How to Play Casino, a Great Card Game!

Casino is a game that’s both fun and interesting to play. It’s not very hard to learn, all you need is basic arithmetic abilities.

Casino can be played with as few as two people. You use one stack of card, and the idea is to get as many points as possible at the end of the game.

There are 11 points total, and you must do as best you can to reach as many points as possible.

Every card holds the value of their numbers; two’s are counted as two, three’s are counted as three etc. jacks are 11, queens are 12, and kings are 13. There are only a few exceptions to this rule:

Ten of diamonds. This card holds the value 16, NOT 10 when it’s on hand. After the card is thrown down on the table it’s worth 10. Gives whoever wins it 2 points.

Two of spades. This card holds the value 15, NOT 2. Same as with ten of diamonds, when it’s thrown down on the table it’s only worth 2. This card gives whoever wins it 1 point.

Ace. All the aces hold 14 when on the hand and 1 when it’s on the table. Whoever wins it gets 1 point.

Game play:

At the beginning of the game every person is dealt four cards each, and four cards are shown facing up on the table. You have to try to take as many cards, and as many valuable cards as you can by using simple addition. If there is a 4 and a 5 on the table and you have a 9 on your hand, you can use your 9 to take the 4 and 5. Put the cards (4, 5 and 9) in a stack next to you facing down, and then it’s the next person’s turn. Alternatively you could also take a 4 with a 4 etc; the clue is to make the numbers add up to what you have on hand.

If the next person has a 5 and a ten of diamonds, and there is a jack on the table he can put his five to “build” the jack to 16. Then he has to wait till next turn to take the cards worth 16.

Every time you can only use one card from your hand, but you can take as many cards from the table as you are able to. If you have an ace on hand, and there are a total of four cards on the table; ace, 2, 4, and 7, then you can use your ace to take all four cards. Remember, ace on the hand is worth 14 while on the table it’s only 1. (1+2+4+7 = 14)

At the same time while doing this you also clear the table (take all the cards). This means that you get to turn one card from your stack face up, and is worth one point. If the other person clears the table too, you have to turn your card over again.

When it’s the next person’s turn he has to just throw out a card on the table, and hope that the next person cannot take this card.

When all four cards on the hand have been used, the dealer gives everyone four new cards and the game continues like this until the whole stack has been dealt.

When there are no more cards to deal, it’s called the last round. Whoever does the last hit gets the cards that are left on the table, and earns himself 1 point.

Calculating points is straightforward. There are 11 points total; aces are worth 1 point each, whoever gets the most cards gets 1 point, whoever gets the last hit gets 1 point, two of spades is worth 1 point, most spades is worth 2 points and ten of diamonds is worth 2 points. Cards showing face up in the stack meaning they cleared all the cards on the table is in addition and is worth 1 point each.

Once learnt this game is fun and entertaining, as well as it keeps the brain in activity.