NUMBER OF PLAYERS: Two to six

AGE APPROPRIATE: 12 to adult

THE DECK: Universal Card Deck – 54 cards – no Galaxy cards RANK OF CARDS: Sun (high), Moon, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

VALUE OF CARDS: None of the cards have a particular value. RANK OF SUITS: E (high), J, M, N, S, V

THE SHUFFLE AND CUT: Draw or cut for deal; high suit deals. If any players draw or cut the same highest suit, the card rankings go into effect. Dealer shuffles. The player at dealer’s right cuts the deck. Deal rotates left each hand.

THE DEAL: The game consists of a series of ten hands. Nine cards are dealt to each player the first hand, seven the next, and descending by odd numbers until reaching one, and then ascending by even numbers beginning with two until reaching ten, i.e., 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. The game can be expanded to more hands if there are fewer than five players, and actually the tenth hand cannot be played with six players. Generally speaking, ten rounds tends to be the best length for this game.

OBJECT OF PLAY: For each player to bid the number of tricks he/she thinks can be taken from each hand, and then to take exactly that many. Extra points are awarded for making the bid exactly. THE BID: The bidding in each hand begins with the player to the left of the dealer, then continues clockwise, back around to the dealer, who bids last. Each bid is a number representing the number of tricks that player will try to take. Everyone must bid – it is not possible to pass, but a player can bid zero, in which case the player’s object is to take no tricks at all. A bid may be changed only if the next player to the left has not yet bid. The “bid buster” rule applies in this game, in that the dealer may not bid the number that would cause the total number of tricks bid to equal the number of tricks available. The dealer must always make the hand either under bid or over bid. This rule guarantees that at least one player will fail to make his/her bid on each hand. Players should keep in mind when bidding that not all cards in the deck are in play in any hand. THE PLAY: The player to the left of the dealer leads the first card. The lead may be any suit. Play follows clockwise. Each player must follow the suit led, if he/she can. If not, he/she may play any other card in his/her hand. If the player does not want to take the trick, he/she should play a card from a lesser suit. If he/she wishes to take the trick, he/she should play a card from a higher ranked suit; e.g., a 1 Neptune is higher than a Sun Saturn. The player who plays the highest card and/or suit wins the trick. That player then leads to the next trick. Continue until all tricks have been played and won.

SCORING: If a player makes his bid exactly, he gets one point for each trick he won, plus 10 additional points for making his/her exact bid. A successful bid of zero wins 10 points. When a player does not take the number of tricks he/she bid, the score is simply the number of tricks taken but without the additional 10 points. A designated scorekeeper should note each bid and resulting scores on a score sheet. The player with the highest number of points after ten rounds is considered the winner.

© Copyright 2001 by John Frampton & Craig Richter