No of Players

3 - 6

Cards to be dealt

All the Pack

Stake

As Agreed

Object

To win money -

1. Off the cards on display
2. By playing a run of three
3. By being the first to dispose of all the cards dealt

Deal

Cut for dealer. The cards are dealt clockwise and face down. The dealer changes for each round, the cards passing clockwise in rotation. An extra hand is dealt which is for the initial benefit of the dealer.

Preliminaries

Four cards from another pack are placed face upwards on the table (i.e. King, Queen, Jack and ten of different suits). (For simplicity the four Kings can be used).

Before the cards are dealt, each player places three bets as follows:-

1. On one of the cards showing
2. In the kitty (to be won by the first player to get rid of all their cards).
3. In the pot (to be won by any player who holds a run of three cards in the same suit and the run is played).

The players examine their cards - the hands are not displayed. The dealer has two packs to choose from. One of the hands is selected and examined by the dealer, the spare cards remain concealed. If in the opinion of the dealer his or her hand has little winning potential, the cards may be changed for the spare pack. Once exchanged, the dealer may not revert back to the original hand. Once this decision has been made, then by payment into the kitty, each player, in turn, has the opportunity to exchange his/her hand with the spare pack, which is either the dealer's original discarded hand or the spare which has not been looked at. His or her hand then becomes the spare pack.

Play

Once the preliminaries have been completed play commences by a player producing the 2 of hearts and placing it face upwards in front of them. The rest of the players then follow in suit order, keeping their cards in front of them, until the sequence breaks down (the missing card is sleeping in the spare hand). The last player to lay down a card continues the play by switching to their lowest card in a black suit and play continues as before by following numerically. Each time the sequence breaks down, the player who produced the last card, plays their lowest card of the opposite coloured suit.

If during the course of the play a card is played that matches one of the four key cards displayed, then that player wins the money placed on that card. Likewise, if three cards are played in sequence, by one player, then that player wins the pot. The first person to play all their cards wins the kitty. The kitty may be won before all the money is removed from the four cards or the pot taken and this money is carried forward to the next round.

NB

1. If the 2 of hearts is sleeping in the spare hand then the 2 of clubs commences play. Failing this the 2 of diamonds and so on.
2. The top card of a suit is the ace. When the ace is played that player alternates the suit colour with his or her lowest card. This is the same as if the sequence had broken down.
3. If the suit breaks down and the player is unable to alternate the colour, then the go passes to the player on the immediate left who must change the suit colour with the lowest available card. If this also fails, the go passes clockwise round the table. If none of the players are able to change the suit colour, then the cards are gathered in and redealt for the next round. The kitty, money in the pot and on the cards carries forward to the next round.
4. To terminate the game -

• Cards are removed once their stake money has been won
• The Pot and the Kitty are not replaced once claimed

This may take several rounds but can be shortened by agreeing to share the pot at the end of a specific round.