Split Court

Goal

Draft cards into a Collection of 8, then split it into a 5-card hand and a 3-card hand. The stronger 5-card hand scores 2 points and the stronger 3-card hand scores 1. The first player to reach 5 points wins.

Cards

Use 21 cards: the 10, J, Q, K, and A of each suit, and 1 Joker. What the Joker can do is set out under Hand rankings.

Ranking

The Ace is highest and the 10 is lowest. Suits have no rank.

Starting hand

Every round, shuffle all 21 cards. Set 1 card aside face down without looking at it. Nobody sees it that round. Deal 6 cards to each player and put the other 8 face down as the draw pile.

Play

1. Take 4 turns each. The players take turns, and every turn starts with drawing the top card of the draw pile into your hand.
2. Use one action. Each player has the same four actions, and each one can be used once a round.
   • Reserve 1: put 1 card from your hand face down in your Collection.
   • Discard 2: put 2 cards from your hand face down out of the round. Nobody sees them.
   • Offer 3: show 3 cards from your hand. Your opponent keeps 1 of them, and you keep the other 2.
   • Offer 2 Sets: show 2 cards from your hand as one set and 2 more as another. Your opponent keeps one set, and you keep the other.
   A kept card goes face up into the Collection of the player who keeps it.
3. End of the draft. After 4 turns each your hand is empty and your Collection holds exactly 8 cards, the 1 you reserved and the 7 you kept.
4. Build your hands. Both players, at the same time and in secret, split their 8 cards into a 5-card hand and a 3-card hand, using every card. Then both players show them.
5. The next round. The player with more points starts it. If the scores are level, the player who didn’t start this round starts the next one.

Scoring

The 5-card hands meet, then the 3-card hands. Each comparison is scored on its own.

• The stronger 5-card hand scores 2 points.
• The stronger 3-card hand scores 1 point.
• Equal hands score the points for both players.

The first player to reach 5 points wins. If both players reach 5 in the same round, the player whose 5-card hand won that round wins. If the 5-card hands were equal, the 3-card hands decide it. If those were equal too, play another round, which is decided the same way.

Hand rankings

5-card hand, strongest first.

1. Royal Flush 10, J, Q, K, and A, all one suit
2. Four of a Kind 4 cards of one rank
3. Full House 3 cards of one rank and 2 of another
4. Straight 10, J, Q, K, and A, not all one suit
5. Three of a Kind 3 cards of one rank
6. Two Pair 2 cards of one rank and 2 of another
7. Pair 2 cards of one rank

With only 5 ranks, the only straight is 10, J, Q, K, and A. Five cards of one suit are that straight, so every flush is a Royal Flush. Five cards with no pair are always that straight, so a 5-card hand is never just a high card.

3-card hand, strongest first.

1. Straight Flush 3 cards in sequence, all one suit
2. Three of a Kind 3 cards of one rank
3. Flush 3 cards of one suit
4. Straight 3 cards in sequence
5. Pair 2 cards of one rank
6. High Card none of the above, so the highest card counts

Two hands of the same kind are compared by the cards that make the hand first, then by the other cards from highest down. Suits never break a tie. If the cards are still equal, a hand without the Joker beats one that uses it. Otherwise the hands are equal.

The Joker is wild only for a Straight, a Flush, a Straight Flush, or a Royal Flush. It can be any card that’s not already in the same hand, even a card in your other hand. It never makes a Pair, Three of a Kind, Four of a Kind, or Full House. When it completes nothing, it counts below a 10 and matches no suit. Here it’s the missing Jack of a Royal Flush:

Playing with your own deck

You need paper and a pencil to keep score. Each player also needs four markers, one for each action, to turn over as the actions are used in a round.

Open the rules page