if there's a 5-6-7 of spades on the table, you can add 4 of spades or 8 of spades (or both) to it.

if there's a pile of 3s on the table, you can add 3s from your hand to it.

Once someone has played a suited run or three of a kind on the table, other players, during their turns, have the option of playing their cards on these runs or groups, or even of rearranging the cards that have been played on the table provided that you don't end up with any groups or runs on the table with fewer than three cards in them. If, after drawing five cards, the player is unable to play a suited run or three of a kind, he or she puts a penny in the pot and the play passes to the person to his/her left. The player draws until there is a play, or until he or she has drawn five cards.

If the first player doesn't have a suited run or three of a kind to play, he or she must draw from the deck. As in most rummy games, you can play aces low (A-2-3) or high (Q-K-A), but they can't turn corners (so K-A-2 is right out). The player to the dealer's left looks at his/her hand and tries to find three (or more) cards that have the same rank (e.g., a set of three 7s) or that make up a run in the same suit (e.g., a 3-4-5 of hearts). Each player antes one penny into the pot.

Shuffle the cards and deal each player a hand of five cards, placing the rest of the deck face-down on the table. Divide up the pennies (or whatever) equally between the players, so that each player has at least 12. You also want to find a whole mess of pennies (or other numerous ante-worthy items that players won't absent-mindedly nibble during the game). Potentially, you could accommodate more players with a third deck, but shuffling all those cards together might be a challenge. The name of the game is Shanghai (though I can't tell you why it's called that - I don't know), and here's how you play it:įor 3 to 4 players, you need one deck of playing cards. So feel free to use this, or to share your own favorite card game (especially if it's one that hardly anyone outside your little circle seems to know about). The idea here is that a set of rules for a bunch of favorite card games, a deck or two of cards, and a promise to play some of these games could make for an inexpensive - and personalized - holiday gift. As promised, I'm sharing the rules for the card game that my extended family played all through my youth.

Shanghai card game how many decks