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I DOUBT IT CARD GAMES AND HOW TO PLAY THEM

Number of Players: 3 or more.

Cards: Use a single deck for 3 or 4 players. Shuffle two decks together for 5 or more players.

The Deal: 2 or 3 cards at a time so that each player gets an equal number of cards. When only a few cards are left, deal one at a time as far as the cards will go.

Object: To get rid of all of your cards.

The Play: The player at dealer's left puts from 1 to 4 cards face down in the center of the table, and announces that he is putting down that number of Aces. The next player puts down 1 to 4 cards and announces that he is putting down that number of deuces. The next player in turn does the same thing, stating that he is putting down that number of 3's. The play proceeds in this way, in the sequence—Ace, deuce, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King.

When any player puts down cards and makes his announcement, any other player may say, "I doubt it." The doubted cards must immediately be turned face up. If the statement was true, the doubter must take the entire center pile into his hand. If the statement was false, the player who made the false statement must take the center pile.

When the players are using two packs shuffled together, a player may put down any number of cards from 1 to 8.

When a player puts his last cards down on the table, some other player must naturally say, "I doubt it," since otherwise the game ends automatically. If the statement turns out to be true, the player wins the game.

A player who has no cards at all of the kind that he is supposed to put down is not allowed to skip his turn. He must put down one or more cards anyway, and must try to get away with his untruthful announcement. If somebody doubts his claim, he will have to pick up the center pile.

If two or more participants say "I doubt it" at the same time, the one nearest the player's left wins the tie. That is, he picks up the center pile if the statement turns out to be true after all.

THREE-CARD I DOUBT IT

Deal the cards out equally as far as they will go, and put any remaining cards face down in the middle of the table. Each player in turn puts down exactly three cards. Instead of starting with Aces automatically, the 1st player may choose any denomination at all. For example, he may say, "Three 9's." The next player must say "Three 10's,' and so on. When a player has only 1 or 2 cards left, he must draw enough cards from those put face down in the middle of the table to make up a total of three.

Related terms include old card game and free spider card game.