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This description is based mainly information from William Priester Jr. and Bruce Bowman.

• Introduction
• Players and Cards
• Poker Phase
• Bingo Phase
• Put and Take Phase
• Count-Up Phase
• Variations

Introduction

This American game is also known simply as Garbage. Each hand is a sequence of several games played using the same cards. They are usually games of luck, played for very small stakes (pennies).

Players, Cards and Chips

There can be from 3 to about 8 players. The game is best for 5 or 6.

4 or 5 players use two standard 52-card decks shuffled together. 6 or more players use three decks.

Each player begins with an ample supply of small value coins (pennies) - about 100 each should be sufficient - or chips or other tokens can be used instead, giving everyone an equal supply at the start.

The first dealer is chosen in any way the players see fit. Thereafter the turn to deal passes to the left after all the phases have been played. To be fair, the game should continue until each player has dealt an equal number of times.

Phase 1 - Poker

Everyone antes an agreed number of coins - say 5 coins each - placing them in a central pot. The dealer shuffles all the cards and deals them out to the players, one at a time face up, until everyone has five cards. The player whho has the best poker hand wins the pot. If there is a tie for best hand the pot is shared between the winners.

Phase 2 - Bingo

The players keep their 5-card hands from phase 1. The dealer then turns up cards from the undealt part of the deck, one by one, calling out their ranks ("four", "jack", "ace", etc.) Any player having a card of that rank showing places a coin on the card. If the player has more than one card of that rank, he places a coin on each of them. If the same rank is called again later, players holding cards of that rank will put another coin on each. The first player who manages to place a coin on all five of their cards calls "bingo" wins all the coins placed on everyone's cards. If there are multiple winners on the same card, they share the coins equally.

Phase 3 - Put and Take

Also known as Up-and-Down-The-River. The dealer sets his or her cards aside in a discard pile, along with the cards used for calling in the bingo. These cards will not be used again in this hand. The other players keep their 5-card hands. The other players keep their five-card hands. Dealer then turns up a card from the undealt part of the pack, and any player having a card of that rank card puts 1 coin for each card of that rank he/she has into a central pot. On the second card turned up by the dealer, 2 coins must be put in the pot for each card of that rank; for the 3rd card, 3 coins, and so on, up to 10 coins for the 10th card. Then the dealer turns 10 more cards, one by one, and players take coins from the central pot: 1 coin for each card matching the first card, 2 for the second 2nd, and so on up to 10 each for the tenth card. Again, if a player has a more than one of the card turned up, he/she takes that many times the number of coins. Any coins remaining in the pot after the 20th card go to the dealer, and if the coins in the pot run out before the 20th card is turned up, the dealer dealer pays the players from his or her own coins.

Phase 4 - Count-Up

Dealer takes all the players' hands and adds them to the discards. The dealer then deals 13 cards face-up from the undealt portion of the deck, counting while doing so: "ace, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king". If the rank of the turned card corresponds to the rank being counted, everyone pays the dealer a number of coins corresponding to the rank. For example, if the dealer turns a 2 as the second, card, everyone pays the dealer 2 coins; for a 7 as the seventh card, 7 coins. Jack=11, Queen=12, and King=13, so the dealer will collect 13 coins from each other player if a king is turned as the last of the 13 cards. This phase is sometimes known as Birthday, perhaps because 'hitting' the right card and being paid is like being given birthday presents.

After the count up phase, the hand is over. All the cards are reshuffled and the next player deals.

Variations

There are many variations of this game.

Phase 1 - Poker

Some play that a four-flush (four cards of one suit) beats a pair but loses to two pairs in the poker phase.

Some allow a player in the first phase to buy an extra card for a set amount of coins, and discard a card in exchange.

Some play this like five-card-stud, with betting rounds after the third and fourth cards are dealt.

Some deal seven cards each, and each player makes the best possible five-card poker hand from these. The players then keep seven cards for the bongo and put and take phases.

Phase 2 - Bingo

Some play that if two or more players tie in the bingo phase, the player with the greatest number of coins on their five cards wins. If this is a tie, split the pot anyway.

Some play that if there is a tie in the bingo phase, no one wins. All the coins placed on cards are moved to a bingo kitty to be won in the next bingo game, which can be phase 2 of the next hand or can be played immediately, dealer continuing to deal and call cards.

Some play the bingo as phase 3, after the put and take, which is phase 2. In this case the dealer's cards have been thrown away before the bingo, and the dealer's role is only to deal and call the cards while the other players play.

Phase 3 - Put and Take

Some turn only 5 cards in each part, so the maximum put or take is 5 per card rather than 10.

Some play that any card matching the rank AND suit of the card flipped up puts or takes double.

Some play that in the put and take phase, a player with a pair pays or receives double, and a player with a triplet triple. For example for three of a kind on the seventh card pay or receive 63 rather than 21.

Phase 4 - Count-Up

Some deal only 10 cards rather than 13 in the count-up phase.

Some play that in the count-up phase, a dealer who 'hits' no cards, he must pay a penalty of 5 coins to each player.

Some play that the second of consecutive 'hits' pays double, the third triple and so on.