Rules of the Go-Stop Card Game
Originating in Japan, Go-Stop is a popular Korean card game played with flower cards, rather than traditional suited playing cards. Also know as Korean poker, Go-Stop is a fishing game, where the aim is to create matching pairs. The name Go-Stop refers to each player's decision to "go" and try to collect more points or "stop" and end the game.
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The Deck
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Go-Stop is played with a 48-card deck known as hwatu. The cards are divided into twelve sets of four cards. Each set corresponds to a specific month of the calendar and the four cards of the set have a value based on what they depict.
Objective
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The objective of Go-Stop is to create matching pairs of cards from each month. The first player to reach the target score may either call "go", which continues the game or "stop", which ends the game and allows the player to collect payment, e.g. three chips for a target score of three, five chips for a target score of five, etc. The strategy for winning involves knowing when to capture stacked pairs, when to call go or stop, and how to build high-scoring card combinations.
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Scoring
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There are four scoring groups in Go-Stop: kwang, which consists of five bright cards; yul, which consists of nine animal cards; tti, which consists of ten ribbon cards, and pi, which is made up of twenty-four junk cards. Scoring is based on creating combinations of cards and the value of the cards may vary according to house rules.
Card Layout
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Ten cards are dealt to the opponent, ten to the dealer and eight to table. The cards in the center of the table are laid face up along with the drawing stack. Players first check their hands for any three- or four-card combinations. If you have three cards of the same month, you may show them to the other players and keep them in your hand to play when the fourth card is revealed. If you have four cards of the same month in your hand, you win automatically. If there are four cards on the table, then the deal is void and the cards are shuffled and dealt again.
Play Sequence
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The dealer goes first, taking one card from her hand and adding it to the center cards. If her card matches the suit of one of the center cards, she lays it on top of the card. If the card doesn't match then it becomes part of the layout. The player then draws a card from the draw stack, which may be paired with any of the other cards in the center. Matching cards can be used to create stacks of two or three cards and players may choose to capture pairs of leave them on the table. As play continues and matching cards are drawn, players may then capture card stacks. The first player to reach the points target and call "stop" is the winner.
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