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Suicide King

Contributed by Paintball1688

This game is intended to be played with an Anglo-American pack, in which the King of Hearts is shown holding a sword horizontally behind his head, giving the impression that he is stabbing himself.

There be from 2 to 5 players. Start by shuffling the cards. Then deal them into a row of five piles: the center pile should have 12 cards and the other four 10 cards each.

Players take turns to draw the top card from any pile they choose and show it. Whoever draws the King of Hearts (the "suicide king") is out of the game. The cards are then reshuffled and the other players play again until only one player remains.

If you draw an Ace, Queen, Jack or a King other than the King of Hearts, you must draw extra cards as follows:

four extra cards for an Ace;
three extra cards for a King;
two extra cards for a Queen;
one extra card for a Jack.

If the extra cards are all numeral card 2-10 you can stop drawing and it is the next player's turn, but if you draw another Ace, King, Queen or Jack, you must then draw the number of extra cards appropriate to this new card before ending your turn, as in the children's game Beggar My Neighbor.

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Last updated 3rd January 2004