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Goal

Be the first player to reach 12 points. Each hand is worth 1 point to whoever wins it, or more if the stake has been raised.

Cards

Use 32 cards from a standard deck: the Ace and the 2 to the 8 of every suit. Suits don’t matter, so two cards of the same number count as the same card.

Ranking

The 8 is the highest card and the 2 is the lowest number, but the Ace is lower still. Every card beats the Ace except the 8, and the Ace beats the 8, so the ranking runs in a circle: A → 8 → 7 → 6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → A, where each card beats the one after it.

Starting hand

Deal 3 cards to each player. The other 26 cards aren’t used in the hand.

Play

1. Lead and answer. The player who didn’t deal leads to the first trick. The other player answers with any card. There’s no suit to follow.
2. The higher card wins the trick. The winner leads the next trick.
3. The same number ties. A tied trick counts for neither player, and the same player leads again.
4. Win the hand. Whoever wins more tricks wins the hand. If you have won the same number, the hand goes to whoever won the first trick that wasn’t a tie. If all 3 tricks tie, nobody scores.
5. Stop when the hand is decided. As soon as the rest of the cards can’t change who wins the hand, the hand ends and those cards aren’t played. For example, 1 trick won and 1 tie decides it, because the player ahead has also won the first trick that wasn’t a tie.
6. Raise before you play. Before you play a card, whether you’re leading or answering, you can offer to raise what the hand is worth. If your opponent accepts, the hand is worth the new amount and you then play your card. If they refuse, the hand ends and you win it for what it was worth before you raised.
7. Never raise twice in succession. Once you have raised, you can’t raise again until your opponent has raised.
8. Deal the next hand. The deal alternates, so the lead to the first trick does too.

Scoring

The winner of a hand scores what it’s worth. A hand starts at 1 point. The first raise doubles it to 2, and every raise after that adds 2, so the stake runs 1 → 2 → 4 → 6 → 8 → 10 → 12. A hand can take at most 6 raises, which is 12 points.

Playing with your own deck

You need paper and a pencil to keep score. During a hand, keep track of what it’s worth and of which player raised last, for example with a marker in front of the last raiser.

How this version differs

• The deck is the Ace to the 8, and the 8 is highest. The published rules use the 7s up to the Aces, ranked from high to low 7, 8, A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9.
• Each raise moves the stake to the next of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. The published rules let a player raise by any amount, or bet their whole remainder so that the hand decides the game.
• A hand with all 3 tricks tied scores nothing. The published rules give it to the player who didn’t deal.
• There’s no redeal. The published rules let the player after the dealer propose a redeal before leading, and the hands are dealt again from the rest of the pack if both players agree.