PITS: A Fun Card Game for Go Tournaments

Ever heard of PITS? It’s a fast-paced game that’s popular among Go tournament players. I’m here to tell you all about it! The goal of PITS is simple: get rid of all your cards as quickly as possible. You can play cards individually, in sets, or in runs. And hey, why not try playing runs made up of sets? It’s all about strategy!

Let’s Talk About the Cards and the Deal

For a game of PITS, you’ll need a standard 52-card deck and two Jokers. The cards are dealt out to all players, with the dealer getting 10 cards and the other four players getting 11 cards each. And don’t forget, the deal passes to the left after each round. Simple enough, right?

It’s Time to Play!

A Quick Start: The First Trick

When I play the card game, the dealer has the privilege of leading the first trick using any meld from their hand. It’s a bit tricky because the next player who wants to play to the trick must also play a meld of the same type, with the same number of cards, but it has to be of higher value. So, let’s say the dealer starts with a pair of Jacks, the next player would have to play a pair of Queens, Kings, or Aces. If they can’t match or beat it, they have to pass. The trick keeps going until everyone passes. The player who adds the last card to the trick gets to capture it and then starts a new one.

Now, let me tell you about continuing to play the game.

We keep playing until there is only one player left with cards in their hand. The melds that do not have any wild cards are called “natural” melds, and they are quite strong. Actually, they are even more powerful than similar melds that have wild cards. For example, if someone leads a trick with a combination of J/Joker/K, a combination of J/Q/K would be considered an even more powerful trick.

Before we dive into the intricacies of melds and tricks, I want to emphasize an important point – melds made up of cards from the same suit are more powerful compared to melds with a mix of suits. Keep this in mind as we explore further.

Okay, let’s jump right into an example trick to make things clearer. Here’s how it unfolds:

The dealer starts the trick by playing a run of single cards: 5, 6, 7, all of Spades. Then, Player 2 adds a mixed run of 6, 7, 8. Player 3 decides to pass, and so does Player 4. Then, it’s Player 5’s turn, who plays a mixed 8, Joker, 10. The remaining players, 1 to 4, pass, leaving Player 5 as the winner of the trick. They collect the cards and take the lead for the next round.

JOKERS & 2’s

In the game, both Jokers and 2’s are special cards. They can be used to replace any other card that you need, but only if they represent the highest card or cards in a group. You can use more than one wild card in a group. However, there are some rules you need to follow:

Firstly, 2’s cannot be used as a 2 in a group, and they cannot be included in a series of single cards. For example, a group of 3, 2, 5 would not be allowed.

On the other hand, Jokers have more freedom. They can be used as any card you want, as long as they represent the highest card or cards in a group.

SCORING

The player who gets rid of all their cards first earns 2 points. The second player to do so earns 1 point. The third player will then become the dealer for the next round.

When it’s time for the next round, the players in fourth and fifth place have to show their highest cards. The player who came in first last round gets to pick which card they want first, and the second-place player takes the other one. Then, the first and second-place players each have to get rid of one card from their hand and show the remaining cards at the same time. After that, the player in fourth place gets to choose which card they want first, and the fifth-place player takes the other card.

WINNING

The player who has the highest score after the tenth round is the winner. If you want more information about the game, including answers to common questions and examples of melds, you can visit Steve Bailey’s website here: https://www.stocton.org/pits.htm