Big Two

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card order
3. Setup
4. What you can play
5. Playing
6. End of a hand
7. Scoring
8. Winning the game
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

Big Two is a climbing game from southern China: each player in turn must beat the previous play with a higher card or combination – or pass. Besides single cards, pairs and triples you can also play five-card poker hands such as a straight or a full house. Whoever gets rid of all their cards first wins the hand; everyone else scores penalty points for the cards they are still holding. The game is named after its highest card: the 2.

• Players: 4, each playing for themselves (rules for 3 and 2 players are under Variants).
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers, and paper and pencil for the score.

Card order

Every card has a rank (its value). The 2 is the highest rank, the 3 the lowest:

2 (highest) – A – K – Q – J – 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 (lowest)

Unlike in many other games, the suits also have an order. It only matters when two cards have the same rank:

♠ Spades (highest) – ♥ Hearts – ♣ Clubs – ♦ Diamonds (lowest)

So the 2♠ is the best card in the game and the 3♦ the lowest. A 7♥ beats a 7♣, but any 8 beats any 7.

Setup

1. Deal: pick a dealer at random. The dealer shuffles and deals out all the cards one at a time, face down, so each player gets 13 cards (their hand). In Big Two, play traditionally goes anticlockwise (to the right), and the cards are dealt in that direction too.
2. Sort your hand: pick up your cards and sort them by rank. Keep them hidden from the others.
3. Who starts: the player holding the 3♦ begins. Their first play must include the 3♦ – alone or as part of a pair, triple or five-card hand.

What you can play

A play is always one of these combinations:

Comparing singles, pairs and triples: the higher rank wins. If the ranks are the same, the higher suit wins. For pairs, compare the higher-suited card of each pair: 9♠ 9♦ beats 9♥ 9♣, because the ♠ beats the ♥.

Five-card hands

There are five kinds, from weakest to strongest:

1. Straight: five cards in rank sequence, of mixed suits, e.g. 6-7-8-9-10. For straights only, the 2 counts below the 3, and the Ace may be at either end, but never in the middle. So the lowest straight is A-2-3-4-5, the highest 10-J-Q-K-A; J-Q-K-A-2 is not a straight. The straight with the higher top card wins; if the top cards have the same rank, the suit of the top card decides.
2. Flush: five cards of the same suit, in any ranks. A flush in a higher suit beats any flush in a lower suit. Between two flushes of the same suit, the one with the higher top card wins.
3. Full house: three cards of one rank plus two of another, e.g. J J J 4 4. The one with the higher triple wins.
4. Four of a kind: four cards of one rank plus any fifth card, e.g. 7 7 7 7 Q. The higher four wins. Four cards on their own are not a valid play.
5. Straight flush: a straight in which all five cards have the same suit. The higher top card wins; if they are equal, the higher suit wins. The best hand of all is 10-J-Q-K-A in ♠.

Any five-card hand of a stronger kind beats any hand of a weaker kind – every flush beats every straight, every full house beats every flush, and so on.

Example (straights): Ben plays 5♥ 6♣ 7♦ 8♠ 9♥. Carla has 5♠ 6♦ 7♣ 8♥ 9♠. Both straights end in a 9, so the suit of the 9 decides: ♠ beats ♥, and Carla may play hers. Dan's 6♣ 7♦ 8♣ 9♥ 10♦ would beat both, because its top card is a 10.

Example (flushes): Anna plays a heart flush 3♥ 6♥ 9♥ Q♥ A♥. Ben's club flush with a King on top is not enough – clubs rank below hearts. But Carla's spade flush 2♠ 4♠ 5♠ 7♠ 8♠ wins, because spades are the highest suit, even though her cards are low.

Playing

Play goes in rounds (series of plays onto a pile in the middle of the table).

1. Lead: the first player of a round – the leader – plays any valid combination face up in the middle.
2. Beat or pass: going round the table, each player either beats the last play or passes (says "pass"). - To beat it, play the same number of cards, and a better combination: a higher single on a single, a higher pair on a pair, a higher triple on a triple, a stronger five-card hand on a five-card hand. You can never beat a single with a pair, for example. - You may always pass, even if you could beat the play – often it is wise to save your good cards. Passing does not stop you from playing again when your turn comes round, as long as the round is still going.
3. End of the round: when all the other players have passed in a row after someone's play, the round is over. The cards in the middle are put aside face down. The player who made the last play leads the next round with any combination they like.

Example (a round of play): Anna holds the 3♦ and leads the pair 3♦ 3♠. Ben plays 6♣ 6♥. Carla passes. Dan plays 10♦ 10♣. Anna plays K♣ K♠. Ben passes. Carla now plays 2♦ 2♥ after all. Dan, Anna and Ben pass. Carla puts the pile aside and leads again – she chooses a single 4♣ to get rid of a low card.

End of a hand

As soon as one player has played their last card, the hand is over. That player wins it. The others do not get a chance to beat that last play.

Scoring

Everyone else scores penalty points for the cards left in their hand:

The winner of the hand scores nothing. Write each player's penalty down and keep a running total.

Example: Anna goes out. Ben has 3 cards left (3 points), Carla 10 cards (10 × 2 = 20 points) and Dan never managed to play – 13 cards, 39 points.

For the next hand, the deal passes to the next player in turn. Again, whoever holds the 3♦ starts and must play it.

Winning the game

Agree beforehand how long to play – a number of hands, a time limit, or until someone has reached a set total such as 50 penalty points. Then the player with the fewest penalty points wins. (Traditionally, players settle the differences between their scores with small stakes agreed beforehand.)

Tips for beginners

• Count the 2s and Aces that have been played – knowing which high cards are still out tells you when your card is safe.
• Five-card hands are a great way to get rid of many cards at once. Build them early, and don't break them up for a single play.
• Winning a round is only useful if you have something good to lead afterwards. Sometimes it is better to pass.
• Keep a sure winner (like the 2♠) to regain the lead near the end.
• Watch players with few cards left – when someone has one card, lead pairs or five-card hands, not singles they could beat.

Variants

All of these are optional – agree on them before the game.

• Other suit orders: in Taiwan and parts of Hong Kong, the bridge order is used: ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ (clubs lowest), so the lowest card is the 3♣. In the Philippines, where the game is called Pusoy Dos, the order is ♦ ♥ ♠ ♣ (diamonds highest), and whoever holds the 3♣ starts.
• Clockwise: many groups simply play clockwise.
• Winner leads: only in the first hand does the 3♦ start; afterwards the winner of the previous hand leads with any combination.
• Passed is out: once you have passed, you may not play again until the round is over (common in Indonesia).
• Flushes by rank: a flush is compared by its top card first, and the suit only decides a tie – the usual version in Hong Kong.
• Other straights: some count A-2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-5-6 as the highest straight, or don't allow a 2 in straights at all.
• Last card: you must say "last card" when you are down to one card.
• Harsher penalties: double penalties for 8–9 cards left, triple for 10–12, quadruple for 13; some also double the penalty for every 2 left in hand.
• Three players: deal 17 cards each and place the last card face up. Whoever holds the 3♦ takes that card too, and starts.
• Two players: deal 13 or 17 cards each and leave the rest aside face down; whoever holds the lowest card starts.