Setup
| Players | Decks | Printed jokers |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 to 6 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 to 8 | 3 | 3 |
- Shuffle and deal 13 cards each, one at a time.
- Put the rest face down in the middle. That's the closed pile.
- Pull a random card from the closed pile and lay it face up under the pile, half sticking out. Every card of that rank is a wild joker this deal. If it's a printed joker, Aces are wild.
- Turn the top card of the closed pile face up next to it. That's the open pile.
- The player on the dealer's left goes first. The deal moves left each round.
A turn
Draw one card from the closed pile or the top of the open pile, then discard one card face up onto the open pile.
You can't pick up a joker someone discarded. If the closed pile runs out, keep the top open card and shuffle the rest of the open pile into a new closed pile.
Declaring
- Pure sequence: 3 or more cards in a row, same suit, no jokers. 5♥ 6♥ 7♥
- Impure sequence: a sequence with a joker filling a gap or an end. 9♠ Joker J♠
- Set: 3 or 4 cards of the same rank, all different suits. 8♣ 8♦ 8♠
To declare you need at least two sequences, and at least one of them pure. Every other card goes in a set or sequence. Ace can be low (A-2-3) or high (Q-K-A), but a sequence can't wrap around (K-A-2). A wild joker used as itself, like the 7♥ in 5♥ 6♥ 7♥ when 7s are wild, keeps the sequence pure.
When your hand is ready, draw as usual, put your 14th card face down on the open pile and lay out your 13 cards for the table to check. A wrong declaration costs 80 points and play goes on without you.
Points
| Card or event | Points |
|---|---|
| Ace, King, Queen, Jack | 10 each |
| 2 to 10 | Face value |
| Jokers, printed or wild | 0 |
| Whoever declares | 0 |
| First drop, before your first draw | 20 |
| Middle drop, any time after | 40 |
| Wrong declaration | 80 |
| Most you can lose in one deal | 80 |
When someone declares, everyone else lays out their groups and counts only the cards left over. If you don't have a pure sequence plus a second sequence, your whole hand counts, up to 80. To drop, say so on your turn and put your cards face down.
Add each deal's points to everyone's total. Play a set number of deals and the lowest total wins, or play pool: anyone who reaches 101 (or 201 for a longer game) is out, and the last player left wins.
Quick tips
- Build your pure sequence first. Without it, every card in your hand counts.
- Drop early on a bad deal. 20 points is cheaper than getting caught with 80.
- Throw away Aces and face cards you can't use. They cost 10 each if someone declares.
- Watch what others pick up from the open pile, and don't discard what they're collecting.
- Middle cards like 5 to 9 fit into more sequences than an Ace or a King.
- Say the wild joker rank out loud after the deal. Someone always forgets it.