Chase the Ace

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Cards
3. Setup
4. Playing a round
5. End of the round
6. Winning the game
7. Tips for beginners
8. Variants

Overview

Chase the Ace is a very simple game of luck and nerve. Everyone gets just one card. On your turn you decide: keep your card, or swap it with your left-hand neighbour and hope for a better one. At the end, whoever holds the lowest card loses a life. Lose three lives and you're out – the last player left wins.

• Players: 3 or more – it's best with 5–20.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers, and 3 counters per player as lives (coins, chips, matches or buttons).

Cards

Only the rank matters, not the suit. From high to low:

K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A

The King is the best card, the Ace the worst – that's what gives the game its name: nobody wants to be left with the Ace.

Setup

1. Everyone takes 3 counters – these are your lives.
2. Choose a dealer. The dealer shuffles and deals one card face down to each player. Look at your card, but keep it hidden.
3. The rest of the deck stays face down in front of the dealer.

Playing a round

Each player has exactly one turn, starting with the player to the dealer's left and going clockwise. The dealer goes last.

On your turn you have two choices:

• Stand: say "stand" and keep your card.
• Change: say "change" and pass your card face down to your left-hand neighbour. They must give you their card in return.

Kings block. If you hold a King, you can't be made to swap: when your right-hand neighbour asks to change, show your King – they keep their own card. When your own turn comes, put your King face up on the table.

The dealer's turn: the dealer can't swap with a neighbour. Instead, the dealer may cut the rest of the deck – lift off part of it – and swap their card for the card on the bottom of the cut-off part. If that card is a King, bad luck: the dealer must keep their old card.

Example: Five players. Ben has a 3 and says "change" – he swaps with Carla and gets her 9. Carla now has the 3; she says "change" to Dan, but Dan shows a King, so Carla is stuck with the 3. Eva has a 10 and stands. The dealer, Anna, has a 4 and cuts the deck: she finds a 7 and takes it.

End of the round

When the dealer has had their turn, everyone turns their card face up. The player with the lowest card loses a life and puts one counter in the middle. If several players tie for lowest, each of them loses a life.

Example (continued): The cards are Ben 9, Carla 3, Dan K, Eva 10, Anna 7. Carla has the lowest card and loses a life.

A player with no counters left is out. The deal passes to the left for the next round.

Winning the game

The last player with any lives left wins – and takes all the counters, if you are playing for them.

All out at once? If the last players all tie for lowest on their last life, nobody would be left. Agree before the game what happens then – for example, they keep their last life and play another round.

Tips for beginners

• A 7 or higher is usually worth keeping – most players with a low card will be trying to get rid of it.
• Remember what came your way: if your right-hand neighbour just gave you a 2, you know they now hold the card you had.
• Watch the Kings: once a King is on the table, the player to its right can't swap with the King's holder.

Variants

Optional – agree before you start.

• Announce low cards: a player who has to hand over an Ace, 2 or 3 shows or names it, so everyone knows where it is.
• Dealer's King: if the dealer cuts a King, the dealer loses a life at once.
• Dealer draws: the dealer swaps with the top card of the deck instead of cutting.
• Four lives: start with 4 counters each for a longer game.
• Kings swap too: Kings have no special power and must be swapped like any other card.
• King stops play: as soon as a King is shown, swapping ends and everyone turns their cards up.
• Pairs are safe: players who hold the same rank as someone else can't lose; the lowest card that nobody else has loses.