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HOW TO PLAY THE CARD GAME GO FISH

GO FISH

Number of Players: Two to 5.

The Deal: If only 2 play, deal 7 cards to each; if 4 or 5 play, deal 5 cards to each. The rest of the pack is put face down on the table, forming the stock.

Object: To form more "books" than any other player. A book is 4 of a kind, such as 4 Kings, 4 Queens, etc.

The Play: The player at the dealer's left begins by saying to some other player, "(Jane), give me your 9's." He must mention the name of the player he is speaking to, and he must mention the exact rank that he wants (Aces, Kings, Queens, etc.), and he must have at least 1 card of the rank that he is asking for.

The player who is addressed must hand over all the cards he has in the named rank, but if he has none, he says, "Go fish!"

When told to "go fish," a player must draw the top card of the stock. The turn to ask then passes to the player at his left.

If a player succeeds in getting some cards when he asks for them, he keeps his turn and may ask again. He may ask the same player or some different player, and he may ask for any rank in his new question. If a player who has been told to "go fish" picks a card of the rank he has asked for, he shows this card immediately without putting it into his hand, and his turn continues. (In some very strict games, a player's turn continues in such a situation only if the card he fishes for completes a book for him.)

Upon getting the fourth card of a book, the player shows all 4, places them on the table in front of him, and continues his turn.

If a player is left without cards, he may draw from the stock at his turn and ask for cards of the same rank as the card that he has drawn. After the stock has been used up, a player who has no cards is out of the game.

The game ends when all 13 books have been assembled. The player with most books wins.

FISH FOR MINNOWS

This is a simpler way of playing Go Fish, and it is especially good for very young players. Deal out all the cards, not bothering if they don't happen to come out even. At his turn, a player asks for a rank, and the player who has been asked must hand 1 such card over if he has one. The object is to form pairs instead of books of 4, and as soon as a player gets a pair, he puts them face down in front of him. The player who accumulates most pairs, wins the game.

Related terms include spider card game and fun card games.