Card Game Rules

Trick-taking game · Game 93 of 388 ♦

Forty-Fives

Ireland's crazy card order – the 5 of trumps beats everything, the Ace of Hearts is always a trump, and red cards rank high, black ones low.

Players
2–6
Duration
20 min
Age
10+
Difficulty
medium
Cards
52 cards, no jokers
Skill – Luck
SkillLuck
Everyone for themselves – Lots of interaction
Everyone for themselvesLots of interaction
Simple – Complex
SimpleComplex
Quick – Long
QuickLong

Mood lively

Collections: Games for two · Games for three · Games for four · Games for five · Games for six or more · Partnership games

Quick rules

  • Goal: first side to 45 points; 4 in pairs, opposite. Clockwise.
  • Deal 5 each (3 + 2); turn up the next card: trumps.
  • Rob: the holder of the Ace of trumps swaps a card for the turned card before their first play (turned Ace: dealer).
  • Trumps: 5, J, A♥, then A K Q … (A♥ always).
  • Plain: red K Q J 10 … 2 A; black K Q J A 2 … 10.
  • Play: dealer's left leads. Plain suit led: follow or trump. Trump led: play one.
  • Renege: 5, J, A♥ may be held back unless a better one is led.
  • 5 per trick, +5 for the best trump's trick.

Cheat sheet

Trumps (high → low)

Trumps Order
♥ 5 J A K Q 10 9 8 7 6 4 3 2
♦ 5 J A♥ A K Q 10 … 6 4 3 2
♣ ♠ 5 J A♥ A K Q 2 3 4 6 … 10

Good to know

  • Number cards: highest in red, lowest in black. A♦, A♣, A♠ are weak unless trumps.
  • A deal usually gives out 30: 30–0, 25–5, 20–10 or 15–15. No trump played: no bonus, only 25.
  • Trumping is always allowed, even if you could follow suit.
  • Trump led, your only trumps may be reneged: play any card.
  • The 5 of trumps is worth two tricks – it always gets the bonus.
  • 6 players: two teams of three, sitting alternately. 2, 3 or 5: each for themselves.

Score pad

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Full rules

  1. Overview
  2. The cards
  3. Setup
  4. Robbing the trump
  5. Playing the tricks
  6. Scoring
  7. Winning the game
  8. Tips for beginners
  9. Variants

Overview

Forty-Fives is a fast trick-taking game from Ireland, still much played in Atlantic Canada, New England and New Zealand. Everyone gets 5 cards, one card turned up decides the trump suit, and every trick is worth 5 points. The first side to reach 45 points wins. What makes it special is the unusual order of the cards: the five of trumps is the best card, and the Ace of Hearts is always a trump.

  • Players: best with 4 in two partnerships (partners opposite) or 6 in two teams of three (sitting alternately). Two, three or five can play, each for themselves.
  • You need: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers, and paper and pencil.

The cards

A trick is one round of play in which each player plays one card; the best card wins it. Trumps are the cards of one suit chosen for the deal – any trump beats any card of another suit.

Trumps, from high to low:

Trump suit Order (high → low)
♥ 5 J A K Q 10 9 8 7 6 4 3 2
♦ 5 J A♥ A K Q 10 9 8 7 6 4 3 2
♣ ♠ 5 J A♥ A K Q 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10

So the best three trumps are always the 5 of trumps, the J of trumps and the A♥. The A♥ counts as a trump in every deal, whatever suit is trumps (so there are 14 trumps, or 13 when hearts are trumps).

Plain suits (not trumps) rank:

  • ♥ ♦ (red): K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A – the Ace (A♦) is lowest; the A♥ is never a plain card.
  • ♣ ♠ (black): K Q J A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 – below the face cards, low numbers beat high ones.

Rule of thumb: among number cards, "highest in red, lowest in black".

Setup

  1. Teams and first dealer: agree on teams; choose the first dealer at random. After each deal, the turn to deal passes to the left.
  2. The dealer shuffles, the player on the right cuts, and the dealer deals clockwise, starting on the left: 5 cards each, in a packet of 3 and then a packet of 2 (or 2 then 3).
  3. The dealer puts the rest of the pack face down and turns the top card face up. Its suit is trumps for this deal.

Robbing the trump

Whoever holds the Ace of trumps may rob: exchange any unwanted card from their hand for the turned-up card. Put the unwanted card face down under the pack. If the turned-up card is itself an Ace, the dealer may rob it in the same way. You must rob before you play your first card, or the right is lost.

Example: The turned card is the 9♣. Ben holds the A♣. Before his first card he puts his 3♦ face down under the pack and takes the 9♣ into his hand.

Playing the tricks

The player to the dealer's left leads to the first trick; after that the winner of each trick leads. Going clockwise, everyone plays one card:

  • A plain suit is led: you must follow suit (play a card of that suit) or play a trump – trumping is always allowed, even if you could follow. Only if you can do neither may you play any card.
  • A trump is led: you must play a trump if you have one (the A♥ counts as a trump) – with one exception, reneging: the 5, J and A♥ of trumps may be held back. You never have to play one of them unless the trump led is a better top trump. If they are your only trumps, you may play any card instead.

The highest trump wins the trick; if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins.

Example: Spades are trumps. Anna leads the 7♠. Ben's only trump is the J♠ – he may keep it and play the K♦ instead. If Anna had led the 5♠, Ben would have to play the J♠.

Scoring

Each trick is worth 5 points to the side that wins it. The trick containing the highest trump played in the deal is worth 5 points extra. So each deal usually gives out 30 points in all – for example 30–0, 25–5, 20–10 or 15–15. If nobody plays a trump in the whole deal, there is no bonus and only 25 points are given out.

Example: Anna and Carla win 3 tricks, Ben and Dan 2. Ben's J♠ was the best trump played, so his side gets the bonus: Anna and Carla 15, Ben and Dan 15.

Winning the game

The first side to reach 45 points wins. If two sides pass 45 in the same deal, the higher total wins.

Tips for beginners

  • Learn the order first. Red numbers run normally, black numbers run backwards; the Ace of Diamonds, Clubs or Spades is weak unless it is trumps.
  • Hold your top trumps. Thanks to reneging, the 5, J and A♥ can wait for the moment an opponent leads a trump.
  • Watch for the bonus: the side with the best trump played gets an extra 5 points, so the 5 of trumps is worth two tricks.

Variants

Agree on these before you start.

  • Twenty-five: the Irish original of the game. No bonus – just 5 per trick, and the first player or side to reach 25 wins, even in the middle of a deal.
  • Auction Forty-Fives (120): the favourite version in Nova Scotia and New England. After the deal, players bid 15, 20, 25 or 30 points; if everyone passes, the dealer must play for 15. The winner names trumps and adds a kitty of 3 extra cards dealt face down to their hand; then everyone discards and the dealer refills all hands to 5 from the pack. The bidder leads. Tricks score as above; if the bidder's side falls short of the bid, the bid is subtracted instead. Game is 120.
  • One Hundred and Ten (110): like Auction Forty-Fives, but a player can't pass 105 without being the bidder. Game is 110.

Background & history

  • Family: Trick-taking game (Spoil Five group)
  • Origin: Ireland; descended from the Scottish game Maw (16th century)
  • Also known as: Forty-five, 45s, Five and Forty, Quarante-cinq
  • Related games: Twenty-five, Spoil Five, Maw, Auction Forty-Fives (120), One Hundred and Ten

Forty-Fives belongs to the Spoil Five family of Irish games, whose strange card order – the five of trumps on top, the Ace of Hearts always a trump, "highest in red, lowest in black" – goes back a long way. According to Wikipedia, the ancestor is Maw, recorded from at least 1548 and a favourite of King James VI of Scotland, who played "Maye" at Kinneil House at Christmas 1588. According to Wikipedia's article on Twenty-five, an Irish periodical of 1858 called Twenty-five and Forty-five "our own old games"; in both, the five of trumps – "five fingers" – was the best card.

The site pagat.com calls Twenty-five the national card game of Ireland; Forty-Fives is the same game played to a higher target. Irish emigrants took it across the Atlantic: Wikipedia notes that Eliza Leslie described a simple "Five and Forty" in a book for American girls as early as 1831. It became a favourite in lumber camps in New Brunswick, in Cape Breton communities in Nova Scotia and – brought south by French-Canadian workers in the 1920s, sometimes as quarante-cinq – in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It is also played on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.

Today the most popular North American form is Auction Forty-Fives, also called One Hundred and Twenty, with bidding and a kitty. Sources differ on scoring details: the rules here use the common 5 points per trick with 5 extra for the best trump. Bicycle's rules also describe scoring only 5 points for three or four tricks and 10 for all five.

Sources