Online Poker PokerStars.com

Created by Jason Reed

Object

To be the first player to get rid of every card from your hand, Up pile, Down pile, and Defense pile.

Before Play

Use standard 52-card decks. No jokers. Cards rank from high to low A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2. It is best to combine decks, having at least one deck for every 2 players.

During the game, each player has a Down pile (face down), an Up pile (face up), a Defense pile (face up) and a hand (held concealed from the other players), some of which may be empty.

Remove as many eights from the pack as there are players and place one eight face up in front of each player. These begin the players' Defense piles. Shuffle the remainder of the pack and deal all the cards to the players, face down, distributing them as equally as possible. Some may receive an extra card. These form the Down piles. Each player draws 3 cards from the top of their Down pile and keeps them in their hand. The players' Up piles are empty at the start of the game.

Each Turn

Play begins with the player on the dealer's left and proceeds clockwise. You must normally have a minimum of 3 cards in your hand at the beginning of each turn. If you don't, draw from your Down pile until you have 3 cards. If there are not enough cards in your Down pile, then when it is empty turn your Up pile face down to make a new Down pile. Only if your Up and Down piles are both empty can you play with a hand of fewer than three cards.

You then have a choice of attacking, defending, or drawing an additional card to end your turn. You must perform exactly one of these actions each turn. The only exception is when your Up and Down piles are both empty, in which case you are allowed just to pass, taking no action, since you are unable to draw.

Attacking

To begin an attack, you must have a card in your hand that is equal to or lower than the value of the top card of another player's Defense pile. There are two ways to attack.

1. Play one or more cards from your hand on an opponent's Up pile. If it is empty, as at the start of the game, your card(s) are placed in front of the opponent's Down pile to form a new Up pile. This type of attack allows you to transfer some cards to their Up pile, normally from your Down pile, as detailed below.
2. Play one or more cards from your hand on an opponent's Defense pile. There is no immediate reward, but by this method you can weaken the opponent's defense, leaving them with a higher card of top of the pile, which makes it easier for you or another player to attack them in future.

Whichever way you attack, the first card you play must be lower than or equal to the top card of your opponent's Defense pile, and any other cards you play must be either the same suit or the same rank as the previous card. For example if an opponent's top defense card is the 3 you could attack with 2-6-6-9.

You may only attack one player per turn. Attacking is optional: you may draw or defend instead if you prefer.

Result of attacking an Up pile

These only take effect if card(s) are played on an Up pile, not a Defense pile. The last card you put down determines the result of the attack. Unless otherwise specified, attacks transfer cards from the top of your Down pile onto the opponent's Up pile, face up. Here is a list:

Defending

To lower the chance of another playing being able to attack you, you may defend by replacing the cards in your Defense pile with one in your hand. The card you place down must be of the same suit as the top one currently there. All the cards that were in the Defense pile then go in your hand and your turn ends.

The End of the Down and Defense Piles

If your Down pile runs out, you must turn your Up pile over to form a new Down pile. If you are in the process of transferring cards or drawing and your Down pile runs out, flip your Up pile over and continue transferring or drawing. If you don't have an Up pile either, then both piles stay empty until someone puts cards on your Up pile. You will be unable to draw cards until this happens.

If your Down and Up piles both run out while you are transferring cards (as a result of an attack on another player's up pile) then continue transferring from the top of your Defense pile. If that runs out and you still haven't transferred all the cards you are entitled to transfer, continue by picking cards from your hand. If you finish transferring and still have at least one card in your hand, you must choose one hand card and place it face up to form a new Defense pile. You will not be able to draw until someone puts cards in your Up pile, which you would flip over to form a Down pile which you can draw from on your next turn.

If you only have one card, which would be in your defense pile, you will have to pass your turn until someone gives you cards in your Up pile.

End of the Game

The game continues until a player wins by getting rid of all his or her cards. This can only be done by means of an attack on another player's Up pile the result of which is to transfer so many cards that your hand and all piles are exhausted.

Note that neither an Ace nor a King can be a winning attack (though they could reduce your card holding from 70 to 5), since they leave your Defense pile untouched. This might, however, make it possible to win on the next turn. It is difficult to win using any of the low number cards as the attack. In practice, most people win with an 8, 9, or 10 as the final attack when they have 1 card in their Defense pile and no Up or Down piles. Winning by means of a Jack only works if you have more cards in your hand than you do in your piles combined. A Queen is a good way to win if you don't have very many cards left.