Laugh and Lie Down

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Special terms
3. Setup (five players)
4. Playing
5. Lying down
6. Catching mistakes
7. Pay-off
8. Winning the game
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

Laugh and Lie Down is a game from Tudor England, first mentioned in 1522. It is the oldest known European fishing game – a game in which you capture cards from the table with matching cards from your hand, like Casino or Scopa. Twelve cards lie face up on the table. On your turn you play a card from your hand to capture a card of the same rank, and keep the pair. When you can no longer capture, you must lie down: throw your hand onto the table – and the others laugh at you. The last player still holding cards wins a bonus, and everyone is paid for the cards they won.

The only description of the game is in Francis Willughby's Book of Games (about 1665). These rules follow David Parlett's reading of Willughby.

• Players: 3–6; the original game is for 5. Everyone plays for themselves.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and chips or counters – about 20 per player. Play for chips only.

Special terms

• Pair: two cards of the same rank (two 7s).
• Prial ("pair royal"): three of the same rank.
• Mournival: all four cards of a rank.
• Won cards: the cards you have captured. Keep them face up in a pile in front of you.

Setup (five players)

1. Everyone cuts; the lowest card deals first (Ace low). After each deal the deal passes to the left; play also goes clockwise.
2. Stakes: the dealer puts 3 chips into the pot, every other player 2 – 11 chips in all.
3. Deal: the dealer deals 8 cards to each player, one at a time, face down. The remaining 12 cards go face up on the table, spread out in no particular order.
4. If the 12 table cards include a mournival, the dealer takes all four at once as won cards.
5. Before play, look at your hand. If you hold a prial, you may put two of its cards in front of you as won cards and keep the third. If you hold a mournival, all four are won cards. If you forget, you can still do it on any later turn.

For five players the table then looks like this:

Playing

The player to the dealer's left begins; then it's the next player's turn, clockwise. On your turn, capture in one of these ways:

• Play one card from your hand and take one table card of the same rank – or all three, if three of that rank lie on the table.
• Play a pair from your hand to take a pair from the table, or a prial to take a single card.

Put your played card and the captured cards face up in front of you as won cards. You can only capture by rank; suits don't matter.

Pair in hand: if you hold a pair and another player captures a table card of that rank, you may at once – even out of turn – put your pair down as won cards. It could not be captured any other way now.

Example: among the table cards are 9♣ 9♦ 9♠, a single J♥ and 5♦ 5♠. Ben holds the 9♥: he captures all three 9s and wins four cards. Carla holds the J♦ and takes the J♥. Dan holds J♠ J♣, so he immediately puts his two Jacks down as won cards. Emil holds a 5 and takes one of the two 5s; one 5 stays on the table.

Lying down

When it's your turn and you cannot capture – no card in your hand matches a table card, or the table is empty – you must lie down: put all your hand cards face up on the table. The other players can now capture them. You are out of the play, but your won cards still count.

The deal ends when only one player has cards left in hand. That player's hand and all cards still on the table go to the dealer's won cards.

Catching mistakes

It's a fast game, and anything that is overlooked belongs to whoever claims it first – even a player who has already lain down. Claiming is not a turn.

• If the table cards include a mournival and the dealer doesn't take it, the first to claim it wins all four.
• If three cards of a rank lie on the table and a player captures only one of them, the first to claim the other two wins them.
• If a player lies down with a pair that they could have put down when that rank was captured, the first to claim the pair wins it.

Pay-off

1. The last player still holding cards takes 5 chips from the pot.
2. Everyone counts their won cards. You were dealt 8, so 8 is break-even. For every two cards more than 8 you take 1 chip from the pot; for every two cards fewer you pay 1 chip into it.

This always empties the pot exactly.

Example: Anna deals. Ben is the last player with cards and takes 5 chips. Won cards: Anna 14 (including the leftover cards), Ben 12, Carla 8, Dan 6, Emil 12. Anna takes 3, Ben 2, Emil 2, Carla nothing, and Dan pays 1. After their stakes, Ben is 5 chips up, Carla 2 down, Dan 3 down, Anna and Emil break even.

Winning the game

The dealer has an advantage, so play as many deals as there are players (or a multiple of that – 5, 10 … with five players), so that everyone deals equally often. Whoever has gained the most chips wins.

Tips for beginners

• Willughby's advice: if a single card of a rank lies on the table and you hold a match, capture it quickly before someone else does.
• If two or three of a rank are on the table and you hold one, you can wait – a capture is guaranteed for you, so you can keep it for the end.
• Keeping safe captures for later keeps you in the game longer, and the last player in wins 5 chips.
• If you hold a pair and the other pair lies on the table, capture them one at a time on two turns – that's two turns you can't be forced to lie down.
• Watch the others: catching their mistakes wins you cards even after you have lain down.

Variants

Optional – agree before you start. Willughby gives the four-player game; the versions for three and six players are Parlett's suggestions.

• Four players, bigger bonus: Parlett suggests stakes of 4-3-3-3 and 7 chips for the last player in.