BACON: A Fun and Challenging Card Game

Hey there, let me tell you all about Bacon! It’s an exciting team-based trick-taking game that will put your skills to the test. The goal is simple: try to win as many tricks as you can in each hand. But be careful – it’s not as easy as it sounds!

The Cards and the Deal: Getting Started

Before we dive into the action, let’s talk about the cards and how to get the game started. In Bacon, we use a standard 52-card deck. So, no need to worry about any fancy card sets – just grab a regular deck and you’re good to go!

First things first, we need to decide the teams. Grab your friends and sit around a table, making sure that teammates are seated across from each other. Once that’s settled, it’s time to find out who will be the first dealer. Each player should draw a card from the deck, and the one with the lowest card becomes the dealer. Simple as that! Oh, and by the way, the dealer also keeps track of the scores throughout the game. So, make sure to appoint someone reliable for this important job.

First things first, the dealer should give the deck a good shuffle. Then, one by one, they’ll deal five cards to each player, leaving the rest aside as the auction pile. Once the cards are dealt, it’s time to figure out the trump suit for this round.

Figuring out the trump suit

The dealer will put the auction pile face down in the middle of the table. Then, they’ll flip the top card so it’s facing up right next to the auction pile. And that’s when the auction begins!

Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, here’s how it goes: if you want the suit of the auction card to be the trump suit, simply say “pick it up”. On the other hand, if you don’t want it to be the trump suit, just say “pass”.

If you pass, the player to your left gets the chance to say “pick it up” or “pass”. The same goes for each player around the table.

If all four of us decide not to bid on a card, we remove that card and flip over a new one from the pile. We can go through this process up to four times. But if we reach the point where we’ve passed on four different cards, then that hand is considered a misdeal. We throw all our cards away and start a new hand with the next dealer.

Now, here’s an interesting situation. Let’s say I want a particular suit to be the trump suit, so I say, “pick it up”. When I say that, the player on my left can pick up the card and then discard one from their hand, without showing it to anyone. And this player also gets to be the first one to play a card.

But wait, there’s more! When I say “pick it up,” I also have the option to go alone. If I believe I can win at least three tricks without any help from my partner, I can choose to go alone. If I do that, my partner sits out for this hand. It’s just me against the other three players.

The declaring team, that’s what they’re called. And the other team, well, they’re known as the defending team.

Once trump is figured out, we put the auction pile aside for the rest of the hand. It’s out of the game.

Now, here’s where things get interesting: the permission rule. This is a big deal in Bacon and Turn Up Euchre. Let me break it down for you.

Let’s say a player declares trump and says “pick it up.” That’s when their teammate has the power to say “nope, not gonna happen.” They can deny permission if they think their partner is getting a little too confident about their hand. And it’s not just for picking it up, they can also say no to going alone. Denying permission is basically the same as passing. The auction just keeps moving on to the next player.

When it comes to partners and permissions, there’s no room for argument. If a partner is denied, their turn is over.

Let’s Play!

Now that we have our cards and trump is decided, it’s time to start the game. The player who picked up the card goes first. They choose a card from their hand and place it in the center of the table. The rest of the players then take turns playing their cards. They need to follow the suit if they can, but if not, they can play any card they want. All the cards played in a round are called a trick. The highest card in the suit that was led, or the highest trump card, wins the trick. The winner of the trick gets to lead the next round.

So here’s how the game goes: each player gets a chance to play five tricks. And when I say “tricks,” I don’t mean magic tricks or pranks. I mean playing cards.

Once all five tricks have been played, it’s time to tally up the score. After we figure out the score for that hand, we gather up all the cards, including the ones from the auction pile, and pass them on to the next dealer. The next dealer is the player sitting to the left of the previous dealer. Got it?

Now, let’s talk about scoring:

If a team wins three or four tricks, they earn 1 point. But if they manage to win all five tricks, they get 2 points. And if they do either of these things while going alone, guess what? The points are doubled. Talk about a sweet deal!

But here’s the kicker: if the defending team wins the hand, their points are also doubled. Ouch!

The game ends when one of the teams earns 10 points or more. So keep an eye on that score and play your cards right to come out on top!