Sheng ji

Last updated
Sheng ji
People playing card games in the street.jpg
Card game played in Nanjing, China
Origin China
Type Trick-taking
Players4 (or more)
Cards54, 108, 162, 216
Deck French
PlayCounter-clockwise
Chancemedium
(see next section).

Sheng ji
Traditional Chinese 升級
Simplified Chinese 升级
Literal meaning'upgrade'
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin shēng jí
Cards leadConsecutive doubles?Remarks
For the examples below, the dominant rank and suit is 7♣.
(5-5)-(4-4)YesOrdinary consecutively-ranked (5–4) two-pair in a non-trump suit (or "tractor", for which the game is also named)
(J♠-J♠)-(10♠-10♠)-(9♠-9♠)-(8♠-8♠)Consecutively-ranked (J–10–9–8) four-pair in a non-trump suit. Unbeatable except by four consecutive pairs of trump cards.
(5♣-5♣)-(4♣-4♣)-(3♣-3♣)Three-pair in the trump suit.
(8-8)-(6-6)When 7 is dominant, 8 and 6 become consecutive, so the combination is a valid consecutive two-pair.
(7♣-7♣)-(7-7)-(A♣-A♣)The order of cards follows 7♣-7(other suit)-A♣ in the trump suit, so this is valid. It is not beatable because there is no larger three-pair combination available (all larger combinations require (7♣-7♣) which has been played).
(red joker - red joker) - (black joker - black joker) -(7♣-7♣)Most powerful three-pair combination in a 7♣-trump round.
(10-10)-(8-8)No10 and 8 are not consecutive when 7 is dominant
(9♠-9♠)-(8-8)Different suits, not allowed to be played to lead the trick.
(7-7)-(6-6)The 7s are trumps so they not adjacent to (consecutive with) the 6s.
(7♣-7♣)-(6♣-6♣)The 7s are high trumps just below the jokers, and not adjacent to the 6s (whose next highest cards are 8♣).
(7♠-7♠)-(7-7)The non-dominant suit 7s are of equal rank.
(2♣-2♣)-(A♠-A♠)Trumps are of a separate class of cards and cannot be played to lead with non-trumps.

Multiple cards combination

A player may lead with a combination of multiple cards (甩牌) if they have them, provided that each of the singles or doubles played are the largest in the suit and no other player has larger combinations in that round. Leading such combinations usually result in the leading player's favour.

  1. If any card(s) in the combination may be bested by another player in the suit lead, they will be asked, by that player, to take back the cards that are the largest in the suit, and play any of the single/double/tractor cards that may be bested as penalty.
  2. Any non-trump combinations played are subjected to be bested ( ruffed ) by trump cards played by other players. Combinations ruffed do not require taking back of cards, but this is not guaranteed (see rule 1 above).
    • Any single trump card or trump doubles may, respectively, beat a single card or double cards in the combination.
    • Consecutive non-trump doubles may only be ruffed by consecutive trump doubles.
  3. Any combinations with cards that are not trump, yet do not follow the suit lead may not take the trick.
Cards leadOther players playRemarks
For the examples below, the dominant card is 7♣. If unstated, it is assumed that other players do not play cards larger than those lead.
(West) K-Q-West can lead only if all As and the other K have already been played or have been integrated into the kitty.
(South) K and any other cardWest must take back his king and play Q.
(North) A and any other card
(South) 5♣-5♣
(East) 10♣-3♣
Because West played singles, the determinant is on the largest single; South, despite playing trump doubles, loses to East for playing a higher single 10♣.
(West) K-Q-Q-10-10-If there are no more single or double As (to beat single K or double Q) or double J (to beat double 10), West can take the trick, provided that other players do not ruff it with trump combinations.
(South) A & other cardsWest will have to take back the doubles, and play only the K.
(East) J-J & other cardsWest will have to take back all the other cards and play only the 10-10.
(South) 8♣-8♣-5♣-5♣-J♣South takes the trick; West does not need to take back his cards.
(South) 8♣-8♣-5♣-5♣-JSouth does not play all trump, and cannot take the trick.
(South) 8♣-8♣-5♣-5♣-J♣
(East) 10♣-10♣-2♣-2♣-4♣
East has larger trump doubles and so takes the trick.
(South) 8♣-8♣-5♣-5♣-J♣
(East) 6♣-6♣-3♣-3♣-A♣
East has a large trump single, but cannot beat South with his doubles, so South takes the trick.
(West) A-K-K(South) 7-7-9♣
(East) 7♠-7♠-A♣
Does not require taking back of cards.
In this case, because the doubles are equally ranked, south takes the trick. Singles are not compared here.
(West) K♠-Q♠-Q♠-J♠-J♠-If both A♠s have been played and no player respond with trumps, the combination would be unbeatable.

Scoring

At the end of a round, all points taken by the opponents are collected and counted, while other cards may be discarded. The last trick of that round is also taken into consideration:

typemultiplier
single2
pair/tractorthere are 2 types of it: 1. 2length+12. 2×(length+1)
combinationthere are 2 types of it for only single cards: 1. 2 ;2. 3, if had pair or tractor, follow the rule of these two(only count the most cards' type. For example(dominant rank 9), if the opponent wins the last trick with A-10-10-8-8-5-5-4-4-3-3, then it would only count the multiplier of 5-5-4-4-3-3 tractor's instead of 10-10-8-8 tractor's)

The "length" in the table is the pairs count of the card's type(eg.(dominant rank 9) A 8-8-7-7-6-6-5-5 tractor would count as a length of 4)

The results of the opponents' point count determine the change of scores or dealers as such:

Points taken by opponentsScore changeSwapping of teams?Change of dealer
below 0Declarers +4, +1 more when Declarers had 40 more points below 0 per timeNoTo partner of the current dealer
0Declarers +3
5-35Declarers +2
40-75Declarers +1
80-115NoneYesTo opposing player right of current dealer
120-155Opponents +1
160-195Opponents +2
200 or aboveOpponents +3, +1 more when Declarers had 40 more points above 200

Thereafter, all cards are recollected and shuffled, and the next round thus begins.

Variants

Number of decks played

The game may also be played with single or multiple deck, in which the number of cards in the kitty and the number of points as criteria for increasing ranks need to be revalued.

For single decks, it is typical to use 6 cards for the kitty (each player being dealt 12 cards each in a deck of 54 cards) and 40 points as the requirement to swap teams, and no double cards will be played, but combinations of cards may still be allowed. This variant is commonly known as "forty points" (四十分) or "competing over a hundred points" (打百分).

For multiple (N) decks, the kitty size varies across regions. 40N is usually used as the point requirement to swap teams, and the rule of combinations may still apply, but exceptions are only granted to full N-tuples (e.g. with three decks, doubles are still subject to the rule of combinations and players will have to take back their cards where necessary).

Other variants

Spin-offs of bashi fen include zhao pengyou, where players play with two or more decks in fluid partnerships with rules similar to that of fluid-partner Bridge. The number of decks is the half the number of players, rounded down, although the recommended player count is usually 5-7.

The declarer team size is equal to the number of decks used, and the dealer calls particular cards indicating who their partner(s) will be. The number of calls is the remaining number of declarers, apart from the dealer. For instance, in a game of 6 players, the dealer can call for the first ace of hearts and first ace of spades, and whoever plays either of these cards will join the declarers. This can include someone who is already on the declarer team, which will result in a smaller team size. [3]

The playing rules stay largely the same.

Miscellaneous optional rules

  1. In some variations, the playing of certain scores, especially scores involving point cards, might be mandatory and cannot be skipped. For example, if 10 is mandatory and a team goes up 2 ranks after playing 9, they will have to play 10 first, instead of going straight to jack.
  2. Sometimes, other players can change the trump after the dealer has discarded the kitty, and change the kitty again. This variation is called chao dipi (炒地皮), 'bidding for the land'. and in this rule, the highest to lowest for taking chao dipi is: pair of red joker>pair of black joker>pair of ♠>>>(of dominant rank)
  3. When jacks (or aces) are the dominant rank, and the opponents' team wins the last trick with a J (or an A, respectively), the scores of the members of the declarers' team go back to 2 (or J). This is also called "hook and needle" because of the shapes of J and A. The players whose rank goes down is called as being "hooked back" or "needled back".
  4. The 5 and sometimes also the 5 may be taken as the highest cards, i.e. hong wu (红五), 'red five'. If a trick containing one or more red 5s (or 5 only, depending on variant) is won by the opposing team, the player whose red 5 is captured is penalized.

See also

Notes

  1. In versions with more than four players, the number of jokers may be adjusted so the kitty is exactly six cards, or the size of the kitty may vary with the number of players. Often, the size of the kitty must be decided on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the scoring system, the number of players, and the number of decks in order to make the game as fair as possible.

References

  1. 1 2 Yang, Jessie (October 5, 2021). "Explaining the complex card game 'Sheng Ji' ('Level Up')". Medium. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Ying, Robert. "Rules for 升级 and 找朋友" . Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Zhang, Benjamin (February 15, 2021). "An Introduction to Sheng Ji (升级)/Tractor (拖拉机)" (PDF). Retrieved 12 July 2023.