How to Play the Card Game Manny
Manny is a fairly straightforward trick-taking game for three players of any skill level. Each player is dealt a set number of cards from which they’ll have an option to exchange. But, this exchange is not for 1 or 2 cards, it’s for the entire hand. Don’t worry because you’ll already know the suit of trump when you opt to exchange—it alternates from hand to hand. From there, it’s card playing as usual. You’ll each have a goal of taking at least four tricks per round. Any more, you earn points.
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Instructions
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1
Reduce the size of your deck by removing the 2 of each suit. For the game of Manny, you’ll be playing with a deck of 48 cards.
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2
Deal out the deck until each player has a total of 12 cards in his hand. Typically, you’ll deal out the cards in increments of four, but you may opt to deal out the deck one card at a time. The remaining cards are moved to the center of the table and become the spare hand.
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3
Indicate trump for the round by placing the 2 of hearts next to the dealer. For the game of Manny, trump alternates from hand to hand. It will start with hearts, move to spades, then diamonds, followed by clubs and back to hearts again.
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4
Exchange your cards with the spare hand, starting with the person to the left of the dealer. Each player will have an option to exchange until someone has made the swap. If no one opts to exchange, the spare hand is set aside and not used for the remainder of the round.
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5
Lay a card, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. You must follow suit when possible. Highest suited card will take the trick. If you are unable to follow suit, you have to other options of play—throw off or play trump. The highest trump card will take the trick. In either scenario, the winner of the trick will lead the next.
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Continue to play until all hands are exhausted and all tricks have been taken.
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7
Earn 1 point toward your overall score for each trick you take over four. Lose a point if you were unable to take at least four tricks.
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Win the game of Manny by being the first player to reach 10 points.
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Tips & Warnings
To determine the order of play for the game of Manny, players will cut the deck in turn. The highest cut will act as first dealer. Play will move to his left in a clockwise direction around the table. Subsequent deals will follow this same path.
Though Manny is played with trump, the ranking order of the cards will never change—ace is always high and 3 is always low—no matter what suit is trump.
