haven't learned to play yet (although I've played a similar but less challenging game called 'zero'), but it's on my wish list.

500 (dump Euchre if you can play this - it's much more skillful)

I will check it out ~ thanks!

Cribbage (I like it more than you I think - do you play strategically? :))

I play to win, if that's what you mean.;) I haven't detected much strategy other then considering the probabilities surrounding what you put in your opponent's crib, and being careful during the play to give yourself points and not your partner. There doesn't seem to be a lot of variety, though (mind you we've played it every Saturday breakfast for five years now), and it just seems very much the same. It's relaxing and enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but if there's a way to liven it up, do tell.

I have no interest in betting (gambling is for losers).

I've heard there's often a winner, too.:wiseguy:





le Duc added to this post, 1033 minutes and 6 seconds later...

Noehelia: I forgot to post this before, but last Friday night we tried the cross variation of poker (similar, but not exact, to what you had described) and I found it to be the most enjoyable form of poker I've played to date. Thanks for the tip.

[Snowdragon]

I like Magic the Gathering.

[PRBori]

Hmmm... as a child I played "briscas" a game of cards from Spain. The goal is to accumulate the most points. Il'm not sure what's called in English

I like UNO, I also have a Dinosaur card set from Games for your Brain which we play crazy carnivours similar to crazy eights, Jurassic Rummy similar to Gin Rummy, Extinction similar to concentration, Fossil Fuel similar to Solitaire, and Dig it similar to go fish

Recenthly, however I got my son Quiddler which is a game for forming words. We basically pick the lenght of the words 6-12 and whoever makes the word firsts wins..it can also be play by points.

Outside of those I haven't play anything else but I'm always on the look out for unique and interesting games.

I have a huge collection of brain teaser games that I enjoy..

- River Crossings
- Jumping Pinguins
- Rush Hour
- Double Tangoes and Single Tangoes
- Shape by Shape

Mainly games by Thinkfun and Discovery...I love brainy games more than anything else