Card Games for Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Conventions Used in This Book
	What You’re Not to Read
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond This Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Discovering Card Games
	Chapter 1 Card Game Basics
		Talking the Talk
			Getting all decked out
			Ranking card order
		Preparing to Play
			Shuffling off
			Getting a square deal
			Exposing yourself (or someone else)
			Bidding fair
			Making a declaration
		Playing the Game
			Winning with high cards or trump
			Failing to follow suit
			Playing out of turn
			Exposing yourself to public ridicule
		Selecting the Best Card Game
	Chapter 2 Solitaire
		Acquainting Yourself with Solitaire Terms
		Putting the Squeeze on Accordion
			Looking at the layout
			Choosing between moves
		Piling It On in Calculation
		Reserving Your Time for Canfield
		Striking Gold with Klondike
		Living La Belle Lucie
			Getting started
			Making your moves
			Starting the next cycle and ending the game
		Practicing Poker Patience
		Befriending Spite and Malice
			Getting started
			Putting the moves on
			Manipulating your stoppage time
	Chapter 3 Children’s Games
		Beggar My Neighbor
		Snap, Animals, and Slapjack
			Snap
			Animals
			Slapjack
		War
		Fish and Friends
			Go Fish
			Authors
		Cheat
		Old Maid
		Spit (or Speed)
Part 2 Getting Rid of Cards
	Chapter 4 Rummy
		Rummy: Throw a Combo and Go
			Setting up and laying out the objective
			Dealing the cards and starting the Rummy
			Putting down and adding to combinations
			Rummying with wild cards
			Going out and tallying your score
			Simple Rummy strategy
			Keeping your eye on the discard pile
			Thinking about your opponents’ hands
			Making a good discard
			Picking up cards from the discard pile
		Gin Rummy: Knocking Your Foe Down
			Getting a fair deal
			Going Gin and tallying your score
			Knock, knock! Another way to go out
			Boxing up the scoring system
		500 Rummy: Moving the Pile
			Winning at 500 Rummy
			Making a square deal
			Understanding the rules of combination combat
			All joking apart
			Mastering the game play
			Announcing “Game over!”
			Scoring the numbers game
			Drawing from the discard pile
			Calling “Rummy!”
	Chapter 5 Canasta
		Accepting Your Canasta Mission
			Making melds
			Getting wild and forsaking suits
			Looking at some legal melds
			Calculating the value of your cards and melds
			Picking partners
			Dealing and creating a discard pile
			Laying down the red 3s
			Moving around the table
			Picking up the discard pile
			Making the first meld for your partnership
			Unfreezing the deck with the initial meld
			Freezing the discard pile
			Separating the black 3s
			Building a Canasta
			Going out
			End-game strategy
		Tallying Your Scores
		Making Do with Two (or Three): Short-Handed Canasta
		Hand and Foot
			Getting started
			Knowing your objective
			Putting down melds
			Laying your initial meld
			Playing your hand (and foot)
			Wild cards
			Threes
			Clearing your hand and starting the foot
			Going out
			Assessing card values
	Chapter 6 Eights
		Eights: Simple Is as Simple Does
			Dealing the cards
			Playing 8s and suits
			Paying the price when your opponent goes out
		Mau Mau: Staking Out a Stock Pile
		Neuner: Matching and Stacking
		Switch: Avoiding the Double Agents
			Preparing for a Switch
			Identifying some key cards
			Going out and scoring
	Chapter 7 Fan Tan
		Accepting Your Fan Tan Mission
			Wheeling and dealing
			Letting the cards hit the fan
			Expanding your Fan Tan smarts
		Double-Deck Fan Tan
		Trump Fan Tan
		Crazy Tan
Part 3 Taking Tricks
	Chapter 8 Whist
		What’s the Whist All About?
			Winning tricks with the trump suit
			Dealing and playing the cards
			Tallying your score
			Scoring the rubber
		Incorporating Basic Whist Strategy
			Remembering the cards
			Landing the leading role
			Showing some finesse
			Making discards
		Three-Handed Whist
			Playing with a dummy (hand, that is)
			Dealing an optional fourth hand
		German (Two-Handed) Whist
			Improving your holding cards
			Playing the hand
		Bid Whist
			The bidding
			The scoring
			Dealing with jokers
	Chapter 9 Oh Hell! and Other Exact Bidding Games
		Oh Hell!
			Dealing the cards
			Taking tricks with the trump suit
			Placing your bid
			Playing for your bids
		Romanian Whist
			Dealing the cards
			Choosing your trump suit, making your bids, and playing your tricks
			Scoring the tricks
		Ninety-Nine
			Dealing the dozen and determining the trump suit
			Discarding your bids
			Selecting the proper discards
			Making premium bids
			Playing the hand
			Tallying the scores
	Chapter 10 Euchre
		Acquainting Yourself with Euchre
		Picking Partners
		Striking a Fair Deal
		Determining the Trump Suit
		Jacking Up the Card Rankings
		Bidding for Tricks
			Starting the bidding
			Knowing what to bid
			Entering the second phase of bidding
		Tallying Your Score
		Playing for Bigger Stakes Alone
		Tricking for Points, Not Treats
	Chapter 11 Spades
		Grasping the Basics of Spades
			Choosing partners
			Reviewing the card ranks
			Making the deal
			Bidding your hand accurately
			Basking in the dealer’s choice
			Figuring the value of your high cards
			Bidding for nil
			Playing to the score
			Leading and play conventions
			Going for your scores
			Finishing the game
		Digging Spades for Less Than Four
			Spades for two
			Spades for three
				Differences in betting
				Differences in play
				Differences in scoring
	Chapter 12 Mini-Bridge and Contract Bridge
		Mini-Bridge
			Setting up
			Understanding the tricky business
			Dealing the cards
			Counting the tricks
			Picking the declarer
			Blowing your own trump-it
			Drawing trump
			Playing the numbers game
			Moving on to the scoring system
			Keeping the dummy involved
			The role of the defender
		Crossing to Bridge
Part 4 Scoring or Avoiding Points
	Chapter 13 Hearts
		Getting to the Heart of the Matter
			Dealing the cards
			Passing your cards left, right, and center
			Starting the trick play
			Scoring: The time of reckoning
		Hearts with Three or Five-Plus Players
		Honeymoon Hearts
		Black Maria
		Cancellation Hearts
	Chapter 14 Pinochle
		Pinochle for Two
			Dealing to begin
			Ranking and valuing the cards
			Adding up the possible points
			Scoring the melds
			Finishing the game
			Playing your opponent
		Pinochle for Three: Auction Pinochle
			Dealing out the widow
			Making a bid for glory
			Melding and discarding as the declarer
			Feeding the kitty
			Winning — in spades
			Battling the declarer
			Bidding strategically
			Giving up without a struggle
		Partnership Auction Pinochle
			Dealing and bidding
			Melding
			Playing out the hand
			Picking up prizes and penalties
	Chapter 15 Setback
		Getting Setback Savvy
			Divvying up the deck
			Mastering the bidding
			Dealer’s choice?
			Playing your cards right
			Knowing the score
			Shooting the moon
			Passing the winning post
			Planning a strategy
		Grab a Friend: Partnership Setback
		Setback for Three or Six
Part 5 Adding and Climbing
	Chapter 16 Cribbage
		Starting Off on the Right Foot
			Dealing the cards and getting started
			Cutting the deck
			Phase 1: Playing the cards
			Phase 2: Scoring the hand
			Determining a strategy to score points
			Recording the score
			Reaching the finishing post
		Playing Cribbage for Stakes: Lurches and Skunks
		Five-Card Cribbage
			Laying the cards
			Scoring the hand
			Reaching the finishing post
		Cribbage for Three Players
	Chapter 17 President
		Lobbying for the Basics of President
			Dealing and playing the cards
			Ending a hand
			Starting over: Go fetch, scumbag!
			Running wild with jokers and 2s
		Palace
			Dealing and setting up
			Reaching the Palace through card play
			Unleashing the special cards
			Tabbing a winner — and a loser
	Chapter 18 Blackjack
		Social Blackjack
			Setting the game parameters
			Burning and turning
			Placing your bets
			Splitting pairs to double your winnings
			Dealing the second round
			Should you stay or should you go?
			Breaking (or depositing into) the bank
			Starting over
		Planning Your Basic Blackjack Strategy
			When two is better than one
			Doubling down, to up the stakes
		Casino Blackjack
			Casino betting: Playing against the bank
			Casino formalities: Dealing up and getting started
			Playing the cards
			Deciding on a drawing strategy
Part 6 Playing Poker
	Chapter 19 Shuffling Through Poker Basics
		Covering the Poker Bases
			Ranking the Poker hands
			Spicing up the game with wild cards
		Getting Started: Basic Play
			Ante up!
			The mechanics of betting
			Making the minimum and maximum bets
			Winning ways
		Bluffing Dos and Don’ts
		Reading Your Opponents
			Facial clues
			Body language
	Chapter 20 Draw Poker
		Five-Card Draw
			Dealing and putting in an ante
			Determining a strategy for the first bet
			Surviving the luck of the draw
			Continuing after the draw
	Chapter 21 Stud Poker
		Seven-Card Stud: Betting Down the River
			Starting with the ante and the limits
			Betting in the early stages
			Passing the first pivotal moment: Third street
			Staying in on fifth street
		Surveying the Stud Landscape: Table Strategy
			Reading the table
			Bluffing
			Winning (or not losing) at Seven-Card Stud
			Staying in and dropping out
		Five-Card Stud
	Chapter 22 Texas Hold ’Em
		Holding ’Em Up — Texas Style
			Making blind bets
			Starting hands
				Top-of-the-line hands
				Middle-of-the-road hands
				Scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel hands
				Garbage hands
			Paying attention to location
		Strategically Speaking: Calling, Folding, and Raising
			Betting before the flop: Call, fold, or raise?
				Drawing in appropriate situations
				Calculating pot odds
			Staying in or dropping out after the flop
			Bluffing
			Stealing blinds
		Seizing Opportunities to Play Hold ’Em
	Chapter 23 Omaha
		Getting to Know Omaha High/Low
			Paying attention to the high hands and low hands
			Betting
			Playing out a typical Omaha High/Low hand
		Winning High/Low Strategy
			Forming good starting hands
			Winning hands at Omaha High/Low
			Winning at Omaha High/Low
			Surviving the waiting game
			Playing for position
			Planning a strategy after the flop
			Flopping and dropping
			Playing on the turn
			Playing on the river
		Omaha High
Part 7 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 24 Ten Ways to Improve Your Game and Have More Fun
		Treat Your Partner with Respect
		Give Yourself a Reality Check
		Keep Your Celebrations to Yourself
		Know When the Time Is Ripe
		Cut Yourself Off
		Paint a Picture of Your Opponents’ Cards
		March to the Beat of Your Own Drum
		Talk Through the Cards
		Count Down to Victory
		Have Fun!
	Chapter 25 Ten Places to Find More Information on Your Game
		The Internet
		Software and Live Sites on Computers
		Discussion Groups
		Gaming Bodies
		Books
		Newspapers and Magazines
		Playing with the Big Dogs
		Tournaments
		Going Straight to a Gaming Source
		Clubs
Index
EULA