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HOW TO PLAY THE CASINO CARD GAME

CASINO

Number of Players: 2 to 4. Best for 2.

Cards: The deck of 52 is used up in 6 deals. In the first deal, non-dealer receives 2 cards face down, then 2 are put face up on the table, then dealer gives himself 2 face down. This whole process is repeated, giving each player and the table 4 cards each. For the remaining 5 deals, each receives 4 cards, 2 at a time, but no additional cards are given to the table. The Play: Beginning with non-dealer, each in turn must play one card from his hand, until all 4 of his cards are gone. If he can find no better use for it, the player simply lays his card face up on the table. This is called trailing. Whenever he can, though, he uses his card to capture cards from the table. Objects of Play: To capture the most cards, to capture the most spades, to win Aces, the 10 of diamonds (Big Casino ) and the 2 of spades (Little Casino). Pairing: You may win cards in various ways. The simplest is by pairing. You may capture a card on the table by another of the same rank from your hand—a 5 with a 5, a Jack with a Jack, and so on.

With a face card—Jack, Queen, or King—you may capture only one card, but with a card of lower rank you may take two or three of the same kind. If there are two 7's on the table and you have a 7 in your hand, take in all three 7's. Each player keeps the cards he has captured in a single pile, face down. Building: All the lower cards, Ace to 10, may be captured by building. Ace counts 1, each other card its pip value. Cards on the table may be taken in by higher cards equal to their sum. For example, you may take a 5 and a 2 with a 7, an Ace and a 9 with a 10. You may at the same time take additional cards by pairing. Suppose that the cards on the table are 9, 8, 5, 4, Ace. You could take them all with a single 9—since the 9 pairs, 8 and 1 make 9, and 5 and 4 make 9. Leaving a Build: Suppose that you have 8 and 3 in hand and there is a 5 on the table. You may put the 3 on the 5 and say "Building 8." Your intention is to capture the build with your 8 next turn. You cannot build and take in the same turn, because you are allowed to play only one card from your hand at a time. If your opponent has an 8, he can capture your build himself. That is the risk of leaving a build. Yet the risk is usually worth taking, because in building you make it harder for him to capture the cards. He cannot take the 5 or 3 by pairing or by making a build of his own. Of course, you must not leave a build unless you have in your hand a card that can take it. You are allowed to duplicate your build before taking it in. Suppose you have two 8's in hand. After building the 5 and 3, you could on your next turn simply put one 8 on the build, then take it with the other 8 on your third turn. Or suppose after you build the 5 and 3, your opponent trails a 6, and you have a 2 in hand (besides the 8). You may put your 2 with the 6 on the 5-3, and wait till next turn to take in the duplicated build.

An important rule is that when you have left a build on the table, you must attend to it at your next turn—take it in, or increase or duplicate it. You are not allowed to trail or to take in other cards instead. Increasing a Build: Suppose that your opponent has laid a 4 from his hand on a 5 on the table and called "Building 9." You have an Ace and a 10. You may add the Ace to his build and say "Building 10." You are allowed to increase a build of your own, in the same way. But there are two restrictions on increasing a build. First, you may increase only a single build, such as the 5-4, not one that has been duplicated in any way, such as 5-4-9. Second, the card you use to increase it must come from your hand—you are not allowed to use a card from the table. Scoring: After the last card of the 6th deal is played, any cards remaining on the table go to the player who was last to take in anything. Then each player looks through his captured cards and counts his score, as follows:

Cards, for winning 27 or more cards         3

Spades, for winning 7 or more Spades      1

Big Casino, the 10 of Diamonds               2

Little Casino, the 2 of Spades                  1

Aces, each counting 1, total                       4

11

The one who reaches a total of 21 or more points first wins a game.

Related terms include speed the card game and pc card game.