Welcome to Irish Don!
Hey there! I’m here to introduce you to a super fun card game called Irish Don. It’s a game that’s played by four players, split into two teams. Each team sits across from each other, ready to face off in an exciting battle of strategy and skill.
The game is played in two rounds, unless one team decides to throw in the towel after the first round. The main objective is simple – be the first team to score over 80 points. And how do you do that? Well, by collecting points in each round, of course!
Now, let me walk you through the setup of Irish Don. To determine the first dealer, we rely on luck – it’s chosen randomly. The player who becomes the “pitcher” for the first round is the player who receives the 2 of diamonds. Then, for the second round, the pitcher is the player to the left of the dealer from the first round.
When we play the card game Irish Don, there are a few steps we need to follow to get started. First, the dealer shuffles the deck and then the player to their right cuts it. Each player is dealt a 13-card hand, one card at a time. The person who gets the 2 of diamonds in the first round becomes the pitcher, and they have an important role to play.
The pitcher leads the first trick of the round, which means they go first. They also get to determine trumps, which adds an extra layer of strategy to the game. To make things fair, the pitcher’s partner is not allowed to look at their hand until the trumps have been decided. This way, the pitcher’s partner won’t give away any hints or information to the other players.
Cards Ranking and Values
In Irish Don, the cards have a specific ranking and value. The highest card is the Ace, followed by the King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and finally the lowest card, the 2. Each suit has the same ranking, and the trump suit is determined by the very first card played by the pitcher in the first trick. Once the trump suit has been established, the pitcher’s partner can finally look at their hand and start strategizing.
In the world of cards, each card holds a specific value. For instance, the ace of trumps is worth 4 points, the king of trumps is worth 3 points, the queen of trumps is worth 2 points, the jack of trumps is worth 1 point, the 9 of trumps is worth 18 points, and the 5 of trumps is worth 10 points. Similarly, each 9 of a non-trump suit is worth 9 points, and all non-trump 5s are worth 5 points. With these values, there is a total of 80 points up for grabs in each round of play.
GAMEPLAY
Once all the cards have been dealt, it’s your turn to take the lead. You have the freedom to choose any card you’d like to start the trick. The other players must follow suit, playing a card of the same suit if they have one. However, if they don’t have a card of the same suit, they may play any card they wish.
In each trick, the card with the highest rank is the ultimate winner. If there are trumps in play, the highest-ranked trump card takes the trick. If there are no trumps, the highest-ranked card of the suit that was led wins the trick. The winner of one trick becomes the leader for the next trick.
In Irish Don, we don’t allow partners to talk about the cards we have or give any signals. We have to play the game based on our own judgment and strategy.
Now, let’s talk about scoring. Some players prefer to keep track of the scores from both rounds, but most of us just remember our team’s score from the first round. Once all the tricks are played, each team will add up their scores for the round. The scores of both teams should add up to 80 points. If a team manages to win all 80 points, there’s no special reward, but sometimes it’s called a bonk for the other team. Sometimes, if a team is really far behind, they might decide to concede instead of playing the second round.
Finally, when it comes to the end of the game, it’s simply a matter of adding up the scores from both rounds. The team with the highest total score wins the game. It’s as simple as that!
A team must score more than 80 points to win the game. However, if a team believes they have enough points to win, they can choose to stop the game in the second round. But if both teams reach exactly 80 points and the round is played through, the team that wins a trick with a score card will lose, as they were the last team to reach 80 points.
Hey there! I’m Amber, and I go by They/Them pronouns. I’m an avid gamer and writer from Austin. I consider myself a gaming master and adore dogs, plants, and all things D&D!
Hey there! I’m Amber, and I go by They/Them pronouns. I’m an avid gamer and writer from Austin. I consider myself a gaming master and adore dogs, plants, and all things D&D!