Welcome to Sergeant Major!

I’m Sergeant Major, a fun card game you can play with two friends. The goal of the game is to win 12 or more tricks in a single round. Let me explain how to play!

First things first, let’s talk about the stakes. In Sergeant Major, there are payouts involved, so it’s important that all players agree on the value of a single stake.

Let’s Get Started: Setup

Now that we have the stakes settled, let’s move on to the setup. The game has two dealing phases: the first deal, and all subsequent deals.

In the first phase, we randomly select a dealer. The dealer shuffles the deck and has the player to their right cut it. Then, each player is dealt 16 cards. The remaining four cards are placed face down in the center – that’s the kitty. The dealer will then choose the trump suit for this round and add the kitty cards to their hand. The dealer must also discard any four cards from their hand, placing them face down to the side.

Once the first round is done, it’s time for the second phase of the game. This phase begins with the player to the left of the previous dealer and goes around clockwise for future rounds. Here’s how it works:

The dealer starts by shuffling the deck. Then, they allow the player on their right to cut the deck. After that, the dealer deals each player a hand consisting of 16 cards.

Once everyone has their hands, the card exchanging begins. This is where things get interesting. Players who were up in the last round (I’ll explain what that means in a bit) have a special privilege. They can give one card to a player who was down, for each trick they were up in the last round.

Now, there’s a catch. The player who was down must give the up player the highest card of the same suit they have in their hand. In case there are multiple up players, the one who was up the most gets to exchange cards first. Then, the other up players can take their turn to exchange.

Once the exchange is complete, I, as the dealer, have the privilege of calling trumps and picking up the kitty, just like we discussed earlier. But before we move on, let me explain what happens next. As the dealer, I have the option to discard any four cards from my hand that I don’t find useful. This way, I can strategically choose the cards that will help me achieve victory.

Now, here’s something interesting. If I was trailing behind in the game, I need to reveal any cards that have a higher rank than the one given to the players who exchanged with me. For instance, let’s say I was given a 3 of clubs and I returned a 6 of clubs. But if I happen to get lucky and draw a powerful card, like a 10 or an ace of clubs, I have to show these two cards privately to the player who exchanged with me. It’s like a secret handshake, only with cards!

Card Ranking

Let’s talk about the ranking of these cards. It’s pretty straightforward. The Ace is the highest, followed by the King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, all the way down to 2, which is the lowest.

GAMEPLAY

Alright, let’s get started. When we play this game, the person sitting to the left of the dealer goes first. They can pick any card to play in the first round. The other players have to play a card of the same suit if they have one. But if they don’t, they can play any card they want. The person who plays the highest trump card, if there is one, wins the round. If there are no trump cards, then the person with the highest card of the suit that was led wins.

Now, every player has a set number of rounds they need to win. The dealer needs to win 8 rounds, the person on their left needs to win 5, and the person on the dealer’s right needs to win 3 rounds. If someone is winning more rounds than they need, they’re up by that many rounds. But if someone hasn’t won enough rounds yet, they’re down by however many they’re missing.

PAYOUTS

When we finish a round, we distribute the payouts. You have to pay a certain number of stakes equal to the number of tricks you are behind. On the other hand, if you’re ahead, you collect that number of tricks.

THE END OF THE GAME

We keep playing until one player manages to win at least 12 tricks in a single hand. That player becomes the winner.

We keep playing until one player manages to win at least 12 tricks in a single hand. That player becomes the winner.