How to Play the Card Game Casino

Casino is game of building and capturing cards based on the hand you are dealt. Each player has the opportunity to play a single card on his turn. This card may capture a card, build on a card, capture a build or steal a build. But the playing of this card must have some relevance to another card in your hand to be considered a valid play. Once you’re familiar with the rules, the game of Casino becomes almost second nature and more enjoyable to play. Don’t let the seemingly complex rules deter you; it’s well worth the while to learn the game.

Things You'll Need

• Deck of cards
• 4 players

Instructions

Game Play

1. Deal out the deck so that each player has a total of four cards in his hand. For the game of Casino, you’ll be dealing the cards in increments of two—two cards and then another two cards are dealt to each player. The remaining cards are set aside and will be used later in the round.

2. Turn over the top four cards from the unused deck and lay them face up in a row towards the center of the table.

3. Start play by having the player to the left of the dealer play a single card from her hand. This card may either capture a card or build on a card. To capture a card (or cards), it must be currently of the same rank—king captures king, queen captures queen and so on—or equal to a combination of cards. To build on a card, it must be a build possible within your hand (see the Building/Capturing section below).

4. Swipe any cards captured from the table and place them in front of you. These cards are out of play for the rest of the round.

5. Continue to play around the table until all cards have been played from each player’s hand.

6. Deal out another hand of four cards to each player from the unused deck and play as described above. After this new set of four cards has been played and settled for each player, another deal of a four-card hand will be made and played as already established. Each round consists of three four-card hands for each player.

7. Tabulate the scores for the round by noting the player with the most captured cards in front of him as well as the player with the most spades in front of him. This player (or players) will earn 3 and/or 1 points respectively. Earn an additional point towards your overall score for each ace you’ve captured and an additional 2 points for the 10 of diamonds.

8. Win the game of Casino by being the first person to hit 21 points.

Building/Capturing Cards

1. Capture a face card by playing a card of the same rank—king captures king, queen captures queen and jack captures jack. This is the only way to capture and use your face cards. The capture moves the cards from the table to a pile in front of you and out of play.

2. Capture a numeric card by playing a card of the same rank—a 10 captures a 10, a nine captures a nine and so on—or a card that equals two numeric cards currently in play (a 10 captures an ace and a nine or a two and an eight or a three and a seven and so on). Again, the capture moves the cards from the table to a pile in front of you and out of play.

3. Build on a card by laying a card on a card in play that brings the combination up to a card in your hand—lay a two on an ace if you have a three in your hand, lay a three on an ace if you have a four in your hand and so on. The cards in the combination don’t really matter as long as they are equal to a card currently in your hand.

4. Capture the build by laying a card of equal value on a sequence in play—lay a three on a build that contains an ace and a two, lay a four on a combination that contains an ace and a three, a pair of twos or two aces and a two, and so on. Again, the capture moves the cards from the table to a pile in front of you and out of play.

5. Steal a build by laying a card on a build that brings the combination up to a card in your hand—lay an ace on a build containing a two and a three if you have a six in your hand, for example, or lay a two on a build containing a two and a three if you have a seven in your hand.

6. Capture a steal by laying a card of equal value on a sequence in play. For example, lay a six on a stolen build containing an ace, a two and a three, or lay a seven on a stolen build containing a pair of twos and a three and so on. As long as the card laid is equal to the sequence of cards, you may swipe if from the table and add it to the pile in front of you.

Tips & Warnings

• To determine the order of play, each player will cut the deck. The highest cut will act as the first dealer. Play will move clockwise starting from the player to the dealer's left.