Good 2 Person Card Games
Steve Johnson
I'm looking for good 2 person card games. Most card games I've played
involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
Can anyone out there help me find some good 2 person card games?
Thanks,
Steven
--
Disclaimer: All views expressed are my own opinions, and not necessarily
those of Intel Corporation.
Steven email: sjoh...@pcocd2.intel.com
David Dailey
: Hi All,
: I'm looking for good 2 person card games. Most card games I've played
: involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
: Can anyone out there help me find some good 2 person card games?
CRIBBAGE!!!!!
(Okay, I'll stop shouting now...)
David
Prospero
: Hi All,
: I'm looking for good 2 person card games. Most card games I've played
: involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
: Can anyone out there help me find some good 2 person card games?
: Thanks,
: Steven
How about Spite Malice?
Pros.
Stephen Yeazel
Wgreview
Subject: Good 2 Person Card Games
In message <3n10eo$9...@ornews.intel.com>, sjoh...@ornews.intel.com
(Steve Johnson) asked about good two-handed card games. Most people
reading this group are familiar with gin rummy and cribbage, probably
the kings of the two-handed games.
In two of his recent books ("Teach Yourself Card Games" and "A
Dictionary of Card Games"), David Parlett, probably the world's top
authority and writer on card games, recommends a good-sized list
of two-handed games, most of which can be found in any good Hoyle.
[The best Hoyle, incidentally, is the 692-page "The New Complete
Hoyle Revised" (1991) by Morehead, Frey, and Mott-Smith (a bargain
even at $25). Any good bookstore should have inexpensive paperbacks
(abridged) by some or all of these authors for a few dollars.]
Anyway, some of the games Parlett recommends in "Teach Yourself
Card Games" are : ecarte, piquet, all fours (a forerunner of pitch),
sixty-six, klaberjass, bezique, cribbage, gin rummy, cassino, scopa,
and Spite and Malice. I haven't played Spite and Malice myself
(a modern adaptation of Russian Bank -- sort of a two-player adaptation
of Canfield or Klondike solitaire), but several people have recommended
it to me as the best two-handed game. R.F. Foster, who wrote a 19th-
century Hoyle, called Russian Bank the best (card?) game ever invented
for two players. Incidentally, I'm looking for a copy of Easley
Blackwood's 1970 book "Spite and Malice" -- if anyone has a copy they'd
sell, or knows where I can find one, please contact me.
For my own taste, my favorite two-handed card game is a double-dummy
version of super crazy eights my brother and I devised a few years ago,
and published in my magazine last year. Super crazy eights is one
of the modern adaptations of crazy eights with skip, reverse, and draw 2
cards (played with the standard 52-card deck). The commercial game Uno
is one of these, but they messed up a couple of critical rules -- when
played by the best rules, you CANNOT play after drawing a card (after
either passing or drawing 2). You are also NOT obligated to play even
if you can -- you may draw one card whenever it is your turn.
Michael Keller, World Game Review, 1747 Little Creek Drive,
Baltimore, MD 21207-5230, e-mail : <Wgre...@aol.com>.
Jennifer Goosney
>Steve Johnson (sjoh...@ornews.intel.com) wrote:
>: Hi All,
>: I'm looking for good 2 person card games. Most card games I've played
>: involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
>: Can anyone out there help me find some good 2 person card games?
I've always felt that crib is the only really good two handed game, but
rummy 500 and honeymoon bridge are ok too.
Jenn.
Jeff Goldsmith
not much like bridge, but is an improvement of
two-handed bid whist, which is a simple, but fun
two-player game. Gin, of course, is a classic.
Up Front is one of the best two-player card games
ever made, but it is not played with a normal
deck of playing cards, and thus is probably beyond
the scope of this discussion. Canasta and Pinochle
can be played 2-handed, but I don't think much of
the 2-player versions of those games. Cribbage is
a reasonable two-player game, too. Casino can have
its moments. Of course, YMMV.
--Jeff
michael kelly
com...@seanet.com (David Dailey) writes:
|> Steve Johnson (sjoh...@ornews.intel.com) wrote:
|> : Hi All,
|>
|> : I'm looking for good 2 person card games. Most card games I've played
|> : involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
|>
|> : Can anyone out there help me find some good 2 person card games?
|>
|> CRIBBAGE!!!!!
I'll second that. If you play with a board, you can use it to hold down
the cards on windy days at the beach or poolside.
The only problem (IMO) with cribbage is that there rarely is a better
strategy for deciding discards than maximizing the amount of points in
the four cards you keep. In a 61 point game this is less of an effect,
but in a 121 point game this becomes more obvious.
Luckily, the play of cribbage allows you a bit of leeway.
--
+ Mike Kelly, Notre Dame Department of Physics mke...@ovid.helios.nd.edu +
+ +
+ Oh, and never mind the words, just hum along and keep on going. +
+ - Ian Anderson +
Gabriel Velasco
: I'm looking for good 2 person card games. Most card games I've played
: involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
Lots of people consider Gin Rummy one of the best two player games
around. Set plays well with two people, but it requires lots of
concentration.
--
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Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. - Groucho Marx
Starchild
>: involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
>
>
>
>: Steven
how about casino?
keith
Stephen Sands Gauvain
|>
|> com...@seanet.com (David Dailey) writes:
|>
|> |> Steve Johnson (sjoh...@ornews.intel.com) wrote:
|> |> : Hi All,
|> |>
|> |> : I'm looking for good 2 person card games. Most card games I've played
|> |> : involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
|> |>
|> |> : Can anyone out there help me find some good 2 person card games?
|> |>
How about gin, or squeak. E-mail nme if you want the rules
Steve
=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)
=) \|/ ____ \|/ Nya Nya Nya Nya Nya Nya..... =)
=) @~/ ,. \~@ Few women admit their age. Few men act theirs. =)
=) /_( \__/ )_\ D.A.M. - Mothers Against Dyslexia =)
=) \__U_/ sgau...@owlnet.rice.edu =)
=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)
Richard Johnson
Steven
I play Canasta as a 2-player game. It is a four player game like bridge
but is still very good played by just two. Try it.
If you know Canasta for four then change the following:
Deal 13 cards each and pick up one each turn
(the person going out must have at least one canasta)
OR
Deal 15 cards each and pick up two each turn,
(the person going out must have at least two canastas)
Richard
o
/|\ Richard Johnson +44 (0)1734 203994 mailto:richard....@reo.mts.dec.com
<< EDI Engineering, Digital Equipment Co., Reading, Berks. RG2 0TU. England
0 http://www.hal.com/services/juggle/home/richard...@reo.mts.dec.com/
Gary Russel /ADVISOR L. FAUSETT
>Prospero <rjm...@arts.usask.ca> wrote:
>>Steve Johnson (sjoh...@ornews.intel.com) wrote:
>>: Hi All,
>>
>>: I'm looking for good 2 person card games. Most card games I've played
>>: involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
>>
>>: Can anyone out there help me find some good 2 person card games?
>>
>>
>>: Steven
>
>how about casino?
>
>keith
>
I remember enjoying gin rummy, but I haven't played lately.
^^^^^^^^^
Gary Russel /ADVISOR L. FAUSETT
(The Shadow, Jack Benny, etc.)? Allow me to link it with card playing.
On Vic & Sade, my favorite radio program, Sade is always talking to Vic
about going over to Fred and Ruthie's for Five Hundred.
(P.S.: Is Five Hundred a good game?)
Roger C Morris
(in the Air Force) is a game of partners and bidding. You play with
four people (two sets of partners) and a deck of cards with the twos
and threes removed and one Joker added.
You can bid suits (Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts), or No Trump. The
order of card power in suits is Joker, Right Bower (JacK) of bid suit,
Left Bower (other Jack of same color), Ace, King Queen, 10, etc. The
order of card power in No Trump is Joker, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, etc.
Bidding starts with the player to the dealer's left, and goes around
one time. Bids go from 6 to 10 (number of tricks to be won). Order of
power is Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and No Trump.
Example: Spades Clubs Diamonds Hearts No Trump
6-bid 40 60 80 100 120
7-bid 140 160 180 200 220
8-bid 240 260 280 300 320
9-bid 340 360 380 400 420
10-bid 440 460 480 500 520
Indicator bids (or inkles as some people call them) are used to pass key
card (Aces and bowers) information to your partner. These bids are usually
at the 6-bid and 7-bid level. The person who wins the bid gets a 5-card
kitty that may or may not improve their hand.
First team to +500 points wins. There are a lot of "local" variations to
the rules of this game, so your mileage may vary as they say. I find that
the table talk and who the players are, can determine my enjoyment of Five
Hundred, just as much as the game itself.
Well, I hope I haven't told you more than you wanted to know. The bottom
line is that if you enjoy bidding type card games and don't have the time
or inclination to take up bridge, Five Hundred is a nice alternative.
Enjoy,
rcm
---
------------------------------------------------------------
Roger C. Morris - exu...@exu.ericsson.se
(214) 997-0768 (work), (214) 517-2274 (home)
------------------------------------------------------------
Ian T. M. Flanigan
Steve> Can anyone out there help me find some good 2 person card
Steve> games?
I haven't seen choice suggested on the list yet. It's a two-player
trick-taking game, much like spades, though the trump is variable like
in bridge. You can pick up a computer version on the net from the
comp.sources.misc archives, I believe.
--
Ian Flanigan
Digital Equipment International "Slower pizza's more luscious"
ifla...@xstacy.enet.dec.com -- "King of Spain," Moxy Fruvous
http://www.arl.wustl.edu/~flan
FUCHS JESSE MICHAEL
be in most Hoyle-type books - Durak might be, but if it's not, check
David Parlett's Oxford History of Card Games. An amazing book.
-jesse
c
Adam R. Wood
: is one of these, but they messed up a couple of critical rules -- when
: played by the best rules, you CANNOT play after drawing a card (after
: either passing or drawing 2). You are also NOT obligated to play even
: if you can -- you may draw one card whenever it is your turn.
Uno does not force one to play, either - the player can skip their turn and
draw a card if they wish. In fact, older editions of the rules recommended
this course of action in situations where someone was about to go out. You
never know when the top card of the deck is a wild or WD4...
However, there is a rule saying that should you decide to draw a card in this
manner, and THEN play that turn, the card you play must be the one you drew.
You cannot decide to draw a card from the stock, stick it in your hand, then
play a card you already had.
Adam R. Wood
the Zotmeister
Adam R. Wood
: involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
By far, the most unique (read: fun) two-player card games I have ever
encountered are Cribbage and Pokino, in no particular order. Cribbage
is so unlike most other card games, and Pokino is an absolutely brilliant
blend of poker and trick-taking. Both games allow for both luck and strategy
to play their parts well, making them treasures.
Cribbage you probably know how to play - if you don't, find any book on
card games or any senior citizen, they are bound to know. Pokino I have only
seen in Scarne's Encyclopedia of Games - check your local library, it's worth
it. Actually, I'll post the rules to this game in an original thread.
Adam R. Wood
the Zotmeister
P.S. Check the library for the book anyway. It's a work of art.
Sterling
: sorry i posted again but i forgot to ask if anyone has ever seen this game
: for the computer?
I found it for the Mac at
game.umich.card.index:/mac/game/card/500cards0.93.cpt.hqx
It's okay. Have to register to get the computer (+ your partner)
to bid like maniacs...
Sarah Peterson
: Yes, Five Hundred is a good game. The Five Hundred I learned to play
: (in the Air Force) is a game of partners and bidding. You play with
: four people (two sets of partners) and a deck of cards with the twos
: and threes removed and one Joker added.
: You can bid suits (Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts), or No Trump. The
: order of card power in suits is Joker, Right Bower (JacK) of bid suit,
: Left Bower (other Jack of same color), Ace, King Queen, 10, etc. The
: order of card power in No Trump is Joker, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, etc.
: Bidding starts with the player to the dealer's left, and goes around
: one time. Bids go from 6 to 10 (number of tricks to be won). Order of
: power is Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and No Trump.
: Example: Spades Clubs Diamonds Hearts No Trump
: 6-bid 40 60 80 100 120
: 7-bid 140 160 180 200 220
: 8-bid 240 260 280 300 320
: 9-bid 340 360 380 400 420
: 10-bid 440 460 480 500 520
: Indicator bids (or inkles as some people call them) are used to pass key
: card (Aces and bowers) information to your partner. These bids are usually
: at the 6-bid and 7-bid level. The person who wins the bid gets a 5-card
: kitty that may or may not improve their hand.
: First team to +500 points wins. There are a lot of "local" variations to
: the rules of this game, so your mileage may vary as they say. I find that
: the table talk and who the players are, can determine my enjoyment of Five
: Hundred, just as much as the game itself.
i agree 500 has been a favorite family game for over 5 generations in my
family and it is played at every family reunion progressively...it is a
great ice breaker and opportunity to visit with family you haven't seen in
over a year.
just my two cents,
-sarah-
: Well, I hope I haven't told you more than you wanted to know. The bottom
Sarah Peterson
sorry i posted again but i forgot to ask if anyone has ever seen this game
for the computer?
: : Well, I hope I haven't told you more than you wanted to know. The bottom
Larry Brenkus
Both are available via mirrors of Info-Mac
1) 500 Cards version 1.4
By far my favorite.
Reasonable bidding and play.
Give it a try!
Doesn't implement Misere bid
2) 500 Supreme
Ugh. Fancier, but the bidding is so horrendously aggressive that your partner
often goes down when you have a great and playable hand.
Greg Ioannou
>Sarah Peterson (ann...@rocket.cc.umr.edu) wrote:
>: Roger C Morris (exu...@exu.ericsson.se) wrote:
>: : Yes, Five Hundred is a good game. The Five Hundred I learned to play
>: : (in the Air Force) is a game of partners and bidding. You play with
>: : four people (two sets of partners) and a deck of cards with the twos
>: : and threes removed and one Joker added.
>sorry i posted again but i forgot to ask if anyone has ever seen this game
>for the computer?
>
I played 500 all through high school (in Australia). It's a great game for three,
four, five or six players.
In fact, it's the only really good five-handed card game I've every played.
In Australia, you could get special 60-card decks for the six-handed game.
They had 11s and 12s of each suit, as well as 13s of hearts and diamonds.
Anyone know if these are still made, and where I could get a deck of two.
Greg
Sarah Peterson
: Greg
I have seen them for sale in a drug store in a small town called Waverly,
Iowa....I know this probably doesn't help much but it is the only place I
have ever seen them.
You can also play 2 handed which I always play with my Grandma where you
take the first 5 cards and that is the blind. Then you take turns
starting with the person that did not "deal". You look at the first card
and either keep it or discard it. If you keep it you discard the next
card. If you discard the first card you must keep the second card. This
continues back and forth and you will end up with 10 cards a piece. You
can have your discard pile with the cards face up or face down. The
dealer bids first and can bid again after the other person (this is optional).
-Sarah_
Kevin Maroney
Greg Ioannou <colb...@interlog.com> wrote:
>I played 500 all through high school (in Australia). It's a great game
>for three, four, five or six players.
I played a tremendous amount of 500 in the years following college. think
it's the best three-handed traditional-deck card game I've ever played,
maybe the best period. Four-handed and five-handed are cool, too, but
three-handed is really quite the stuff.
Basically, in a three-handed game, you have the two players ganging up on
the contract-maker, but the advantage of playing to the widow gives the
contractor enough advantage that, with intelligent bidding, it's a
toss-up until the last trick.
--
Kevin J. Maroney|k...@panix.com|Proud to be a Maroney|Proud to be a Yonker
At night, the ice weasels come.
Bob Evans
a long time since I've found other players. When I was in
college (and I don't want to think how long ago that was) and we
were sitting around waiting for enough people to show up to
make a bridge game, that's the one we'd play.
Oddly, the people I was with at that time were not cribbage
players, which I would rank as #2.
IMHO, the others are far behind these.
----- Bob Evans
bev...@netcom.com
Dave Barker
: three, four, five or six players.
: In fact, it's the only really good five-handed card game I've every played.
: In Australia, you could get special 60-card decks for the six-handed game.
: They had 11s and 12s of each suit, as well as 13s of hearts and diamonds.
: Anyone know if these are still made, and where I could get a deck of two.
I still have one of these decks laying around. It is pretty old, but
maybe it might be worth contacting the manufacturer...
The United States Playing Card Co.
Beech & Park Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45212
(513)396-5700
They probably don't print them anymore, but maybe they have a stack of
them left over in the wharehouse. ;-)
--
Dave Barker
dba...@one.net
Chandler W Geater
fantastic game of strategy and luck. We play it at almost all family
gatherings and is the game of choice among my friends here at college.
Hearts is a not-so-close second - a lot of strategy, but can get old
after a few hours.
--
Chandler W Geater
gea...@iastate.edu
Roger Peppe
> By far, the most unique (read: fun) two-player card games I have ever
> encountered are Cribbage and Pokino, in no particular order. Cribbage
> is so unlike most other card games, and Pokino is an absolutely brilliant
> blend of poker and trick-taking. Both games allow for both luck and strategy
> to play their parts well, making them treasures.
i've been taught an excellent two player game recently; but i don't
know its name. perhaps someone knows it ?
play with a standard deck.
deal 13 cards to each player, the remainder in a face down central pile
trumps are clubs in the first game, then diamonds, hearts, spades and no-trumps.
a game is in two stages
the first stage is played until the central pile has been used up :
the top card of the central pile is turned over, face up.
the player with the lead plays a card to bid for this.
the other player must follow suit (discard or trump if it's
not possible). (trick rules)
the winner of the trick (which is itself discarded) gets the
face up card. the loser gets the top (face down) card from the
central pile.
when all the cards in the central pile have been bid for in this
manner, a conventional trick-taking game follows.
the leader is the person that won the last bidding trick.
score is the number of tricks taken.
i don't think i've quite worked out the tactics yet,
apart from:
low cards are as good as high cards at some stages of the game
(for ducking under nasty cards being bid for)
tactics are important.
and
if you've got a good memory, the endgame is a formality.
any takers for its name ?
cheers,
rog. (r...@ohm.york.ac.uk)
Martin A. Mazur
pinochle.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2nd Century thoughts on MTV:
"There is no public entertainment which
does not inflict spiritual damage"
- Tertullian
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
M.D. Mackey
>i've been taught an excellent two player game recently; but i don't
>know its name. perhaps someone knows it ?
>play with a standard deck.
>deal 13 cards to each player, the remainder in a face down central pile
>trumps are clubs in the first game, then diamonds, hearts, spades and no-trumps.
>a game is in two stages
>the first stage is played until the central pile has been used up :
>the top card of the central pile is turned over, face up.
>the player with the lead plays a card to bid for this.
>the other player must follow suit (discard or trump if it's
>not possible). (trick rules)
>the winner of the trick (which is itself discarded) gets the
>face up card. the loser gets the top (face down) card from the
>central pile.
>when all the cards in the central pile have been bid for in this
>manner, a conventional trick-taking game follows.
>the leader is the person that won the last bidding trick.
>score is the number of tricks taken.
I learned this game as German Whist, with the one difference that trumps
are determined by the first upturned card (and hence winning the first
trick is essential: an advantage for non-dealer). It's a very good game,
with more strategy than might be first apparent.
Mark.
Mark Mackey http://www.ch.cam.ac.uk/MMRG/mdm.html
"Pragmatism. Is that _all_ you have to offer?" Rosencrantz/Guildenstern
curt...@rain.org
: In article <D7B9K...@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> rk...@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Starchild) writes:
: >Prospero <rjm...@arts.usask.ca> wrote:
: >>Steve Johnson (sjoh...@ornews.intel.com) wrote:
: >>: Hi All,
: >>
: >>: involve more than 2 people e.g. Hearts, Spades, 10-9-8 etc.
: >>
: >>: Can anyone out there help me find some good 2 person card games?
: >>: Thanks,
: >>
: >>: Steven
: >
: >how about casino?
: >
: >keith
: >
: Crazy Eights? Old Maid? War? Slapjack? These may not be "good."
: I remember enjoying gin rummy, but I haven't played lately.
: ^^^^^^^^^
Gin rummy is my favorite, then second comes cribbage.
--
Curt Wood
and sometimes Kathryn too.
rand...@rain.org
Mayfair Games. This is a two-handed version of Bridge that involves some
interesting bidding conventions that allow you to learn a little about
your opponent's holdings, and also includes special 'colon' cards that
can make some interesting plays. It remains highly rated and was
recommended by several of the top bridge players and columnists.