Play A Card Game – Phooey!

For five players or less, write the numbers 10 down to 1 and then back up to 10 again (the number one appears only once in the middle) vertically along the edge of a piece of paper. These numbers represent the number of cards dealt each hand. Write each player’s name across the top of the paper and draw a vertical line under each name to create two columns for each player. These columns are used to predict the number of tricks that will be taken for each hand and the score earned from each hand.

Choose one player as dealer. Pass the deal to the left for each successive hand. After the correct number of cards have been dealt to each player, the next card in the deck is turned over to represent the suit that serves as trump for that hand.

Players sort their cards by suit and make a prediction as to how many tricks they will be able to win during that hand.  Ace is high.  The predictions are announced by having all players place their fists on the table with fingers curled under.  On the count of three, the players use their fingers to reveal the number of tricks they believe they will be able to take with the cards they have been dealt.  This number is recorded in the first column under their name.

The player to the left of the dealer starts by laying one card out onto the table.  The other players will, in turn, lay one of their cards out onto the table.  High card of the suit led wins the trick unless one or more players choose to play a trump card.  In that situation, the high trump wins the trick.  If a player does not have a card in his or her hand that matches the suit that was led and does not choose to play a trump card, any suit can be played.

When all cards have been played, the players whose predictions match the number of tricks won earn 10 points plus one point for each trick.  So, a player who predicted that he or she would win 4 tricks, and did indeed win those 4 tricks, would earn 14 points.  A player who correctly predicted that he or she would win 0 tricks would earn 10 points.  Players who won more or less tricks than predicted earn no points at all that hand.  Phooey!

Player with the highest score at the end of the game wins.

Note:  If you have more than five players you can combine two decks of cards or start the game with a smaller hand.