Game of Pure Strategy

Welcome to GOPS! That’s short for “Game of Pure Strategy.” The game got its name because, in theory, everyone has an equal chance of winning. But here’s the catch: the real key to victory lies in strategy and knowing exactly when to play your cards.

SETUP

Let’s prepare to play GOPS! First, remove three sets – Ace through King – from a standard deck. Most people like to use the spades, clubs, and diamonds. Shuffle the diamonds and place them in a pile, face-down, right in the middle, between you and your opponent. Each player will also receive either the spades or clubs set of cards.

Card Ranking

The cards in the pile at the center of the game are worth points. The number of points a card is worth depends on its ranking.

Here’s the ranking, starting from the lowest: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, and King, which is the highest.

In GOPS, the value of each card varies. The ace has the lowest value, only worth 1 point. Cards 2 through 10 are worth their face value. The jack carries a value of 11 points, the queen is valued at 12 points, and the king holds the highest value of 13 points.

How to Play GOPS

Here’s how the game works: first, a card is flipped from the points deck, and this becomes the prize for winning the bid. Each player then selects a card from their hand to use as a bet. Once both players have chosen, the betted cards are revealed simultaneously. The player with the higher-ranking card wins the prize card, adding it to their points. This process is repeated in each subsequent round, with a new prize card being revealed and players placing their bets. The game continues until both players have used up all of their bidding cards.

If we both play the same value card for a bid, it’s a tie. We both discard our cards, but the prize card stays up for grabs, and we add another card to the game.

End of the Game

Once we both run out of bidding cards, the game comes to an end. We tally up the values of our prize cards to determine our scores. The player with the highest score wins!

Strategy

In GOPS, we both have an equal chance at winning. So, to get ahead, we need to strategize when to play our cards. It’s important to assess the value of each prize card and aim to play a card that’s only one rank higher than our opponent’s. Keeping track of the cards our opponent has played will definitely give us an advantage.

Variations

If you want to play GOPS with more players, you can! Just add another full set of cards for each additional player. For example, a full deck of 52 cards can accommodate 3 players. If you want to play with even more people, you’ll need an extra deck of cards.