Welcome to the World of Twenty-Nine!
Hey there! Have you ever heard of the card game called Twenty-Nine? It’s a fun game that originated in South Asia, and it has some interesting roots. Some say it’s connected to a group of European games called Jass games – pretty cool, right? I think so too! But you know what’s even cooler? The fact that Dutch traders brought the game’s principles to our shores!
Let’s Talk Cards
When you play Twenty-Nine, you usually play with four people and form two teams. It’s all about teamwork! The teams face each other during the game, so you’re always close to your partner. To play, you only need 32 cards from a regular deck of 52 cards. That’s eight cards in each suit. Here’s how the cards rank, starting with the highest: J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, and finally, 7.
The goal of Twenty-Nine is to win tricks that have valuable cards. In this game, a trick refers to the cards played in a single round. Each player plays just one card per trick. The player with the highest-value card in a trick wins and gets to take all the cards for their team. It’s like a little victory!
Now, let’s break down the values of these cards:
Jacks: They’re worth a whopping 3 points. Now that’s some serious value right there!
Nines: 2 points
Aces: 1 point
Tens: 1 point
K, Q, 8, 7: 0 points
So, that’s a total of 28 points. Some versions of the game give the last trick a total of 29 points, which is how it got its name. But most of the time, we stick to the usual points system and still call it the same thing.
The way we normally play this game is by using the 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s as the trump indicators. Each player gets cards from all the suits. And sometimes, we use the 6s for keeping score. In that case, each pair of players gets a red and a black six.
DEALING & BIDDING
To start the game, the deal and turns go to the left. The dealer shuffles the deck, and the player on their right cuts it. Each person gets four cards, one at a time, face-down.
When playing cards, we have to decide on the best strategy. To do that, we take turns placing bids to determine our trump suit. A bid is a number that represents how many tricks we think our team can win. The person who makes the highest bid wins. The bidding process starts with the player to the left of the dealer and goes counterclockwise. Each player has the option to raise the bid or pass. This continues until three players in a row decide to pass. The lowest bid we can make is 15, and the highest is 28. If everyone passes, the dealer is forced to make a bid of 15, and that ends the bidding.
When we’re playing a card game and it’s time to choose the trump suit, the winner of the bidding gets to make that decision. The unused 2s and 5s are organized in a way that places the chosen trump suit at the bottom.
After the trump suit is determined, the dealer deals 4 more cards to each player, giving everyone a total of 8 cards.
Now, let’s get to the actual game!
The first trick starts with the player to the left of the dealer. Each player has to play a card that matches the suit of the card led if they have one. At this point, no one knows what the trump suit is except the bidder. The first player who can’t play a card of the led suit is required to ask the bidder about the trump suit and the bidder has to show it to everyone. However, if the bidder is the one who can’t play a card of the led suit, they have to declare the trump suit to everyone. Once the trump suit is known, the highest-value card of that suit played in a trick wins. If no trump cards are played, the highest-value card of the suit led wins the trick.
When it’s your turn to play a card in this game, you have a few options. You can follow the suit of the card that was led, which means playing a card of the same suit. If you don’t have a card in that suit, you can play a trump card instead. However, playing a trump card is not mandatory.
Once the trump suit has been declared, something interesting can happen. If you have a King and Queen of the trump suit in your hand, you can announce that you have “Royals” or a “Pair.” This announcement can only be made after you have won a trick, and you cannot make it if your King and Queen have already been used in a trick.
If you or someone you’re playing with declares they have a Pair, their bid will be reduced by four, as long as it stays above the minimum of 15 points. But if the other player has the Pair, it will increase the bid by 4, as long as it doesn’t go over 28.
HOW TO SCORE
Once all 8 tricks have been played, both teams add up the value of the cards they’ve taken. The winners of the last trick earn an extra point. If the bidding team successfully takes the required number of tricks, they win a point. If they don’t, they lose a point. The other team’s score stays the same.
When it comes to keeping score in the game, we use the red and black sixes. The red six, also known as “nali” or “red chaka,” shows the positive score based on the number of pips revealed. On the other hand, the black six, known as “kala” or “black chaka,” displays the negative score based on the number of pips it has revealed. In the beginning, both partnerships start with no pips showing. As players gain or lose points, pips are revealed. The game can end in two ways: when one team reaches +6 points or when one team reaches -6 points.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do you win the 29 card game?
To win the Twenty-Nine card game, your team needs to reach +6 points or the opposing team needs to reach -6 points.
Why is the game named Twenty-nine?
The game gets its name from the number of points you can win, even though there are only 28 points up for grabs. In the past, there used to be an extra point for the last trick, but it’s not commonly used anymore. Regardless, the name stuck.
What happens when you can’t play a card of the same suit?
In this game, players don’t know what the trump suit is at the beginning, except for the person who made the bid. If a player can’t play a card of the same suit as the one led and it’s the first time this has happened, they must ask the bidder what the trump suit is. If the bidder is the one who can’t follow suit, they have to declare the trump suit. When a player can’t follow suit, they can choose to play a trump card instead, but they don’t have to. If they don’t want to play a trump card or they can’t, they can play any card they like.