21

In casino blackjack, the dealer faces one to seven players from behind a kidney-shaped table. Each player plays his hand independently against the dealer. At the beginning of each round, the player places a bet in the "betting box" and receives an initial hand of two cards. The object of the game is to get a higher card total than the dealer, but without going over 21 which is called "busting", "breaking", or many other terms. (The spot cards count 2 to 9; the 10, jack, queen, and king count as ten; an ace can be either 1 or 11 at the player's choice). The player goes first and plays his hand by taking additional cards if he desires. If he busts, he loses. Then the dealer plays his hand. If the dealer busts, he loses to all remaining players. If neither busts, the higher hand total wins. In case of a tie, no one wins - the hand is a "push" and all bets are returned. It is possible for the dealer to lose to some players but still beat other players in the same round.
Example of a Blackjack game. The top half of the picture shows the beginning of the round, with bets placed and an initial two cards for each player. The bottom half shows the end of the round, with the associated losses or payoffs.

Cards are dealt in three ways, either from one or two hand-held decks, from a box containing four to eight decks called a "shoe," or from a shuffling machine. When dealt by hand, the player's two initial cards are face-down, while the dealer has one face-up card called the "upcard" and one face-down card called the "hole card." (In European blackjack, the hole card is not actually dealt until the players all play their hands.) When dealt from a shoe, all player cards are normally dealt face-up, with minor exceptions. It shouldn't matter to the player whether his cards are dealt face-down or face-up since the dealer must play according to predetermined rules. If the dealer has less than 17, he must hit. If the dealer has 17 or more, he must stand (take no more cards), unless it is a "soft 17" (a hand that includes an ace valued as "11," for example a hand consisting of Ace+6, or Ace+2+4). With a soft 17, the dealer follows the casino rules printed on the blackjack table, either to "hit soft 17" or to "stand on all 17's."

The highest possible hand is a "blackjack" or "natural," meaning an initial two-card total of 21 (an ace and a ten-value card). A player blackjack is an automatic winner unless the dealer also has blackjack, in which case the hand is a "push" (a tie). When the dealer upcard is an ace, the player is allowed to make a side bet called "insurance," supposedly to guard against the risk that the dealer has a blackjack (i.e., a ten-value card as his hole card). The insurance bet pays 2-to-1 if the dealer has a blackjack. Whenever the dealer has a blackjack, he wins against all player hands except those that also have a blackjack (which are a "push").

The minimum and maximum bets are posted on the table. The payoff on most bets is 1:1, meaning that the player wins the same amount as he bets. The payoff for a player blackjack is 3:2, meaning that the casino pays $3 for each $2 originally bet. (There are many single-deck games which pay only 6:5 for a blackjack.)


Player decisions

After receiving his initial two cards, the player has four standard options: he can "Hit," "Stand," "Double Down," or "Split a pair." Each option requires the use of a hand signal. At some casinos or tables, the player may have a fifth option called "Surrender."

* Hit: Take another card.

signal: (handheld) scrape cards against table; (face up) touch finger to table or wave hand toward himself

* Stand: Take no more cards, also "stick" or "stay".

signal: (handheld) slide cards under bet; (face up) wave hand horizontally

* Double down: On his first two cards, the player may "double down," i.e., "double" his bet and receive only one card. To do this he moves a second bet equal to the first into the betting box next to his original bet. (If desired, the player is usually allowed to "double down for less," although this is generally not a good idea as the player should only double in favorable situations but should then increase the bet as much as possible.)

signal: place additional chips next to (not on top of) original bet

* Split a pair: If his first two cards are a "pair," meaning two cards of the same value, the player can "split the pair." To do this, he moves a second bet equal to the first into the betting box next to his original bet. The dealer splits the cards to create two hands, placing one bet with each hand. The player then plays two separate hands.

signal: place additional chips next to (not on top of) original bet.

* Surrender: Some casinos offer a fifth option called "Surrender." After the dealer has checked for blackjack, the player may "surrender" by giving up half his bet and not playing out the hand.

signal: There is no commonly accepted hand signal; it is just done verbally.

The reason for requiring hand signals is to assist the "eye in the sky," a person or video camera located above the table but concealed behind one-way glass. It is used in order to protect the casino against dealers or players who cheat. (It may also be used to protect the casino against card-counters, even though card-counting is not illegal.)

The player can take as many hits as he wants as long as the total is not above hard-20. However, if he busts, he loses that hand. After all the players have finished making their decisions, the dealer then reveals his hole card and plays out his or her hand according to predetermined rules.

Concentration

Introduction

This simple and popular memory game is also known as Concentration or Memory. In Japan it is called Shinkei-suijaku. In Britain it is called Pelmanism after Christopher Louis Pelman, who founded the "Pelman Institute for the Scientific Development of Mind, Memory and Personality" in London in 1899.

Players and Cards

Two or more people can play. A standard Anglo-American 52-card pack can be used, or any other kind of cards, provided that the backs are indistinguishable and the faces can be matched up in pairs or quartets.

Preparation

The cards are thoroughly mixed and spread face down on the playing surface - table or floor. The cards should not overlap, and can be arranged in a regular pattern or spread irregularly as desired.

Play

Players take turns to play. At your turn you turn face up two cards of your choice from the layout. If they match, you take these two cards, store them in front of you, and take another turn. If they do not match, you turn them face down, without changing their position in the layout, and it is the next player's turn.

When playing with an ordinary 52-card pack, cards "match" if they have the same denomination - a six matches a six, a king matches a king and so on. Suits are ignored.

Play continues until all the cards from the layout have been taken as matched pairs.

Scoring

Each player scores one point for each pair taken. The player with most points is the winner - if two or more tie for most points they all win.

Variations

Some special packs for this game have only two identical cards of each type, making it harder to match cards at the beginning. Since the game in any case becomes easier the fewer cards that remain in the layout, it seems preferable to reduce this effect by having four of each card, so that the first card of a new type has three possible pairings rather than just one. But those who prefer to play with just two cards of each type using a standard pack can agree that cards only match if they are of the same denomination and the same colour.

Kings Corner

Players and Cards

There can be two or more players. The game is said to be good for four players. A standard 52 card pack is used. The cards rank K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-A (ace low).

Deal

The first dealer is chosen at random and the turn to deal passes clockwise after each hand. Deal seven cards to each player. Put the rest of the cards face down in the centre of table to form the stock. Flip four cards face-up from the stock, and place them North, East, South, and West from the stock pile, to start four foundation piles.

Play

Players take turns clockwise, starting with the player to dealer's left. At your turn, you may make any number of moves of the following types in any order:

1. Play a card from your hand on one of the foundation piles. The card you play must be the next lower in rank and opposite in colour - for example you can play a red ten on a black jack. The cards on the foundation piles are overlapped slightly so that all can be seen. Since aces are the lowest cards, nothing can be played on a foundation pile that has an ace on top.
2. Place a king from your hand to start a new foundation pile in an empty space in one of the four diagonal corners of the tableau (NE, SE, NW, SW). It will then be possible to build on this king in the same way as on the original foundations, adding a queen of the opposite colour, then a jack of the same colour as the king, and so on.
3. Move an entire foundation pile onto another foundation pile if the bottom card of the moving pile is one rank lower and opposite in colour to the top card of the pile you are moving it onto. Example: a pile consisting of red 4 - black 3 may be moved on top of a pile consisting of black 7 - red 6 - black 5.
4. Play any card from your hand to any of the original (N, E, S, W) foundation piles that has become empty (because the card(s) that were originally in it have been moved to another pile).

If you manage to play all the cards in your hand, you have won, and play ceases. Otherwise, after you have played any cards you can or wish to, you must draw one card from the stock. This ends your turn. If you are unable to or do not wish to play any cards, you simply draw one card.

If in the original layout, a king is dealt any of the original foundation piles (N, E, S, W), it can be moved to a corner position. The player to the left of dealer will have the benefit of making this move and playing a card from hand to replace the moved king.

It may also happen that one of the dealt foundation cards will immediately fit on another, being one rank lower and of opposite colour. In this case the player to the left of dealer will be able to move this card and replace it with a card from hand.

If the centre stock runs out, play continues without drawing.

The play ends when someone manages to get rid of all the cards from their hand, or when an impasse is reached where the stock has run out and everyone is unable or unwilling to play any further cards.

Scoring

Each player receives penalty points for the cards left in their hand at the end of play. A king costs 10 points and the other cards cost 1 point each.

These points are accumulated from deal to deal until some player reaches or exceeds a target score agreed in advance (say 25 or 50). The winner is the player who has the lowest number of penalty points at this time.

Variations

There are several alternative methods of scoring:

With chips and a pot

Everyone begins by putting a chip into the pot. Anyone who does not play any cards on their turn, but just draws one from the stock, pays another chip to the pot. The first player who runs out of cards wins the pot, plus a chip from each other player for each card they have left in their hand (10 chips for a king).

Cards score pip value

Some people play that aces in your hand count 25 points against you at the end, pictures count 10, and pip cards count face value. In that case the target score needs to be higher - say 100 or 250. Alternatively you can play a fixed number of hands after which the player with the lowest score will be the winner.

Cards score 50, 10, 5

Ed Stofka of Fort Myers, Florida describes a similar version in which aces score 50, picture cards and tens score 10 and pip cards from 2 to 9 score 5 each.

Some people play that it is compulsory to play kings at your first opportunity. There is a penalty of three points (or three chips paid to the pot) for holding a king and not playing it when you could. A problem with this rule is that it seems to be unenforceable. If you have a king in your hand you might claim that you had just picked it up, and no one could contradict you unless they had been peeking at your cards, which is also illegal. It seems better to have a 10 point penalty for kings left in hand at the end of the play, as in the main description; this should be enough to encourage players to get rid of kings as soon as they can.

Some people play that a card must be drawn from the stock at the start of each turn rather than at the end. Some play that two cards must be drawn from the stock on each turn, rather than just one.

Egyptian Ratscrew

This popular children's game is also sometimes known as Strip Jack Naked or Beat Your Neighbor Out Of Doors.

Divide a standard pack of 52 cards roughly in half. Each of the two players holds their half face down. The players take turns to turn over their top card and play it face up in the centre of the table, thus forming a pile. There are two kinds of card - the ace, king, queen and jack are pay cards and the 2-10 are ordinary cards.

Play continues alternately until a pay card appears. The opponent of the person who played the pay card must pay for it by playing several times in succession. The payment rates are:

• 4 ordinary cards for an ace
• 3 ordinary cards for a king
• 2 ordinary cards for a queen
• 1 ordinary card for a jack

When the payment is complete (e.g. A has played a queen and B has played two ordinary cards on it), the person who played the pay card (A in this case) takes the whole face up pile and puts it face down underneath their own cards.

It often happens that while paying for a card, you turn over a pay card yourself. When this happens the previous pay card is cancelled and your opponent now has to pay for your new pay card.
Example: A plays a queen; B plays a six and then a jack; A plays an ace; B plays 3,7,king; A plays 10,4,6. The king has been paid for so B takes the centre pile.

The player who first runs out of cards loses.

There is no skill in this game (you just turn your top card when it is your turn) and the game can go on for a long time - possibly indefinitely.

It is possible for more than two people to play. The cards are dealt as equally as possible (with three players one player will have an extra card) and players take turns to play. When a pay card is played, the following player plays the required number of cards, stopping if another pay card is played, which the next person must pay for. The direction of play in the Caribbean version "Suck the Well" is counter-clockwise, while in Britain and North America the game is played clockwise.