Welcome to the World of Canadian and Ukrainian King Pedro!

Hey there! Today I want to introduce you to an awesome card game called Canadian and Ukrainian King Pedro. This game is perfect for four players who are ready for some serious fun! You’ll split into two teams of two players, and each team will sit opposite each other. Let me tell you more about it.

The goal of the game is simple: you and your teammate need to score 200 points or more. Those points add up as you play, and the team that reaches or goes beyond 200 points on a successful bid wins the game.

Getting Set Up

Alright, here’s how you get started. The first dealer is chosen randomly, and after each round, the role of dealer passes to the player on the left. The dealer shuffles the deck and gives each player a hand of 9 cards, dealing 3 cards at a time. Easy peasy!

Understanding the Cards

In Canadian and Ukrainian King Pedro, there are two different rankings for the cards. One is for the trump suit, and the other is for the non-trump suits. The trump suit can change in each round, which means that the ranking of the cards can also change. There’s also a special rule where the 5 of the suit that has the same color as the trump suit is also considered a trump card. For example, if hearts are trumps, the 5 of diamonds will also be a trump card.

The ranking for the trump suit is as follows: Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 (the one of the suit), 5 (the one of the other suit of the same color), 4, 3, and 2 (low). The ranking for the non-trump suits follows the same order: Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 (when applicable), 4, 3, and 2.

In the game of Canadian and Ukrainian King Pedro, certain cards are assigned values for scoring. The only cards that have points are those from the trump suit. The Ace of trump is worth 1 point, the king of trumps is worth a hefty 30 points, the jack of trump is worth 1 point, the ten of trump is worth 10 points, the nine of trumps is worth 9 points, the five of trump is worth 5 points, as well as the other five of trump, and finally, the two of trumps is worth 1 point.

During the game, the players who play the two of trumps score it. All the other cards are scored by the player who wins the card.

BIDDING

When we start a game of cards, the first person to make a move is the player on the left of the dealer. They have two options: they can either make a bid or pass. If they decide to bid, their bid must be higher than the previous bid. The bid can be as low as 30 and as high as 62. The purpose of the bidding is to determine which player will have the chance to choose the trump suit for the game. The bidding phase comes to an end when three out of the four players have passed, assuming that at least one bid has been made.

If all four players pass without making a bid, the cards are collected and the dealer will shuffle and deal them again.

The player who wins the bid will be the one who gets to choose the trump suit. Once the trump suit has been decided, the dealer will distribute an additional four cards to each player.

Alright, let me break it down for you. Here’s what you need to know about playing this game:

First things first, we all have to make sure we only have 6 cards in our hands. So, if you have more than 6, it’s time to do some tidying up!

Now, let’s talk about trumps. If you don’t have any trumps in your hand, I’m afraid you’ll have to fold your hand and sit this round out. Tough luck!

If you happen to have one or two trumps, you can pass them onto your partner and then fold. Nice teamwork!

But wait, what if you have more than 6 trumps? Well, you’ll have to get rid of the non-scoring trumps. And here’s the interesting part – if you have all 7 scoring trumps, you have to get rid of 2 of them. Tough decisions, huh?

Just make sure you discard your trumps face up for everyone to see, alright?

Ready to Play?

Great! Now that we got all those technicalities out of the way, let’s talk about gameplay.

The main goal of each team is to win tricks that have those precious point cards. Oh, and here’s a little tip: the team that won the bid should aim to win at least the number of points they bid. That way, they can score those point cards. Makes sense, right?

So gather your team, strategize, and get ready for some trick-taking fun!

When we’re playing this game, the person who won the bidding round gets to go first. After that, it’s the clockwise order for the rest of us. The first player has to start with a trump card, but after that, they can play any card they want. If the trick starts with a trump card, then we all have to play a trump card if we have one. If it starts with a non-trump card, then we all have to play a non-trump card, no matter what suit it is. Only if we don’t have any non-trump cards left can we play another trump card.

We win tricks by playing the highest trump card. If nobody played a trump card, then the person who started the trick wins no matter what cards were played. The winner of a trick gets to start the next one.

SCORING

So, here’s the deal. When the game of tricks is all said and done, it’s time to tally up the scores. Now, pay attention, because this part is important. If you were not part of the winning team, don’t worry, you still get to score any points you picked up from the cards, no matter if the other team completed their bid or not.

Now, let’s talk about the winning team. If they managed to complete their bid, they get to score all the points they won during the tricks. Pretty sweet, right? But here’s the catch. If they couldn’t fulfill their bid, they will actually lose points equal to their bid. Talk about a double-edged sword!

And now, we reach the grand finale…

This is where the rubber meets the road, folks. Teams keep track of their scores over multiple rounds. But here’s the clincher: a team can only win if they reach or exceed 262 points in a single round, AND they successfully complete their bid. It’s kind of like getting to the finish line, but not without crossing a hurdle along the way. Until a team does that, even if they have more than 262 points, they won’t be able to claim victory.

As a little bonus, let me introduce you to Amber (They/Them), our resident Austin writer and gaming connoisseur. Amber knows their way around the gaming world like a true master. And when they’re not busy dominating game boards, they have a soft spot for dogs, plants, and D&D. Quite the combo, if you ask me!