Clubs (version 5)

Created by Mitch Henke, Robert Ranz, Max Kromm, and Adam Bernstein and contributed by Sjaor O'Hoolihan

1. Object: The aim of the game is to garner the most points. The first to 150 points is declared the winner.
2. Strength: Clubs are trump in that they are superior to all other suits. After that, the rank of the card is Ace (A), King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), 10-2 (e.g. the 10 would take the trick of A, 10, 9, 8).
3. Points: Each taken trick is worth one point. Subsequently, each club taken is worth another point. The queen of diamonds, also referred to as the "Ruby Dame", is worth five points. Each hand is worth a total of 31 points. If you take all the points, you earn an additional five points.
4. Setup: Four players should sit so that everyone is facing someone, and no one is side by side. A standard four-sided card table works nicely. The appropriate seating arrangement is your two opponents seated at your sides and your partner seated directly across form you.
5. Dealing: The dealer is selected by whatever means you deem suitable. He or she then shuffles the deck to ensure a fair round. All the cards are then dealt in the usual clockwise fashion. Each player will end up with 13 cards.
6. Passing: It is best to arrange your cards by suit (i.e. hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs). Before play, each player chooses three cards and passes them to the person to their left. The following hand, the three cards are passed to the right. The third hand no cards are passed. This sequence is then repeated to the end of the game (i.e. pass left, pass right, no pass, pass left, etc.).
7. Gameplay: The person to the left of the dealer leads. They may play whichever card they wish. A player must follow the suit of the lead card. However, if they do not have any of the lead suit, they may play whichever card they choose. The person who has the highest ranked card takes the trick. The winner of the previous trick then leads the next card. This continues until the end of the game until all 13 tricks are played. Points are then counted and kept track of. The deck is passed to the person to the left of the previous dealer, and continues as described above.

Tips

• Towards the beginning of the hand, playing a high card can be advantageous as it is more likely that your opponent will be forced to follow suit.
• It is recommended to separate the tricks you win, to make counting points quicker.