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Alternative names | Polish Polka, Polish Poker, Turtle |
---|---|
Type | Draw and discard |
Players | 2+ |
Cards | Single deck of 52 or double deck of 104 |
Deck | Anglo-American |
Playing time | 10 minutes |
Golf (also known as Polish Polka, Polish Poker, Turtle, Hara Kiri and Crazy Nines [1] ) is a card game where players try to earn the lowest number of points (as in golf, the sport) over the course of nine deals (or "holes"). [2]
The game has little in common with the solitaire game of the same name.
Two or three players should use a standard 52-card deck. If played with four or more, a double-deck of 104 cards is ideal.
Each player is dealt six face-down cards from a shuffled deck. The remaining cards are placed face down to serve as the stock, from which the top card is taken and turned up to start the discard pile beside it. Players arrange their cards in two rows of three in front of them and turn any two of these cards face up. [1] This arrangement is maintained throughout the game; players always have six cards in front of them.
The objective is for players to reduce the value of the cards in front of them by swapping them for lesser value cards. After the last round, the highest score loses the game, and the lowest score wins the game (see scoring below).
Beginning at the dealer's left, players take turns drawing single cards from either the stock or discard piles. The drawn card may either be swapped for one of that player's six cards or discarded. If the card is swapped for one of the face-down cards, the card swapped in remains face up. If the card drawn is discarded, the player can then choose to flip a card face up.
The round ends when a player has six face-up cards (sometimes the other players are given one final turn following this), [1] after which scoring happens as follows: [3] [4]
During play, it is not legal for a player to pick up a card from the discard pile and return it to the discard pile without playing it. A card picked up from the discard pile must be swapped with one of the current player's cards.
A full game is typically nine "holes" (hands), after which the player with the lowest total score is designated the winner. [1] A longer game can be played to eighteen holes. [1]
There is a multitude of variants in multiplayer golf. [1] Some common ones include:
For two to four players. Rules are the same as in double-deck golf. Sometimes, jokers are not used.
Golf can be played so that instead of ending the game automatically, a player must choose to "knock" instead of taking their turn. Remaining players then have one turn to draw a card to improve their hands and then scores are totaled and recorded on a running score sheet. This rule is more common for four-card golf. [1]
Suitable for 3-7 players, in four-card Golf each player receives four cards face down in a 2×2 grid and reveal two before play begins. [5] Play proceeds similar to six-card golf. The end of a round is initiated by a player 'knocking', after which other players get one final turn.
One or two decks are involved, depending on the number of players. One deck is adequate for 1-3 players, two or more decks are suggested for 4+ players. [6] To begin the game, each player is dealt nine cards, laying out the cards face down in a 3x3 grid. The method or pattern for how the players layout their 3x3 grid is arbitrary, as long as the cards remain face down.
The game is played as six-card golf. Once any grid contains only face-up cards, the game is immediately ended, there are no further turns, and all players must flip all their face-down cards to determine their scores. Scoring is the same as six-card golf, with players having to form a full three-of-a-kind column to have that column score zero. [1]
This process of game play continues for nine total games or until a player exceeds 50 points.[ citation needed ]
Optional rules of this version include:
There are many variants for point values of cards, including:
In some versions, making a pair or triple of cards of equal rank (sometimes vertically, sometimes horizontally and sometimes diagonally) reduces those cards' scores to zero. [1]
Variants known as Cambio, Pablo or Cactus include "power cards". When a power card is drawn from the stock, it can either be used for its normal value or discarded to activate its power. (If a power card is drawn from the discards, it must be played as its number.) [1] A simple version of the game played in Malaysia has the following power cards: [1]
John McLeod of Pagat.com speculates that these variants are Spanish in origin, as the game is recorded as being played by students in Spain, and many of its variant names are Spanish words (cambio meaning "exchange"). [1] The game had a commercial release as Cabo in 2010 [1] and is similar to the 1996 Mensa Select winner Rat-a-Tat Cat .
"Powers" is an escalated version of Cambio where every card is given some sort of additional ability. The game can only end after knocking, and all cards stay face down unless a power dictates that one should be turned up. You start the game with 6 cards, and can look at any two of them, with the rest staying hidden until you swap them or look at them with a power.
On your turn, you take the top card, and put it into your deck without looking at the card with which you want to swap it, and discard. Or, you can discard the card you have drawn straight away, and instead use the power of the card instead.
The abilities are as follows:
Card Type | Power |
---|---|
Red King | Scores -1 |
Black King | Cancels knock if turned over from the opponent's hand or drawn from the pile |
Queen | Nothing (Dud) |
Jack | Peek at one of your cards |
10 | Peek at one of your opponent's cards |
9 | Can swap any card in your opponent's deck for the 9 |
8 | Take the next two cards from the draw pile and put either one (or the 8 if you choose) into your deck |
7 | Swap a row/column with another one in your opponent's set (disorienting them) |
6 | Swap any one of your cards of for one of your opponent's |
5 | Shield (Kept off to the side face-up, and used to block an opponent's attacks) |
4 | Turn one of your opponent's cards face up/Turn one of your cards face down |
3 | Completely shuffle your opponent's 6 cards |
2 | Can use any combination (without repeats) of two powers from 3 - Black King |
Ace | Add one card to your opponent's set/remove one card from your set |
The Black King is the only card which can have its power applied when in a player's set.
Some play Golf and its variations such that a player who knocks (turns over all cards first) but doesn't end with the lowest score is penalized:
If the knocker's score is lowest, some play with a bonus:
Crazy Eights is a shedding-type card game for two to seven players and the best known American member of the Eights Group which also includes Pig and Spoons. The object of the game is to be the first player to discard all of their cards. The game is similar to Switch, Mau Mau or Whot!.
Spades is a trick-taking card game devised in the United States in the 1930s. It can be played as either a partnership or solo/"cutthroat" game. The object is to take the number of tricks that were bid before play of the hand began. Spades is a descendant of the whist family of card games, which also includes bridge, hearts, and oh hell. Its major difference as compared to other whist variants is that, instead of trump being decided by the highest bidder or at random, the spade suit always trumps, hence the name.
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Thirty-one or Trente et un is a gambling card game played by two to seven people, where players attempt to assemble a hand which totals 31. Such a goal has formed the whole or part of various games like Commerce, Cribbage, Trentuno, and Wit and Reason since the 15th century. 31 is popular in America and Britain.
Spite and malice, also known as cat and mouse, is a relatively modern American card game for two or more players. It is a reworking of the late 19th-century Continental game crapette, also known as Russian bank, and is a form of competitive solitaire, with a number of variations that can be played with two or three regular decks of cards.
Rummy is a group of games related by the feature of matching cards of the same rank or sequence and same suit. The basic goal in any form of rummy is to build melds which can be either sets or runs and either be first to go out or to amass more points than the opposition.
Pitch is an American trick-taking game equivalent to the British blind all fours which, in turn, is derived from the classic all fours. Historically, pitch started as "blind all fours", a very simple all fours variant that is still played in England as a pub game. The modern game involving a bidding phase and setting back a party's score if the bid is not reached came up in the middle of the 19th century and is more precisely known as auction pitch or setback.
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Yaniv, also known as Yusuf, Jhyap, Jafar, aa’niv, Minca or Dave, is a card game popular in Israel. It is a draw and discard game in which players discard before drawing a new card and attempt to have the lowest value of cards in hand. The game is considered a backpackers game in Israel, and it's popular among soldiers and young adults returning from long backpacking trips.
Continental Rummy is a progressive partnership Rummy card game related to Rumino. It is considered the forerunner of the whole family of rummy games using two packs of cards as one. Its name derives from the fact that it is played throughout the continental Europe, the United States, Mexico, Canada, and also in South America. According to Albert Morehead, it was "at one time the most popular form of Rummy in women's afternoon games, until in 1950 it lost out to Canasta."
Carioca is a Chilean card game similar to Rummy style card games with many variations. The variation described below is Perla's Cariocas.
The rules here are based on those of the American Cribbage Congress and apply to two-, three- or four-player games, with details of variations being listed below.
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