BAO HUANG 

Hey there! Let me tell you about a super fun game called Bao Huang. It’s played by 5 people, and it’s a real blast! Here’s how it goes: we have an emperor, who might have a teammate, and then there are 3 to 4 regular folks who go against the emperor. The goal for all of us is to get a certain number of points and win the game. We do this by being one of the first players to get rid of all our cards, and by helping out our teammates too.

SETUP

Okay, so let me explain how we set up the game. First, we need to make some changes to the decks. We take out one red joker and one black joker and mark them so they’re different from the other cards. Then, we remove all the 3s, 4s, and 5s from each deck. After that, we shuffle all the remaining cards together, including the jokers. And that’s it – we’re ready to start playing Bao Huang!

When we play this card game, the person sitting to the right of me will be the one who shuffles the deck. After shuffling, they pass the deck to the person on their right, who will then cut the deck into two parts. The cut deck is then placed in the middle of the table.

Now it’s time for the fun part! We take turns picking up one card at a time, going counterclockwise around the table. The person on the right of the cutter gets to draw the first card. We keep drawing cards until there are none left.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Not everyone will end up with the same number of cards. Some players might have one more card than others.

After each round, the person who shuffled the deck will move one seat to the left. So the next round, they will be the person sitting counterclockwise of the previous shuffler.

Now, let’s talk about the Jokers. There are two special cards in the deck – one marked with a red Joker and one marked with a black Joker. The player who has the red Joker becomes the emperor for the round. And the player who has the black Joker is the emperor’s partner. But here’s the twist – the identity of the emperor’s partner is a secret that only the emperor knows until they decide to play the card.

Imagine this: You’re playing a game where I’m the emperor. I have the power to pass on my emperor status to someone else by giving them a special card called the red Joker. They have a choice to make: either keep the card and become the new emperor, or pass it on to someone else. If nobody takes the joker, I have to keep being the emperor.

But here’s the twist: I might end up with both of the marked Jokers. That means I don’t have a partner and I have to play against everyone else. I can keep this secret until the game is over, or I can announce it and double the scores for everyone.

The partner of the emperor is a mystery until someone plays the marked card. But you can also make a guess about who the partner is. And here’s another fun part: other players can either support or oppose the emperor and double the score for the game. But remember, only the first pledge will actually change the score.

After we finish our first game, we have to pay a tax if we lose. The tax means that all the players from the losing team have to give up their highest-ranked card, except for the Joker. If I’m the Emperor and I lose, I have to give up two cards. And if I decide to play alone, I have to give up four cards. The cards we give up will be placed face down on the table and the winning team will take them. If I win as the Emperor, I get to take two cards instead. If there’s a draw, no cards are exchanged.

Card Rankings

It doesn’t matter which suit the cards belong to, what matters is their ranking. In this game, the highest-ranked card is the Red Joker, followed by the Black Joker, 2s, Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10s, 9s, 8s, 7s, and 6s are the lowest-ranked cards.

GAMEPLAY

When the game begins, it’s always the emperor who plays first. Then, the play moves in a counterclockwise direction. Each player has the option to either pass or play cards to beat the previous combination played. If a player passes, they can still choose to play if their turn comes up again.

A player wins a hand if all other players pass. The winner of the previous hand gets to lead the next hand.

A player who is currently winning a hand can ask others not to beat them so that their potential teammates can pass. However, other players are not obligated to follow this request.

As the game progresses, players will start running out of cards, which is the objective. Once a player plays their last card and wins a hand, the player to their right will start the next round. The game continues until all members of a team have emptied their hands.

Playable Cards

When it’s my turn to play cards, I have a few options. I can play a single card or a combination of cards. If I play a single card, it can be beaten by a higher-ranking single card. But if I want to beat a combination, I need to play a valid combination with the same number of cards, and each card must have a higher rank than the corresponding card in the original combination.

A valid combination can be made up of any number of cards with the same rank. It can also include any number of jokers of any color.

Let me give you an example. If I play an Ace over another player’s king, I beat their single card. But if I play three Aces over another player’s three kings, I beat their combination of cards.

SCORING

After each round of play, we tally up the scores to see who’s winning. How much you score and how you score depends on a few things.

If the emperor is playing with a partner, then the order in which players finish the round matters. The player who finishes first gets 2 points, the next player gets 1 point, then 0 points, then -1 point, and finally -2 points. Each team adds up their scores and that’s the total score for the team, except for the emperor who gets double the score. Let me give you an example: if the emperor and their partner finish first and second, their team score would be 3 points. The partner would get 3 points, while the emperor would get 6 points. The other team would get -3 points each. If any player other than the emperor called allegiance, these scores would be doubled.

If I, as the emperor, am alone in the round, the outcome only matters when I finish the round. If I finish first, I get 12 points, but all other players score negative 3 points. If I come in second, neither side scores any points. If I come in third or later, all other players score 3 points each, and I score negative 12 points. If I declare that I am playing alone or if any other players declare an alliance, these scores are doubled.

END OF GAME

The game comes to an end when a player successfully reaches the predetermined score. If multiple players reach it during the same round, the player with the higher total wins.