Top Three Classic Family Card Games

Top Three Classic Family Card Games

Who’s got family coming in this holiday season? Or are you the one doing the visiting? Whatever your winter brings, bringing a deck of cards with you can lead to hours of entertainment for everybody. Teach your young cousins to play, or suggest a game with mom and dad. You know as well as we do that some of the best memories of quality time with relatives come from late nights playing cards. Throw one of Molly Wellmann’s drinks into the mix, along with a warm fireplace and some homemade goodies, and you’ve got a whole evening going.

Here are our favorite three games to play with cards when family comes into town.

Slapjack

Players: 4-10

Ages: Kids, Teens, and Adults

Why we play at home: The simple concept and race-to-slap interaction make it fun for kids and adults both, and the constant interaction means kids won’t get bored while they wait for their turn.

Objective: Collect all the cards.

Rules:

Have everyone sit in a circle around a table or on the floor. Deal clockwise until you run out of cards. Everyone holds their cards facedown without looking at them.

Going around the circle, each player draws a card from the top of their deck (face-out, so that the player cannot see the card before it is played) and places that card in the center of the circle. Each player continues to place their cards in the center this way.

When a Jack court card is turned face up, the goal is to be the first person to “slap” it, or cover it with your hand. If several people slap at once, the person whose hand is most in contact with the Jack adds all the cards to his or her pile.

If a player incorrectly slaps a card, he or she must give the top card in his or her pile to the player who placed the slapped card. That player adds the extra card to the bottom of his or her deck.

When a player runs out of cards, the player is out—unless he or she can slap a Jack laid by someone else. At that point, the previously “out” player is back in and can play with the cards collected from the pile.

Play continues until one person wins all of the cards. For a shorter version, stop play when the first person runs out of cards. Whoever has the most cards in his or her hand is the winner.

Crazy Eights

Players: 2-8

Ages: Kids, Teens, and Adults

Why we play at home: This is another game that gets the whole family involved and keeps everyone on their toes.

Objective: Be the first player to get rid of all your cards.

Rules:

Deal 5 cards one at a time, face down, starting with the player to the dealer’s left. Place the rest of the cards face down in the center of the table, then turn the first card up and place it beside the facedown pile. If an eight is turned, it is buried in the middle of the pack and the next card is turned. The face-up cards create a “starter” pile.

Starting to the dealer’s left, each player places one card face up on the starter pile. Each card played (other than an eight) must match the card showing at the top of the starter pile in suit or denomination. So if the king of Clubs is the starter, the card played must either be another king, or be any card from the clubs suit. If unable to play a card, the player draws cards from the top of the facedown cards until a play is possible.

If the facedown pile runs out, the player must pass his or her turn to the next player. At that point, save the card at the top of the starter pile, then shuffle the cards underneath, turn them face down, and make them the new stock pile.

All eights are wild. An eight may be played at any time in turn, and the player should only specify a suit for it, not a number.

The first player without cards wins the game!

Play or Pay

Players: 3-8

Ages: Kids, Teens, Adults

Why we play at home: Because this game involves some low-scale betting, it’s fun to use poker chips to play—or, if you don’t have poker chips, jelly beans or M&M’s® candies.

Objective: Complete the suits and be the first player to get rid of all your cards.

Rules:

Each player starts by putting one chip (or jelly bean) into the pot before each deal. Deal the cards one at a time clockwise, face down, beginning with the player on the left. If some players receive fewer cards than others, it is customary for each player to add one additional chip.

Starting with the player left of the dealer, the first person lays a card. All cards played remain face up on the table, arranged in four rows of the four suits. The first player may play any card. The sequence in the suit must be built up until all thirteen cards are played, and the sequence in the suit is continuous.

The player does not have to start with the first card in a suit (the Ace). He or she can start with any card, and then the rest of the players must add in that order to complete that suit before moving onto the next suit. For example, J, Q, K, A, 2, all the way to 10. Or, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2 and so on all the way to 6.

The turn to play continues clockwise. If a person is unable to play in turn, he or she puts one chip in the pot. Whoever plays the thirteenth card of a suit may choose any card from his hand to begin the next series.

The first person to get rid of all his or her cards wins the pot.

If nothing else, make sure you play your games with our seasonally appropriate Leaf Back Decks, available in green and red. And for more game ideas, download our How to Play  app for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices!

Oh Pshaw--How To Play Clock Solitaire Online

Oh Pshaw

There are many variant rules, but the most popular way of playing is presented here. The goal is to win exactly the number of tricks bid, neither more nor less.

The Deal

Each game comprises a series of deals. In the first deal, each player receives one card; in the second deal, two cards; and so on to the limit. With four players, there are 13 deals; with five players, 10 deals; with three players it is advisable to limit the game to 15 deals.

The Turn-Up

Having completed the deal, the dealer turns up the next card of the pack. The turn-up fixes the trump suit for that deal. When the last deal leaves no odd card to turn up, the deal is played at no-trump.

The Bidding

Beginning with the player to the left of the dealer (the first hand), each player in turn bids exactly the number of tricks that he expects to win. Thus, on the first deal the possible bids are "One" and "Zero." The total of all bids need not be equal to the number of tricks in play. After the dealer has bid last, it is a responsibility of the scorekeeper to announce "Over," or "Under," or "Even," according to how the total of bids compares with the number of tricks.

The Play

The first hand makes the opening lead. Each player must follow suit if possible. If a player cannot follow suit, he may trump or discard at will. A trick is won by the highest card of the suit led or, if it contains trumps, by the highest trump. The winner of a trick leads next. A player is entitled to be informed at any time how much any other player has bid, and how many tricks each player has won. Each player should keep his tricks arranged in an orderly fashion so that they may be easily counted.

How to Keep Score

A scorekeeper must be appointed to record the bids and enter the results. A running account is kept of each player's cumulative score.

A player who takes more or less tricks than his bid scores nothing for the hand and loses nothing (though in many games, one point is scored for each trick taken). For making his bid exactly, a player scores 10 points plus the amount of the bid. (As yet there is no standard for scoring of "Zero" bids. In different localities the score is 10, 5, or 5 plus the number of tricks in the deal.)

The player with the highest cumulative score at the end of the game wins, and the winner gets a bonus of 10 points. Each player settles with every other player on the difference in their final scores.

Peep Nap--How To Play Clock Solitaire

Peep Nap

Rank of Cards

A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

The Deal

Each player receives five cards, dealt in a round of three at a time, then a round of two at a time, or first two and then three.

Bidding

Each player in turn, beginning to the dealer's left, may make one bid or pass. A bid is the number of tricks, out of five, that the player thinks he can win with a particular suit as trump. A bid of all five tricks is called "Nap."

The Play

The highest bidder indicates the trump suit by making the opening lead, which must be a trump. Other players must follow suit if possible. A player who cannot follow suit may trump or discard at will. A trick is won by the highest card played of the suit led, or, if it contains a trump, by the highest trump. The winner of a trick leads next.

Players create a "pool" (pot) of chips, which is won by the first player to successfully take five tricks on a Nap bid. Each player puts in an equal number of chips to begin the pool; and thereafter, each dealer in turn adds the same number of chips each hand. The pool may be further increased by requiring a player revoking to contribute five chips, and for a lead out of turn, three chips. A player bidding Nap and failing to take five tricks must double the pool.

One card only is dealt to make a widow, usually on the first round. By adding one chip to the pool, any player may "peep" at this card before bidding or passing. The highest bidder may take the widow card but must discard one card to reduce his hand to five cards before play begins.

How to Keep Score

There is no credit for extra tricks won either by the bidder or by the opponents beyond what was needed to make or defeat the bid. If the bidder makes the bid, he collects from all the other players. If the bidder is defeated, he pays every player.

The usual way of settling scores is to distribute an equal number of chips to all players before the game and then settle in chips after each deal.

How To Play War--How To play Clock Solitaire

How To Play War

The goal is to be the first player to win all 52 cards

The Deal

The deck is divided evenly, with each player receiving 26 cards, dealt one at a time, face down. Anyone may deal first. Each player places his stack of cards face down, in front of him.

The Play

Each player turns up a card at the same time and the player with the higher card takes both cards and puts them, face down, on the bottom of his stack.

If the cards are the same rank, it is War. Each player turns up one card face down and one card face up. The player with the higher cards takes both piles (six cards). If the turned-up cards are again the same rank, each player places another card face down and turns another card face up. The player with the higher card takes all 10 cards, and so on.

How to Keep Score

The game ends when one player has won all the cards.

- See more at: http://www.bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/war/#sthash.ib4FoTuK.dpuf

How to play: Bridge--How to play Clock solitaire

Countless newspapers have daily Bridge columns, and there are more books about Bridge than any other game, except Chess. Bridge tournaments continue to attract thousands of players who compete with each other to become Life Masters.

Game Setup/Rank of Suits

Spades (High), hearts, diamonds, clubs.

Rank of Cards: A (High), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2

The Deal

The dealer distributes 13 cards to each player, one card at a time, face down, beginning with the player on his left.

Object of the Game

Each partnership attempts to score points by making its bid, or by defeating the opposing partnership's bid. At the end of play, the side with the most points wins.

The Bidding

Calls - Once the cards are dealt, each player picks up his hand and, beginning with the dealer, makes a call (pass, bid, double or redouble).

Passing

When a player does not wish to bid, double, or redouble, he says, "Pass." If all four players pass in the first round, the deal is "passed out," and the next dealer in turn deals a new hand.

Bidding a Suit

Bid a number of tricks greater than six that the bidder expects to win, and a suit which will become the trump suit.

Ex. = "One Spade" is a bid to win seven tricks (6+1) with spades as trumps.

A bid may be made in "No-trump", meaning that there will be no trump suit. The lowest possible bid is one, and the highest possible bid is seven.

Each bid must name a greater number of odd tricks than the last bid, or an equal number but in a higher denomination. No-trump is the highest denomination, outranking spades.

Ex. = "Two No-trump" will overcall a bid of "Two Hearts", and a bid of "Four Clubs" is required to overcall a bid of "Three No-trump".

Doubling and Redoubling

Any player may double the last preceding bid if it was made by an opponent.

Any player may redouble the last preceding bid if it was made by his side and doubled by an opponent.

A doubled or redoubled bid may be overcalled by any bid, which would have been sufficient to overcall the same contract undoubled.

Ex. = "Two Spades" is doubled and redoubled, it may still be overcalled by a bid of "Two No-trump," a bid of "Three Clubs," or by any other higher bid.

Final Bid and the Declarer

When a bid, double, or redouble is followed by three consecutive passes, the bidding is closed. The final bid in the auction becomes the contract. The player who, for his side, first bid the denomination named in the contract becomes the "declarer." If the contract names a trump suit, every card of that suit becomes a trump. The declarer's partner becomes the "dummy," and the opposing players become the "defenders."

The Play

Take a card and place it, face up, in the center of the table. Four cards so played, one from each hand in rotation, constitute a trick. The first card played to a trick is a lead. The leader to a trick may lead any card. The other three hands must follow suit if they can. If a player is unable to follow suit, he may play any card. For the first trick, the defender on the declarer's left makes the first lead (the opening lead).

Facing the Dummy Hand

As soon as the opening lead has been made, the dummy then spreads his hand face up, grouped in suits, with each suit vertically arranged so that the other three players can easily view all 13 cards. The suits may be placed in any order as long as the trump suit (if any) is placed to the declarer's left. There is no particular order for placing the suits down in a No-trump bid.

Winning of Tricks

A trick containing a trump is won by the hand playing the highest trump. A trick not containing a trump is won by the hand playing the highest card of the suit led. The winner of each trick leads next.

Declarer's Play

The declarer plays his own cards and the dummy's cards, but each in proper turn, since the dummy does not take an active part in the play.

Played Card

The declarer plays a card from his own hand when he places it on the table or when it is named as an intended play. When the declarer touches a card in the dummy hand, it is considered played (except when he is merely arranging the dummies cards). Alternatively, the declarer may name a card in the dummy and such a card must be played. A defender plays a card when he exposes it so that the other defender can see its face. A card once played may not be withdrawn, except to correct a revoke or other irregularity.

Taking in Tricks Won

A completed trick is gathered and turned face down on the table. The declarer and one of the defenders should keep all tricks won in front of them, and the tricks should be arranged so that the quantity and the order of the tricks played are apparent.

How to Keep Score

When the last (13th) trick has been played, the tricks taken by the respective sides are counted, and the points earned are then entered to the credit of that side on the score sheet. Any player may keep score. If only one player keeps score, both sides are equally responsible to see that the score for each deal is correctly entered.

The score sheet is ruled with a vertical line making two columns that are titled They and We. The scorekeeper enters all scores made by his side in the We column and all scores made by the opponents in the They column. A little below the middle of the score sheet is a horizontal line. Scores designated as "trick score" are entered below the line; all other scores are "premium scores" and are written above the line.

Trick Score

If the declarer fulfills his bid by winning as many or more odd-tricks as the contract called for, his side scores below the line for every odd-trick named in the contract. Thus, if the declarer wins eight tricks and the bid is Two Hearts, the score for making "two" in a bid of hearts would be credited, as per the Scoring Table.

Overtricks

Odd-tricks won by the declarer in excess of the contract are called "overtricks" and are scored to the credit of his side as premium score.

The Game

When a side has scored 100 or more points below the line, it has won a "game." To show this, the scorekeeper draws a horizontal line across the score sheet, below the score that ended the game. This signifies that the next game will begin. A game may be made in more than one deal, such as by scoring 60 and later 40, or it may be scored by making a larger bid and earning 100 or more points in a single deal. Once the next game begins, if the opponents had a score below the line for making a bid, such as 70, this score does not carry over, and each side needs the full 100 points to win the next game.

Vulnerable

A side that has won its first game becomes "vulnerable," and that side's objective is to win a second game and thus earn a bonus for the "rubber." When a side scores its second game, the rubber is over, and the scores are totaled. The winning partnership is the side with the most points. A vulnerable side is exposed to increased penalties if it fails to fulfill a future bid, but receives increased premiums for certain other bids that are fulfilled.

Honors

When there is a trump suit, the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of trumps are "honors." If a player holds four of the five trump honors, that partnership scores 100 above the line; all five honors in one hand score 150. If the contract is in No-trump, a player holding all four aces scores 150 above the line for his side. Note that the points for honors are the same whether the side is not vulnerable or vulnerable, and that the defenders can also score for honors.

How to play: Bridge

Slam Bonuses

Other premium scores are awarded for bidding and making a "small slam" (a bid at the six-level, such as Six Hearts) or a "grand slam" (a contract at the seven-level, such as Seven Spades or Seven No-trump).

Doubled or Redoubled Contract

When the declarer makes a doubled contract, a premium bonus is scored. Making a redoubled contract scores an even bigger premium bonus - this is a recent change in scoring. Note that doubling and redoubling do not affect honor, slam, or rubber bonus points.

Unfinished Rubber

If the players are unable to complete a full rubber and only one side has a game, that side scores a 300 bonus. If only one side has a part score, that side earns a 100 bonus.

Back Score

After each rubber, each player's standing, plus (+) or minus (-), in even hundreds of points, is entered on a separate score called the "back score." An odd 50 points or more count 100, so if a player wins a rubber by 950 he is +10, if he wins it by 940 the player is +9.

- See more at: http://www.bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/bridge/#filter

A Little Girl Wants To Go

Oh! Let's read a funniest jokes ever with me :) 

A little nine year old girl was in church with her mother when she started feeling ill. 

"Mommy" she said "Can we leave now?" 

"No" her mother replied. 

"Well, I think I have to throw up!" 

"Then go out the front door and around to the back of the church and throw up behind a bush." 

In about two minutes the little girl returned to her seat. 

"Did you throw up?" her mother asked. 

"Yes" the little girl replied. 

"Well, how could you have gone all the way to the back of the church and return so quickly?" 

specimen

Remote is an understatement. A speck of volcanic rock in the South Atlantic some 1,200 miles west of the African coast, this British Overseas Territory is reachable by a five-day ship journey. (No wonder the British exiled Napoleon there.) But Saint Helena (population barely 4,000) is constructing its first airport and next year will welcome commercial flights on Comair from Johannesburg. The island, with dramatic landscapes and waters full of whale sharks, dolphins and tuna, offers a unique getaway for hikers, divers, fishing enthusiasts and hermits. All activities are best fueled by local coffee, an internationally prized specimen.