Welcome to Eighty-Three

Hey there! I’m excited to introduce you to Eighty-Three, a fun card game for four players. We’ll split into two teams of two, and our teammates will sit across from us.

Our goal is to reach a total of 200 points. We’ll do this by bidding on how many tricks we think we can win in each round and collecting special point cards.

Getting Started

First things first, we need to choose a dealer. We can do this by picking someone at random and then passing the dealer role to the left after each round. The dealer will shuffle the deck and give each player a hand of 12 cards, dealing 3 cards at a time. We’ll also have a “kitty” of 5 cards placed face down in the center play area. After that, we can start the bidding round!

Understanding Card Rankings and Values

In the game known as Eighty-Three, there are two sets of rankings. One is for the trump suit, and the other is for the non-trump suits. The interesting thing about Eighty-Three is that the trump suit can change with each round, which means that the ranking of cards can change as well. Let’s dive in and take a closer look.

First, let’s understand what a trump card is. In Eighty-Three, the 5 of the suit that is the same color as the trump suit is considered a trump card. For example, if hearts are the trumps, the 5 of diamonds is also considered a trump card. Keep this in mind as we go through the rankings.

The ranking for the trump suit is as follows (from highest to lowest): Ace, 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, 2, and lastly, the joker (which is the lowest trump card).

Now, let’s take a look at the rankings for the non-trump suits. They follow the same ranking as the trump suit, but without the additional 5 card. So, for the non-trump suits, the ranking is as follows: Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 (when applicable), 4, 3, and 2.

When playing the game Eighty-Three, certain cards hold value for scoring. Only the cards of the trump suit are worth points. The Ace of trump is worth 1 point, the king of trump is worth 25 points, the queen is worth 20 points, the jack of trump is worth 1 point, the ten of trump is worth 1 point, the 9 of trumps is worth 9 points, the five of trump is worth 5 points, the other 5 of trump is also worth 5 points, the 2 of trumps is worth 1 point, and the joker is worth 15 points.

BIDDING

Now, let’s talk about the bidding process in this game. The bidding starts with the player sitting to the dealer’s left. At this point, the player has two options: bid or pass. If the player decides to bid, they must place a bid that is higher than the previous bid. The minimum bid allowed is 30 points, while the maximum bid is 83 points.

There’s a special kind of bid in the card game where the points are worth double. It’s called “83 doubled”. This bid has the same requirements as a regular bid of 83. The goal is to win all the points in a round, but the points scored for success are doubled, while the points lost for failure are also doubled.

In the game, players are bidding to be the one to choose the trump suit. The bidding process continues until three players have passed. If all three players pass without placing a bid, the dealer is then required to bid at least 30 points.

The player who wins the bid takes the kitty (a set of extra cards) into their hand and gets to choose the trump suit. After that, each player discards down to a 6-card hand. If a player has more than 6 cards of the trump suit, they can pass some of them to their partner. However, if the partners together have more than 12 cards of the trump suit, they must discard the excess cards, but they cannot discard the scoring cards.

GAMEPLAY

In the game, every team is competing to win the tricks that contain the point cards. The team that placed the highest bid must also win at least the number of tricks they bid in order to earn their point cards.

I will start the game as the player who won the bidding round, and then the other players will take turns clockwise. When it’s my turn, I can play any card I want. If I lead with a trump card, all the other players must also play a trump if they have one. But if I start with a non-trump suit, the other players can either follow suit or play a trump card. To win a trick, you need to play the highest trump card, or if there are no trumps, the highest card of the suit that was led. The winner of each trick gets to lead the next one.

SCORING

After all the tricks have been played, it’s time to calculate the scores. Even if the other team did not complete their bid, the players who didn’t win the bid still score points based on the cards they collected during the game.

If my team successfully completes our bid, we will earn all the points we won during the tricks. But if we are unable to complete our bid, we will lose the same number of points as those we won in the tricks.

For a double bid of 83, you can either earn 166 points if the bid is successful or lose 166 points if it fails.

Now, let’s talk about the end of the game.

Teams keep track of their scores over several rounds. The first team to reach 200 points wins the game. So, it’s a race to 200!

Remember, the cumulative scores are carried over from round to round. So, every point matters and can bring us closer to victory.

I hope you’re ready for the challenge. Let’s aim for those 200 points and win the game!