Card games in Samoa

I am told that the national card game of Samoa is Suipi, which is a version of Casino. The 10 of diamonds is called "kasiga" - pronounced "kah-singa" - which most likely comes from "casino", and the name of the game is from "sweep" - the cation of capturing all the cards from the layout.

Matt's Samoa blog gives brief descriptions of this and four other card games played in Apia, Samoa:

  • Lami - a rummy game in which all runs are allowed but sets can only be made of aces, threes, fives and sevens.
  • Kā Isu - which seems to be similar to the European game Enflé or Schwellen.
  • Asigi - a version of Pig.
  • Pa’uelo - a version of Old Maid.

Alexey Lobashev reports that Suipi, Lami and Kā Isu are also played in American Samoa.

This page is maintained by John McLeod (john@pagat.com).   © John McLeod, 2000, 2011. Last updated: 28th April 2011

HomeA-ZSitemapPolicy