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This page is partly based on contributions from Kim Scarborough, Janet Levy, Scott Grengs and Rachel Hooley. Jonathan Dushoff contributed the versions from Swaziland and Lesotho and Faizal Asmal the South African version. The historical introduction draws on an article by Franco Pratesi: Casino from Nowhere to Vaguely Everywhere (The Playing-Card Vol XXIV No 1 July/Aug 1995 pages 6-11)
Casino is the only fishing game to have become popular in English speaking countries. Although it is traditionally supposed to have originated in Italy, there is no direct evidence of it having been played there, at least under that name, though many other Italian fishing games are known. Casino first appears in the card game literature at the end of the eighteenth century in London, and shortly afterwards in Germany. In the late nineteenth century it became fasionable in America and a number of new variations were developed. There is a dispute about the correct spelling of the name - the earliest sources use the spelling Casino, but a tradition has grown up among later writers to spell it with a double 's': Cassino.
The standard Anglo-American version of Casino is described first, followed by some interesting versions from southern Africa (Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa) in which captured cards remain in play and can be reused in builds.
The game works best with from 2 to 4 players, though in theory more could take part. It has the distinction of being one of the few games which will deal out evenly to two, three, or four players. Four players can play in partnerships, two against two, with partners sitting opposite each other.
A regular 52 card deck is used. Each numeral card (ace-ten) is counted as its numerical value (ace = 1, two = 2, etc). The aim is to capture cards from a layout on the table, by playing a card from hand which matches in number a table card or the sum of several table cards. Picked up cards are accumulated in a pile to be counted at the end of the round.
The dealer deals four cards to each player and four cards face up in the centre (these centre cards are laid out separately so that all are visible). Traditionally, the deal is in twos: two cards to each other player, two to the table, then two to the dealer, then repeat. However, some players prefer to deal the cards singly. The remainder of the deck is temporarily put aside. After everyone has played their four cards, another hand of four cards is dealt to each player from the remaining cards, but no more cards are dealt to the table after the first deal. After these cards have been played there is another deal, and this continues until all 52 cards have been dealt (this takes 6 deals for 2 players, 4 deals for three players, 3 deals for 4 players). The dealer must announce "last" when dealing the last cards. After the last cards have been played and the hand scored, the deal passes to the left for the next round.
Starting with the player to the left of the dealer and continuing clockwise, each player in turn must play one card out from hand face up on the table. This card may or may not capture one or more cards from the table.
In detail, the possible types of play are as follows:
Example:The 
Q and 
Q are on the table, and the 
Q is played. The player may capture one of the queens from the table but not both.
Example If an eight is played it could capture one, two or three eights from the table. It could also capture a five and a three, or a four and two twos. If the following cards are on the table: A 2 3 5 6 8, then an eight could capture 8 6 2 5 3 or 8 5 2 A, but not all six cards.
Examples
Example A The table contains a build consisting of two threes, announced as a build of six. If you hold a two and an eight, you can add the two to the build announcing "building 8". The next player, holding an ace and a nine, could then add the ace and say "building 9".
The capturing number of a multiple build can never be changed. If the original build of two threes in the above example had been announced as building three (rather than building six), it would not be possible for a player holding a two and a five to add the two to the build, making five.
Example B The table contains an ace, a two and a four; the ace and the four have been combined by a previous player into a build of five. You hold a three, an eight and a ten. You can play your three onto the single five-build and announce "building eight", but you are not allowed to incorporate the two from the table into this build to make it a build of ten.
Example C The table contains a three and a four, built into a seven, and a separate nine. You hold a two and a nine. You can play your two, combining it with the seven-build to make nine, and at the same time incorporate the nine on the table into the build, converting it to a multiple build and saying "building nine".
Example The table contains a 9-build consisting of a 5 and a 4, and there is also a 3 on the table. You hold a six and two nines. You can play your 6, combining it with the 3 and the existing build to make a new multiple build of 9. Then on your next turn (provided that no one else captured) you could add one of the nines from your hand to the build. Finally, on the following turn, you could capture the whole build with your second nine.
Note that when making or adding to a build, you must contribute a card to it from your hand. You cannot just combine various cards which are already on the table to form a build. Note also that once a build contains more than one card or sets of cards which add to the capturing number, it is a multiple build and the capturing number can no longer be changed.
Example. There is a multiple 8-build of 3-5-8 on the table, and there is also a loose 6 on the table. In your hand you have 2, 8, 8, 10. You may add one of your 8s to the build, making 3-5-8-8, or to add your 2 together with the 6 on the table, making 3-5-8-2-6, still with capture value 8. You cannot use your 2 to change the capture value to 10.
When all the cards have been played in the final deal, the last player who made a capture also wins any cards which are left on the table. That is why it is important that the dealer should announce "last" when dealing the last cards.
Hint on tactics: it is often good for the dealer to hold back a face card to play last if possible; this will capture a matching face card on the table and thereby also win any other table cards that remain.
Each player (or team) counts their score based on the pile of cards they have won. There are eleven possible points in each hand:
Whoever first reaches a total of 21 or more points, over however many rounds it takes, wins the game. If two people reach the target on the same round, whoever has the higher score wins. If there is a tie, another round is played.
Building is the most intricate part of the game, and there are several variations in exactly what is allowed when creating or capturing builds, and many of the card game books are ambiguous on this point. Some people play by more permissive rules, for example:
Other targets for winning the game are possible:
Some people, instead of scoring three points for cards, award two points to the player with most cards and one point to the player who made the last capture during the game.
Some players, when approaching the target score, count the points as they are earned - each sweep as it happens, aces, big and little casino as they are captured, and spades or cards as soon as one player has captured 7 or 27 of them respectively. In this case the play would ends soon as a player correctly claims to have won by reaching the target score.
Some play that when deciding the overall winner, if both players reach the target score in the same round, the points are counted in order: cards, spades, big casino, little casino, aces, sweeps.
Many people play that a Sweep is worth one point. A sweep occurs when a player takes all the cards from the table, leaving it empty and forcing the next player to trail. Some players call this a clear. When making a sweep, the capturing card is stored face-up in the pile of won cards, so that the number of sweeps can be checked when scoring. It is possible to make a sweep with the last card of the final deal if it captures all the cards on the table, but if it does not, taking the remaining cards from the table because you made the last capture does not count as a sweep.
Another variation is to count face cards as numbers; jacks have a value of eleven, queens twelve, and kings thirteen. Thus, a queen can take a five and a seven. Some players also allow the ace to be worth one or fourteen at the discretion of the person who incorporates it into a build or captures it. English and American books call this version of the game Royal Casino. A similar game is popular in Sweden and Finland - see Cristian Seres' Kasino page.
This interesting version of Casino, which is popular in Swaziland, was contributed by Jonathan Dushoff. The building process is different from that of Anglo-American Casino. Captured cards are kept face up, and the top card from your pile of captures can be taken by your opponents to add to their builds.
Swazi Casino is played by 2, 3 or 4 people using a standard 52 card pack. The version for 3 or 4 players is described first. When there are four players, the players sitting opposite each other are partners. The usual direction of play is anticlockwise.
For the purpose of capturing, pip cards from 2 to 10 have their face values, jacks count as 11, queens 12, kings 13 and aces 1 or 14.
The dealer shuffles the cards and the player to the dealer's right (who will be the first to play) cuts four cards out of the middle of the deck, and puts them face up in the centre of the playing area to form the initial layout, and returns the deck to the dealer (who plays last). The dealer then deals out all of the cards to the players, one at a time. The first dealer is chosen at random; subsequently the deal passes to the right after each hand.
Some people have rules disallowing certain cuts. The game is rather uninteresting if there are too many scoring cards in the layout at the start. Also, when there are four players, the pair that plays first has a big disadvantage at the end, which is balanced by their having the first chance to capture at the beginning, but the benefit of making the first move is reduced if too many big cards are cut. There are many variations, but it is suggested that if the initial layout contains either
10 and an ace), or
All captured cards are kept face up in a single pile in front of the player who captured them. In the four-player version, partners share a pile. New captures are added to the top of the pile. When you capture several cards at once, you may sort the captured cards however you like. The capturing card, however, must go on top of your pile. You do not show the other players in what order you have arranged the captured cards in your pile. When playing with partnerships, you may sort the cards you capture, or if your partner is looking after your team's capture pile you may hand the cards to your partner to sort instead.
In the centre of the playing area is the layout of face up cards which are available for capture by the players. At the start of the game there are four single cards in the layout. As the game progresses, these can be captured, or further single cards can be played there. It is also possible for cards in the layout to be combined into builds - piles of cards with a specific total value which are treated as a single unit until they are captured. There are two types of build:
The turn to play rotates. Your turn can consist several actions, in any order. At some point during your turn you must play exactly one card from your hand. The possible actions during a turn are:
Each type of action will now be described in detail:
It is never possible to break up builds, nor to combine two builds to form a build of higher value.
Note that the top card of an opponent's capture pile can only be used to augment a card or build. So before you can make use of the card, you must already have a "base" in the layout which it can help to augment. A base is
There cannot be two builds of the same capture value on the table at the same time. That means that if your opponent has (for example) a build of 13, you are not allowed to make a 13-build of your own alongside it. You can make a second build of a value which your side already owns, but your must then combine them into a single augmented build. Example: you own a 13-build and an opponent has created a single build of 9 (6+3). If you have a 4 in your hand, you can play it to increase the 9-build to 13, but you must then amalgamate this with your existing 13-build to make an augmented 13-build.
A single ace in the layout or in a player's hand or in a capture pile can be deemed to have a value of 1 or 14 according to the player who wants to use it in a build or capture. Once an ace is incorporated in a build, its value is fixed until the build is captured. If you put two aces together to make an augmented build you must choose and announce whether its value is 1 or 14.
If your partner owns a build whose value is then changed by an opponent, or which is captured by someone other than your partner (including yourself), then you know that your partner holds a card of the rank needed to capture that build. As long as your partner does not play a card of this rank, you are allowed to create a new single or augmented build of this rank, which will be owned by your partner. This is the only circumstance in which you can build for your partner, no matter how completely obvious it is that your partner has the card in question from other cues.
If your partner plays a card that captures a build belonging to you or your partner, and you have a card of that rank in your hand, you may ask your partner not to capture the build. Your partner may ignore your request and capture the build anyway, or may instead use the played card to augment the build, in which case you take over ownership of the build.
When all the cards have been played, whoever made the last capture takes whatever cards are left in the layout.
Each player or team then scores for the cards in their capture pile as follows:
| Player (or team) with most cards | 2 points (if tied the tieing players get one point each) |
| Player (team) with most spades | 2 points (if tied the tieing players get one point each) |
| Two of spades ("spy two") | 1 point |
| Ten of diamonds ("big ten") | 2 points |
| Aces | 1 point each |
Thus a total of 11 points are scored for each deal.
Note that there is no extra score for sweeps (capturing all cards from the layout)
In the standard two-player version, after the cut twelve cards are dealt out to each player, and when these have been played another twelve each are dealt. While playing your first twelve cards, there are two extra restrictions:
An alternate two-player version is sometimes called "crazy casino". In this version, each player is dealt eight cards, and the remainder form a face-down drawing pile from which you pick up a card after each play, to keep eight cards in your hand, until all of the cards are gone. In this version, the first of the two restrictions above - that you may not discard while you are building - applies until there are no cards left in the drawing pile. The rule against more than one build is sometimes also enforced, but Jonathan Dushoff suggests that this version of the game is better without it.
The tactics of this game centre around the builds - especially builds of high value. Suppose for example that early in the game you find that you (or your team) have a monopoly of aces. Then you can make a build of 14 that the other team cannot touch, and at every opportunity you augment it with more sets of cards adding up to 14. Right at the end you capture a huge pile of cards with your last ace.
Sometimes there will be rival piles - for example one player (or team) building 14's and another building 12's. Build piles with a high capture value are most powerful, because they are easy to augment. If you have a smaller value build pile - say nines - then it will be safe for your opponents to play a 10 or higher, because these cards cannot be incorporated in your build. If your opponent has a pile of 13's or 14's, all your cards are potentially at risk. If your opponent has a 13-build and you capture with (say) a 10, your opponent may play a 3 from hand and then take your 10 together with the 3 to augment the build.
A large part of the tactics of the game is correct timing of when to capture. Although the ultimate objective is to capture cards, capturing early can put you at a disadvantage, especially in the three-player game, because your capture pile then becomes available to your opponents to augment their builds. Because large value piles are so powerful, it is particularly important not to release your queens, kings and aces too early if this may give your opponent a monopoly. To exploit this, if you and another player have (say) a king each, you might start a 13-build early in the game to tempt your opponent to capture it, leaving you with a 13 monopoly.
Drifting can be used as a way of signalling to your partner. Drifting is only safe when you know that your opponents have no more of the card in question, or when you know that you and your partner combined will still have two left. Therefore a drift by the player who owns the pile signals that he or she has two more of the card in question; a drift by the other partner signals one more of the card in question (unless the card played is appearing for the third time, in which case the build is safe anyway). Players may drift reciprocally, so that both can be assured that the build is safe. For example, my partner builds kings, and I have two. I might drift a king. If she also has two, then she knows that our build is safe, and should then drift back at an early opportunity so that I will know, too.
Sotho casino differs from Swazi casino in that the picture cards lose their numerical value, and an ace can only be one. Cards taken to the capture pile may not be sorted, but are left in whatever order they accumulated on the build pile, with the capturing card on top. Partners keep separate piles, and you may steal your partner's top card to help augment a build. Picture cards are placed in the capture pile beneath all the numeral cards but above other picture cards. You may give your partner picture cards you captures to store in your partner's pile (it seems unlikely that this would be very useful, but they do it).
Faizal Asmal provided a short description of a version of Casino that is popular in South Africa. This resembles the Swazi and Sotho versions in that cards can be taken from an opponent's capture pile, but the detailed rules are somewhat different. The South African game can be played by two, three of four players. It is played with a 40 card pack, obtained by removing all the pictures from a standard 52 card pack.
The first dealer is chosen at random. In subsequent hands the previous loser is the first person to be dealt cards, and also starts the game. If there are two players, 10 cards are dealt to each player and there is a second deal of 10 cards when these have all been played. For the three player game, 13 cards are dealt to each player and one is placed face up on the table. For the four player game, 10 cards are dealt to each player.
Note that with two or four players there are no face up cards on the table at the start, so the first player cannot capture but must simply play a card. In South Africa, playing a card without capturing is called drifting.
All captured cards are kept face up in a single pile in front of the player who captured them. New captures are added to the top of the pile. When you capture several cards at once, they must be placed on your pile in numerical order, with the lowest card on top. The top card of each player's capture pile is available to be captured by other players along with the face up cards on the table.
If you have a build on the table you are not allowed simply to drift; you must either add to your build or capture something.
A player who already has a build on the table may steal the top card of a player's capture pile to incorporate into the build, provided that the building player simultaneously adds a card to the build from hand. Example: Player A has a seven and two eights in hand; on the table is a build of 8's and a lone seven; the top card of player B's capture pile is an ace. Player A has various options:
When there are two players, after both players have played their first ten cards there is another deal of ten cards each. In this second phase the rules are slightly different: players are always allowed to drift, even if they have a build on the table.
When all the cards have been played, whoever made the last capture takes whatever cards are left in the centre of the table.
The scores are as follows:
With Mari JP Söderberg's SpiteNET: Cassino computer program you can play against the computer or against a live opponent over the Internet.
You can download a freeware Casino program from Thanos Card Games.
Last updated 18th November 2005
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