From 79db6b19db931aafc048158588e761404ecfbfca Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Corwin Brust Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2026 12:11:35 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] doc: Rummy, Matching, Capturing, Climbing, and Cribbage chapters (pass 5) * doc/card-games.texi: write the Rummy Games (Gin, Rummy, Rummy 500, Hand & Foot), Matching Games (Go Fish, Old Maid), Capturing Games (Scopa, Casino), and Climbing Games (President, Spite & Malice) chapters, each with object, rules, strategy, and keys; give Cribbage its own chapter (it's a pegging game, not climbing) and add it to the top menu. --- doc/card-games.texi | 222 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 218 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/card-games.texi b/doc/card-games.texi index c6c9ba1..df6e0dc 100644 --- a/doc/card-games.texi +++ b/doc/card-games.texi @@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later. * Matching Games:: Go Fish and Old Maid. * Capturing Games:: Scopa and Casino. * Climbing Games:: President and Spite & Malice. +* Cribbage:: The pegging game, to 121. * Russian Bank:: The two-player duel. * Networked Play:: Live 500 over the network. * Credits:: Sources and thanks. @@ -808,22 +809,235 @@ setting up a long suit --- before you play to the first trick. @node Rummy Games @chapter Rummy Games -@c TODO(pass 5): Gin Rummy, Rummy, Rummy 500, Hand & Foot. +@cindex rummy +@cindex melds +Draw a card --- from the stock or the discard pile --- then throw one +away, and work your hand into @dfn{melds}: @dfn{sets} of three or four of +a kind, and @dfn{runs} of three or more cards in one suit. + +@menu +* Gin Rummy:: Knock with little deadwood. +* Rummy:: Meld your whole hand to go out. +* Rummy 500:: Score the cards you lay down. +* Hand & Foot:: The partnership Canasta cousin. +@end menu + +@node Gin Rummy +@section Gin Rummy + +@findex cg-gin +@cindex Gin Rummy +@cindex deadwood +@cindex knock +Two-handed, with ten-card hands. Draw from the stock (@kbd{s}) or take +the up-card (@kbd{t}), then discard with @key{RET}. When your unmatched +cards --- your @dfn{deadwood} --- add up to ten points or fewer you may +@dfn{knock} (@kbd{k}) and end the hand; with no deadwood at all you go +@dfn{gin} for a bonus. Your opponent then lays their own deadwood off +onto your melds. First to 100 points wins. + +@strong{Strategy.} Keep cards that could join more than one meld, knock +early against a slow hand, and note which cards your opponent takes. + +@node Rummy +@section Rummy + +@findex cg-rummy-basic +@cindex Rummy +Draw and discard, and lay your melds down on the table. Mark the cards +of a meld with @key{SPC} and lay it down with @kbd{m}; add a single card +to a meld already on the table (yours or anyone's) with @kbd{l}. Get rid +of your whole hand to go out. + +@table @kbd +@item @key{SPC} @r{/} m @r{/} l +Mark cards, meld them, lay one off. +@item s @r{/} t @r{/} @key{RET} +Draw from the stock, take the up-card, discard. +@end table + +@strong{Strategy.} Do not meld too soon --- cards on the table cannot be +rearranged, and they tell your opponents what you hold. + +@node Rummy 500 +@section Rummy 500 + +@findex cg-rum500 +@cindex Rummy 500 +Rummy played for points over many hands, first past 500. You score the +cards you lay down and lose the ones left in your hand. Besides the top +of the discard pile you may take a card from deeper in it with @kbd{T}, +picking up that card and everything above it --- as long as you meld the +chosen card at once. Aces count 15. + +@strong{Strategy.} Chase the high-scoring cards, and raid the discard +pile when the reward outweighs the cards it puts in your hand. + +@node Hand & Foot +@section Hand & Foot + +@findex cg-handfoot +@cindex Hand and Foot +A partnership cousin of Canasta. You are dealt a @dfn{hand} and a +@dfn{foot}; play out the hand, then take up the foot. Build @dfn{books} +of seven cards of a rank --- @dfn{clean} with no wild cards, or +@dfn{dirty} with some. Twos and Jokers are wild; threes never meld. +Draw two cards with @kbd{s}, or pick up the whole discard pile with +@kbd{p} by melding its top card; meld (@kbd{m}), lay off (@kbd{l}), and +discard (@key{RET}). Your side goes out once it has two complete books +and you have emptied your foot. + +@strong{Strategy.} Hoard wild cards for clean books, and do not go out +before your partner has played their foot. @node Matching Games @chapter Matching Games -@c TODO(pass 5): Go Fish, Old Maid. +@cindex matching games +Two light games of collecting and shedding, good for a quick sit-down. + +@menu +* Go Fish:: Ask for ranks; collect books of four. +* Old Maid:: Shed pairs; dodge the odd Queen. +@end menu + +@node Go Fish +@section Go Fish + +@findex cg-go-fish +@cindex Go Fish +@cindex books +Collect @dfn{books} of four of a kind. On your turn pick a rank you hold +--- click one of the rank buttons, or move the cursor to a card and it +selects that rank --- then press @kbd{1}, @kbd{2}, @kbd{3}, or @kbd{4} to +ask that player for it. If they have any they must hand them over and you +ask again; if not, you ``go fish'' and draw from the stock. Complete the +most books to win. + +@strong{Strategy.} Remember what everyone has asked for; it tells you +who holds what. + +@node Old Maid +@section Old Maid + +@findex cg-old-maid +@cindex Old Maid +One Queen is set aside, so a single Queen is left without a partner. +Throw out every pair in your hand, then draw a card, unseen, from the next +player: move over their face-down cards with the arrows (or click one) and +press @key{RET}. Whoever is left holding the odd Queen at the end loses. + +@strong{Strategy.} Mostly luck --- but do not let your reactions reveal +where the odd Queen is hiding. @node Capturing Games @chapter Capturing Games -@c TODO(pass 5): Scopa, Casino. +@cindex capturing games +@cindex fishing games +Play a card from your hand to the table; if it matches, it @dfn{captures} +table cards and takes them for scoring. Press @key{RET} to play the card +under the cursor. + +@menu +* Scopa:: Sweep the table for a scopa. +* Casino:: Big and little casino, and the sweeps. +@end menu + +@node Scopa +@section Scopa + +@findex cg-scopa +@cindex Scopa +A 40-card Italian game. The card you play captures a single table card of +the same value, or a set of table cards that add up to its value. +Clearing the whole table at a stroke is a @dfn{scopa} and scores a bonus. +At the end of each round you score for taking the most cards, the most +coins, the Seven of Coins (the @dfn{sette bello}), and the @dfn{primiera}; +play to 11. + +@strong{Strategy.} Watch the running total on the table, and try to leave +your opponent unable to make the capture that would sweep it. + +@node Casino +@section Casino + +@findex cg-casino +@cindex Casino +The 52-card cousin of Scopa. Number cards capture by value as in Scopa; +face cards capture only by matching rank. Score the @dfn{big casino} +(the Ten of Diamonds), the @dfn{little casino} (the Two of Spades), the +Aces, and the most cards and most spades; play to 21. + +@strong{Strategy.} Guard the two casinos and grab spades when you can --- +the little points decide close games. @node Climbing Games @chapter Climbing Games -@c TODO(pass 5): President, Spite & Malice, Cribbage. +@cindex climbing games +@cindex shedding games +Be the first to get rid of your cards by playing something that beats +what is already on the table. + +@menu +* President:: First out rules; last out scrubs. +* Spite & Malice:: Race to empty your goal pile. +@end menu + +@node President +@section President + +@findex cg-president +@cindex President +@cindex Scum +Also called Scum. The leader plays one to four cards of a rank; the next +player must answer with the same number of a @emph{higher} rank, or pass +--- and here the Two is the highest card of all. Whoever empties their +hand first is President; the last one out is the Scum, and before the next +deal the Scum must hand the President their best cards. + +To lead more than one card of a rank, give a numeric prefix first --- +@kbd{C-u 2 @key{RET}} leads a pair. @kbd{p} passes. + +@strong{Strategy.} Shed your low cards while the lead is cheap, and save +your Twos and your pairs to grab the lead back when it matters. + +@node Spite & Malice +@section Spite & Malice + +@findex cg-spite +@cindex Spite and Malice +@cindex Cat and Mouse +Race to empty your @dfn{goal} pile. Four shared centre piles are built up +from Ace to Queen, and Kings are wild. On your turn play a card from your +hand with @key{RET}, the top of your goal pile with @kbd{G}, or the top of +one of your four discard piles with @kbd{1}--@kbd{4}; then end your turn by +discarding a hand card with @kbd{d}. The first to clear their goal pile +wins. + +@strong{Strategy.} Spend a wild King to reach the next goal card, and +keep your discard piles in order so you can unload them in turn. + +@node Cribbage +@chapter Cribbage + +@findex cg-cribbage +@cindex Cribbage +@cindex pegging +@cindex the crib +The classic two-player game, pegged to 121. Each deal has three parts. + +First, both players lay two cards face down to the dealer's @dfn{crib}: +mark them with @key{SPC} and confirm with @kbd{m}. A @dfn{starter} card is +then cut. Next comes @dfn{the play}: take turns laying cards (@key{RET}), +scoring as the running total reaches fifteen and thirty-one and for pairs +and runs made along the way. Finally, @dfn{the show} scores each hand and +then the crib for its fifteens, pairs, runs, flushes, and @dfn{his nobs} +(the Jack of the starter's suit). First to 121 wins. + +@strong{Strategy.} Weigh a strong hand against what you give away to the +crib, and always be counting toward the next fifteen and thirty-one. @node Russian Bank @chapter Russian Bank