At the moment, I don’t know anyone who plays cards. My roommate and I used to play Spite and Malice all the time. But now, alas, I’m married and he doesn’t play. When I was in high school we had a weekly Euker game.
Hmm, that just reminded me, some of my favorite poker variations were “pass the bitch” (involving the Queen of Spades, but God help me if I can remember how) and “python?” “boa constrictor?” some sort of snake game…hmmm anybody got ideas for the actual rules?
Phaser mentioned Speed, yeah, back in the day, I was SO the munchkin champion of Speed. I played a couple weeks ago with a friend’s little brother…yeah, those are not skills with a shelf life.
Also, can I hear it for Egyptian Rat Screw? That along with Chairman Mao provided countless hours of entertainment.
I’ll give it up for Egyptian Rat Screw! Now what’s Chairman Mao?
I love cards, although it usually takes me a medium-longish time to learn new games. I’ve never had a good poker teacher, despite the fact my aunt and grandmother were rabid players. My aunt still is, but my grandmother was truly the queen, often ruling games in which ludricrous sums of money (sometimes enough to go to Vegas, of course). She had poker elbows, those scaly patches of skin about an inch above the elbow from resting her arms on the table.
I’ll play hearts, spades, knockout whist, war, whatever. I really want to learn Mah-Jongg. My favorite card game ever, though, has to be canasta.
Glad we’ve got a fellow Egyptian Rat Screwer on board…wait, I feel as if that could do with a rephrase…nevermind.
Chairman Mao is one of the games wherein one player is Chairman, and each chairman has a personal set of rules that are subject to change at any time. The other players must figure out the rules as the game progresses.
For example: I am Chairman and I lay down (when in doubt use UNO rules, sometimes that works) a Queen of clubs, the player to my left (a male) lays down a Jack of clubs. On that play I may call a penalty of incest (royalty of the same suit may not be laid atop one another), 2 cards, and another penalty of 2 card for playing out of turn (relevant rule: after any male royalty is played, turn progresses to the nearest female on your left.)
Under different Chairpersons that play may be legal, ruled on for bonus scenarios, etc…the Chairman always has final say, but in many cases may be called on inconsistencies within the rules. A close friend of mine was often penalized for megalomania and another had a penchant for rules of courtesy (sevens, and cards adding to seven could not be laid on the table without wishing the player accross from you a good day.)
An extremely entertaining way to waste gobs of time! I’d be happy to chair a game anytime!
My family has been spending 2 weeks in Maine every year for the last 20+ years. Family meaning extended family - 20+ people in one house. Said house has no TV. 9 kids (now adults) needed to entertain themselves - of course we played cards! Not poker - but games I can think of that we played were/are the following:
Nertz
War
I Doubt It
Kings in the Corner
Spider
Solataire
Spit
Clock
Pit
Uno
and the before mentioned Hand and Foot (awesome game!) and Egyptian Rat Screw. And I definitely agree - Hand and Foot when you get up to a high number is so fun - especially when someone gets stuck with all the red 3’s at the end of the hand! I know there are more - I just have to think.
Susan
Anyone care to list more info on Hand and Foot? I have never ever heard of it before (this from the lady who has in the past played some sort of “snake” poker, so will buy almost anything…)
ooh- it was definitely “Anaconda” now that I’ve meditated on the matter for a moment. Ring any bells?
Wow! Susan, I’ve never run into anyone else who played Nertz. I love that game. It’s the reason that I have a electic card collection.
Panache, we play one called “Chase the Bitch.” Is that the one you are thinking of? Our version (though I know there are others) is a basic 7-card stud, with queens wild, along with whatever card follows an up queen. If the queen of spades (“bitch” even in games like hearts) shows up, everyone’s cards are thrown in and the pot is left there while you re-deal.
“I Doubt It” sounds like a G-rated version of “Bullshit.” Is it?
nineiron, yeah, I’m thinking that’s about the gist of it…I always enjoyed tossing everything back with the whole pile of loot untouched (and by “pile of loot” I mean about $2.47 in change.)
Anaconda involved passing two cards down and then was a pretty standard game after that…but I’m still working out the details.
“I Doubt It” was always such a ninny way of playing “Bullshit.” My SuperCool crowd, somewhere around 4th grade used to go around with new and exciting names for it, sometimes stuff like “That’s a load of rotten salmon” or, for when we were slightly more isolated “Smack the cow on the ass and call 'er Herman”…I still wonder sometimes precisely how that was cooler, but I’m positive that it was!
Also, it’s not cards, but anybody play “George of the Jungle?”
At my last job in Cali, we had a weekly poker game. Nothing hardcore, just a bunch of us sitting around eating pizza, we usually only bought in at about $10/person.
Unfortunately, I’m a terrible poker player, so I usually lost the entire $10. I’m one of those people that just HAS to see the other guys cards even if I know I’m going to lose. I also can’t help myself from saying something like “SUCKERS!” after I bluff succesfully. The other people I played with must have loved me.
We played a similar game called Follow the Queen. 7-card stud where the card played after an up Queen is wild as well as any down Queens. Any additional up Queens negate the previous wild cards so your hand go from shit to great and back to shit over the course of a couple of rounds.
My Dad has been in a Poker club for over 30 years. My mom noted a few years ago that every single one of the men involved were married to the same woman he was married to when the club started. We concluded it made a statement about the value of letting men be men and not being a harpy about the monthly card game.
So. I set about recruiting a poker group for my husband. I’d put on the apron and make wings and brownies and all the good food my Mom used to make for my Dad’s poker club. Then, one night, someone had to go home early. They begged me to play. So I sat down. And it’s been a co-ed game ever since.
I play a lot like TeleTronOne, unfortunately. My husband is a total skinflint–if he raises you a NICKEL, you know he’s sitting on four kings. No wonder people love to come over and play poker with us.
Since our son was born we don’t play as often as we’d like, but we still play. I like other card games, too. My grandmother played tons of card games and my childhood memories of her include being taught lots of card games and all of us sitting around the table as a family.
I’m really bad at strategy games, so I play only two card games that involve any level of thought – rummy and casino. I love Uno too, and my son could play it all day. Judith, if you wanna play cards on Friday next week that’d be keeno. That and board games, man, I’m all up on it. I’ll get to bust out my Futurama playing cards! Woo!
My boyfriend has a standing bi-weekly poker game with some of the fathers from my son’s boys’ club. I think it’s pretty cute, and he seems to enjoy it.
Speaking of ongoing card games, my longtime friend and current roomate and I have an extremely hot game of Rummy 500,000 going. What?!? you say… Yeah, well, it’s an opportunity to talk a lot of smack, and the game has gotten to the point where we play with Jokers and use them as wilds that can be swapped on the board for the cards they represent. It adds a whole new level of strategy to the game. Anyway, as long as we play a couple hands every night our big plan is to finish up just previous to Armageddon…wish us luck!
I used to love playing canasta with my cutthroat relatives. However since my grandmother and great aunt have passed on there’s no on left who wants to play anymore. It’s just not the same on the computer. Not like it was, sitting in the kitchen, swilling sangria and racking up melds.
We play hearts every day at lunch at work. With real cards. I’m not much of a card player myself, but have learned hearts.
My husband’s friend have a poker night - about once a month. He doesn’t do it much right now because our kids are little and a night out is a challenge