01Quick Reference ¶

02Components ¶

• 1 standard 52-card deck (no jokers).
• 2 to 5 players.
• Table space for two shared piles and each player's personal collection.

03Object of the Game ¶

Collect as few cards as possible. Every card you're stuck with at the end of a round becomes points — and points are bad, piling up across rounds. The instant any player reaches 100 points the game ends: that player has hit the ceiling and loses, and whoever has the fewest points wins.

Cards land in your collection whenever you are forced to take a pile — either because a play hit 21 or completed a set immediately before your turn, or because you busted. Most points = loser; fewest points = winner.

04Card Values ¶

* An Ace counts as 11 only while the pile holds 1 or 2 cards (“Ban Luck”) — which is how a pair of Aces makes 21 (10 + 11), blackjack-style. By pile size: 1–2 cards → 10 or 11, 3 cards → 1 or 10, 4+ cards → 1.

05Setup ¶

1. Choose a dealer (any method — youngest player, high-card cut, etc.).
2. The dealer shuffles and deals 2 cards face-down to each player.
3. Place the remaining deck face-down in reach of all players as the draw pile.
4. Leave space for two shared piles in the middle of the table. Both piles start empty (running total = 0).
5. The player to the dealer's right takes the first turn of the first round. Play proceeds anticlockwise. In every later round, the winner of the previous round takes the first turn instead (on a tie for fewest cards, the first tied player in seating order leads). The dealer button passes one seat for each new round.

06On Your Turn ¶

On your turn you must play one or two cards from your hand onto the piles, then draw back up to 2 cards from the deck (if any remain).

6a. Playing one card (the normal case)

1. Choose one of your two cards.
2. Place it face-up on either pile, provided the pile's new running total stays ≤ 21.
3. Draw 1 card from the deck to refill your hand to 2.

You may play onto either pile regardless of which player last touched it. Both piles are shared.

6b. Playing two cards (optional)

You may play both cards from your hand in the same turn if doing so creates a set (see §7). Both cards must go onto the same pile — you cannot split a two-card play across the two piles.

After playing two cards, draw 2 from the deck to refill.

6c. The Ace's value at play time

When you place an Ace, you do not declare a value. The next player will choose how to read it when computing the running total for their move (and so will every player after that, independently).

07Sets ¶

A set is a configuration of cards that, once formed, immediately clears the pile (or both piles, for Double 21) to the next player's collection — the same penalty as hitting 21. Sets are checked the instant a card is played.

Five kinds of set exist — two total-based (Hit 21, Double 21) and three purity-based (suit, rank, run). For the purity-based sets, every card in the pile must belong to the set type, so a single irrelevant card disqualifies the pile from suit/rank/run sets until it's cleared. This is why Hit 21 and Double 21 are the only sets possible on a mixed pile.

1. Hit 21. Any play that brings a pile's running total to exactly 21 — single card or two-card play, on either pile. The pile need not start empty (e.g. pile shows K + 5 = 15; play 4 + 2 to reach 21).
2. Double 21. When both piles share the same running total, you may play exactly one card "to the center" so that its value brings both piles to exactly 21 at once. The played card is treated as if applied to each pile simultaneously: a single 6 on two piles of 15 takes both to 21. You may not split two cards across the two piles — Double 21 is always a one-card play. The next player takes both piles into their collection, and both piles reset to empty.
   Example Pile A = K + 5 = 15, pile B = 9 + 6 = 15. You hold a 6 and a 4; you play the lone 6 to the center. Both piles become 21 and the next player collects everything from both — including the bridging 6.
   Restrictions Double 21 is illegal if either pile is currently in set-mode (see "Extending a set" below). Because a bridge is a single card, a bridging 7 is a lone 7 — the reverse effect (§8) fires and the previous player takes both piles.
3. Pure suit set. Every card in the pile shares one suit, and the pile contains 3 or more cards.
   Example Pile = [5♠, 9♠, 4♠] → all spades, set formed.
   Counter-example Pile = [5♠, 9♥, 4♠] → the 9♥ breaks purity; no flush is possible until the pile is cleared.
4. Pure rank set. Every card in the pile shares one rank, and the pile contains 3 or more cards.
   Example Pile = [K, K, K] → three Kings, set formed.
   Counter-example Pile = [K, 6] → you cannot play K + K to make a rank set, because the 6 is an irrelevant card.
5. Pure run set. Every card in the pile, when sorted by rank, forms a contiguous run with no gaps or duplicates, and the pile contains 3 or more cards. Suit does not matter.
   • The Ace may be the low end (A-2-3) or the high end (Q-K-A) of a run.
   • Runs do not wrap: K-A-2 is not a run.
   Counter-example Pile = [4, 6, 9] → not contiguous, no run.

Triggering a set

The moment you play a card that causes the pile to constitute a valid set, the pile is collected by the next player in turn order (it goes into their personal collection face-down). The pile then resets to empty. Your turn ends; draw back up to 2 cards.

Set vs. bust

If a single card would simultaneously form a set and push the running total over 21, the set wins. The pile clears to the next player; no bust is recorded. This is one way to dump a pile on the next player even when your only "legal" play would otherwise bust.

Multiple sets on one play

If a single play simultaneously forms more than one kind of set, the hierarchy is:

1. Hit 21 (or Double 21) wins. The pile — or both piles, in the Double 21 case — is taken by the next player with no chance to extend. The pile(s) clear.
2. Flush trumps run. If a pile is simultaneously a pure flush and a pure run, treat it as a flush only. Only the flush is locked in for extension purposes; the run becomes incidental and may be broken.
3. Otherwise, the active set type passes the pile in set-mode to the next player, who may extend or take.

A pile transferring under set rules is still a single pile transfer: one set's worth of cards goes to one player. Forming a flush+run together is not a bigger penalty — it just locks the priority on the flush.

Extending a set

When a pile passes to the next player because of a suit, rank, or run set (but not Hit 21 or Double 21), the receiving player has a choice on their turn:

• Take the pile. The whole pile goes into their collection and the pile resets to empty. Taking is not the end of your turn — you must then still play a normal turn (one card on either pile, or two to form a set) and refill your hand. A player who cannot legally extend the set has no choice but to take the pile, then play on.
• Extend the set. Play one or two cards from their hand onto the same pile. Every card played must continue the set type that the pile was committed to when it entered set-mode — once a pile is committed to (say) a flush, it must remain a flush; you cannot extend by breaking it. Specifically:
  • For a suit set, every extension card must match that suit.
  • For a rank set, every extension card must match that rank.
  • For a run set, every extension card must extend the run at one of its ends, leaving the pile contiguous (Ace still low-or-high, no wrap).
  • If a pile entered set-mode as both a flush and a run, the flush takes priority. Extensions need only preserve the flush — same-suit cards are legal even if they break the run.

  Two-card extensions are the natural way to grow a run by more than one step.

  Example The pile holds an A-2-3 run; the extending player drops both their 4 and 5 in one turn, leaving the pile at A-2-3-4-5 in run-mode. Both ends of a run are fair game — given a 9-10-J run, the extending player could drop an 8 and a Q together for an 8-9-10-J-Q run.

  After extending, draw back up to 2 cards (1 if one card was played, 2 if two). Play passes onward. The pile remains in set-mode and the next player faces the same extend-or-take choice. The pile only clears (to the player who finally takes it) when somebody declines or cannot extend.

  New sets that incidentally form during an extension (e.g. a flush pile that happens to become a run after another same-suit card fills a gap) are a happy bonus — they do not retroactively become required for future extensions. Only the set types active at set-mode entry are locked in.

While a pile is in set-mode, the receiving player cannot play on the other pile — their turn is constrained to "extend or take."

A play that extends a set may itself push the pile over 21; this is fine, because sets always override the bust rule. A play that extends and also hits exactly 21 promotes to a 21 set (highest priority): the player after must take, with no further extension.

08The 7 Card ¶

A 7 of any suit carries a reverse effect — but only when it is played on its own. A 7 played together with a second card (to form a run or flush) is just an ordinary set card and the play continues forward.

The 7 effect (a lone 7)

Whenever a 7 is played as a single card by itself, the player in the seat immediately before the one who played the 7 must take the entire pile into their collection — the pile goes backwards to that seat. This is the seat itself, not whoever last took a turn: in the endgame a player who has emptied their hand still holds their seat, so a lone 7 can still land on them (and never rebounds onto the 7-player just because everyone else is out of cards). There is no way to deflect this — not by forming a set, not by hitting exactly 21, not by busting. The lone-7 effect takes priority over every other rule in §7 and §9.

After the pile is taken, the pile resets to empty. The player who played the 7 draws back up to 2 cards. Play continues normally with the next player in turn order (the one after the 7-player). The previous player who just absorbed the pile does not get a free turn; they have already taken their hit.

A 7 played with another card goes forward

When a 7 is one of the two cards in a two-card play — or a two-card extension — that forms or continues a run or flush, the reverse effect does not fire. The 7 behaves like any other set card: the pile forms/continues the set and passes forward to the next player who can still continue the set. If the two-card play instead lands the pile on exactly 21, the ordinary Hit 21 rule applies and the next player takes the pile. Either way, play moves forward, not back.

When a 7 may sit in a pile

A lone 7 immediately sends the pile backwards (and the pile resets), so a 7 played by itself is never left in a pile. But a 7 that arrives as part of a two-card set stays in the pile while that set is in set-mode, so you can see a 7 sitting in a set-mode pile at the start of a turn — it is collected when someone finally takes that pile.

Restriction in set-mode

You cannot play a 7 onto a pile that is currently in set-mode (awaiting an extend-or-take decision per §7) unless the 7 itself qualifies as a legal extension of one of the active sets on that pile:

• A suit set → the 7 must match that suit.
• A rank set → the active rank must be 7 (so any 7 extends).
• A run set → the run must currently end at a 6 or begin at an 8 (so the 7 fits at one end).

If the 7 is a legal extension, you may play it. A lone 7 extending the set fires the reverse effect — the previous player takes the pile — and the set is extinguished by the pile transfer. A 7 played with a second card (a two-card extension) does not reverse: it simply continues the set, and the pile passes forward in set-mode as usual. Otherwise, you cannot play the 7 on that pile; you must instead use your other card to extend (or to play normally on the other pile, only if that other pile is not also in set-mode), or take the set-mode pile.

A pile in set-mode also locks out Double 21 — you cannot bridge both piles to 21 if either pile is currently in set-mode.

Interactions

• Lone 7 vs. set. A single 7 that would otherwise form a brand-new set (e.g. completes a flush, a run, or hits 21) still triggers only the reverse effect. The set never activates — the prev player absorbs the pile and it resets.
• Lone 7 vs. bust. A single 7 that pushes the pile over 21 still triggers only the reverse effect. The prev player takes the busted pile.
• Two-card plays with a 7. A 7 can be one of the two cards in a two-card play if that play forms a legal set under §6b. A 7 cannot form a rank set (piles never contain rank-7 trios), but it can complete a flush or a run — e.g. with a pile of 4♣ + 5♣, you may play 6♣ + 7♣ to form a flush (or run). When a 7 arrives this way the reverse effect does not fire: the set forms and the pile passes forward to the next player, just like any other set.
• Double 21 with a 7. A Double 21 bridge is always a single card. If that bridging card is a 7 it is a lone 7 — the reverse effect fires and the previous player takes both piles.

09Busting ¶

A bust happens when a card is played onto a pile and the running total exceeds 21 (and no set rescues the play — see §7 "Set vs. bust"). The bust resolves like this:

1. The player who placed the busting card takes all cards in that pile (including the busting card) into their own collection.
2. The pile resets to empty.
3. The player draws back up to 2 cards.

Forced bust

If, on your turn, neither of your cards can be played on either pile without exceeding 21, you are forced to bust. Choose which card and which pile, then resolve as above.

Voluntary bust

You may also choose to bust on your own initiative even when a legal under-21 play exists. Voluntary busts are legal because the "set overrides bust" rule (§7) sometimes makes deliberately overshooting attractive — you might play a card that pushes over 21 but happens to complete a flush, run, or rank set, dumping the pile onto the next player instead of yourself.

Outside of that maneuver, voluntary busts are usually a bad trade — but they remain legal.

10The Endgame ¶

When the draw pile is exhausted:

1. Players stop drawing replacement cards, but continue taking turns with whatever cards they have left in hand.
2. Play continues anticlockwise. On each turn, a player must play at least one card (or bust) if able.
3. Players who run out of hand cards are skipped on their own turns, but stay in the game: they keep their seat and can still be hit — by the player before them (a 21, a set, or a Double 21 lands the pile on them), or by the player after them (a lone 7 always sends the pile to the immediate previous seat, even an emptied one).
4. The round ends once every player has emptied their hand.

Any cards still sitting in the two shared piles at the end of play are not awarded to anyone — they are simply discarded. Only cards in personal collections count for scoring.

11Scoring & Winning ¶

A match is played over several rounds. At the end of each round, each player counts the number of cards they are stuck with — their personal collection plus any cards still in their hand. (Face values do not matter — only the count.)

• Your score for the round is that card count, added to your running total. Points are penalties — low is good.
• The player with the fewest cards takes the round (least damage) and leads the next one; on a tie for fewest, the first tied player in seating order leads.
• The deal passes one seat and the next round begins.
• Ending the match: the moment any player's total reaches 100 points or more at the end of a round, the game is over — that player has hit the ceiling and loses. The player with the fewest total points wins. If two or more are tied for fewest, keep playing until a single player alone holds the lowest score.