Maverick

Contributed by Ben (LuckySeven70@aol.com)

Note - words in italics can be found in the glossary at the bottom.

THE CARDS

A full 52-card deck with two Jokers.  One Joker must be labeled Big Joker and the other Small Joker

THE PEOPLE

4 players in partners

THE DEAL

Deal 13 cards to each player and flip the remaining two cards face up.  The suit of the higher of the two cards is trump, and the suit of the lower card is called the adder.  If both cards are the same suit or if either of them are Jokers, the trump is Spades and the adder is Diamonds.

THE ORDER

The order of the cards highest to lowest is:  Big Joker, Small Joker, Ace - 2 (Ace being high) of trump, and then all other cards Ace - 2.

THE OBJECT

You try to take tricks with adders in them and try to avoid taking tricks with trump in them (unless they also have an adder in them).

THE PLAY

You start by dealing the cards.  Then each player passes two of his/her cards to they player on his/her left.  You cannot pass the two cards passed to you.  Then the person to the left of the dealer leads any card they want to. Each player must play according to suit and cannot renege.  If a player reneges his/her team is penalized 4 points. If a player does not have any of the suit led then they must trump the trick.  The player with the highest card in the trick wins it for his/her team.

SCORING

You score up points based on what tricks you took.

• Trick with all trump - Minus 4 points
• Trick with trump but no adders - Minus 1 point
• Trick without any trump or adders - Plus 1 point
• Trick with adders - Plus 1 point, and Plus ? (? = number of adders in the trick)

Note: A trick that contains all adders is called a book.

BIDDING

Bidding is not necessary but it helps gain some extra points sometimes.

Null Bid - Bidding that you (just you not your partner too) will take absolutely no tricks. If you win the bid your team's score for that hand is tripled if you score is positive (above zero). If you win the bid and your score for that hand is negative (below zero) you lose nothing and get 1 point.  If you lose the bid you gain no points for that hand and lose 1 point.

Blind Bid - Bidding that you and your partner will gain more points youropponents.  If your team is at negative 5 points or lower you can bid Blind before the hand is dealt.  If you win the bid, your points gained are doubled.  If you lose the bid your team loses 3 points.

Bling Bid - If you think you and your partner can take 3 or more books and you have at least 7 points, you can bid Bling. If you win the bid your points gained for that hand are doubled.  If you lose the bid your team's points are reduced to zero.

GLOSSARY

Here is a list of terms

Big Joker	-	Highest trump card
Small Joker	-	2nd highest trump card
Trump	-	Cards that are played when you can’t follow suit.  Trump beat everything except a higher trump.
Adder	-	The suit of cards that is most valuable and gains the most points in tricks.
Tricks	-	The 4 cards played each turn (one from each player)
Lead	-	To start a trick
Renege	-	Not playing according to suit when you could have
Book	-	A trick that is made up of all adders.