Card Games for Fun

Many people play card games to pass the time.

Breathe a bit of life into your next party or camping trip by encouraging family and friends to play card games for fun. Card games also pass the time quickly on a plane ride or a road trip as long as you have a flat surface to lay the cards. Play some simple family-friendly games, and do not get too serious about winning or losing.

Old Maid

You can play Old Maid with two or more players. Discard the jokers and one queen. Deal one card to each player until you have dealt all the cards. Each player should discard his pairs. Player one fans out his cards and holds them up to player "b" to his left so player "b" cannot see the cards' value. Player "b" chooses one card. If player "b" can use the new card to make a pair, he should discard the pair and hold his cards up to player "c". This continues until you have played all the cards except for the last queen, otherwise known as the "old maid," and the player with the old maid loses.

Sevens

Play this game with three to eight players. Deal one card to each player, face down, until you have passed out all the cards. The player to the dealer's left starts the play. If he has a seven, he puts the card, face up, on the table. If he does not have a seven, he passes by knocking on the table. The next person may play a seven, a six of the same suit as the seven on the table, or an eight of the same suit. Sevens start a new pile. The player places eights to one side of the seven and sixes to the other. Player three may play any seven or any card in descending or ascending order in succession of another card on the table, in the same suit. If a player cannot play a card, he knocks on the table to pass. The play continues until a player plays all his cards.

Cheat

You can play Cheat with two to six players. Deal one card to each player until you run out of cards. The player to the dealer's left plays first. The players must play card in succession. For example, the first player must put down his aces, the second person, his twos, the third player his threes. Each player places his cards face down on the table. If a person does not have any cards in the numerical value he needs to play, he can put down cards of another value. Because you place the cards face down, no one knows for certain what cards you have played. However, if another person thinks you have played a card not in numerical succession, he can yell, "cheat." You must flip the card you've played, and if the cards do not fall in numerical succession, you must take all the cards in the discard pile. If the person who called cheat is incorrect, he must take all the cards in the pile. This continues until all players have played their cards.

War

Play War with two players. The dealer should deal 26 cards to each player. Neither players should look at their cards and keep the cards in two piles, face down on the table. Both players flip their top card over at the same time. Whoever gets the high card wins both cards, and puts the cards on the bottom of their pile. If the cards have equal value, the cards stay in the middle, and the opponents put a card face down and then turn over the next one face up, and whoever has the high card wins all six cards. The game continues until one player has lost all his cards.

References

• The World of Playing Cards: A Concise History of Playing Cards
• Pagat: War
• Pagat: Sevens
• Pagat: Old Maid