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HOW TO PLAY THE CARD GAMES WAR

Number of Players: 2.

The Deal: Count out 26 cards for each player.

Object: To win all of the cards.

The Play: Each player puts his stack of cards face down in front of him and turns up the top card at the same time. These top cards start a new pile in front of the player. The player who has the higher of the two turned-up cards wins - both of them and puts them face down at the bottom of his own stack. The King is the highest card, and the Ace is the lowest. The full rank of the cards is:

K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-A

If the two turned-up cards are of the same rank, the players have a "war." Each turns one card face down and then one card face up. The higher of the two new face-up cards takes both piles (a total of 6 cards).

If the newly turned-up cards again match, there is double war. Each player once again turns one card face down and one card face up, and the higher of these two new face cards wins the entire pile of 10 cards.

The game continues in this way until one player has all of the cards.

This is a good game to play when you have a lot of time and nowhere to go. I used to play it with my brothers when one of us was getting over an illness. It's just the sort of game to play at such a time, when you don't feel like thinking very hard or moving very quickly.

WAR FOR THREE

When 3 players want to play War, take any card out of the deck and give 17 cards to each. For the most part, the play is the same as in two-handed War.

When two cards turned up are the same, all three players join in the war by turning one card face down and one card face up. If two of the new turned-up cards are the same, all 3 players must once more turn one card down and one card face up. As usual, the highest card wins all cards that are used in the war.

If all three turned-up cards are the same, the players must engage in double war. Each player turns two cards face down and then one card face up. If the result is a tie, all 3 players engage in single war.

Related terms include war card game and drinking card game.