Card game King

The card game King is widely played around the world - famous in France, Belgium, Italy and especially popular in Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Colombia and Brazil. In all these places it is known by its English name "King", meaning king, sometimes called by various local names. Although the origins of the game are not entirely clear, the name is believed to have originated in England.

In addition, there are more variations of the game - the Turkish "King" called "Rifki" and the French-Belgian "Le Jeu du Roi", which literally translates as Game of Kings. As we can see, kings have been a very important theme in card games since ancient times.

Card game KING👑

How many players play?

The card game King is usually played with four players.

Instruments needed for the game

Played with a traditional 52-card deck. The rank order of the cards is also standard, with the highest ranked card being an Ace and the lowest ranked card being a Deuce.

The first dealer is chosen by lot, and the next time the dealer is the neighbour on the left. Seats at the table are chosen in the same way. The dealer gives the players one card each from the mixed wood and the wood moved by the neighbour on the right. Each player receives 13 cards and must win a fixed number of special picks in 10 hands.

Cards are dealt and turns are taken clockwise. The dealer's left-hand neighbour shall choose the first hand and shall be the first to release a card.

Sometimes King is played with a 32-card deck - the lowest ranking card becomes a seven. In this case, players receive 8 cards each.

Koziri

Which family cards will be trumps is decided by playing with Positive divisible (see below). Cosmere cards have a higher cutting power, but can only be used for diamonds if the player does not have the required family of cards or decides to use a trump card to start a diamond.

How to play?

In King, hands are divided into positive and negative. In 6 negative hands, all players can score a total of minus 1300 points, and in 4 positive hands, all players can score plus 1300 points. At the end of the game, after counting the points scored by all players, the score must be 0.

Negative divisions

Division 1:

This is a non-accented division with a very simple objective - just not to win any accents. The dealer starts with any card. The other players place cards from the same family. If they don't have one, they place any other card. The player who places the highest ranked card of the same family, or the trump card in the case of trumps, wins (and loses) the draw. The player who wins the draw continues the game with any card of his choice. Play continues until there are no more cards left.

At the end of the game, each player counts up his points and announces them out loud. Each pick is worth minus 20 points, and this hand can score as many as minus 260 points without picks.

Division 2:

This division is without hearts - trying not to miss or take hearts. A player cannot start a diamond with hearts unless he has another card. If the player to his left does not have the card needed for the heart, he again places any other card. Each pick made with a hearts card results in minus 20 points, and the total number of hearts that can be picked is also minus 260 points.

Division 3:

In this hand, the aim is not to win a club with queens. A queen can score as much as minus 50 points and a hand can score minus 200 points.

Division 4:

A 4-card hand is called without kings and jacks, so try not to take a diamond that contains any kings or jacks. Each King or Jack card scores minus 30 points, for a total of minus 240 points.

Division 5.

It is a division to avoid the King of Hearts, who is called the King. This card cannot be used to start a Club unless it is the player's only remaining card.

Important! Try to get rid of the King of Hearts as early as possible, as he is worth minus 160 points.

Division 6.

This division is called without the last 2 accents. The aim is to win any number of picks, but not the last two. The last 2 picks are awarded minus 90 points each, giving a total of minus 180 points.

Positive divisions

After playing 6 games with negative splits, it is the turn of 4 more positive splits, called auctions. A different player becomes the dealer, or challenger, in each game. The auctioneer, who deals the wood to the players, has the right to look at his cards. He decides which cards will be trumps based on the cards he receives, and also chooses the hand that is most favourable to him, either a positive one for an increase in points or a negative one for a decrease in points. Alternatively, he can sell his bidding right to another player to earn real points.

Points

For each winning pick we say in the division the player receives 25 points. Played both with and without trumps. The maximum number of points is 325.

In a negative hand, each player starts the hand with 325 positive points and loses 75 points for each winning die. If a player fails to win any picks, he receives 325 points, if he wins 1 pick, he receives only 250 points, etc. In total 325 points can be scored.

King auction

Those players who wish to take over the right to choose trumps from the challenger compete in the auction. The event shall be conducted according to the following rules:

Players shall announce their bids for a bidder's right in clockwise order. Bids shall be made on the points that the players expected to receive from the purchase of the bidder's right. The player to the left of the bidder is the first to bid.

*If a player passes in an auction, he cannot bid again in the same auction.

When bidding, players must mention the number of accents and the subtype of the split, whether positive or negative. If it is positive (says plus), the points earned for the accents will be added to the player's accumulated points, and if it is negative (says minus), they will be subtracted from the amount available for a negative split (325 points).

Each successive proposal must be of a higher value than the one that preceded it.

A bid of one plus (+1) equals 25 game points. Three pluses (+3, or 75 points) equals one minus (-1). One minus (-1) equals minus 75 game points. The highest possible bid is eight plus (+8). Thus, bids +1, +2 and +3 can be countered by a minus 1; bids +4, +5 and +6 by a minus 2; and the latter with bids +7 or +8.

For example, a challenger may issue an ultimatum to the other players and offer an eight-plus or a negative split. If a player bids plus 8, the bidder may not refuse the bid and must cede to that player his right to call the trump. The player who has purchased the bidder's right may declare a trump or a negative deal. A player may choose and announce the trumps after the bidder accepts the amount of points offered.

It is possible that a player in a more favourable position will get ahead of the other players. The right of first refusal means that the player who made the earlier bid can match the later bid and win the auction. A call can only be made under the same conditions: if the last bid was plus 3, the person wishing to call must not bid, say, minus 1, but the same, i.e. plus 3. The first player to the left of the dealer has the right of first refusal over the second and the third players, and the second player has the right of first refusal over the third. Thus, if the second and third players bid more than the first, the second player can match the bid and win the auction on the basis of priority.

When players stop competing, the competitor must accept or refuse the last bid made. Alternatively, he/she may try to negotiate a higher point total and issue an ultimatum. The final decision is in the hands of the bidder (unless he has issued an ultimatum, in which case there is no turning back). Once the decision is announced, the auction is closed.

Let's settle up!

After the division has been played, the successful bidder must pay the auctioneer in accordance with the terms of the bid submitted. If the hand is positive (plus) and the successful bidder has not managed to get the required number of hearts, he must surrender part of his points: the missing amount is deducted from the total points and added to the bidder's points.

If the split was negative (minus), the winning bidder receives points for as many of the bidder's picks as the number of picks offered. In this case, the winner's points are reduced and the contestant's points are not (unless the contestant has taken more picks than the number of picks, in which case the points for the extra picks are already deducted from his points).

Failed auction

If fewer than 3 bids are announced during the auction, the bidder may decide to take the points for the forfeit. In this case, the bidder earns plus 4 points and every other player earns bidding plus 3 points.

Interestingly, there are honour rules to maintain the correctness of this game, so you should try not to cheat!

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