Ten-card Basketball

A variation of Golf, created by Brady Bunkelman on May 19, 2006.

Items Needed & Set-up

A 52-card deck is used, and the number of players can be from two to four. With a large number of players (more than four), two decks of cards should be used and shuffled together. Play is clockwise.

The dealer deals ten cards to each player, one at a time, arranged face down in two rows of five (a 2 x 5 rectangle). The remaining undealt cards are placed face-down in the center of the players for drawing. The top card of the drawing pile is turned face up and placed beside the pile to start the discard pile. Before play begins, each player may look only once at the five cards nearest to him or her of their rectangle layout, without showing them to anyone. After this, the players’ cards may not be looked at again, until they are flipped over or discarded during play.

The Game

The player to the dealer's left begins, and the play continues clockwise. On your turn, you must either draw the top card of the drawing pile, or draw the top card from the discard pile.

• When you draw a card, you may use it to replace one of the face-down cards of your ten card rectangle layout, but you are not allowed to look at any of your cards before deciding which one to replace. You place the drawn card face-up in your rectangle layout, and discard the card that previously occupied that position, putting it face-up on top of the discard pile. Your turn is now over and play passes to the next player.
• If you draw a card from the drawing pile and decide that you do not want to use it, you may simply discard the drawn card face up on the discard pile, and turn one of your cards face up. However, if you choose to take a card from the discard pile, you must use it to replace one of the face-down cards in your rectangle - you cannot put it back on the discard pile.

The play continues until each player has had 10 turns, at which point all the cards in the players' rectangles will be face-up.

Scoring

At the end of the game, each player's rectangle of ten cards is scored as follows:

• Each number card scores face value (Two=2, Three=3, etc.)
• Each Ace scores 15 points.
• Each Jack or Queen scores 10 points.
• Each King scores 25 points.
• A pair of the same card scores 25 points.
• A triple of the same card scores 40 points.
• Four of the same card scores 50 points.

Please note that:

1. The score for a pair, triple or foursome replaces the scores for the individual cards. For example three nines are worth 40 instead of 27.
2. Aces and Kings do not form pairs, triples or foursomes - they are always counted individually. For example a pair of Aces is worth 30, not 25.

Winning the Game

The player who has the highest score wins.