Beggar-My-Neighbour

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Pay cards and ordinary cards
3. Setup
4. Playing
5. A pay card while paying
6. Winning the game
7. Tips for beginners
8. Variants

Overview

Beggar-My-Neighbour is a simple game of pure luck, usually for two players. You take turns turning over cards onto a pile in the middle. When someone turns up an Ace or a face card, their opponent must pay for it with several cards – and if all of those are plain number cards, the pile goes to the player who demanded payment. Whoever runs out of cards is "beggared" and loses; the player with all the cards wins.

• Players: 2 (more can play – see Variants).
• You need: a standard 52-card deck, no jokers.

Pay cards and ordinary cards

There are two kinds of cards. Suits don't matter.

Setup

1. Shuffle and deal out all the cards, face down: 26 each.
2. Nobody looks at their cards. Each player keeps them in a neat face-down pile.

Playing

1. One player starts – for example, the one who didn't deal. Players take turns turning over their top card and putting it face up on a shared centre pile.
2. This goes on, one card each, until someone turns up a pay card.
3. Now the opponent must pay: they turn over cards onto the pile, one after another, as many as the table says – for example two cards for a Queen.
4. If all the paying cards are ordinary cards, the payment is complete. The player who turned up the pay card takes the whole centre pile, turns it face down as a block and slides it under their own pile – without shuffling. Then they start again by turning over their next card.

Example: Anna turns up a Q♥. Ben must pay 2 cards: he turns up a 5♠ and a 9♦. Both are ordinary cards, so Anna wins the whole pile and puts it under her cards. Then Anna turns up her next card.

A pay card while paying

If you turn up a pay card while you are paying, you stop paying at once. Your opponent's pay card no longer counts – now your opponent must pay for your card. This can switch back and forth several times.

Example: Anna plays a Q; Ben pays a 6 and then a J – he stops. Anna must pay 1 card for the Jack: she turns up an A. Now Ben must pay 4: he turns up 3, 7, K – he stops. Anna must pay 3 for the King: 10, 4, 6. The King has been paid for, so Ben takes the whole pile.

Winning the game

If you have to turn over a card – or pay – and have none left, you lose. The player who ends up with all 52 cards wins.

Tips for beginners

• There are no decisions to make – it's pure luck. That makes it perfect for small children learning the face cards.
• Count the payment out loud ("one, two, three …") so nobody loses track.
• A game can take a long time. Agree beforehand how long you want to play; whoever has more cards then wins.

Variants

These are optional – agree before you start.

• More players: deal the cards as evenly as possible (with three players, one player gets an extra card). Play goes clockwise. When someone plays a pay card, the next player pays. If that player turns up a pay card while paying, they stop and the player after them must pay. A player with no cards left drops out; the last player with cards wins.
• Suck the Well: in the Caribbean the game is played the same way, but anticlockwise.
• Slapping: Egyptian Ratscrew is Beggar-My-Neighbour with extra rules for slapping the pile – see that game.