Card CommonsCard Commons

Goal

Each deal, one player is the Landlord and plays alone against the other two, the Farmers. The Landlord wins the deal by playing out every card first. The Farmers win together if either of them goes out first. After 3 or 6 deals, the highest total wins.

Cards

Use a 54-card deck: the standard 52 plus a Black Joker and a Red Joker.

Ranking

Cards rank from the Red Joker, highest, down to the Black Joker, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3, lowest. Suits don’t matter.

Starting hand

Deal 17 cards to each of the 3 players and set the last 3 aside, face down.

Play

1. Bid for Landlord. Starting with the first bidder, each player in turn bids 1, 2, or 3, higher than any bid so far, or passes. A player who passed can still bid later. A bid of 3 ends the bidding, and so do two passes in a row after a bid. If all 3 players pass, the cards are dealt again.
2. The Landlord takes the 3 cards set aside, after showing them to everyone, and leads any combination (see Meld types).
3. Beat it or pass. Play goes to the left, clockwise. On your turn, play a higher combination of the same kind and the same number of cards, or pass. A bomb or the rocket beats other combinations too.
4. Passing doesn’t stop you. A player who passed can still play later in the same trick.
5. Two passes end the trick. When the other 2 players pass in a row, whoever played last leads the next trick. The player who leads can’t pass.
6. The deal ends the moment a player plays their last card.

Scoring

The stake is the winning bid, doubled for every bomb or rocket played in the deal. It’s doubled once more for a spring: the Landlord goes out before either Farmer plays a card, or a Farmer goes out when the Landlord has played only the first lead.

• If the Landlord goes out first, each Farmer pays the Landlord the stake.
• If a Farmer goes out first, the Landlord pays each Farmer the stake.

After 3 deals (Short) or 6 deals (Standard), the highest total wins, and players tied for the highest total share the win.

Meld types

A play is beaten only by a higher play of the same kind with the same number of cards, unless it’s beaten by a bomb or the rocket. Combinations with extra cards compare by the triplets or the four of a kind alone. Sequences run from 3 up to the Ace, so a 2 or a Joker is never part of one, but either can be an extra card.

• Single any one card
• Pair 2 cards of one rank
• Triplet 3 cards of one rank
• Triplet + 1 a triplet and any card of another rank
• Triplet + pair a triplet and a pair of another rank
• Straight 5 or more cards in sequence
• Pair sequence 3 or more pairs in sequence
• Triplet sequence 2 or more triplets in sequence
• Triplet sequence + singles one extra card for each triplet, not both Jokers
• Triplet sequence + pairs one extra pair for each triplet, all of different ranks
• Four + 2 four of a kind and 2 single cards of different ranks, or 2 pairs

Two plays also beat plays of every other kind.

1. Rocket both Jokers, which beat everything
2. Bomb four of a kind, which beats everything but the rocket and a higher bomb

Playing with your own deck

You need paper and a pencil to keep the totals. Write one line for each deal, with every player’s points for that deal and their new total.

How this version differs

• Play goes clockwise. The published rules play counterclockwise.
• The first bidder rotates one player to the left each deal. The published rules turn a card face up in the deck, and whoever draws it bids first.
• The Landlord always shows the 3 cards set aside. The published rules give this as one of two customs.
• A match is 3 or 6 deals, and the highest total wins. The published rules score each deal for money.