Playing Spades



Spades

Spades is a partnership bidding game similar to bridge. It's played in a clockwise direction, most commonly with two teams of two players sitting opposite to each other. The suit of spades is always the highest value suit or trump, and cards are valued from highest to lowest: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, a, 5, 4, 3 and 2


Instructions

Bidding

1.    Shuffle and deal a standard 52-card deck until all the cards have been dealt out and each player has 13 cards.

2.    Bid (if you are the person to the left of the dealer) on the number of tricks - always between 4 and 13 - you estimate you can win. Bid nil or blind nil if you think you cannot win a single trick in the entire round.

3.    Evaluate the first bid of the opposing team. Note the special bids of nil or blind nil.

4.    Note your partner's bid; he is making the contract bid for which you are both responsible.

5.    Note the bid of the second partner of the opposing team, for which both partners are responsible.

6.    Write down all bids.

Playing the Game

1.    Play your lowest club on the first hand, after the holder of the 2 of clubs has led. Discard a heart or diamond if no club is held.

2.    Lead the next trick if you won the first, with any card but a spade. Follow suit, but if unable, play any card including a spade.

3.    Play one round or 13 tricks, until all players have no cards remaining in their hands.

Scoring

1.    Score 10 times the bid for the team that took as many tricks as bid, plus one extra point for each additional trick or sandbag.

2.    Score 50 points for the successful nil bidder, plus the score won or lost by the partner for tricks made. Score 100 points for the successful blind nil bidder, plus the score won or lost by the partner for tricks made.

3.    Deduct 10 points for each trick taken by the team that did not make its bid. Deduct 50 points for the failed nil bid, plus the score won or lost by the partner for tricks made. Deduct 100 points for the failed blind nil bid, plus the score won or lost by the partner for tricks made.

4.    End the game when one team reaches 500 points and wins.

Playing Dominoes



The draw game is the most common form played, although there are hundreds of variations. If you want to up your hip quotient, the following slang may help:
0 is referred to as "Blank"
1 is referred to as "Ace"
2 is referred to as "Deuce"
5-6 is referred to as the "Trial"
6-6 is referred to as "The Dog!"

  

Instructions

1.    Count that there are 28 dominoes, from double blank to double six.

2.    Place them facedown on the table and shuffle them until they're random.

3.    Allow your opponent to take seven dominoes, and take seven for yourself.

4.    Allow the player with the highest double to go first.

5.    Lay a domino with like value next to the first domino (it doesn't matter which end). Make sure like values are always touching.

6.    Pick from the pile if you don't have a domino that corresponds to the ones on the layout. Keep those dominoes concealed from your opponent(s).

7.    Pass if no more dominoes are left in the pile.

8.    Win the session if you're the first person to run out of dominoes.

9.    End the session if everybody passes, in which case the winner is the person with the lowest score.

10. Count your score by the number of dots on the tiles remaining in your hand.

11. End the game if someone reaches 50 points in a game with two players or 100 points with three or more players. The lowest score wins.

*Credits to eHow

Texas Hold'em Poker - Part II

...From Texas Hold'em Poker

9.  There is another round of betting. Players are betting on the total of the two cards they have face down in front of them, and the three cards face up in front of the dealer. Example:

10. Three cards in front of the dealer: A - J - 3

     Two cards each player has:

• • Player 1 A - 4
  • Player 2 J - 3
  • Player 3 4 - 10
• So Player 1 has: A - A - 4 - J - 3
• Player 2 has: J - J - A - 3 - 3
• Player 3 has: 4 -10 - A - J - 3
  As you can see, each player is using their own two cards, and the three cards in front of the dealer, to build their hands.

11. After the round of betting, the dealer discards the card on the top of the deck, to prevent cheating, and then lays 1 more card face up next to the three already in front of him. This is called the turn or 4th street

12. Just like before, players are using their own 2 cards, plus the cards in front of the dealer to build their hands. BUT, you can only build hands with 5 cards, and you must use the two in your hand. There are now 6 cards altogether; the two in front of the player, and the 4 in front of the dealer. You can only pick 5 to build your hand.

13. There is a round of betting.

14. Now the dealer discards the top card, and lays 1 more card face up in front of him. This is the last card the dealer will put out. This is known as the river or 5th street. These 5 cards are referred to as The Board.

15. Players build their hands, in their heads, using only 5 of the cards in their hand and on the table, and there is another round of betting.

16. It is now time for all remaining players to show their hands by turning over their two cards. Players take turns turning their cards over counter clockwise, starting with the player that made the last bet. Since there are 7 cards to each player, but each player can only use 5 of them, each player needs to announce what their hand is.

17. The player with the highest hand wins the pot, which is the chips that were bet during each round of the game.