How to Play the Queen of Spades Card Game

Fun game for 4 up to 10 players, can be played with 2 but more is better. If you have a competitive group, this is the card game to play.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 3 decks of playing cards with jokers
• playing card shuffler
• serious playing card players
• paper and pen for scoring

1. The object of the game is to get to 2000 points first.

2. Divide the group up into 2 teams. Team members cannot sit next to the other. Choose one person to be your ‘bank’.

3. 

   After the shuffle, the dealer cuts the deck and begins to shuffle out 13 cards per person with his cut. If the dealer gets all 13 cards to each player and has no more cards left, his/her team gets 100 points.

4. The deck goes in the middle and the game starts by flipping the top card and placing if beside the deck. The person to the dealers left will go first and everyone will take a turn going clockwise.

5. The object of your turn is to make three of a kind and give it to your bank. Two’s are wild, jokers are automatically given to the bank. Start your turn by taking the top card off the deck. You may also take the card that is facing up if you have that card’s two-of-a-kind in your hand already – wild cards(2’s) do not count here. If you take the top card, you must take the entire pile. You finish your turn by giving your bank all of the three-of-a-kinds and jokers you have. If you have a 2 you cannot use, your bank may place it under a pile that does not have a 2 in it. If you have a card that has three-of-a-kind in your bank, you may place that on the pile. The player then discards and the next player begins his/her turn.

6. The hand continues until someone ‘goes out’ by using all of his/her cards. You do not have to discard if you go out, but you can.

7. The bank will add up all of the points: cards 3 through 10 are five points; Jacks, Queens(except the queen of spades) and Kings are 10 points; Aces and 2s are 20 points; Jokers are 50 points; the Queen of Spades is 100 points. The bank of the team who won the hand adds the points to their score. The bank of the team that lost the hand subtracts the amount of points of the cards the team players were still holding from their score on the hand and then adds that to their total score.

8. Hands are played until one team gets to 2000. That team is the winner.

Tips & Warnings

• Tip for the bank: place your three-of-a-kinds in numerical order, with your jokers and queen of spades places above them. This will help your teammates see what is out for them to add to and help you add up at the end.