Whist is a game of changing allies and high stakes, whether you’re playing with a partner or going solo. Once the cards leave your hand, the score system holds you responsible. You may feel like you bid well by taking as many tricks as possible, but the score sheet might show something different once partner … Read more

Multi-decked card games heighten the table tension. Not only do you need to keep track of what’s in your hand, but you’ve got to account for three piles of cards and know whose is whose. Scoring becomes part of the game, not the afterthought it has been. It’s about the math. One wrong tally erases … Read more

Deceptively simple, that’s what people say about Whist. A group of four people sit around a table, take turns playing cards, and try to win tricks. But any player who’s fought over a score sheet will tell you it isn’t simple. It is an illusion. Because then someone forgot which odd number they bid (three … Read more

Having zero aces in your best suit plus 40 points of visible meld can cause some panic. Those cards might be on paper as it’s all marriages and runs, but they won’t take any tricks! This is where many pinochle players bids on potential instead of power. A big score means there should be a … Read more

Generally, games of Three Thirteen reach their peak tension not at the moment that one player’s gone out, but rather when the round wild card switches from sevens to jacks. With face cards penalized heavily for not melding, this switch converts a pile of easily dealt with extra cards into series of possible disasters. Most … Read more

Have you ever played a card game and it take forever to figure out who owes what or who should of won last round? That’s how Michigan Rummy goes. Deal the cards, throw them down, and let the fight start over the board. There is a way, but without planning your game quickly turns into … Read more

Shanghai Rummy is a numbers game. Ten ever-rising deals adds up to a lot of pressure even without playing cards. Once the pile reaches Deal Seven, everyone looks down at their hands (as though each hand contains a live grenade) and the room go silent. What felt like an innocent misread of one set early-on … Read more